Fjording - it's a verb now.

Wednesday , 18 July

Hei hei from a cold, bright place!

Today we woke up to the hulking mountains around our campsite wrapped in a cotton-wool cloud blanket. After a life-restoringly hot breakfast, we hopped onto the bus for a day trip and "scenic drive" to the Geiranger Fjord, Trollveggen and miscellaneous pretty Norwegian scenery.

Pretty much the entire drive looked like this. 

At around 10am, the mountains were still trying to shake off the last, clinging tendrils of cloud which made our ascent through Trollveggen absolutely magical.  Trollveggen is this massive sheer mountain face that is apparently considered to be the paragon of rock climbing achievement. It also has a tiny, one-land winding road which makes you actively consider your mortality and start considering which religion you should convert to as the too-long bus tackled the hairpin turns with much difficulty and scraping of the sides of the vehicle on the rock face.

Me at the top of Trollveggen. Someone really has to tell the Norwegians to widen their roads. 

We followed the "Eagle Pass" down into the town where we were to board the ferry. This road is apparently the only road to this town which is consistently  open, which is baffling, as even in the peak of summer there were patches of snow dotting the shoulder.

Looking down on the fjord

The ferry ride on the fjord was really beautiful, and a short rain shower did a wonderful job of clearing the decks and allowing those of us with raincoats to get front-row seats. The fjord yet again highlighted the Norway's unofficial motto of "if a location is inconvenient and inaccessible, I'm going to build a house there" . There were no less than three farms on the almost-vertical faces of the fjord, one of which was only accessible by ladder (which was conveniently broken every time the tax collectors came to visit), one which is completed inundated every year when the winter snows melt and form rivers down to the base of the mountains and a third where children on the farm were kept on a tether to prevent them plunging 50-odd metres into the icy waters below.

Batshit Crazy House Location #1 - in around the middle of the photo, you can see a small red roof. That is the farm where they had to tether their kids to prevent them plunging to their doom 

Batshit Crazy House Location #2 - if you follow the middle main ridge of trees, you'll see a white smudge. That is the house only accessible by ladder. 

Batshit Crazy House Location #3 - this house gets completely inundated every year.  

The fjord strikes me as an incredibly moody place. When were were there everything was hazy and muted following the rain. The water was an almost opaque bottle green and the trees on the rock face were a deep, matte green, however at the end of the fjord, near where it branches out to make its way to the Atlantic, there was a short burst of sun which transformed the water into shimmering blue-green jewel tones.

Someone get this fjord a mood ring. 

For a short bit of the cruise we were joined by a pod of dolphins who were playing in the waves  created by the boat. They were so fun to watch, I completely forgot to get a photo!

After a quick lunch stop at the town at the other end of the fjord, we drove back to Åndalsnes. For quite a while we were above the tree line where there was still quite a bit of snow coverage, so naturally we stopped for a snowball fight. We also saw some sheep/goats just chilling by the road.

Snow! In the middle of summer! Norway, you're doing it  wrong.

Just some sheep. 

Misc Norwegian Scenery

Coming back down Trollveggen was just as nerve wracking as going up. We stopped for a photo stop at a lookout which juts precariously over the drop. It also has sections where the floor was replaced with metal grids,  giving a stomach-dropping view straight down. Thanks, Norway.

This is Trollveggen from the bottom. It is deceptively not-terrifying. 

The next couple of days are mostly driving days to get us up into the Arctic Circle, so I'm not sure I'll have much exciting news to post.

Keep warm!

-Lucy

Generically beautiful waterfall

Pretty flowers!

I know know what it is, but the bees over here are effing obsessed with me, and seem to be launching a comprehensive surveillance operation. No matter where I am (indoors or out), there will always be at least one bee stalking me. 

Me + a troll.

Plush moose slippers/thongs. I'm not going to lie, I was sorely tempted. 

Optimism: A Norwegian thermometer that goes up to 30degrees. 

One of these things is not like the other ones...

Playing chicken. 

"Feel the rhythm, feel the ride, get on up, it's bobsled time"

Tuesday, 17 July

Today we left Oslo for Åndalsnes, with a stop in Lillehammer. Lillehammer was the site for the 1994 Winter Olympics. This was the first time that the winter Olympics was held in its current two-year alternating cycle with the summer games. It was also the first year that more formal and strict qualifying requirements were posted, thus depriving many African nations of their chance to go all "Cool Runnings" .

Lillehammer

The town pretty much lives for winter sports

We also stopped off to go bobsledding at the Lillehammer Olympic park.

The safety instructions reminded me a bit of the antenatal class episode of "Coupling", because it said that in the case of the bobsled rolling over to keep calm, which has approximately 0% chance of happening if we're travelling at 100km/hr. They also suggest that you "breathe normally" as this will help to support your back.

They then proceed to give you a motorcycle helmet and a weightlifting belt, cram you into the sled and drive you down the track. They converted a bobsled so that it had a metal roll cage and wheels (it scarily resembled a billy cart) and with a push start,  we rolled down the course in that. Oh, did I mention that the steering column is composed of bungee cords and duct tape?

Our noble steed. 

It was a surprisingly violent descent - my head and torso smacked against the cage every time we went around corners. It has really cemented to me that people who do luge or skeleton are absolute nutters, since we were only going a fraction of the speed that the real bobsleds would go, and were safely enclosed in the sled, yet it was still mildly terrifying.

The drive onwards was so beautiful - because fjords aren't tidal, the Norwegians have been able to build their railways and roads mere metres from the water. With the water one one side, and towering mountains on the other, even in a not-insignificantly sized bus you feel minuscule.

We had a short photo stop at the Stave church, so named for its steep, angular roofs. It was such a cute little church, but it's also quite obviously still an important part of the community, so it felt a bit strange walking around taking photos in an "active" graveyard.

Another gingerbread church challenge accepted. 

We then continued into Åndalsnes, through even more breathtaking scenery. The campsite is right next to a glacial river, so the water is that bright blue-green and crystal clear.

Generic Norwegian amazingness

It is also effing cold. Not only is is about 12 degrees, but nature's decided to throw a bit of hypothermia in the mix, because it's also drizzling and windy.

Tomorrow we're going cruising in the Geringer Fjord and the Trollveggen Passage, which we're told has the best scenery we're likely to see in Norway.

Hope you're all warm where ever you are!

- Lucy

Final thoughts for Oslo

Monday, 16 July

Holmenkollen Ski Jump

Stop 1 for today was the Holmenkollen Ski jump and Ski museum. It was originally made for the Olympics back in the day, but following a refurbishment last year, it has been reopened to the public.

From the top. It seems less terrifying in this photo, but it is a ridiculously long way down. Ski jumpers be crazy. 

We were pretty rushed at this stop, which is unfortunate because what little I saw of the museum actually looked really interesting. In particular, they have an exhibit at the moment dedicated to disabled winter athletes, showing the equipment they use (and options to have a play with bits of it) and the rules involved in the various paralympic winter sports. The view from the top was staggering, made even better by the fact that it was a perfectly clear day.

This is a recreation of a famous Norwegian photo of a 9 month old child skiing. Yes, nine months old. 

Ye olde ladies skiing costume. Seems practical. 

Oslo from above.

More Oslo from above. 

And some more Oslo from above. 

They had a stuffed brown bear in the gift shop. I don't think I would like to see one in the wild anymore. 

We then went down to Vigeland Park for another stroll through the giant penis garden.

Seriously, this guy needed a girlfriend. And to be kept far, far, far, far, far away from children and animals.

Afterwards, we were dropped at the far point of Bygdøy, where we had the option of visiting the Kon- Tiki museum or the Polar Fram museum. I went to Kon-Tiki, which was quite interesting, but the museum itself was disappointingly set up and didn't really have much information to give context to what I was seeing. What I gathered though is Thor Heyerdahl wanted to prove that it was possible that American tribes had crossed the Pacific Ocean  much earlier than previously thought, and definitely before the age of imperialism. To prove his hypothesis, he made the Kon-Tiki, a raft made using traditional techniques and traditional materials and sailed it across the Pacific.

A recreation of the original raft. It was made from balsa wood.  Seriously, how did (1) anyone think that taking this onto the open ocean was a good idea and (2) it make it???

Following up on the success of this voyage, he then made two more journeys in reed/papyrus boats the Ra and the Tigris. It was really amazing seeing the boats so close up, and looking at them it defies belief that he did actually manage to float them across thousands of kilometres of open ocean.

Me + another boat that probably shouldn't have been allowed to leave the harbours. 

Heyerdahl was also one of the first "popular scientist", writing many popular books about his theories and voyages and using the mass media generally to inform and entertain the public about scientific issues. A documentary made about the Kon-Tiki voyage actually won an Oscar, so I think I'd like to track that down and check it out once I get a bit settled.

Something I forgot to mention yesterday was that the Viking museum, Kon-Tiki and cultural museum are on a bit of land called the King's Court, which is this lovely forested peninsular about 10mins from central Oslo. It was a  gift from one of the kings to the people of Oslo for their recreation, so it has plenty of walking and cycling tracks. It also has a dairy farm which produces significant amounts of Norway's milk. The farm is working towards being completely organic, energy neutral and sustainable by 2013.

The dairy farm on the King's Court.

Finally, we were dropped off the Oslo town centre for some free time. We checked out the inside of the Town Hall on a bit of a whim, and it was lucky that we did. While the outside of the Hall is painfully plain (See the image from yesterday), the inside looks like this.

I would be happy to receive a Nobel Prize in here. 

 

This is one of the many frescoed rooms in the hall. The paintings tell the story of Norway's history...

which apparently included fending off giant insects at some point. 

After that, there wasn't much else for me to do, I just wandered around the city checking out some of the streets off the beaten track, which was actually quite interesting. Oslo is Europe's fastest growing city, and nearly a quarter of its residents are immigrants, so there are little pockets of the different ethnicities encircling the main tourist spots.

I also climbed up their opera house, which was pretty cool. Take note Sydney, all the cool opera houses let people walk an their roofs.

Floating sculpture outside the Opera. It's tethered to the bottom of the river with a single chain, so it spins around when there are winds/waves.

I have had quite a nice time in Oslo, although I 'm not sure I'll be returning any time soon. It feels like a city that is still growing into itself (literally, huge chunks of the city are being re/developed) and doesn't really have enough attractions to hold people for substantial periods.

-Lucy

Ps. The final thing about Oslo that I haven't mentioned is that it is getting some really funky, modern architecture. If hipster was a city, it would be Oslo.

Pps. 

Seagulls are freakishly large here. 

Pps.

I saw these in Oslo, and they didn't really seem to fit in anywhere. But seriously, how good do they look?