Norway - Stavenger, Bergen, Oslo

The morning we left the farm it absolutely poured down.   We got on the train at Storekvina, after finding the best seats, settled in for our two hour journey, it was really as there had been so much rain, the rivers and waterfalls that had formed were gushing at great pace.  There were plenty of tunnels and bush and as we got closer to Stavenger we could see the Atlantic Ocean and the start of Lysefjord Fjord.   We had a taking bout 4.5 hours to kill in Stavenger, so we walked around the city taking in some sights – but not the best one.  Unfortunately I had mixed our booking up and not allowed enough time to do the famous Pulpit Rock hike.  We were guttered, we had tried to change our bookings but couldn’t without ditching the tickets and then purchasing new ones  – not an option.  But as it turned out, it was ok, as the weather was shocking and apparently we wouldn’t have seen much at all.  So readers beware the Pulpit Rock trip takes one full day, by the time you actually get there by boat, then bus, then climb and return.  We were lucky to have seen some other Fjords.  It was easy to fill in some time by browsing in the shops and around the harbour.  Stavenger is the oil capital of Norway, and has a oil museum that closed to early on the day that we were there. The buildings were really cool, all wooden and often three stories high, with beautiful big windows facing the water.  It was soon time to head to the ferry terminal and catch the fast cat to Bergen (fast being 4.5 hours).

Stavenger

The boat was small, and with quite a few people on it.   Not long out a message came over the speaker that we were to remain in our seats for the next 15 minutes as they were expecting it to be rough and also we would have to get a bus to cover part of the journey as it was too rough.  Murray was pleased he had taken some sea leg pills!  It did get a bit rough, because it was a cat and we were sitting near the front it tossed around a bit.  It settled down after a short time and as we came back in around some fjords.  They were beautiful well as much as we could see as it was raining, but lots of cabins/houses and boat jetty’s and sheds and islands dotted around everywhere.  The landscape was a mixture or rock and farmland and loads of bridges!  Would have been a great trip on a summer’s day when you could sit up the top.  After around two hours we got off the boat on to the bus, for about an hour I guess.  The road trip was nice, loads of bridges and tunnels, one was 8kms long!  Norwegians love tunnels!  Back on to the boat, where again we were told it was going to be rough.  Murray went to sleep and missed most of it, including the neat bridge that was all lit up as we came into Bergen.  The heavens opened up and we were saturated by the time we got to our hotel, and after a wee tiff over where and which way to go!  Haha

We woke to a rainy day again – surprised nope not at all – Bergen has a reputation for rain in fact it rains 275 days of the year!   It is Norway’s second largest city and is full of history.  Its 15^th century waterfront is beautiful with its wooden houses and crooked cobbled streets.  There is a funicular to the top Mt Floyen which is only around 320m but it was a really good view from up there and we could see part of where we had come last night on the boat.   We decided to pop up the brollies and walk back down the hill for some fresh air and exercise, it took around 45 minutes, and we met some interesting people along the way.  We got talking to a couple from the states that were travelling on a cruise ship that was in port for two nights.  They had travelled a fair bit and were maybe coming to NZ one day, so we exchanged cards and went in separate ways.  We were hungry to to the fish market for us.  Deb N, it was to die for, you would have loved all the seafood, every kind of shellfish, fish fish, you could imagine, and of course Salmon every which way.  Murray was going to try whale meat but didn’t in the end.  It was a real dark colour, sort of dark burgundy and looked like black pudding dark congealed blood!  So mixed fish kebabs it was with stir fry  vegies – yummy.  We explored the city some more before wandering back for a rest.

At 7.25 the train pulled out of Bergen for its seven hour journey to Oslo.  I don’t need to say what the weather was doing.  We were really looking forward to this trip as it is supposed to one of the best train journeys in Norway.  And it was great!  The day was raining, then sunny, then misty then snowing, then sunny, then rain, then snow, then mist if you get the picture.  The train goes through Myrdal, then to Finse near the Hardangerjokulen ice cap.  This area has year round skiing and is popular for summer hiking as well.  From there the train winds down 600m to Gello, a ski centre, where you can practically walk off the train and on to a lift.  The other half of the journey is a mixture of lakes, alpine country, and as you get closer to Oslo of course more populated towns.  All the way our eyes were peeled for a moose, reindeer or even a red fox, but we only got a glimpse of a fox, but the cameraman wasn’t ready and we were on a high speed train.  An amazing trip, the best part for me was the Hardangervidda plateau and the snow.  We met some other people, actually they were from the states as well, and they had done the trip to Bergen 5 days prior and there was no snow, and now they couldn’t believe how much there was and that it was actually snowing now.

So we were lucky after all.

Oslo - well it is still raining.  We took our bags to the hotel and got settled then headed out for dinner and a bit of a look around.  OMG things are so expensive here, so, unbelievably; McDonalds it was! And even that was 250 NOK or NZD 50.  A nice city on the edge of the Baltic sea; with sculptors of anything everywhere, naked. clothed, old, young, grouped and singular, just everywhere.  Probably really interesting but we never had time to find out about all of them. The weather was let’s say crap!  It was cold, windy and raining.  We went for a look up to the top of the Opera House, great view from up there.  You could walk up both sides of it and then onto its roof, a very cool design.   The following day we also visited it again and met a neat couple from Corfu an island in Greece. They had got some cheap tickets and were there for the weekend.    Again it was windy, so we walked around a bit then headed back into the main area and window – shopped or shopping as Murray keeps referring to it as.  Everything was much too expensive to buy, but we were looking and had been looking for since we have been back on the move a moose or reindeer skin.  Hopefully we will find one in Sundsvall.

Sorry folks, can't download the more pictures right now, so I will update asap.

Norway - Gusse

Leaving Malmo on a beautiful day!

Our flight was good and coming into Kristiansand was beautiful you could already see some of the waterways, green pastures and green bush, with red, white and mustard coloured houses scattered about the river edges and in the hills.  From Kristiansand airport, we had to high tail it into the city to met the train to carry on to Storekvina.  We only had 30 mins, we caught a taxi and paid through the nose for it – but as we stepped on the train they closed the door behind us, so we were lucky.  The train ride was good and the 2 hours passed quickly.

Lill our helpx host met us at the station and took us back to the farm at Gusse, near to Kvinesdal.  Everything was painted either white or red; the main house and little cabin were white and all the farm buildings were red.  We were shown to our room and around the bottom floor of the house.  There was another helpx there from UK, Harriet, she turned out to be a great help to us settling in.

The next morning we were out and about by 8am, feeding hens, ducks, geese, turkeys, chicks, peacocks, and trying to control the uncontrollable sheep that kept jumping over fences.  Murray started to reclad the cabin. The farm was spread out a little and had a boundary right on the fjord.  That afternoon after all the jobs were done, we three helpxes and the two dogs headed off for a walk, it was not a track so we did a bit of bush bashing and made it to the top, to find a fantastic view over the rocks, and nearby bush/farmland.  We headed back down a little and then eventually came back out onto the road and walked back up the hill and then down to the farm.  On the way we saw a snake – not a poisonous one, but a snake none the less.

Box of 40 chickens

The naughty sheep who jumps every fence.

Murray being a softie and carrying Tuva,
who has legs about four inches above the ground up the steep rocks
and through the dense scrub

The view from the top

A moss filled river

we came down here somewhere

our friendly snake

little beauties

Our days were filled with farmyard duties, carpentry and painting and of course dodging the rain. We both got to go out and see the llamas and their sheep which were away from the house.  It rained 12 out of the 14 we were there – not constantly but every day.

Tina our hosts daughter kindly took us on a bush walk to the lookout over the fjord.  It was simply beautiful, you could see right out into the Atlantic and back in towards Kvinesdal.  The sides of the fjord were shear rock face and every now and again there would be a hut or boat shed or maybe even a small beach. There was some bush on the rocks as well.  It was very deep looking and was dark blue in color.  The vegetation on our way up to the lookout was really great, green, health y looking bush and when we got to the top there was lots of mosses and lichens.

Looking up the fjord

Tina, Harriet and Murray with the Fjord

another glimpse of the Fjord
and the only bridge that crosses it.

Pretty little riverside village

nice sunset

The llama

The next outing was with Kai, Lill and Tina.  It was a Saturday night and they decided to take us out crab collecting in the fjord.  We had dinner and headed down to the water about 11pm ish, got the boat and Murray and I went with Kai and Lill while the others stayed at the fire on the beach.  We looked for ages before catching a glimpse of them a couple of metres under the waterline – too far away to reach.  The idea is that around 12pm they come out and climb to the rocks on the waters edge to feed on the barnacle looking things at the water level.  We tried several different spots along the fjord, before turning back with our tails between our legs.   We weren’t so lucky maybe because it had been raining so much and the water was actually quite muddy or maybe we were too early, either way there didn’t seem to be many even down at 2m.  Never mind it was nice to sit on the beach with a fire and a beer.  The others went out on their way to take the boat back but didn’t find any either.

Another afternoon we went for a walk to a cave on top of a hill were a witch used to live.  She was the last surviving witch in Norway.  Her cave was in the rocks and apparently was huge.  She was well known for providing people with magic potions to make then well.  -  So she was a good witch!

the witches cave

on the ay back down from the witches cave

Ship cat, with an extra two claws on its 'thumb'
 - apparently they come in handy when on boat for balance.

Ghost ship, started by a Russian and then left to rust.

another nice spot

cool house

the main house

the little cabin that Murray worked on

Morning........

these ones were so silky to touch

A mixture of colors

little duck getting a telling off

The morning before Harriet left, we three all got up and borrowed the work van and went moose hunting – well not hunting exactly more looking!  And looking is about all we did.  We drove t o a spot were a cow and calf had been seen only a few days before, and along a bit further and to another spot as well but no one poked their heads out.  We did see plenty of deer, they seemed to be everywhere.    We went back for breakfast with long faces and got on with our daily jobs.  That night Kai and Lill took us moose looking again and after about 30 mins of driving there she was!  A medium size moose, a wee way away, but she did walk a little closer, Kai was moose calling her, but she wasn’t sure about him.  The light had changed, so we didn’t get a clear look, but it was awesome to see such a big animal in the wild.

Not quite how we saw it,
but this is a Norwegian moose!

The next afternoon Harriet left, it was sad to see her go as she was good company. We survived another week after she left, but then a couple of days before we left a girl from Germany arrived, so that was nice.  And by now I guess a girl from Whangarei will be there.  A busy helpx  place. Thanks for having us to stay.

Next stop will be Bergen for two nights, via Stavenger.

Sweden - Malmo

Big sailing ship docked at Travemunde

 Well what a nice surprise as the bus pulled up to be greeted by Alicia (Murray’s niece). We had caught up with her in Istanbul and had hoped to again in Malmo, Sweden.  Alicia works here so has an apartment she was willing to share with us for a couple of nights, so that was great.  We had a great boat trip across and were actually quite surprised by the amount of boats in the Baltic Sea – honestly it was like “Queen Street” ferries, freight, oil you name it, going in all directions.  And the odd sail and pleasure boat as well.  The weather wasn’t the nicest and we stayed inside pretty much all the time.  We arrived at  Trallesburg, then waited for a bus to Malmo.  The trip only took around 30 minutes, and was pleasant enough, we saw hundreds of birds flying in the sky – yes I know they normally do, but they were all going the same direction and in flocks.  We found out later that they were probably practicing to migrate!

Look hard and you will see a wind farm    

Something tells me we are going to need a brollie

Look hard again and you will see the birds

 Alicia’s apartment is lovely, compact and bright and fresh, she had prepared a delicious dinner and then we hit the sack.  Tomorrow she would go to work and we would borrow the bikes and explore Malmo.  Malmo is pretty small really and there is not much to see or do, but we thoroughly enjoyed our bike ride around the city and along the waterfront.  The Swedes are certainly very bike friendly with loads of bike pathways and massive bike parks to leave your bike at.  The sea looked very cold.  We could see the big bridge over to Copenhagen, it looked pretty big too. That night I cooked for us, nothing too special just Wiener schnitzel, salad and spuds, hit the spot though, followed by Alicia’s lemon pudding – hhmm perfect!

A floating bike park by the station......

.........the other end of it.

The Turning Torso building standing at 190m

 Alicia’s apartment is lovely, compact and bright and fresh, she had prepared a delicious dinner and then we hit the sack.  Tomorrow she would go to work and we would borrow the bikes and explore Malmo.

Malmo is pretty small really and there is not much to see or do, but we thoroughly enjoyed our bike ride around the city and along the waterfront.  The Swedes are certainly very bike friendly with loads of bike pathways and massive bike parks to leave your bike at.  The sea looked very cold.  We could see the big bridge over to Copenhagen, it looked pretty big too. That night I cooked for us, nothing too special just Wiener schnitzel, salad and spuds, hit the spot though, followed by Alicia’s lemon pudding – hhmm perfect!

Not sure who is leading who astray here -drinking on the streets of Copenhagen at 4.30pm
- actually according to Alicia it is totally acceptable!

Come on lego man

Did you know that Denmark is the biggest tyre manufacturer
- lego that is... 

Need an arm, leg, body or just a head ?
3 body bits for $10

On Wednesday morning we left around midday for Copenhagen to catch a flight to Kristiansand in Norway.  

So thank you and goodbye for now Sweden.  

And a special thanks to Alicia for having us ‘fossils’.

Germany - Steinfeld

We got into Lubeck around 1600 and then looked around a bit while we waited for our connecting train to Reinfeld where Christiane picked up. It was so nice to meet Janna’s family in person, Christian, Christiane, Tim, Wilma (dog) Musik (cat), we had of course talked to them several times on skype, but this was much better.

 The next day was Christiane’s day off, so after doing a few jobs we headed into Hamburg.  We went to the Hamburg Port which was truly amazing; Murray counted 55 container cranes without even trying. It is the world’s third largest port after London and New York. After a look over an old sailing boat called Rickmar Rickmars we got on a boat harbour cruise, which wound its way in and out of some of the port docks, unfortunately the commentary was all in German but Christiane filled us in a bit.  After leaving the boat we decided we would go through the 100 year old Elbe tunnel to the other side of the harbour.  This was really cool, 450m tunnel, single lane with footpath either side. I thought it would have been really cool if it had a glass roof so you could see the boats over the top – huge big propellers turning up the water – hhmm maybe not. 

Ship Ahoy captain - backwards???

In the engine room

Cranes everywhere

Hamburg waterfront

Yep its them two again!

Looking back over to Hamburg

The old tunnel

 Next day we had the morning to ourselves so we headed in Lubeck to do a spot of shopping a new hat for me as I had left the last one in Poland and a new toilet bag for Murray.  Then around 4pm when we were all ready we headed off for a two hour car journey to Pevestorf – south west of Lubeck.  Murray and I took Christian’s car and they went in Christianes’.  Murray quite enjoyed being behind the wheel, even though it took a lot of concentration and a couple of close shaves, very close shaves! -  later we arrived at their lovely holiday spot.  We had to go across the River Elbe on the small car ferry and then drive about 5 minutes further to the cabin.  It was lovely, set in big tall trees with plenty of shade with a nice garden.  We walked to the local restaurant and enjoyed a nice meal before wandering back for a few more beers and a bonfire at the house.  On the way back we saw some fruit bats. Next morning after a delicious breakfast we headed to the marina to get their boat.  I just caught a glimpse of a squirrel – darn didn’t have the camera and really it was too quick anyway. The local boat club had something going on, and there were people and boats everywhere.  The river itself was quite wide, very peaceful, just a few birds and cows on the beach and the occasional boat passing us. We headed up the Elbe to another little village where we stopped for a walk to the lookout and a nice meal at a restaurant.   It was a really nice day out.  When we got back, we cut some firewood, Christian and Murray saw a black snake and Murray cut his foot so was off duty for the rest of the evening,  and then enjoyed another delicious bbq meal and a bonfire with some ale and all was good.  The next day we just relaxed before heading to the river (beach) and relaxed some more before driving back to Steinfeld.  It was an awesome weekend in the sun, which we thoroughly enjoyed.

Wilma looking for a treat, that Murray has in his pocket

Beautiful sight - almost ready to harvest

Following our leaders

The river Elbe

Campfire

The boat

The car ferry

Two mermaids on the fore deck

Great discussion by Christian and Murray

Outside the museum

A cooling dip for Murray

Firewood time

Christiane's cottage

After having such a relaxing weekend we thought maybe we should do something active so the plan was for us to go on a bike tour – so Christiane dropped us off at Krumesse where we joined the Elbe canal.  We biked along the canal for 24kms to a village called Mollin, then left the canal track and explored the village.  First stop was a bike shop to replace the crank arm as it kept needing tightening. It was a pretty village, quite busy and famous for Eulenspeigal, who was a legendary clown.  We had left the bikes at the village square so after walking around, eating lunch we headed back to grab the bikes and went on another bike trail around a smaller lake, and saw another black snake before heading back to our meeting point where we were getting picked up.  Another awesome day, it had threatened to rain, with thunder and flashes of lightening but nothing had happened so we were lucky.

One of the many weirs.

bike track...

a little further along...

neat little house by Mollin 

Three clowns !

At Mollin

Another nearby lake

 On Tuesday morning we headed to Reinfeld 10 kms bike ride to pick up some supplies for our kiwi dinner that night.  We found a massive piece of pork to roast for 5.90 euros !  Brought some vege to go with it and some apples for an apple crumble and we were all set.  Our back packs were full and we again headed off.  After a bit of a climb out of the village we turned off to go back via the forest track.  Almost through the forest, my back tyre blew out!  Not a major, but a real pain.  Murray carried on and dropped his bags at home then came back to get mine and I pushed the bike home, it was only about 2 kms, but it was really hot.  Anyway, Murray then had to go back into Reinfeld to get a tyre as we needed the bikes for the next day and I cooked the dinner. Yummy!  Watched an English movie on telly together.The next day we caught up on some laundry and stuff and took Wilma for a big walk.  The weather was still a bit unstable but it was still warm.  I think some nearby villages got wet but not us.  When Christiane came home from work we jumped on the bikes again and headed off to Lake Pogonese.  I guess about 10kms away.  Christiane enjoyed a swim, (too cold for us) I saw another squirrel, Murray saw some interesting machinery and that was pretty much it.

A big bike ride was planned for Thursday.  We would bike to Reinfeld, Train to Lubeck, change trains and go to Travemunde and do the coastal ride.  Good plan.  It went a bit pear shaped for me as we were changing trains I bumped my bad shoulder and was in excruciating pain.  Didn’t have my supply of fix it drugs with me as I had my backpack today, so waited until we got to Travelmunde, were my able assistants got me drugs and a heat pack – aarrhhh – nice!  So cut a long story short, the tour was cut short a bit, but we still managed to bike around 30 kms and had a good look at the Travemunde harbour, waterfront and around to Niendorf harbour.  Really pretty ride, right by the coast, the water looked clear, nice looking beaches – which you had to pay to get on, but they did have those nice little beach hut things which were pretty cool and the weather was a little weird, with thunder and rain threatening. Bit of a bugger really but that life.  Kept pumping in the drugs and kept the heat on to take the edge off.

walking Wilma

along the coast

nearer to the city end of the beach

rent a spot on the beach  (8 euros - all day I think)

Sand sculptors - 3 weeks to make in between the rain 

The boat that we are going on to Sweden

another spot along the beach

 Next day, after a reasonable sleep, was our last chance to look at Lubeck.  So we headed off by bus.  Lubeck is a beautiful looking city, surrounded by a river, bit like a moat really.  We had a shopping list so we concentrated on that first, ticking all the boxes and then had a wee look around, but ran out of time quickly.  We would love to come back here there is so much we missed, it is always hard shopping for specific things in a city you don’t know.  We planned to be back home before 5pm as we were going to a show tonight, but when we got to the train, they were all delayed as some kids were playing on the tracks, so held all the trains up for around 30 mins.  Anyway, we did make it back and we went to a Cowboy and Indian outdoor show.  To dodge all the traffic and save some time we drove to a nearby train station and got the train to another village and then walked to the show.  Christiane had kindly got us a program which had the Winnetou II story outline in English, otherwise we may have been a bit lost.  It was all in German. The set was amazing, huge, main cast of 14 people, with of course loads of others and I think a stunt crew of 7 people; real horses, falcon, gunfire, fireworks etc The show is put on every year, every day, twice a day, for three months of course it has a new story each year, but is always cowboys and Indians.  Amazing!

All set for a good cowboy show.

The grand finale.

Saturday, was a day of rest, housework, packing and an enjoyable farewell dinner prepared by master chef Christian;  Chicken shes kebabs, maize and Tim’s potatoes – Yummy.  Christian and Christiane are coming to NZ in January and February next year, so we sat and helped them with some more information and a little planning before watching another English movie.

We left Steinfeld around 8am for Travemunde were we caught the huge ferry to Sweden docking at Trelleborg, then catching a bus to Alicia – can’t wait.

Many thanks to Chrsitian, Christiane and Tim for having us, we really enjoyed our stay and hope to call in again for a quick visit in about a month.