Travels with "Peedie Charlie and 2017 Adventure: From Norway

Hi from Norway,

We have arrived in Oslo and are camped in a fjord camp, 5 minutes walk from a beach and 15 mins bus ride along a beautiful waterfront into the centre of the city. We certainly have the best of both worlds. We explored some of what Oslo has to offer today visiting the wonderful Nobel Peace Centre (great exhibition on social media and democracy) and then after buying shrimp for lunch from a fishing boat we took the ferry to visit the Viking Ship Museum. This housed the burial ships that have been discovered in the Oslo fjord over the last 150 years. Wonderful detailed treasures and interesting to learn that women were accorded the same lavish funeral rites and the men.

What a really beautiful country Norway is. As we have said to some of you, it is like traveling through Milford Sound or the Marlborough Sounds, but times 1000, with pine trees. The awesome views just go on and on. We arrived about 2 weeks ago and were lucky enough to have a great house sit for a week in Oppdal. This town is quite far north and on the same latitude as Southern Iceland. So it was back to the 20 hours of sunshine a day we had in the Orkneys but this time the weather was really warm. Norway has turned on its best summer, according to locals, in the last 100 years and it has been day after day of temps above 25 degrees. Sarah who is traveling with us said she did not expect to be able to work on her tan!

From Oppdal we explored the area including an overnight on the coast at Kristiansund and a drive of the Atlanterhavsveien (Atlantic Road). This breathtaking road is where they often shoot car ads. Drove through amazing fjords there and back. Around Oppdal we did some hiking, visited a lake for more hiking and a very brief swim (water temps were like October at Karehana Bay).

On our way South we have stayed at the beautiful Flåm and kayaked on the Aurlandsfjord. Briefly visited Bergan and walked around the old wooden buildings and bought really yummy fish at the famous fish market.

The engineering that goes into the roads, tunnels and bridges is mightily impressive. One tunnel was 25km long and had 3 areas at intervals that were the size of cathedrals so you could stop. These areas were also lit differently to stop you getting mesmerized by the tunnel lights. Some tunnels have roundabouts in them which is a challenge as our GPS system often does not work underground(!!). We have also driven over some of the most elegant bridges.

One of the most common comments we heard before visiting Norway was how expensive it is. You would certainly need to be rich to live on red meat and drink lots of alcohol. Food prices in the budget supermarket are generally 10-15% higher than in NZ and way higher than the UK. Anything from a café or restaurant costs a lot. Campsites for the 3 of us are from $60 - $40 a night. Diesel is around $3 a litre and petrol is more expensive. There are lots of tolls and we have probably been charged over $200 by now. Most are automatic with the license plate being photographed and invoice sent to our home address….we may get some interesting bills in NZ next year!

As our Norwegian is almost non existent we are really grateful for all the English which is spoken and which is on signs. The people are really helpful. Takk (thank you) has entered the Bleasdale vocabulary. The washing machine greets us with Slutt (finished) on the digital display when it stops. I tell it I did not ask for its opinion. We drove through a town called ‘Naf’ and a more friendly ‘Bud’.

The Norwegians are relaxed and really into their outdoor activities. The children appear to be offered more physical risk taking than at home with challenging flying foxes being a common part of back yard equipment and balancing equipment in parks. The average work week is 33 hours and we heard that primary teachers are starting the school year with a strike over hours as they are currently required to do all their marking and prep at school.

We are very impressed with how Norway and the mainland European countries we drove through to get here are visibly into sustainability. Seeing electric cars hooked up to outlets in car parks is common. Cycle lanes often go between towns. Not so much in Norway as there is so much hydro-electric generation but in the other countries we often saw solar panels on houses and saw several solar farms. Wind generation was also very evident. The detail of recycling at the Oppdal house was impressive.

Norway: mountains + remarkable tunnels; fjords, rivers, lakes + bridges; waterfalls + photos, heat + tan; thunder / lightning + internet black out (even in Oslo!); wonderous high plateaus + snow with mountain views; great people + climbing, cycling, hiking; beautiful architecture, great houses + relaxed approach to life……especially when winter is so long and quite harsh; great roads that are very well policed – speed cameras everywhere; breathtaking scenery everywhere + stopping a lot to just stare in wonder!

After seeing and experiencing Norway we would more than recommend it as a dramatic place to visit. The Atlantic coastal highway was a terrific drive as it was a mixture of scenery and engineering – many of the people were Norwegian which must be a recommendation!

Sarah flys back to Brussels on Sunday and we will be sorry to see her go but will see her again before we head back to the UK probably at the end of September. Next we head for Sweden then make our way down through Denmark and Germany.

Farewell to England from Harwich ….Chinese corptn. owned British port.