Norway 1988

Wed 3rd

Drive from Waterhouses to Newcastle, and get the ferry to Stavanger

Our car loaded up with two weeks luggage, cheap booze, plus Lin, our son Adam and myself ; oh and Adam’s bike on the roof rack, we drove to Newcastle docks, and boarded the ferry for Stavanger in Norway. We found our cabin and transferred our overnight stuff. We then had dinner as the ship left the calm waters of the Tyne estuary. Once we were on the North Sea, we realised the crossing was going to be a bit rough, and our cabin was near the front of the ship so the motion was exaggerated. Lin and Adam tried to settle, but clearly it was going to be a bad night so I went to the information desk and asked for a more central cabin. They were very obliging and I think as well as a better location on the ship, I think we ended up with an upgraded cabin.

I stayed up for a while, had a beer in the bar, and explored the ship, enjoying the heavy seas. I had the interesting experience when descending some steps in the stern, of being weightless one moment, and then my weight virtually doubling, and my knees almost buckling. Anyway, we survived the night, and even managed to get some sleep.

Thu 4th

Drive from the ferry to Tony and Barbara’s house in Sola.

We disembarked from the ferry in bright sunshine, and found our way to Tony and Barbara’s very spacious house in Sola, to the south of Stavanger. We had a relaxing day just chilling, and no further driving.

Fri 5th

Lin and drive to the Månafossen waterfall

Adam (who was seven) wanted to play with Michael; Tony had to go into the office, so Lin and I took ourselves off to see the Månafossen waterfall. Our route took us through some beautiful scenery, and past the fjords such as Limavatnet, Ragsvatnet and Frafjord.

We walked up to the waterfall, which seemed to come out the side of the cliff, and then returned to Sola via the Gloppedalsura Scree… scene of a huge rockfall around 10,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age.

After a late lunch, we went for a walk across marshy ground to Dalsnuten, where we could look down on Gandsfjorden.

Sat 6th

Michael’s birthday

Michael’s birthday, so there was a party for him, and some of his friends came round. Afterwards, us boys went down to the football pitch below the house (which was sometimes used by the Norwegian national team), and had a bit of a kick-around.

Sun 7th

A family trip to Kongeparken.

This was a two-car occasion… a visit to Kongeparken near Ålgård. A sort of theme park based around a huge Gulliver lying on his back. No white knuckle rides, but plenty of activities for younger kids. Barbara had prepared a picnic lunch.

We had a special meal in the evening as this was also Lin’s birthday.

Mon 8th

Pottered around in the Statoil boat

A very hot day, so we took a packed lunch and picked up the little Statoil cabin cruiser, and headed vaguely north across Boknaford, possibly stopping at Randøy for lunch. We pottered back and checked-out some exploration rigs ‘parked’ in Stavanger harbour.

Back in Sola, while dinner was being prepared, Adam took his bike down to the car park next to the football pitch. Tony and I followed with Michael and his bike, and we watched as Michael (two years Adam’s junior), with very little help from us, learned to ride a two-wheeler.

Tue 9th

Continue our ferry journey to Bergen, drive to Tysnesøy

We had booked the ferry as Newcastle to Bergen and return, but since it stopped at Stavanger on it’s way to Bergen, the ticket price allowed us to break our journey there. Today was the day we continued to Bergen.

It was a fine day for a scenic cruise threading between the coastal islands; through the Karmsundet channel and under the Karmsund Bridge, past Haugesund and sailing through Bømlafjord, Selbjørnfjord, Bjørpefjord and into Bergen. I took a photo of the immense Gullfaks ‘A’ production platform being fitted out at the Kværner Yard at Stord.

Disembarked at Bergen and drove to our cabin on Tysnesøy, overlooking the Hardangerfjord.

Wed 10th

Stayed local on Tysnes.

The day started hot and sunny, so Lin, Adam and myself borrowed the small boat that was available to us, and rowed around the local bay for a while. We then drove to local shops for provisions, and had a snack lunch. The weather deteriorated into showers, so we decided to go for a ferry trip as foot passengers… and started Adam’s obsession with Kinder Surprise eggs, which they sold in the cafeteria on the ferry!

Thu 11th

‘Norway in a Nutshell’

A cool and gloomy day. We got up early to drive to Bergen for the ‘Norway in a Nutshell’ trip we’d booked. We got lost in Bergen, and running out of time, we cheekily parked in the goods yard at the station.

The trip consisted of two trains; the first as far as Myrdal, then the second train took us through the mountains, via several spiral tunnels, eventually arriving back at sea-level at Flåm at the southern end of Aurlandfjord.

This was where we joined the regular ferry to Gudvangen. It was still overcast, and most people saught somewhere inside the ferry, but everyone was avoiding the seats in the centre of the main saloon because the view was obscured. I remember pondering on this for a few moments, and then I realised the thing that was obscuring the view was the triangular bow of the ship, which was raised to let vehicles on, so we grabbed those seats, and ended up with the best seats available!

It was a fantastic cruise through Aurlandfjord (stopping at Aurlandsvangen and Undredal), and then Nærøyfjord. Both are legs of the beautiful Sognefjord.

We arrived at Gudvangen just as the heaven’s opened up. We took the coach back to Bergen, and found to our relief that the car was still accessible, and there was no ticket! We then went to a clearing house for tourist accommodation, and given our budget, they found us a surprisingly nice (and central) hotel with a family suite for the night.

Fri 12th

Explored Tysnes

We drove back to Tysnes, and Lin and I were having a cup of coffee, and Adam was out on his bike, when we heard a crash and a wail. We ran to the lane and dragged (a mostly undamaged) Adam out of the undergrowth. Our local road was quite steep and his brakes hadn’t been good enough.

More sunshine and showers, but we managed to spend an hour or two exploring inland Tysnes in the car.

Sat 13th

Drive to the Folgefonn Glacier.

We drove to Gjerdmundshamn and took ferry across Hardangerfjord to Løfallstrand. We headed north on the coast road, towards Sundal, and at one point the road went over the dramatic Furebergfossen waterfall.

We then drove up into the mountains, and parked when we could go no further. We then took the trail up to the Bondhusbreen Glacier in Hordaland… a tongue of the huge Folgefonn glacier, which we could see from our cabin some 30 km away (as the crow flies).

Sun 14th

Drive back to Bergen and take the overnight ferry to Newcastle.

Another gloomy day with heavy rain showers. We left the cabin in the morning and drove to Bergen. The ferry was due to leave around 5 o’clock in the afternoon, so we parked the car and did a little exploring, including taking the funicular high up Mount Fløyen overlooking Bergen harbour and city centre.

Stayed around the harbour until time for our ferry. This time it was a comfortable crossing back to Newcastle.

Mon 15th

Drive from Newcastle to Waterhouses