Norway Day Two

On day two in Norway we were looked after by Kenneth's parents,  Torild and Tom. Kenneth had classes to attend in Oslo, so they showed us around on the itinerary that Kenneth had mapped out for us. We set off with cut lunches and bags for the next few days as we were off exploring Norway.

First stop was the Vikersundbakken ski jump hill or ski flying hill, because that is what happens here. It is one of the largest purpose-built ski flying hills in the world and is pretty impressive. It would be even more impressive with snow. According to Wikipedia nine world records have been set there. The complex consists of a large hill, a normal hill and several training hills. 

Then we drove to the Blaafarveværket waterfall and Cobalt mines where we had our cut lunch. One thing we and Kenneth discovered is that touristy Norway shuts on October 1 because winter is coming and it is getting too cold. We arrived on October 3, so things like the Museum at the Cobalt mines were no longer open. But the countryside is beautiful and we had a lovely lunch and walk, and there was enough to do there.

Then is was off to the Kongsberg silvermines. According to local legend the silver was discovered by two small children taking out shepherding their cattle at the top of Gruveåsen hill. They saw something shining so they picked it up and took it home to their father. He realised it was silver and melted it to sell in the local town. But when he tried he was arrested. The police found it suspicious that someone would attempt to sell silver at such a low price and were convinced he was a thief. Given a choice of telling them where he had found the silver or hard labour he chose to tell the authorities that his children had found the silver in Southern Sandsvær, which was the old name for Kongsberg. A great story, but Wikipedia the grinch has a more factual tale. You can read it here. 

Kongsberg silvermines. the King's Mine is in red

Mining proper began in silver mining in 1623. the following year King Christian IV came to Norway to visit and founded the town of Kongsberg by royal charter. The King's Mine (Kongens gruve) was the largest mine at Kongsberg. This particularly rich mine operated to a depth of over 1,000 meters. The plant extracted silver right up until the closure in 1957. 

When the mining first began they needed German miners. It was hard going making little progress until they discovered building fires next to the face allowed much quicker progress.  The mines have false roofs to take the smoke out. The first mines went dug straight down, as you do, so water and snow got in and flooded the mines. This led to the development of pumps to bring the water out, and were adapted to become elevators to take workers up and down. The tunnels go up so that so that water would drain down and out. 

We had a marvelous few hours in the mine, traveling in and out inside the old rail carriages that were used until the 1950's.Thanks to Torild and Tom for taking us there. We then drove down to the town of Kongsberg and the Numedalslågen river. You can find my facebook post with the photos of the mine here

Then we set off to  Blefjell where they own a mountain cabin - or cottage as Kenneth called it. On the way we stopped at the Flesberg Stave Church or Stavkirke. Bonnie had told Kenneth she wanted to see one, and he found where they all were in the area we were travelling in. I think we saw a big proportion of those still in existence. Great job Kenneth. So this was the first one we saw and it was pretty impressive.

And then we arrived at the humble cabin, built for the snow. This is great cross country skiing country and Kenneth's family love to do this and are well set up, including the standard wet area before entering the house and letting the warm air out, and boot warmers so you start with warm boots. Well designed and comforatble. The area is so beautiful. When we arrived it was sunny and I have a couple of photos in the sun. The next day was cloudy and those photos are moody and show another side of the beauty of the area. Two months later Kenneth posted photos of snow up to the roof-line with his big sister jumping off.

One of the photos I took when we arrived was of Bonnie and  Torild picking cloudberries. Some have called this the culinary treasure of Norway. People are very protective of their bushes. Cloudberries are not wide spread and have a very short growing season. And the Hansen's have bushes outside their cabin. But you have to be there to pick them, or someone else will. I thought they were wonderful. We would encounter these again on Pavlova. Ikea sell cloudberry jam. 

You can find my facebook post with photos of this day except the silver mine here. 

Kenneth asked his mum to cook a traditional Norwegian meal, which was delicious. It was a great night, playing games, and enjoying each others company.