Norway Day Eight - The Last Day - Worlds End, Tønsberg, and Vikings

Day 8 began with quite a drive down to the Færder National Park. The Visit Norway website says “is one of the country's most important areas for coastal outdoor activities. The national park covers 340 square kilometers of mainland, islands, reefs and seabed in Færder municipality. It stretches from Ormøy in the north to Færder lighthouse in the south. The landscape in the national park is distinctive and rich in geological formations. There are several important nesting areas for seabirds in the national park, and the national park has a very diverse flora and fauna. Plants and insects live here that can hardly be found anywhere else. The area in the national park is popularly used for boat trips, paddling, water sports, hiking, fishing and swimming.”

We spent time at Verdens Ende or “World’s End”. One of the features is the Vippefyr lighthouse built from beach stones in1932 – a replica of ancient lighthouses. It was quite striking on its hill. Kenneth told us that in summer there would be people swimming and sunning themselves on the rocks we carefully walked over. Hard to imagine on the cold windy day we were there. It was a glorious place to start our last day

Next we drove to Slottsfjellsmuseet (The Slottsfjells Museum) which offers a look into the history of medieval Tønsberg. One of the star attractions is the preserved Viking ship Klastad, the story of its discovery and what it tells us of the commercial history of Tønsberg. We spent time looking at the several medieval exhibits which explored the life of kings, nobles, clergy and the common people in medieval Norway. And we learnt about King Haakon Haakonsson and the civil war era. There was also a blue whale skeleton along with exhibits on local whale hunting history. We then climbed up the hill into the wind to the Tunsberghus, the ruins of a medieval Fortress and Castle that defended Tønsberg for more than 300 years.

We walked down into Tønsberg city and saw two replica Viking ships, and the tent where another is being made using traditional Viking methods. and had some amazing views of the waterfront. Kenneth wanted to take us to a particular sea front food place for the famous Norwegian sea food dish, bacalao (from the Spanish word for cod), This apparently is a flavorful dish crafted from salt cod, olive oil, stewed tomatoes, garlic, shallots, and potatoes and is one of Norway's most distinctive and beloved recipes. And it was not on the menu that day. So, we had fish and chips or fish burgers, which were yum. Somehow in all this I did not get a coffee, or a toilet, much to my sadness and discomfort. Say your words John, don’t assume.

We then walked back through Nordbyen – the oldest part of Tønsberg, and one of the oldest parts of Norway. Nordbyen consists of just one street , the oldest continuous wooden house complex in Tønsberg and one of the oldest in Norway. They are all beautifully maintained.

We carried on back to the car, and set off to Borreparken, the Borre mound cemetery.  This cemetery is home to seven large and 21 smaller burial mounds, and is the largest known burial mound site in Northern Europe. Excavations in the 1980s revealed that the oldest mounds date to 600 AD, i.e. prior to the Viking Age. You can read more on Wikipedia here. 

Amongst these mounds stands a wooden statue of Heimdall! In Norse mythology, he guards Bifrost, the rainbow bridge that leads to Åsgard, home to the Æsir gods. Not quite how Marvel depicted him!

We then went to the Midgard Viking Center and had a very illicit and quick look through a Viking Age feast hall is called Gildehallen. This reconstruction is based on recent archaeological findings and historical theories on what would have served as a royal guildhall and/or ceremonial space for the Viking aristocracy. It was magnificent.

And then back to Kenneth’s for our last night in Norway. I spent ages trying to vote in our election back home. And in the end I’m not sure that effort was worth it. But when I finished, I saw an email from LOT – Polish Airlines. I thought I knew what it said. I was tired and still needed to pack. Voting had taken ages. I did not read it to the end. I did not see the link to the Canadian ETA. This caused oh so much drama over the next two days. But we did get an extra night in Oslo.

Kenneth was such a good host. I think our 8 days exhausted him, with all the driving and care. It exhausted us. It was great staying in his home. He loves travelling, something that his time in Aotearoa encouraged. He has a whiteboard in his main room where he puts fridge magnets from places he has been to. And in his office he has a world map that you rub off the top colour to reveal which countries you have been to. He is very un-Norwegian and has a great desire to change the colour of that whole map. He has nearly done Europe.

Kenneth loves board-games. He has a “bookcase” that displays many of his games. For his 30^th birthday he contacted the artist for one of his favourite board games, "Flamecraft", to see if he could commission her to do a picture for him. She agreed and he now has a wonderful image of himself drawn in the same style as his game.

Thankyou Kenneth for your care. You gave us such a wonderful time, and wonderful memories of your Norway. It was a gift.