Colourful Dreamer

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...

Day 7 was spent in Oslo and was also our last day with Rebekah. Kenneth had classes that day and was able to help us onto public transport with some ideas about what to do. We began our day at the Vigeland installation in Frogner Park . The sculpture park is the world's largest sculpture park made by a single artist with more than 200 sculptures in bronze, granite and wrought iron. And it turns out it is one of Norway's most popular tourist attractions. This unique sculpture park is Gustav Vigeland 's lifework, and was mainly completed between 1939 and 1949. Most of the sculptures are placed in five units along an 850-meter-long axis: The Main Gate , the Bridge with the Children's Playground, the Fountain , the Monolith Plateau , and the Wheel of Life.  All 212 statues depict people of different ages, sexes, and sizes, all in different and sometimes perplexing poses. Vigeland wanted his statues to capture all the aspects of a person’s life, both in a literal and in a ...

  Day six was majestic and stunning, and quite cold. We woke to a stunning, clear, and chilly day in Aurlandsvangen. We were able to watch the Ferry come in as we had done the day before and had great views down the fjord. We had no idea what was in store for us that day. We set off up the steep zigzag to the Stegastein lookout.  Norwegians know how to do lookouts, with a platform built out from the road to allow the panoramic views back down to   Nærøyfjord in all directions. When we had taken out fill of dramatic photos of the fjords and surrounding peaks, we carried on up to Aurlandsfjellet National Tourist Route. This mountain road is normally only open from the 1st of June to approx. 15th of October. Kenneth had never crossed it before as it has always been closed when he tried. And he was sure it was going to close again as we drove over.  The road crosses a mountain plateau between Aurland and Lærdal. Even in summer you can see snow, so on a day well...

Day 5 was full of sights and adventures. We wheeled our bags back through Bergen to the car park where Kenneth’s father’s car was parked, and then headed off to the train station. Here we caught a The BergenRailway which runs from Bergen to Oslo. We met some lovely people heading out into the country who were very helpful. It is in itself a wonderfully scenic line. But even more awaited us. At Myrdal we disembarked and awaited our next rain and the beginning of Norway in a Nutshell. At Myrdal we waited for our next train - The Flåm Railway, or the Flåmsbana in Norwegian. It is often named one of the world's most beautiful train journeys and is also one of the world's steepest railway journeys. Our journey down to Flåm was in the original carriages – with a very modern eco-friendly engine. Our journey took us through tunnels, and views looking back on the track below, and of mountains, waterfalls and quaint farms and villages. We stopped at the impressive Kjosfossen falls ...