9 July On the beach
Rocky beach in places, otherwise miles of sand.
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A walk in the waves.
The rocks are beautifully warm from the sun.
Loads of wild flowers too.
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Super-size Norwegian boulders.
The wind‘s getting up a bit.
Time for tea.
8 July Dalsnuten walk and move to the beach
The Dutch woman on the tandem bike said „Dalsnuten is a great, easy walk.“ So here we are.
A first stepping stone.
What a lot of lillies!
Another lake.
Made it, look at the view! Thanks Simon.
This view‘s not bad either.
We‘ve just come down from up there.
Who’s that?
Three Nowegian girls in a canoe.
In the afternoon we drove to Brusand Camping.
7 July Urban art in Stavanger
Until Covid spoiled things there used to be a street art festival in Stavanger which is curiously now in Aberdeen.
Somehow we keep bumping into bears.
Norway is usually a very tidy place.
Why have these children got British money stuffed in their pockets?
Stavanger seems to have quite a fertile atmosphere.
21st century trolls?
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The Nowegian Post Office copes well with Stavanger‘s narrow, historic streets.
6 July Drive under the sea to Stavanger
The view from the window this morning.
This is our cosy lay-by where we spent the night.
We drove through the 14 km under-sea Ryfylke Tunnel. Long tunnels are very boring. This is the first time we’ve seen an attempt to add interest.
Our campsite in Stavanger is next to a lake full of our friendly feathered friends.
5 July Låtefossen waterfall and more mountains
More scenic route today. Ryfylke scenic route
Just bumped into this very impressive „twin“ waterfall – Låtefossen waterfall.
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Why did we park here?
To enjoy the view of course.
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4 July Walk up to the Bondhusvatnet lake
Dramatic start to the day.
The path follows the river. (See more about the walk.)
There are lots of Foxgloves and other fascinating things next to the path.
Huge rocks lie around all over the place.
Where does all of that water come from?
Nearly there. That small triangle between the mountains is what’s left of the glacier.
We made it to the lake!
The glacier used to come down beyond the treeline. Then they started cutting lumps off to cart down to the fjord and to ship to the big cities. After all, what’s a gin and tonic without ice? That would be one heck of a lot of G&T‘s to account for what’s missing. Maybe something else is going on?
Beautiful green environment.
Final approach of a hungry bee.
Bee landed at trumpet number eleven.
Time for bed.
3 July Drive to Sundal Camping
It rained today, so after the drive we washed some clothes and lazed about.
This is Sundal Camping.
2 July Troll hunt in the woods
The funicular from Bergen takes you straight up into the woods.
We saw this at the start of our walk, so we are now on the lookout for trolls.
Very mysterious but I don’t think it’s a troll.
Spooky, but still not a troll.
No trolls here either.
Not a troll in sight, let’s enjoy the view.
A veggie garden just behind the funicular.
Just the right size for a troll.
A monster troll, help!
That is the question. Time to buzz off back to the camper.
1 July Drive to Bergen, visit the old town
It was a long drive but we made it to Bergen and the city’s camper parking.
Bergen‘s most famous view with us right in the middle.
The tram stop is just down the road and this is right opposite.
The tram ceiling is decorated with children’s art. Loved it.
After the €2 tram ride we poked around the old buildings next to the harbour.
Further uphill was more interesting and we left most of the other tourists behind.
Some plants love it here.
A helpful young Norwegian explained that this graffiti shows traditional dress for small boys who march behind the drummers in parades. No obvious political message as far as we could understand. (See Youtube)
I‘m sure Peter Pan would approve.
30 June 3 ferries to Stardaselva valley
Heading for Bergen today we used 3 ferries and stopped for the night in Stardaselva valley.
Two of the three ferries were electric! (See Wikipedia) They are incredibly quiet, don‘t smell and are very smooth.
The valley is attractive, but with a busy road.
Good for one night.
29 June Day off
Lazed around today.
In the evening.
28 June Trollstigen and Ålesund
Gerhild was awake at the crack of dawn today!
A few minutes later Gerhild was out and about.
That valley down there is full of clouds.
At the top of the Trollstigen bendy road.
The tree‘s enjoying the view too.
Now we have to drive down into the clouds!
Very handy camper parking area right next to the historic centre.
Ålesund harbour; the small one, for Viking boats.
Gulls don‘t appreciate art…
Nice view of Gerhild and the big harbour with two cruise ships. That makes getting on for ten thousand tourists who might pop ashore for a cup of tea.
The view forwards from our parking spot in Ålesund. We could almost be on the beach!
27 June Geiranger – Trollstigen scenic route
The sun has taken the day off today.
The clouds have come down instead.
High up in the mountains it’s a bit eerie.
Coming down towards Geirangerfjorden.
Gudbrandsjuvet.
An extremely loud waterfall with a designer walkway.
26 June Drive to Teltplass på Strynefjellsvegen
A glacier.
A fjord.
This looks like a good place to camp. On the Gamle Strynefjellsvegen scenic route.
Yes. This will do.
There’s a river too.
Kim still needs his sunhat.
The natives are friendly.
25 June The glacier museum
We took a three minute walk to the fantastic glacier museum today. https://www.bremuseum.no/ The architect – Sverre Fehn.
It looks like a set for a James Bond film.
The roof moves as you walk, to give you that ultimate glacier feeling!
There is a fabulous „wrap around“ panoramic film as an introduction-
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Loads of things are interactive.
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A mountain-shaped toilet.
Back to the campsite.
Wouldn’t you just love a roof like this.
Time for Norwegian siesta, until it cools down a bit.
24 June A „book“ village
Beautiful start to the day.
Abundant wild flowers along our walk to Fjærland.
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Books everywhere here, but you can‘t use your credit card to put something in the „honesty“ box. We even had to cadge some 5 NOK coins to feed the meter in the shower here as we have no Norwegian currency at all.
They even offer books in English.
Looking up The Valley behind Fjærland.
Our camp site is thattaway.
23 June A 19th century road and a stave church
This road (Vindhellavegen) started right from our car park.
The surrounding hillside.
19th century roadbuilding at it finest (and steepest)
A royal bench hosting not so royal visitors.
Detail showing the royal carriage.
The 800 year old Borgund stave church.
A charming young man told us all about the church.
Inside.
The windows providing light for the congregation.
The external gallery with tar/pine resin drips produced when the sun is hot.
The surroundings for our new campsite in Boyum.
The yachting fraternity / oligarchs seem to like this location too.
22 June Aurlandsfjellet scenic route 2, looking for bears
There was an auspicious start to the day. I wonder what the Vikings made of rainbows? (See Bifröst, the rainbow bridge)
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Looks like polar bear country to me.
Polar bears don’t wear blue hoodies.
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Still no polar bears.
That’s not a polar bear either, it’s our campervan!
No luck with bears yet, but Gerhild has spotted a cave.
It‘s a brown bear! Look at the junk in his lair.
Further down the snow has turned into noise.
Look at the wonderful plants basking in the spray.
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21 June Aurlandsfjellet scenic route 1
Our drive today started with a lot of tunnels, some even having underground roundabouts!
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There is a well documented set of scenic routes in Norway – https://www.nasjonaleturistveger.no/en/routes/aurlandsfjellet/ so today, instead of the world’s longest gloomy tunnel, we took the scenic route. Check out the video on this page.
After a nerve-racking sequence of hairpin bends we came to „Stegastein“.
The viewing platform.
The view.
At 1250 m above sea-level we decided to stay for the night.
It looks cold but it was 13°C.
In the evening.
20 June Walk to the Tveitafossen waterfall
Directly from our village Kinsarvik, there is a path which follows the very loud river Kinso. The cuckoos in the valley need a megaphone to make themselves heard over the rushing water.
Two very patient locals marking the start of the path.
The river is in a real rush to get down to the fjord.
A local‘s celebration of Covid’s demise.
Don‘t you think this looks spookily like the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood?
Even louder water!
The trees don‘t seem to mind the noise.
What a waterfall!
Anyone feel like crossing the bridge?
19 June Day off
A rosy view.
Time for bed.
18 June Drive west to Kinsarvik
After getting up early we enjoyed a long drive westwards across southern Norway.
At 1000 m above sea level there’s still ice and snow despite a temperature of 17°C.
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On the way down from the plateau.
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The view as we arrived.
The view at about 10 o‘clock.
Kinsarvik Camping provides a great view out over Hardangerfjord.
17 June Kistefos
The new Kistefos museum is amazing.
SHINTARO MIYAKE „WELCOME TO OUR PLANET!“
CLAES OLDENBURG & COOSJE VAN BRUGGEN „TUMBLING TACKS“
TONY CRAGG „I’M ALIVE“
Yayoi Kusama
What’s that?
It‘s magic: a whirlpool in a glass.
Some Viking god dropped his shield here.
The Twist.
Also by Tony Cragg, he‘s full of surprises.
Even the toilets here have something to say!
Help, let me in, I need the loo!
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Olafur Eliasson‘s portrait of Gerhild.
Olafur Eliasson‘s Portrait of Kim.
16 June Final Oslo Impressions
Tomorrow we are leaving Oslo, so we made a last brief trip into the sculpture park, got some good advice from a Flemish couple and took an early bus to keep cool heads.
Louise Bourgeois nestling in the woods just nearby.
Louise Bourgeois In the garden around the Norwegian royal palace.
Downtown Oslo #1.
Downtown Oslo #2.
Downtown Oslo #3.
Downtown Oslo #4
Back home before three to recover from being a tourist.
15 June Henie Onstad museum
This is Sonja Henie, the world’s best ice dancer who became a Hollywood star, married a wealthy shipping magnate and then built a museum just outside of Oslo.
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Marc Chagall was on show.
Inghild Karlsen „Our Inner Beasts“
Kjell Erik Killi Olsen „The Little Mother’s History“
Some wild electronic stuff
A fun room by Yayoi Kusawa
The museum is surrounded by a sculpture park which includes this huge work by Arnold Haukeland, Sun Sculpture.
14 June Ekeberg Sculpture Park
This https://ekebergparken.com is right next to us.
TONY CRAGG „CAST GLANCES“
AASE TEXMON RYGH – „MÖBIUS TRIPPEL“
ANN-SOFI SIDÊN – „FIDEICOMMISSUM“ – cheeky!
FERNANDO BOTERO – „RECLINING WOMAN„
HUMA ВНАВНА – „WE COME IN PEACE“
There’s quite a view from up here.
I‘m sure that it didn‘t look the same when Munch was being inspired.
12 June Edvard Munch & Gustav Vigeland
A leisurely breakfast surrounded by our friends, the trees.
Interesting bridge over the railway tracks.
The Munch museum.
„Starry night“ by Edvard Munch.
„Munchying about“ by Gerhild & Kim.
A view from the top of the Munch Museum.
Tracey Emin put a huge „Mother“ just in front of the museum.
Gustav Vigeland having fun with small children.
This amazing fountain is also in the Vigeland park.
Turn your back for a minute and babies get everywhere!
Just a few of the dozens of stone carved figures in the park.
Great gates!
11 June Oslo Opera House
Two buses stop in front of the campsite to take us down the hill into Oslo for about €2 per day for pensioners.
Our first impression jumping off the bus.
The opera house is to the right of the cat sculpture.
The opera house.
You can walk up onto the roof of the opera.
Inside is very different, round and lots of wood.
Geometric, back illuminated walls and not so geometric visitors.
View from the opera café.
10 June Cross the Sweden-Norway border & go to Oslo
On the way to Oslo, we paused at the border for a pleasant walk through our first Norwegian wood.
The border between Sweden and Norway.
A farm pond at the edge of the forest complete with wooden ducks 🦆 🦆.
A fabulous pitch on our new campsite Topcamp Ekeberg – Oslo topcamp.no
In or out, that is the question? About 50 m from our pitch…
Open book.
It‘s a popular place for walks.
Wow, Niki de Saint Phalle in a Norwegian forest! With two characters.
Another two characters.
Gretel has hung the washing out in the forest to dry.
9 June Rock Carvings in Tanum
Today we visited a UNESCO World Heritage site. We parked in the Vitlycke museum car park.
All of these rock surfaces were very tempting 4000 years ago.
Take a hard stone and whack the surface of the rock to make an indentation, rub in a bit of colour and your art will last for ages.
A boat!
Two men with spears.
Another boat, fully crewed.
Kim trying to work it all out.
Three boats with musical accompaniment.
Archers.
A professional explanation.
8 June Pilane Sculpture Park
Today we drove to the Pilane Sculpture Park with „Roots“ from Ai Weiwei
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Mmmm, this tree looks delicious.
The birds just love Ai Weiwei‘s tree stumps so this young lady has to give them a wash most mornings.
The tree stumps are from rare trees which once grew in the Brazilian rain forest.
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Ai Weiwei‘s son gave them all names expressing what he could see in the roots.
This one‘s called „Fly“.
This one’s called Gerhild.
By Hans Gothlin.
„Leap of Faith“ by Maria Miesenberger.
Great spot under an oak tree for our picnic.
Tony Cragg‘s work reminds me of megamushrooms growing in the landscape.
„Anna“ by Jaume Plensa.
7 Jun Tjörn
Today we drove for 2 hours to Almöns Bad & Camping 365 SEK – €31.31 per night.
Where we had a visit from D. and J. and their four-legged friends.
6 June Haverdals Naturreservat
Today we drove north through Sweden to Vilshärads Camping (https://vilsharadscamping.se) next to the Haverdals Naturreservat.
The trees are very bent and twisted into the most unlikely shapes.
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As if some giant tried tying knots with treetrunks.
Back home along the beach.
Nature‘s beach jewels.
5 June Ferry Rostock to Trelleborg
Zum Fährterminal 1, 18147 Rostock-Überseehafen.
12:00 ferry from Rostock to Trelleborg arrives 19:00.
Almost everyone on the ferry has a camper!
Sweden! First camp site next to the coast. Trelleborgstrand Ställplats Strandridaregatan 4, 231 61 Trelleborg, Sweden – very handy for the ferry.
4 June Travel to Rostock
Looking forward to Norway, Kim was reminded of the saga of Noggin the Nog.
Listen to me and I will tell you the story of Noggin the Nog, as it was told in the days of old, or In the lands of the North, where the Black Rocks stand guard against the cold sea, in the dark night that is very long, the Men of the Northlands sit by their great log fires and they tell a tale … and those tales they tell are the stories of a kind and wise king and his people; they are the Sagas of Noggin the Nog. Welcome to Northlands, a tribute to Noggin, King of the Nogs and the People of the Northlands.
Today was unfortunately Grosse Fahradsternfahrt in Berlin, so our 2 hour drive turned into a 4 hour drive.
Postcards
Heute waren wir im Puppentheater in Prag. Kim wollte mit den Puppen reden, aber sie konnten nur Tschechisch. Kim hat es mit Englisch versucht und die Puppen haben nur schelmisch gelacht. Mit Deutsch ging es auch nicht, also konnte er nur mit Händen und Füßen reden. Mit den Händen ging es am besten.
Liebe Grüße aus Tschechien!
Kim und Gerhild
Today we went to the puppet theatre in Prague. Kim wanted to talk to the puppets, but they could only speak Czech. Kim tried English and the puppets just laughed mischievously. German didn’t work either, so he could only talk with his hands and feet. It worked best with his hands.
Best wishes from the Czech Republic!
Kim and Gerhild
Jetzt sind wir in Wien, in Österreich. Die Leute hier sind lustig. Heute haben wir diese vier lustigen Kinder kennengelernt. Es sind die Holzkopf Geschwister: Walter Walnuss, Emil Eiche, Pippa Pappel und Theo Tanne. Pippa hat uns einen Witz erzählt.
Was kann schwimmen und sieht alles doppelt? Ein Schielpferd!
Liebe Grüße von Gerhild und von Kim
Now we are in Vienna, in Austria. The people here are funny. Today we met these four funny children. They are the woodentop children: Walter Walnut, Oscar Oak, Pippa Poplar and Fred Fir. Pippa told us a joke.
What can swim and sees double? A cross-eyed hippo!
Love from Gerhild and Kim
Eines Tages stand eine Ratte auf der Matte, mit zwei Freunden. Ich fragte, was sie vorhaben. „Wir sind die fantastischen Fotoratten und möchten ein Bild machen, ohne Schatten“ piepsten sie. „Nur wenn ihr uns zuerst einen guten Witz erzählst“ sagte Gerhild. „Abgemacht“ rief die erste Ratte. „Was macht eine Wolke, wenn sie einen Juckreiz spürt?“ – „Sie fliegt zum Wolkenkratzer.“ Wir haben alle laut gelacht und die Ratten haben eine Aufnahme gemacht.
Liebe Grüße aus Graz
Kim & Gerhild
One day, a rat was standing on the mat with two friends. I asked what they were up to. “We are the fantastic photo rats and we want to take a picture, without shadows” they squeaked. “Only if you tell us a good joke first” said Gerhild. “Deal” cried the first rat. “What does a cloud do when it feels an itch?” – “It flies to the skyscraper.” We all laughed out loud and the rats took a picture.
Kind regards from Graz
Kim & Gerhild
Heute sind wir in Salzburg, in Österreich. Hier haben wir ein wunderschönes weißes Einhorn im Garten getroffen. Ich habe höflich gefragt, ob wir ein Foto mit ihm machen dürfen, weil es so schön ist. Es war aber ein magisches Tier und es hat uns gleich Kronen auf den Kopf gezaubert. „Jetzt seht ihr königlich genug aus, um mit mir im Bild zu sein.“ Ein freundlicher Gartenzwerg hat dann ein Foto von uns drei gemacht. Wir haben uns bedankt und dann hat das Einhorn die Kronen gleich wieder weggezaubert.
Viele Grüße
Kim und Gerhild
Today we are in Salzburg, in Austria. Here we met a beautiful white unicorn in the garden. I politely asked if we could take a photo with it because it was so beautiful. But it was a magical animal and it immediately put crowns on our heads. “Now you look regal enough to be in the picture with me.” A friendly garden gnome then took a picture of the three of us. We said thank you and then the unicorn immediately whisked the crowns away.
Many greetings
Kim and Gerhild
15 May Return home
Beautiful welcome on my desk.
We even found a parking space close to home. Now we take a 2 week break to recuperate and prepare for Norway.
14 May Blocked motorway and Muldestausee
The A9 was blocked heading north, forcing us off onto smaller country roads. We decided to make our last stop at heide-camp-schlaitz.de
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Some campers have been here a looong time.
The forest planted when the open-cast mining stopped is very tidy.
Time to wave goodbye to our Austria trip. Back to Berlin tomorrow.
13 May move to Bamberg
The Wohnmobil Stellplatz Bamberg was full when we arrived around lunchtime, so we parked in a quiet street where we could walk into the town.
Bamberg is on the river Regnitz.
„Air-Earth“ by Jaume Plensa. Maybe this guy was worried about getting his feet wet?
UNESCO world heritage town.
She doesn’t seem to be ticklish.
Classy cat!
More cats.
Wang Shugang – Meeting.