We arrived in Oslo blindly, after my data didn’t kick-in when we crossed from Sweden to Norway, despite being told it would. Having no navigation, we had to resort to my ability at remembering the mapping we’d done the night before, and Mr Love’s ability to put up with my excited yelling and last second directions. Being very aware of the tolls on the ring road around Oslo we were determined to get it right the first time, and happily we did.
Our Oslo campsite was at Sjølyst Marina, which has parking space for about 250 campers in a very picturesque setting by the water, and is just under 4kms from central Oslo, so an easy bike ride away.
After we arrived we spent a few hours biking around the city to get our bearings, and the next day biked back into the city, but left our bikes and explored on foot. We walked along the waterfront to the medieval Akershus Fortress that has guarded Oslo for centuries, and then down to and the striking Opera House that rises out of the harbour like a giant iceberg. This is an amazing piece of architecture that allows people to climb all over it, and the bright white stone has you feeling like you’re on a mountain slope. After lunch at a pizzeria in the stylishly redeveloped Central Railway Station, we wandered up past the Cathedral, Parliament, and City Hall to the National Gallery and the Royal Palace.
Oslo didn’t grab us as the other Scandinavian cities we’ve visited did. It’s nice enough, but it’s dirtier and more sombre; lacking the vitality of Copenhagen and the majesty of Stockholm. However, the waterfront development is quite stunning, with boardwalks, restaurants, apartments, and museums, and of course that striking Opera House.
After leaving the central city behind us we biked out through leafy suburbs to the famous Vigeland Park. This beautiful green oasis contains the life work of sculptor Gustav Vigeland; over 200 sculptures of humanity in all its forms, cast in bronze, granite and cast iron. The monolith at the centre of the garden is extraordinary, with human figures entwined together reaching towards something higher, or are they clambering over each other to be on top? Some of the sculptures were quite confronting, others funny, but overall this park was a highlight of our trip to Oslo.
During our stay at the marina in Oslo we met some good people whose experiences and knowledge helped us plan the rest of our Norwegian adventure. It was also the first time since Amsterdam that we had another GB number plate in the camp with us, and thinking we were English they quickly came over to introduce themselves. Although not experienced in Norway, they had lots of great advice for us campervanning in the rest of Europe, and it was great to share stories. We still feel very new at this, but are learning all the time.
From Oslo we headed south along the coast, with the ultimate destination for our next adventure being Stavanger and the famous Lysefjord. After passing through three automatic toll gates in quick succession we started to get a bit worried about how much this Norway trip may end up costing us. We had read about these infamous tolls but didn’t expect them to be so frequent. However, after driving through tunnel after tunnel, some 3-kilometres long, and crossing incredible bridges and viaducts, we felt we were getting our money’s worth. You can try and avoid the tolls but you’ll end up spending more on fuel, along with the extra time taken on smaller roads, it wouldn’t make it a viable option.
We stopped for a night in Mandal, a small seaside town in the southernmost part of Norway. Beautifully picturesque, and obviously quite affluent, this quaint town was a lovely place for a stopover to break our journey. Having been told the only affordable thing in Norway is fresh fish we had been keen to find some. Mandal had what we wanted, an exceptional fish market with a huge array of fresh fish, most of which we had never heard of. We bought a fillet of Torsk for NZ $26 a kilo, and Mr Love made us a very lovely fish dinner.
Today we travelled to Lysebotn at the top of the famous Lysefjord, only 200 kilometres away, but a four-hour journey on some amazingly mountainous roads. We now have total faith that our van can get us anywhere. The scenery was overwhelming. It’s a lot like New Zealand, but it’s bigger, more imposing – but do we think this because it is so refreshing to be in the wild, away from the traffic and the endless trucks.
Lysebotn is in the valley below Kjeragbolten. The iconic symbol of adventure tourism in Norway, Kjeragbolten is the boulder wedged between two cliffs 1,000 metres above the fjord, and the bucket list photo opportunity for every traveller in Norway, including us. Yes, we’re here to hike the 9 kilometre roundtrip to Kjeragbolten and to hopefully have enough courage to get that photo.
We’ve arrived in Lysebotn on the same day as the start of the annual Heli Boogie Base Jumping festival. Over the next 4 days 250 Base Jumpers will be helicoptered to Kjerag and other peaks as many times as they want, some up to 6 times a day, to fling themselves off. Andrew helped a weary jumper pack his shoot (god-forbid); he had done 5 jumps today and planned to do as many as he could the next day. He said this was the only opportunity each year for jumpers to get as many helicopter rides to the peaks as they want at a good price ($100 NZD), whereas they would normally have to hike to the peak and only have the one jump. He suggested that our timing was good, if we don’t want to walk back from Kjeragbolten tomorrow there will be plenty of helicopters with empty return trips that we can hitch a ride from.
At 9pm the helicopters are still coming in one after another to pick up jumpers, we feel like we’re on the set of MASH.
Tomorrow we have an early start for our hike. Rain is forecast from 2pm so we want to be back before then, hopefully with that once in a lifetime pic!
