Tag Archives: Stavanger

Stavanger til Sørreisa

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It was lovely being back in Stavanger. As well as catching up with family, I also visited Wivek, who owns Triar’s mum, Trifli. Trifli had another litter three weeks before our visit and the puppies are now on their feet and getting adventurous! The last picture here is of Triar’s half sister, Kløver, who seems fascinated with all these new friends!

Stavanger looked beautiful under a clear blue sky. I have been very lucky with the weather, which is just as well as I couldn’t find my coat when I was packing. I thought I might have to buy a new one, but so far, I’ve got away with it!

I came north on Monday. The stunning approach to Bardufoss, with its deep blue sea and snowy mountain ranges was a wonderful start to my Northern odyssey and though it clouded over as we neared our destination, I was treated to the sight of a «glory» which is a rainbow-surrounded shadow cast by the plane onto the cloud cover.

I have been staying with my lovely friend, Shirley, for the past few days. I met Shirley just over a year ago on the fast boat to Tromsø. Hearing people speaking English in this remote area of Norway is rare enough that I turned round to speak to her and her visiting friend, Linda, and we’ve never looked back. Coming back was like returning to a home from home, not least because of the lovely dogs she and her husband Kai own. Here they are: Bailey at the front and Alva in the background.

It’s been interesting coming back. The snow melted on the lower ground quite early this year, but it’s a week or two too early for the incredible summer growth to begin. When I lived here, it always seemed like the least beautiful time of year, with its dead-looking plants and grass, but driving through the valleys, past snowy peaks and still-frozen lakes, it was easy to see the beauty in the landscape, despite the dust that covers the roadsides when all the winter snow has melted away.

We’ve had a wonderful week of cooking together and wine with dinner, as well as UK comfort TV, like Heartbeat and Judge John Deed. We went on a trip to Dyrøya on Wednesday and walked for an hour along a track above the fjord, with views over to the mountains of Senja to one side and rocky peaks to the other. There was even a sea eagle soaring in the blue sky, far above our heads.

On Friday, we went to Senjastua, a restaurant on the edge of Stavanger, which serves traditional and modern Norwegian food. I chose reindeer karbonader, which came with boiled potatoes and cream sauce. It was the perfect end to a very enjoyable week.

In an hour or so, I am heading north again on the fast boat to Tromsø, where I will be visiting John and Yoana for a few days. Have a good week all and thanks for reading!

Back in Stavanger

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This weekend, I’m back in Stavanger. Having lived in Rogaland for twelve years, it all feels very familiar. Better still, Anna is with me and we’re visiting Andrew, whose year at school here is rapidly coming to an end. Today, we’re going to watch some of the films he’s made over the year, and (I think) do a session of singing with the students who have been studying music. We went to a great concert last night, put on by those students, so I hope it’s going to be a fun day.

I’ve quickly slid back into the Rogaland Rhythm. I may have taken too many pictures of food and drink, but that’s just the way it is! My first action at the airport, while waiting for the bus was to buy a hot dog. Norwegian hotdogs are the best. This one is a cheesy hotdog wrapped in bacon. Nam nam! as they say!

Having left a rather chilly Scotland after a long, wet winter and spring, I arrived to sun and twenty degree temperatures. Despite the heat, Anna and I went to one of our old haunts for breakfast. Steam does the best croissants and coffee!

We went for a stroll to the harbour, where a cruise ship dominated the landscape. They really do dwarf the buildings. In the background, there are a couple of oil rigs, presumably brought in for maintenance, and that’s very Stavanger too.

We stopped in a bar by the harbour and spent ten pounds on 400ml of lager! Sometimes you just have to go with it!

And then we had Funky Frozen Yogurt, or as it’s known in the McGurk family, Funky Zen Gurt, because when it first arrived in a shopping centre near us, the logo design highlighted those bits.

Anyway, that’s probably a reasonable summary of the last 36 hours and the crazy whirl since then punctuated, as you can see, by junk food. And now It’d better get up as we’re meeting Andrew in an hour. Have a good week all!

Southbound

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I’m on my iPad, so this will mostly be photographs from our epic road trip from Fagerfjell to Sandnes. Andrew starts his film course tomorrow in Stavanger, so he, Triar and I took to the road to transport all his gear from one end of Norway to the other. It was officially a 28 hour trip, but I suspect it took a little longer in the end.

We set off in sunshine on Saturday afternoon. We were aiming for Fauske, which was just over six hours away. The road was winding, but we got to take a short break on the ferry from Skadeberget to Bognes.


Steep mountains fell precipitously into the deep waters of the fjord, but Triar seemed to be enjoying the fresh air as much as the view.


We set out quite late on day two, which was a mistake as I had optimistically booked an AirBnB in Hell, just north of Trondheim: an eight and a half hour journey. We passed out of the Polar Circle at around eleven. The picture at the top of the page shows the flags at the centre that marks the line.

By the time we arrived at the AirBnB I had booked, it was raining. It was a private cabin, rather than one on a campsite, but what I hadn’t noticed when I made the booking, was that the toilet was in an outhouse, and of the typical «earth» type – basically whatever you do falls through a hole into a kind of cellar, which at some point, some poor soul has to dig out!

Still, the cabin was very comfortable, and we entertained ourselves by watching Lucifer in Hell.

While I slept in one or the very comfortable beds, Andrew decided to venture outside, only to be greeted at the front door by a huge, friendly spider, which had spun its web across the entrance. Being a thoughtful young man, he kindly sent me a warning message in the hope that I would read it before I went out in the morning, which happily, I did.

We stopped in Trondheim for bubble tea, then clutching a bag of croissants, we headed back to the car. By the time we were back on the road it was raining heavily. It has been a hot and dreamy summer in the north of Norway, but wet in the east, to the point of bridges being washed away. We had originally planned to go via Oslo and Kristiansand because the roads that way are better, but as the windscreen wipers laboured, we decided we might be better to brave a few mountain passes than risk the flatlands on the coast. 

And so, we turned inland at Otta and headed along the 15 road, then the 55, which took us past Galdhøpiggen (the highest mountain in Norway at 2,469m) and past the glacier at Jotunheimen. It was a breathtaking road through a rocky pass, running alongside a rushing mountain river.

We hadn’t booked ahead, as I had been reluctant to commit to driving for too long, but as the road followed the contours of the high ground, there weren’t any campsites. And just as the road began to descend, Google Maps threw us a curveball. We were committed to going inland, but rather than finding a wider and easier road, Google Maps directed us up onto another road, which was even narrower and more primitive than the 55. It had a warning sign at the start which stated you couldn’t go that way with a vehicle that was over 10m long, and in addition, you needed a credit card to drive through. Having just looked it up on the map, it seems to be marked as «Tindevegen». Still, we were committed now, so with a grin, we turned onto it and drove onwards. It was just as isolated, and as the minutes ticket by, we were starting to wonder whether we were just going to have to stop and pitch the tent on the roadside.

The idea of a tent was not very enticing, and so we drove on and on. By the time we descended the steep switchbacks that led us down into the little town of Øvre Årdal, it was after six. We limped into the Utladalen campsite and, to my enormous relief, bagged the last cabin with shower and toilet.

So much for taking three easier days to end our journey. From Øvre Årdal to Stavanger was only seven and a half hours and we were rapidly tiring of basic cabins. We set off at a reasonable time and decided we would make a run for our final destination.

We stopped a couple of times, on seeing a waterfall first…

…and then I saw this irresistable lake with its reflected mountains and trees.

Happily, Charlie welcomed us with a reviving barbecue. The trip which I had expected to finish on Thursday was done by Tuesday evening. And for Triar, who had spent four patient days in the back of the car, the best reward was Charlie, who he hadn’t seen for more than a year. He has an amazing memory for faces and after being silent almost all the way, he saw Charlie through the window and let out a greeting yelp. He really is a very loving dog.