A new visitor...

While we were preparing for breakfast this morning, I noticed a new visitor preparing to pull into the dock next door. The Betty Knutsen looks like a processing ship or tanker, and by the looks of it, she may be here a little while. She is quite a bit longer than the last ship, but not quite as tall. Notice the tug boat in the lower left of the photo, though, to get a size perspective.


The weather has been a little strange this week. We have had rain and wind. There has actually been enough rain to make waterfalls flow down the mountains on the other side of the fjord. Of course with the rain comes rainbows, such as the one seen here. It almost looks like it is coming out of the building in front of ours. Notice the amount of light - this picture was taken at 10 p.m.

We have noticed a few things that are very different here. This is a growing town. Constantly growing. That means constant construction. That means constant road construction. Roads here are a little different in that they don't use poured concrete curbs. They use granite blocks about a meter long and 10 cm wide, usually about 15 cm deep. They take great care in placing these blocks, usually with one person that will level the blocks individually and ensure proper alignment. It seems to be a time-consuming process, but it looks nice when it is finished.

Therein lies the problem. They are never finished. It seems that as soon as they finish one section, they come along and rip part of it back up and do something else. The result is a very bumpy ride and lots of construction barricades.

They also seem to take things that look perfectly fine and redo them. At a grocery store where we shop sometimes there was a paver walkway that was level and looked pretty nice. Yesterday, we saw that it had been ripped up and they were putting asphalt in its place. I have no clue why they would do this.

I have also determined that the national bird of Norway must be the crane, as there are "cranes" everywhere. Construction cranes, that is.

We are traveling "inland" to the mountains this weekend and will have a post next week about our trip.

Another wonderful hike...

Yesterday we hiked to Manafossen waterfall and the Man farm beyond it. The pictures do not do it justice. The waterfall falls 92 meters (about 300 feet) and is absolutely spectacular when viewed from the mountainside across from it. The hike itself was somewhat challenging as the rocks were very wet and quite steep in some places, as you can see from the picture of Kimber and Sidney here.



The hike was worth it, though, as the views in addition to the waterfall were spectacular. In the next two pictures, you see an area we passed along the way I referred to as the "fairy garden", as it was lush, green, full of moss, rocks and trees and the sunlight was just so. The second picture shows the view of the dale in which Man farm was located.
















We had one of our hiking/biking picnics of sandwiches and fruit at the farm, which of course Sidney enjoyed. As you can see, though, she likes to take her sandwiches apart and eat the inside only, or on just one slice of bread - Norwegian style.



After the picnic, we hiked back, making a stop at some rapids and a flume on the river. It, too, was very impressive. The water in the river comes from snow/glacial melt up on the mountains, as well as rainfall. There had been rain this week, so there were waterfalls galore and the river was really flowing well.



After hiking back down, we traveled on to a local favorite - the Candle Factory at Byrkjedal. It is located at a crossroad along the way to a popular skiing area. There are lots of different candles, traditional Norwegian crafts, an art studio, restaurant and even cabins for rent. Kids can dip their own candles, as Sidney (with Kimber's help) is doing in the next picture. After the candle dipping, we had a light snack of cake, and Sidney had ice cream. You can tell she really liked it, can't you? I thought the shirt was very appropriate for the moment.





We continued along our journey to an area called Gloppedal. Ten thousand years ago, a glacier deposited massive boulders into a scree called a moraine in this valley. A moraine is a natural dam. The water then backed up behind the dam, forming a little lake in the valley. The boulders really are massive, some as large as cottages. The area was also the site of heavy fighting in World War II between German and Norwegian forces. The Norwegians were able to fortify themselves among the boulders and held the Germans off for quite some time, all the while enduring aerial raids and hostile ground fire. The Norwegians finally capitulated after their supply lines were disrupted. During the battle, only one Norwegian soldier was lost, whereas German casualties were quite heavy.





The drive was also part of the adventure, as the twisting road along the mountainside is only one lane in many places. Speeds are anywhere between 35 and 55 mph, and many of the curves are blind. Fortunately, we didn't meet much oncoming traffic, and were able to see them in plenty of time to react. There were also several tunnels, some of which were either dimly lit or not lit at all. The longest of the tunnels was just at three miles long. There are actually lots of people that bicycle these roads and tunnels!

Our next big adventure is scheduled for next weekend, when we plan on visiting an area REALLY up in the mountains. The road there is usually closed until about this time of the year because of snow, so we should be in for a treat. We plan on taking the bikes and trailer, but we may reconnoiter the ride in the car before attempting it.

Holiday Biking

Yesterday was another holiday in Norway - Ascension Day. We were informed that it is the holiest day in Norway, and any "work" is frowned upon. We were even told we shouldn't hang our wash out to dry. Which is a good thing, as you will hear in a minute. So we went on a bike ride.



We rode from our apartment to the islands Kimber had ridden to when we were in the temporary apartment in Sentrum. We actually spent about three hours riding, along with an hour or so of playing at the playgrounds we found along the way. Here are a couple of pictures of Sidney playing.


Kimber felt inspired and got into the act of "playing" too, though she referred to it as "exercise."

We had a picnic lunch of sandwiches, chips and watermelon. We also enjoyed some very pretty views, including one of a windmill they are building in the middle of the bay. I had seen a story on the news a couple of weeks ago about them lifting the blades into place.
About the time we finished looking at the windmill, the rain started. In Norway, there is a saying - "There is no bad weather, only bad clothing." We were not in bad clothing, at least, not too bad. Either way, we were soaked when we were done (and covered with mud!) The bike trailer took the worst of it, as it caught all the mud coming off my rear wheel as well as what splashed up from the puddles. We are going to have to figure out a fender system for that thing. We washed the trailer off once we arrived home and left it in the bike room to dry.

Last night was also a game night for the football (soccer) team, and lots of boats showed up in the rain for the game. I was actually quite surprised! I counted about 20 private boats and four ferries. The game ended in a tie, which is the second tie game in two weeks for the Vikings. There was apparently a lot of controversy, as toward the end of the game there was a lot of booing and whistling we could hear from the apartment. The coach was also on the news last night trying to shake an opposing player's hand, and the player refused and started arguing. The coach just ignored him and walked away.Either way, the team is out practicing right now, as you can see here.

Our plan this weekend is to visit a waterfall that is the highest in Rogeland County (our county) and then visit the Candle Factory. We will see how much of a mess Sidney can make dipping her own candle. There will be more posts and pictures to come, so keep reading!

A Very Norwegian Weekend

We had lots of fun and came up with tons of blog fodder this weekend. We will make an attempt to describe it all, but will most likely leave something out.




The weekend started with hiking. On Saturday, we hiked to the top of Dalsnuten mountain, which is across the fjord from us. It is 327 meters high, and I am proud to say Sidney walked all the way to the top and most of the way down by herself! The view is outstanding from the to, as you can see all the way out into the North Sea when looking west, and lots of other stuff. The first picture is of Sidney and Kimber looking from the top across the fjord at our apartment. There is also a gratuitous Sidney shot, for those that love her!

We saw two snakes during the hike, answering my question of whether they have snakes in Norway. We also walked through a sheep pasture on the way up, which was fun. We had to climb over the fences to get into and out of the pasture, but there were little stairs provided. The wind at the top of the mountain was very strong, and it wasn't even a "windy" day!



After the mountain and a little picnic of strawberries, crackers and cheese, we hiked another path that was along the coastal area. While this hike didn't have the ascent of the first one, it did have some difficult areas as the trail was not as well developed. As Sidney would say, we had to use "teamwork" to get from one place to another at times. This photo shows how the trail leading up this path looked.
We were tired after that, so we came home and discovered the soccer team was playing on Saturday, not on Sunday, as they usually do. More on the reason in a minute. That meant that our marina was soon full of crazy people going to the game. Several ferries came down from Stavanger, and several other private boats came in. It is very entertaining to people-watch from the 7th floor.


There were also several kids going through "Russ", which is the end-of-high school celebration that kids here do. They all dress in special "Russ" overalls decorated with various things, perform crazy feats to earn "credits", and drink heavily. One boatload of these kids parked in the marina and it was surprising to see how much alcohol they had! Kimber and I both think it is odd that the legal intoxication level here for driving an automobile is 0.02%, but apparently that does not apply to boating. The kids were apparently having a lot of fun. They also must have had a lot to drink, as evidenced by how many of them had to urinate in very public places prior to going into the game.

The sunset was fantastic last night. This picture shows the mountain we hiked, and the sun made it appear a beautiful red.



Today is May 17th, which is Norwegian Constitution day. It is similar to the 4th of July in the U.S., and starts with a children's parade. Everyone (yes EVERYONE) dresses in their traditional Norwegian clothing or Sunday best outfits and turns out for the parade. The different schools all are lined up behind banners for their school and class, and there are bands from many of the schools. We happened to be standing a couple of people away from the mayor of Stavanger, so we got a couple of special performances. Several little girls also give out flowers to the older people along the route, and apparently the mayor gets lots of flowers too (as you can see in the photo of him wearing the golden necklace.)
After the parade, we went up to Sidney's school for a few refreshments, hot dogs (which are a big thing in Norway) and some play. There are several things going on in town, but Sidney is tired, and frankly, after yesterday's hikes, so are we. We will spend the rest of the day relaxing and getting a few things done at home.

Waffle Thursday

Every Thursday afternoon at our apartment complex, the office manager (Nicole) fixes waffles. This has quickly become a ritual with us. The waffles are eaten with strawberry or raspberry preserves and sour cream, if you like. Sidney and Kimber prefer theirs with just the strawberry jam and I like mine the traditional Norwegian way - raspberry jam and sour cream. There is no silverware - you just fold the waffle in half and eat it like a little sandwich. As you can see, Sidney has the idea down. She usually eats two waffles herself!

We also went swimming last night. The pool was nice, as they had a large pool for diving and lap swimming and another pool for kids. Sidney was able to stand up in the kids pool and still have her head above water. She quickly took to the slide and found she could do it all by herself without anyone to catch her at the bottom. Kimber was able to do some laps, but found the slow lane (which she thought she was is just a little too slow for her liking. She will try the medium lane next time. She will also try to figure out the traffic pattern, which didn't seem very organized, as they only had lane markers out for the "fast" lane.

Our Viking boat pulled out today just before a little storm came through. The boat had about 14 people on board and they all rowed it to the center of the fjord. They then put the sail up just as the wind in front of the storm hit and that boat was REALLY moving!

The Vikings are coming!

This evening as we were enjoying the view of sailboats on the fjord, I noticed an odd looking little vessel approaching. I quickly realized it was a Viking boat, complete with sail and oars! Viking is pronounced vee-king in Norwegian. The people were nice enough to let me take a few photos, and they didn't even pillage and burn my apartment! (I guess they didn't know I have a Celtic background.)




One final thing to mention is that the days have really started getting longer - MUCH longer. The sunlight doesn't fully disappear until around midnight and it starts reappearing around 4:45 am. It has really thrown Sidney's and Kimber's sleep schedules off. I, having been a night-shift nurse, can sleep through anything.

Water, water everywhere...

As you can see by the first two pictures, the fjord is as smooth as glass this morning. The sun is shining brightly, and there is no wind. The high today is expected to be around 60 degrees. Yesterday was even warmer, but there was a light breeze of about 15 mph (yes, they call that a light breeze here.)

And reflecting on Ahab's words, all the water in the fjord does us no good right now because apparently the construction workers near our building hit a water main last night and our apartment buildings are currently without running water. Not a good thing when Kimber has to take her shower before work and we have to get Sidney ready for school. In the spirit of recycling, though, Kimber is going to use water from her hot water bottle for getting the hair fixed and teeth brushed and pre-moistened washcloths for getting cleaned up.


Other activity involving water here includes more work being done at the ship, as you can see. They brought in another ship and unloaded some stuff two days ago. While it was there, a helicopter came in and did some low-level flying around the ships for observation. The other ship left after a while, but there was another ship that came in last night and tied up alongside the big one for some work.

Finally, we have a swan living somewhere between our marina and Vaulen Beach (the area pictured in the photos on top.) We see him (or her) swim in and out between the two area quite a bit, usually coming to our marina in the evening for a while before returning to the island. We will try to find out more info on the swan and include some pictures.

Our new car!

All the paperwork finally came through and we were able to take delivery of our new car yesterday! It is a 2007 Hyundai Getz Cross. It was a dealer demo model, so it only had 11,500 km on it (about 7000 miles, for those metrically inept). It also is a diesel and gets approximately 45 miles to the gallon (it beat the Prius in tests.) It is a five speed, and while the speedometer goes up to 220 km/hr, I wouldn't want to try it. It is a model Hyundai showed at the Paris Auto Show a few years back as a concept, but only actually sold in Scandinavia. We are quite pleased at the deal we got on it (Auto 2000 - Rolf, for those coming to Stavanger or looking for a car here).

Happy Mother's Day!

Moved in!

We moved into our apartment last week and have had a wonderful time getting unpacked and organized. There is still a lot to do to organize, but the boxes are unpacked. As you can see by the first picture, there were quite a few boxes. The movers are coming by today to pick them up. They are currently being stored in our bicycle parking room.

The electricians are here right now installing low-voltage lighting in the kitchen, dining room, living room and family room. We have a few lamps and there were some other lights in place, so we haven't been sitting in the dark. The low voltage lights should be nice, though, as we will then be able to use our island counter top for dining. We are also waiting on the cabinet to be installed in the hallway and the glass to be installed in the master bath so the tub can be used as a shower. There are a few other "settling in issues we are dealing with, but nothing major.

Sidney has found all the playgrounds in the area, and we make visits as often as time and weather allow. We have had some rain in the past few days and it was very windy last night. The forecast calls for rain over the next few days until the weekend, so we may not be doing any outside playing until then. Weather here is a little strange, too, as it will be very sunny and warm, then suddenly switch to rainy and cold within minutes. We have also had some sleet this week, but mostly because the clouds were so low as opposed to it actually being very cold.

The view continues to be fantastic, regardless of the weather. We set up our telescope and can see quite a way up into the mountains with it. We also enjoy watching the boats, which brings me to the final picture. As I was folding laundry this morning, I looked up to see this large red ship pulling into the dock near our building. This picture shows what it looked like from the dining room window. The ship is taller than our eight story building. Quite impressive!

Speaking of the water, we have been enjoying seeing the marine life in the water in front of our building. We have seen small jellyfish, some smaller fish, flounder and even sea horses swimming right by the shoreline. We have also seen several types of birds fishing in the water, and even have a swan that lives nearby and swims between our marina and Vaulen Beach.

And finally, on the subject of swans, there is a nesting pair in the lake in Stavanger Sentrum we have been watching. When we first saw them, there was one egg in the nest. A week later, we saw five eggs. Mother and Father Swan are very diligent about protecting them and keeping them warm. We hope to see some "ugly ducklings" soon!