Kimber's Helicopter and Survival Training

The much anticipated safety, helicopter, and survival training for Kimber has come and gone. The class was four days total. The first day was mostly regulations, procedures, and first aid instruction. So not much really to write about although they did a nice job teaching basic first aid. I was surprised at how few people in the class had no first aid training prior to the class. Over half the class had no first aid training. The other area covered during this day was proper selection of personal protective equipment like gloves, fall arrest gear, helmets, etc.

Day two was mostly about fire. Although I have been through several fire extinguisher training classes and even to fire school, I learned several new things in this class and had several important elements reinforced. We went through a very thorough exercise of discussing flash points, explosive limits and auto ignition temperatures. We also discussed the fire triangle and how various extinguishing media worked. After that was an exercise to choose the best extinguisher for various types of fire. Also was first aid practice as well as live fire extinguisher training. One item that was discussed was how to extinguish a person. Contrary to what you see in the movies, you don't beat them with a blanket of fabric, you gently lay the fabric over the person protecting their face and then gently rub out the flame. Although a frightening subject, a good one to cover properly. In addition, the exercise was a good example of the fire retardant clothing. The "dummy" was wearing fire resistant clothing and had been lit with ethanol many times but the clothing had minimal burn marks. Finally, we practiced first aid and used CO2, foam, and dry chemical extinguishers to put out fires. Overall the class was very well done. The only complaint is that we had to wear wool long underwear, then fire resistant overalls, wool socks, boots, fire resistant hood, hard hat, glasses and then fire resistant rain gear. Three rather heavy and hot layers. Now you might say it isn't warm in Norway, no big deal. Except it was 80 and we didn't even get wet. So I am not exactly sure what all the layers were about.


Day three is when the real fun began. This was introduction to the survival suit and the helicopter Houdini routine. First the suit. It comes in 6 sizes from extra small to extra large. The sizes run large so several of my closer to average size class mates wore extra small. So as you may imagine, extra small was a bit big for me. Maybe a foot too long and the boots were a size 38. I wear a 35 on a large foot day. So I couldn't keep the shoes on.


The suit is really quite novel other than the size issues. It is supposed to keep you warm in freezing water for 6 hours, keep you afloat, has a secondary life vest built in which I will talk more about in a second, has cuffs that seal around your hands and gloves that can go over those. It also has a spray shield that is clear and protects your face. It has a buddy line and location beacon as well as light. There is strap on the back that you can get dragged by. It seals (at least mostly) around your face. The only problem with these suits is that they have been worn hundreds of times so the seals don't work and we were all soaked. The suits issued when you actually fly should keep water out a little better. But even soaking wet with my boots full of water, I was quite buoyant.

So another feature of the suit is a rebreathing system. The concept may seem a bit odd when I describe it but it worked well for me. The idea is that you can rebreath your own air for up to a minute. You only use a small percent of the oxygen in the air you breathe (that is why CPR works in case you never thought about it). To fly, you are already wearing the suit but the hood isn't on or zipped. Then after you have ditched and you are going under water, you establish your rebreather. You put on a nose clip and then put the rebreather mouth piece in (like a snorkel or dive mask). Then you breath normally but your hand is on a valve that controls the rebreather. Right before you go under, you take a deep breath and close the valve. The mouth piece is connected to a plastic bag that you exhale into. After that you "breath normally" while making your Houdini escape from the ditched turning upside down helicopter in the cold North Sea. The rebreather should work for at least a minute. Now in theory you should be able to hold your breath for a while but it is nice to breath normally while everything else in your day is disintegrating. I also tried the hold your breath method once and will talk more about that in a minute also. After you surface and don't need the rebreather any more, you inflate the bag for extra flotation.

So the first exercise was to get in the pool and activate the rebreather. First I had problems getting in the pool. Couldn't sink. Too buoyant. Then once I could get about the correct level, couldn't touch the bottom. For all of you who are now falling out of your chair laughing, keep reading, it gets better. After you activate the rebreather, you have to put your face under water using the rebreather for about 20 seconds. Then you repeat upside down (standing on your head in the water), and finally you use it while pulling yourself across the pool along a rope. For the upside down part, I had to be held by my feet and held under water. Too buoyant. Also, after the first exercise I forgot to spit out the rebreather and just kept breathing. Eventually my fingers started to tingle and I got dizzy. Then I realized my problem and spat it out to breath normally. Lesson learned.

Next came 6 helicopter escapes. First time right side up with the rebreather and putting the windows out before you went under water. No problems really except I could barely reach the window, couldn't reach the front of the seat where you are supposed to hang on, and my feet don't touch the floor. Quit laughing. And too buoyant. As soon as I undo my seat belt I go straight up. The idea is that you are part way out the window before you undo the seat belt. That of course assumes you have no problems reaching the window, can hold onto the seat and you can use your legs. Then my boots got stuck under the seat because I wrapped my legs under since they didn't reach the floor. Oh well. I got out and it is good to know these things before you actually need them. Oh and all of this is happening with your eyes closed until you surface.

Second exercise is escape right side up but put the windows out after you are under water. The next two exercises are doing the first two over but you turn upside down once after putting the windows out and once before putting the windows out. You have to wait until you are completely upside down to put out the window and undo the seat belt. Boy it is hard to wait. I had trouble due to size and buoyancy on all the rounds but I did get better. They do a nice job of making it feel safe as each person has a diver right beside them monitoring the situation. Everyone pops up in less than 10 seconds.

The last two exercises of the day were without the rebreather. You hold your breath. The first right side up was OK. The upside down without the rebreather was awful. If you have ever snorkeled and dove down to get a closer look at something below you, you know the pressure. But there is no mask to protect your nose and no nose clip. I also have never mastered breathing out through my nose ever so slowly so as soon as we turned over and were 15 feet or so under water, my head was full of water and so painful I wished it would explode. Lets just say if we had done that first, I may have quit.


But mission accomplished on day three. On to day four. This day was spent in the suit but the first half of the day on land. Again very hot. We practiced donning the suit, helping each other out to get the gloves and hood on, and mustering life boats. There are numerous types of life boats with various mustering procedures. So it was good practice but it was very warm. The other exercise of the morning, and the one I am best suited for was going down the escape chute. You enter the suit and do a bit of a hula hoop dance to slide down. There are rings, each a meter apart with Kevlar mesh outside and running diagonally inside. Since I am little, it is rather easy for me to fit between the Kevlar and rings. The bigger guys actually have to work at it.


The afternoon was spent in the sea. We had to get in and out of a life raft, rescue someone, swim together past a large fan, and jump in from 2 meters. Finally, we had to climb up onto a capsized life raft and flip it over. The only problem with this is getting on the silly thing in the first place once you are soaked and tired. Then once you are on you stand up and lean back flipping the raft onto your head, then swim out from underneath.

All in all, the class was tough and I am glad I don't have to go back for 4 years. In some ways it was less fun than I thought it would be but in others it was a unique challenge and I am glad I completed it.

Beach Life on the North Sea

The weather has been fantastic this past week. Temperatures have been in the 70's (maybe 80's at times) and the sun has been shining. We are forecast to continue that trend for a few more days. Many locals have warned us to enjoy it while we can, as there is the possibility that we may "only get this one week of summer." Let's hope they are wrong.


As the weather has been good, we have spent a little time at the beach this week. Sidney and I went to the beach at Randaberg on Wednesday. This particular beach has a very nice stretch of sand and pleasant, gentle waves. It wasn't very crowded, but there were some entertaining aspects to the visit. If you look really closely in the center of this picture, you can see a horse. The kids that had the horse rode it to the beach, then swam (allowing the horse to swim as well), then went home with the horse in tow. There were also a lot of baby carriages and strollers on the beach. You must understand Norwegian strollers - these aren't the typical little mall shopping buggies you see back in the States. These things have fat, knobby tires and serious suspension. Add an engine to one and you might be able to compete in a Jeep competition. They also cost about as much as a small car!



Sidney enjoyed building sand castles and playing in the water. She was a little leery of the water, as there are jellyfish of various types in it, but she did get about waist deep. The water is pretty cool, but you get used to it (or at least your legs go numb and you don't feel anything after a while.)

Kimber also spent some time in the water this week, though hers was no "day at the beach." She had survival training for her offshore helicopter rides. She will post a separate entry about it later this week.

On Saturday, we took our bikes and went on the ferry to Kvitsoy, which is a small island in the bay leading out to sea from Stavanger. We originally intended to do this a few weeks ago, but I didn't check the ferry schedule and the ferries only run every three hours on Saturday to Kvitsoy. I didn't do a very good job checking it this time, and we arrived at the terminal an hour and a half early, so we rode around on our bikes a little to pass the time.

We met a friendly German couple on the ferry who are spending their holiday biking all over Norway. Their bikes were filly loaded with equipment, but they were just taking their time and enjoying themselves, so it didn't seem too bad. They have apparently done this in the States, Canada and other places in Europe as well.



Kvitsoy is a small, very quaint little island best known for its lighthouse and its seafood. Most of the best seafood sold in Stavanger apparently comes from Kvitsoy. We didn't sample any, as we had our normal picnic with us, but it might be worth a return trip. In this picture, you can see why it might be big business there - there are little channels everywhere. Actually, Kvitsoy is not just one bug island, but over 300 islands (many of them just big enough to throw a ball across - underhanded).




The lighthouse is also quite nice. I is a concrete structure built in the 1860's. The first picture shows the type of "lighthouse" it replaced. There was a very kind gentleman that gave us a tour and showed us all the inner workings of the light itself. It is exactly what one would think of when thinking of a lighthouse. It even had steep spiraling stairs leading to the top. When we left, the guide gave Sidney a cookie, which of course made the lighthouse her favorite part of the visit to Kvitsoy.


Kvitsoy also has a few other sites to see, but none as funny as this. There was a wedding going on at the church on the island, and this tandem bike was a wedding gift. Two lucky young members of the wedding party were volunteered to ride it down the hill from the church to the reception.



Another place we visited on the island is an ancient Viking/Christian site from the 11th century. There is a carved stone cross still standing at the site where an early church was. The cross is original to the site, and is quite impressive. Also impressive are the neighboring radio towers, which enable the BBC to send their shortwave broadcasts all over the world. They can be seen from the mainland, and are an easy way to identify the island on the horizon (though the lighthouse is a pretty nice beacon.)


We biked back to the ferry terminal after visiting the stone cross, and came across this sign along the way. Let's just say it would not be good if you didn't heed the warning.

After returning to the mainland, we made another visit to the beach at Randaberg, which is quickly becoming one of Sidney's favorite places to visit in Norway. She played just long enough to get completely covered in sand and for us to cool off in the water and relax while listening to the waves. Again, it was surprisingly not very crowded.

We came home, cooked sausages on the grill, and listened to a concert taking place just across the water at Vaulen Beach. One of the acts was Rick Astley, known for his song "Never Gonna Give You Up" from 1987. He sang it three times during his performance. I personally like his song "Cry for Help" better, and "Together Forever" is also memorable, but I only heard them once. There were also some Norwegian bands performing. Though I didn't recognize any of the names, I did recognize one of the songs one band played as being a jingle for a commercial here. It is actually a pretty catchy tune, though I don't understand the words.

Kimber will post later on the survival training (with pictures included!) so stay tuned!

Solstice and Father's Day

This past weekend included the Summer Solstice and Father's Day, and we celebrated in appropriate style. But first, I thought I would share a little of the smoked mackerel with you. This was the first batch. I liked them so much I decided to go ahead and smoke the rest of them later that afternoon. I shared some with Nicole, our apartment receptionist, and she wondered how we could possibly smoke fish in a seventh floor apartment. I explained the process of using wet mesquite wood chips close to the burner and placing the fish on the opposite side of the grill, and I think she understood. Either way, she liked the fish, as did I.


I also wanted to share a picture of Mommy and the Mummy. Sidney has had questions recently about mummies, so Kimber decided to wrap her in toilet paper so she could be a mummy. She was very cute. Additionally, it was interesting listening to her say, "Mummies live in a pyramid and they are really just dead people and they don't scare you." She actually was cued to the pyramid thing by me talking about the pier. I just can't imagine what goes on in that little head!









Now, on to Father's Day (sort of). Kimber gave me a surprise trip for Father's Day, but we celebrated on Saturday instead of Sunday, because of when she could get the reservations. It was a trip on a ferry out to and island just north of Stavanger where a family has planted an amazing garden. You may ask why an island with a garden is so fantastic, but you must remember how far north we live. This garden is filled with palms, olive trees, and several other things that "shouldn't grow here." Because of well-planned windbreak planting and the warm Gulf Stream, this garden thrives. Granted, many of the more tender plants are taken into town (by ferry) for the winter (the Japanese koi are also taken in, as there are mink that enjoy a nice meal of hibernating koi too much to leave them.) Here are several pictures to let you see just how beautiful and colorful the garden actually is:

In addition to a guided tour of the garden, the trip included a five course meal served in the on-site restaurant. The ingredients were local with many of the herbs being grown in the garden. The pasta, bread and butter were all made fresh in the kitchen, and the food was all fantastic. Kimber, who is not really a fan of fish soup, had to force herself to stop eating the cream-based fish stew that contained, cod, salmon, shrimp and halibut. Needless to say, we didn't need dinner Saturday night. Oh, and one more picture of Sidney for the grandparents -

We celebrated the "actual" Father's Day, which also happened to be the Summer Solstice, by going on a hike. We left relatively early and took the ferry across to Tau, then drove a little farther to a farm area called Nes. We set off from there on what the guidebook called "a good marked service road" over "undulating terrain" with a height variation of 550 meters over the 15 kilometers. Needless to say, it was a bit more difficult that that.

The trail was actually an old sheep-driving trail built in the early 1900's by Swedish "ruffians" to make getting sheep from one pasture to another and to market easier. If this was easier, I would have hated to see the old way. We did, however, meet some "fellow hikers" along the trail very early on. (This picture was from the lower and better par of the trail.) There is a rivalry between Norwegians and Swedes, and I think this trail may have been laid by a bunch of Swedes trying to exact some sort of revenge. As it happened, Kimber took a fall and got a badge of honor from this hike.
The hike did provide some beautiful scenery, as it ran along a river and lake the entire way. There were three waterfalls as well.



Interestingly, there were signs at several locations describing a little of the history of that particular site. Unfortunately, many of them told of stories of people that fell into the water while boating and drowned or went over the falls and drowned. I think there were at least ten deaths recorded on these signs. We also saw several people swimming in the water, which made me wonder if they actually read the signs before taking a dip. It also made me wonder how they could swim in water that was probably very cold. It was around 60 degrees Fahrenheit yesterday, and I wore shorts and a t-shirt, but I had no burning desire to hop in one of those lakes, especially after seeing show still on some of the surrounding mountains.


There were a couple of other neat things along the way. One was this stone bridge that spanned the divide between the upper and lower Viglesdalvatnet (Vigles Dale Lake). The other was this little pool that contained tadpoles (we also saw a couple of frogs.) For those that have known Kimber for a long time, you may remember she used to really like frogs. She still thinks they are pretty cool, but doesn't collect "fog stuff" anymore. She was thrilled to see the tadpoles, though.

The hike turnaround was at a group of hikers' cabins ant the end of the lake. In Norway, you can join the Hiking Association, which allows you access to these cabins. They are all over the place along popular hiking trails, and they are really quite nice. Most do not have electricity or indoor plumbing, but they have propane stoves and wood burning stoves or fireplaces, decent beds with pillows and duvets (you need to bring your own covers and sheets) and pretty much everything else you need besides food. They are occupied on a first-come, first-serve basis, and you are responsible for leaving it at least as clean as you found it. It really isn't a bad deal if you are into the outdoors and want to do some overnight hiking and camping. Certainly better than a tend and sleeping bag!

Kimber has her helicopter survival training this week, so our next post will probably contain info about that. The training facility is actually within sight of our apartment, so it will be nice for her to be able to leave a little later and just walk over each morning.

Mmmm... yummy!

This was one of the desserts we made last night in the pastry class. It is a strawberry cake, and it was seriously decadent! It had a vanilla cream, fresh strawberries and sponge cake all layered. The other desserts were a chocolate fondant and a strawberry mousse. It was a very good class (or at least a very yummy one!)

And related to food, I caught seven large mackerel and one cod yesterday. I fished in the morning, and the fish were biting. The larger ones seemed to be prevalent yesterday. I would like to catch a few more of the cod, but the size of our freezer limits the catch size.

Upcoming trips!

We have two big trips scheduled to tell you all about! The first will be over the July 4th holiday weekend to the company cabin near Sirdal. We will leave on Thursday evening and drive up, staying until Sunday afternoon. There will be lots of hikes (including a special surprise hike for you all) and some fantastic scenery (we hope!) Pray for good weather!

The next trip will be a nine day trip above the Arctic Circle! The itinerary is as follows:
July 17 - Stavanger to Tromso (farthest northern university)
July 19 - Tromso to Hammerfest (farthest northern city in the world!)
July 21 - Hammerfest to Kirkenes (near Russian and Finnish border)
July 22 - Kirkenes to Honningsvag (northernmost point of Europe)
July 23 - Honningsvag to Bodo (just north of the Arctic Circle)
July 24 - Bodo to Narvik (site of significant WWII battles)
July 26 - Narvik to Stavanger (home!)

So we will have lots of pictures of reindeer, the indigenous Sami people, glaciers, maybe even a polar bear! And we will experience the midnight sun the entire time (that means eyemasks for sleeping for everyone!)

Finally, we are attending a pastry making class at the apartment reception kitchen tonight. It is to be taught by a French chef from one of the hotels in town. We are looking forward to some nice treats and a good opportunity to learn, and may even take a few pictures to share.

A bit of history

We decided to stay closer to home this weekend, Saturday's main highlight being a visit to Ikea and lunch, and Sunday being a bike ride in Randaberg. The bike ride included some very interesting tidbits of Norwegian history, as well as more fantastic views, but more on that in a moment.

Some may ask - why go to Ikea for lunch? As I have mentioned before, eating out here is very expensive, actually, prohibitively expensive. Part of it is that it is just not part of the culture. People eat in here, and if they do eat a meal on the go, it is usually something light like yogurt, a sandwich or crackers and cheese. A meal at a typical restaurant is probably going to cost $20-$25, and nicer restaurants are closer to $50. That is just the meal, no drink, dessert, etc. Ikea is considerably cheaper. For about $30, Kimber had a salmon salad and dessert, I had a large Swedish Meatball plate with fries, dessert and a drink, and Sidney had pasta with sauce, dessert and a drink. The food is very tasty, even if it is somewhat "cafeteria" style. Further, Ikea has a really cool kids' play area that Sidney loves. We can go in and drop her off, do our shopping, pick her up and go eat. It makes a very nice morning, even if we don't buy anything (though we usually can't leave without a few items - this visit's cool find were ice cube trays in cool shapes!)


Now for a bit of history. Randaberg is one if the oldest-known inhabited portions of Rogaland, which is our county in Norway. There have been inhabitants there for over 8,000 years. Pictured here is a cave called Svarthola in which artifacts and remains have been found that prove that. This was one of the things we rode by on our bikes. Apparently, the excavation of the cave floor revealed a refuse layer from the Stone Age containing the remains of over 50 different types of animals that the early people here ate.


And a little later in history... we often think of the Vikings as pagans and hear of the mythology that includes gods like Odin, Loki, etc. Many don't realize how early Christianity came to this part of the world. On the hill this picture was taken from were the remains of an ancient church dating back to at least the 12th century. Additionally, the cathedral in Stavanger dates to near the same time. The cathedral is still standing today, and is one of the finest examples of Middle Ages church building styles still standing.


We also think of the Norsemen as warriors or fishermen, braving the frigid and unpredictable North Sea. What we don't acknowledge is that this was and still is a very agrarian society. Farms play an important part in history here, and many farms are preserved to show what agriculture was like in earlier times. Some previous posts have given examples of that, and here is another. This is from the Vistnestunet, and old farm from the 1870's. Additionally, the place where the church was on top of the hill is mentioned in records as early as 1159 as being an important farm that contributed much to the coffers of the King at that time.



The sea is still an important part of Norwegian history and current life. This is the Tungenes lighthouse, one of many that dot the coast. It dates from the mid-1800's and was manned until 1984, when it was replaced by an automatic lighthouse just offshore. We were able to tour this lighthouse and learned many interesting things, including how the lights were interpreted, along with navigational charts, to determine the safest shipping lanes. This is what the red lenses and the black shutters were for in the picture. (We also happened to stumble onto a band concert at the lighthouse yesterday afternoon. It is nice to see a little of the real local life every now and then and not just what we can find in a tourism book!)


Additionally, we learned a little more about the German occupation of the area during WWII. The lighthouse was actually occupied and used by the Germans to deny safe shipping lanes to enemy vessels, and a coastal artillery piece was emplaced just outside the lighthouse. The gun was only fired once, however, as it shattered the windows of the lighthouse when it was fired. German occupation here is very apparent, though, as bunkers lie in ruins all over the areas along the coast.

As for the ride - it was very sunny yesterday and the ride itself was nice, except for the wind. The wind was very strong, and when towing a bike trailer, it really slows you down. There were also a few good hills, but the wind was the biggest hindrance.


Finally, we saw a MASSIVE crane ship along the coast in Randaberg. I thight the crane ship that parks next to us was big until I saw this one! All I can say is - WOW!

Package from Home

So no pictures in this blog posting. Sorry to disappoint. But a huge thank you to all our friends from Findlay and elsewhere who contributed to our care package. Especially to Michelle, the organizer and major contributor. Thank you all so much.

Home is where our family is and we always refer to where we currently live together as home. But Findlay was home for so long and was such a wonderful home for us. And being in Norway is such a great adventure and we are loving it. But that doesn't diminish how much we miss our friends. Your thoughtfulness is much appreciated. And for as much as we may have affected your lives, we can never express how much you have affected our lives.

On a lighter note, being that it is Wednesday, it was sail boat Regatta night. I sat and counted over fifty boats. It appears they must race in classes as they come out of the fjord opposite us in groups of ten to twenty. The groups all have similar sized boats with the largest coming first and the smallest last. And today at least they are racing one way and then the other.

Finally, one of the things we like about our apartment is the opportunity to participate in things like Waffle Thursday and some other special events. Last night, the office manager organized a dinner. It was a "Grill Night" and a chef that is apparently pretty famous in Norway came in a prepared the meal. There were various salads (one was a pineapple-avocado salad that was really good), grilled meats, bread and desserts. The meats were leg of lamb, beef loin, chicken and trout, all roasted on the grill. The desserts were fruit salad and chocolate mousse. It was delicious, especially he trout. It was also expensive, at about $100 for the two of us (no charge for Sidney), and we ended up eating on the floor. It was supposed to be served on the terrace patio, but it rained last night and the food was too good to get watered down by rain.

Now this is retro!

And from the part of the world that brought you ABBA (one member of the band was Norwegian, the others Swedish), we bring you our new piece of art! We picked this up at an antique store this week. It may be retro, but we think it looks cool, and that is what counts with art, right?!? It also matched the furniture somewhat, so that is also important.

Speaking of ABBA, they are still quite popular here. Popular enough that I actually heard a little girl (probably about 7 years old) singing an ABBA song the other day. Maybe it was just because of the Mamma Mia! popularity.



Sidney went to her Reception Year Induction at school yesterday. Reception year is on the same level as kindergarten in the U.S. She met her new teacher and new classmates. She will actually begin in August. She was very cute in her little bumble bee dress, so we included the gratuitous Sidney picture for your enjoyment here.

I also went to school yesterday. You see, I will be working at Sidney's school starting in August (provided I can complete all the work permit paperwork, etc.) I won't be practicing as a nurse, but will be working full-time with a little girl coming in from another country that needs full-time assistance. My class will actually be Sidney's sister class, so I will be there the same time she is every day.

Now a little on Norwegian bureaucracy - I have investigated practicing as a nurse here and found some obstacles. I would not necessarily have to learn Norwegian to get my authorization, but I would have to take a class about the national health system here which is only taught in Norwegian. Further, if I were to work in the local hospital, the charting would all be in Norwegian. Considering we will only be here 1 1/2 - 3 years, learning that much Norwegian would be almost impossible. Another little obstacle is that my current license is a U.S. license. Unless you have an E.U. license here, you have to go through verification of education (submit copies of all coursework, exams, etc., to ensure they meet the "standard") and work history (to ensure you worked enough to meet the "standard"). This can take five months on the short side, even if everything is in order (which it most likely won't be.) Needless to say, I am happy that I will be working an doing something that, while it is not "nursing", will at least use my nursing skills and talents.

And a little more regarding bureaucracy - beer here is just too expensive. What does this have to do with the government? The government imposes a "sin tax" on all alcohol sales. I understand the idea and actually agree with it on some levels. But when a beer costs $2 a bottle for the CHEAP beer at the grocery store, and $10 for a glass of CHEAP beer at a restaurant, that is just too much. Don't get me wrong - I am not a heavy drinker by any means. I MAYBE had two beers a week back in the U.S., and rarely drank more than two beers at any one time (even at parties), but with these prices, I can't afford to even do that in good conscience here. I know things are generally more expensive here, but it is just sad that we are a two hour flight from Frankfurt where you can get a case of 1/2 liter bottles of good beer for $12.

With that, there is the kind reminder to anyone that should come to visit - stop at the duty-free at the airport and by your limitation of alcohol for us! This is the custom here! You will also see every Norwegian on the plane buying their limit of alcohol at the duty-free as they return home.

Land of the Midnight Sun

Well, not really the sun, but there is still residual sunlight after midnight. This picture was taken this morning at a few minutes past midnight, and you can see how bright it still is. The sun rises in the Northeast, moves around to the south and sets in the Northwest. While it is below the horizon, it moves around the North, the whole while providing residual light, almost as much as a "false dawn", before re-emerging above the horizon. We are fortunate here, as just a bit further North the sun doesn't set from mid-May to mid-August.

The sun does not, however, correspond to daily life here. Almost everything is closed on Sunday. The exception are gas stations and most restaurants. The hours for everything else are also pretty short. Most grocery stores close at hours at 9-9 during the week at 10-6 on Saturday. Most regular stores are only open from 10 until 7 during the week. This is mostly because the Norwegians respect family time. It is also because there are very strict laws regarding overtime and working hours. While it isn't all bad as long as you plan appropriately, it does seem a bit strange for a city of this size to be completely "shut down" for such long periods.



Yesterday we did a little biking. We rode across the peninsula (from the fjord to the North Sea) and back. It was a very pleasant ride, and we did not push ourselves hard. Along the way we stopped at the memorial to the Alexander Kielland, a rig that sank in the North Sea in 1980. Several people were lost in the incident, and many of them were from here in Stavanger. The memorial consists of three massive links of chain, on of which is broken with the open part being to the sea, representing the lives torn away and lost there. There are also two plaques embedded on the rock below with the names of those lost.



After the hike, Sidney and I did a little fishing off the dock in front of our building. I have regularly seen people catching mackerel and cod there, so I wanted to give it a try. No license is required to fish in the fjord or the sea, and the preferred "bait" are lures, so it is a pretty cheap form of entertainment. We caught five mackerel (I threw the first back for good measure.) The largest was a female and was much larger that the males. We have looked up some mackerel recipes and will give them a try this week. If they are good, it could cut down on the grocery bill a little!

We were planning on doing the "Seven Nuts" hike this weekend, but decided not to try it. If you refer to an earlier blog entry, you see that we did Dalsnuten, which is one of the mountains across the fjord from us. There are actually seven peaks (nuts, pronounced NOOTS) on the other side, and there was an organized event this weekend to hike all seven in a row. The entire hike is about 18 kilometers. We decided we would take it a little easier this weekend, as we have been pretty busy almost every other weekend. We went to church this morning (we are attending the Anglican church here) and came home to rest this afternoon. We will, at some point, hike the seven nuts, but will probably enjoy it more when there aren't a bunch of other nuts trying it at the same time as us.

Ugly ducklings

And now the big announcement...

The swan couple has SEVEN chicks! And they are not really the ugly ducklings the old children's tale would have you believe. In fact, they are quite cute, as you can see in these photos. While they may not be the cute pale yellow of many duck chicks, they are a nice white or gray. They are also quite curious. The parents seemed to bring them by Sidney's school gathering at Vaulen beach yesterday to show them off. They swam up to the beach, came ashore a couple of times for photo ops, then swam away. We think they hatched some time this past weekend, based on when we have seen the swans on the island where the nest is. Additionally, Kimber reports that the swan nest in town no longer has eggs in it, meaning those have probably hatched now too.

As mentioned before, Sidney had a school outing at Vaulen Beach, which is within view of our apartment, yesterday. The kids all had great fun, but I would describe the scene as somewhere between controlled chaos and cat herding. It seems the only thing that can settle down a bunch of preschoolers is the offer of food. At one point, Sidney was having a snack with a few of her classmates. There were six nationalities of kids all sitting beside each other having a snack! This is one of the reasons we came here and also why we enrolled her at the British school. On a side note, Sidney is learning a few words with a British accent. One of her teachers is Ms. Janet, whom she calls "Ms. JOH-net", and today she said she wanted to get into the "cah" to go home. She also prefers "biscuits" for a snack.

A hearty welcome to the new blog followers and those just visiting regularly. Also, it was nice to meet those of you that attended the class at the Chamber in Stavanger today. I will be curious to see if your experiences are like ours.

Finally, another visitor is tying up at the pier next door this evening. She is the Boa Deep C, which is a sister ship to the Boa Sub C that was their previously. She came in slow. No idea what will be done or how long she will be here.

Our weekend in the "mountains"

Our visit to Sauda and Roldal was this past weekend, and it was very nice. I will try to post the blog entry in chronological order, but I may throw in a few things from time to time.

We had a wonderful drive up to Sauda. We took a total of three ferries along the way. Ferries are a part of life in many parts of Norway. With all the fjords, there is no way to build roads straight from one place to another. They aren't very expensive (in Norwegian terms), and they run pretty regularly from the scheduled locations. The rest of the drive was very scenic along fjords, through "mountains" (I put this in quotes because the tallest one we saw was still only about 1200 meters high), and a bit scary at times. The roads are very narrow, often only one lane around blind switchbacks and curves, and there are some places with tunnels that are not lit. Add to that the bicycle race going on this past weekend into Sauda, and it adds up to a high probability of an accident if one isn't careful.



We stopped for a picnic along the way, as is our habit. We ate near a spinnery, which serves now as a crafts center where people learn felting, basket weaving and other local arts. We also stopped at the site of an old stone bridge that is no longer in use. It was built around the turn of the century. It is pictured here.

When we arrived in Sauda, the bike race was still going on. The participants rode over 160 km from the coast all the way to the mountains, and some of the hills looked wicked! We walked around town for a little, thinking we would get a chance later to go back to do a little extra shopping for our picnics for the next few days, but were surprised when everything closed at 4 p.m. (except a few restaurants.) Apparently the closings were in relation to the "Sauda Days" celebration. We also had a little problem at check-in at our hotel as the first person at the reception desk didn't speak English and he and the next person to help couldn't figure out we had a reservation. I had visions of being 120 miles from home with nowhere to stay, but then saw my name in their guest register and pointed it out to them.





We ate dinner at a Italian/Turkish/Indian restaurant and the food was very good. The only problem was there was too much to choose from on the menu! After dinner, we went to Svandalsfossen, a waterfall just outside Sauda. The waterfalls produce a lot of mist, and we wore our raincoats to keep from being soaked. Sidney was tired of walking after the falls, so we drove up to a little farm called Tviettunet, which boasted these sod-roofed buildings with pansies growing on them. The buildings were closed, but the buildings were very nice with the flowers on them.

We went back to our hotel to "settle down", but found our hotel also has a pub that serves outdoors as well. The band playing the Sauda Days dance was also staying there, and the laughing and talking carried on well into the morning. The good thing is that the mountains actually seemed to make it a little darker there, so sleep was a little easier.





We got up early Sunday morning and went down for breakfast. The buffet was the typical Norwegian hotel breakfast buffet, with cold cuts, cheeses, bread, spreads, boiled eggs, pickled herring, mackerel and sardines, cereal, juice, milk, coffee (bad), yogurt and a few other odds and ends. After breakfast, we headed up the Roldal road, which is soon to be a National road in Norway because of its natural beauty. Beauty aside, this road is amazing for the mere fact that they built a road through an area that gets more snow than most other places in Europe! It usually opens some time in May or June and closes during the winter. As you can see in these pictures, there is still quite a bit of snow in the area, even though temperatures in the valleys were near 70 degrees. The road was also very winding and steep in many places, again much of it being one lane. Oh, I almost forgot our "detour" to a dam on the way up. There was a turn-off that showed a tourist attraction labeled "dam", which did turn out to be a dam, as well as a lake (which was refilling with snow-melt water, and an old ski jump, which looked very frightening. There were several cabins, and about 10 cows that felt like hanging out in the middle of the one lane road. We also passed through a herd of goats as we got onto the really mountainous part of the road. I will talk about another "wildlife" experience in a bit.




We made it down the mountains alive, and went through one of the strangest tunnels ever at the bottom. This tunnel actually corkscrews through the mountain. The exit is below where the entrance is on the mountain. Once in Roldal, we stopped at the stave church. For those of you that have been to Epcot, the stave church reproduction there can't compare to the real thing. This one has apparently been around since the 1300's and the interior was decorated in the 1600's. Services were going on, so we didn't get to see the inside, but the church provided a nice backdrop for our Sunday picnic.




After looking around Roldal a bit, and after some yummy desserts from a local cafe, we went for a hike that was described to us as "only steep for the first 200 meters or so." It was only 2 kilometers long, but was steep for about 1500 of that. It went up a mountain and through a sheep pasture, ending up near another old farm no longer in use. We would have possibly taken the circuitous route back, but weren't sure about the path on the other side, as there were waterfalls coming off that mountain and the path was not as apparent. It was a nice walk, but it tired us of walking for the day. On the way down, I said hello to a few of the less timid sheep.







On the drive back, we decided to stop and get some pictures that would give some perspective on the depth of the snow. This is our car parked on the opposite side of the road as the snow, and another picture of Kimber standing beside the snowbank. Notice the wooden poles in the car picture. Those are so the snowplow can tell where the edge of the road is when it really is snowing. See how high they are? There was actually a tractor doing some snow removal as the snow was melting enough to fall onto the roadway and disrupt traffic in areas. Imagine coming around the corner on a one lane road in a blind curve and finding an excavator facing you head on!



We also stopped to enjoy some cool, clear snow-melt water. I stepped into the wrong place and went up to my hip in the snow. You don't often get to see me in the blog, so Kimber was kind enough to get this so you could see. We let Sidney dip her feet into a pool of the water because it looked so inviting, but she didn't think that was very cool. Actually, she thought it was way too cool! The water was beautiful and clear, and I had a little drink. Nope, no cryptosporidium or other problems in this stuff!

We made it back into Sauda and had dinner in the hotel restaurant. The food was not bad, and the prices were better than most we have found so far, with main courses around $15. We went to the room afterward to get some sleep, but the pub outside was loud again. I finally went down and spoke with the manager around 11 p.m., and he took care of the problem. Other than the noise, the hotel was not bad and was centrally located in town.







Another round of the breakfast buffet on Monday (Monday was a holiday here - Whit Monday, hence the reason Kimber was off), then on to more hiking. We went along a trail that went to an abandoned zinc mine. The trail was flat most of the way, but provided some excellent views of the river, waterfalls, and old mine ruins. You can see some old support pillars for tracks in one of these pictures. You also see Kimber and Sidney at the entrance to the mine tunnel. There are guided tours of the mine after June 15th, but we were a bit early for those. The walk was nice though.




We left Sauda to come back home, but stopped along the way for one more hike, this time to Jona farm. This was a farm that has been in this family since the 1600's, and is the site of an early hydro-electric facility and a water-powered saw. There are a couple of pictures here of these things. We also did a little more hiking up the mountain, but the climb was very steep and the ground was saturated. It reminded me of some areas in Alaska with mushy bogs and swamps. The landscape here actually is similar to Alaska or the Pacific Northwest, and the mountains are reminiscent of Yosemite, but while the land is rugged, it doesn't have the "wild" trait that many parts of the West or Alaska have. The only "wildlife" we have encountered so far on our hikes were a few neat birds and three snakes. Kimber actually picked up a snake on the Jona farm hike, played with it, let Sidney pet it, etc. Some other hikers happened along about that time and when she showed them the snake, they freaked! They told her to put it down immediately, as it was the only dangerous type of snake in Norway. (Norwegians call it a hoggurm, it is a type of viper.) They said she was lucky not to have been bit. Other than the zig-zag markings on his back, he looked like the typical garter snake. This is the second one of these I have seen here, and we did see a garter snake as well, as mentioned in an earlier post.

We came home, and after a nice drive and three ferry rides, found out the Vikings were playing a televised game at home. We were able to watch all the people come in and enjoy the game in the comfort of our living room. We could tell when something exciting was about to happen on t.v. because there was a 5 second delay in the broadcast, and we would hear the roar of the crowd just before it happened on t.v. The Vikings lost 4-0, and they are quickly slipping down to last place in the league.



We also found a new visitor to our next-door port. The Sandpiper is a Panamanian-flagged vessel that looks like a pipe-laying ship. She was here, apparently, to get a new crane on the deck, and she left this morning. No idea when the other ship that was here last week left, but I was a little surprised to see her gone. But like I told Sidney, if they are sitting here in port, they aren't making any money, so they try to get them in and out as quickly as possible.

The next post will have pictures and events from Sidney's day at the beach with her class. And as a little teaser, there will be big news regarding our swans here at our apartment marina!