I’ve arrived and am very promptly poor. I had been warned about the high costs in Norway. But still wasn’t prepared. Money disappears in a vapour. I checked out the relative cost to NZ by using the McDonalds index. A big Mac, medium fries and medium coke was about $22. But you’ve got to admit the McDonalds is classy

Still, Kristiansand has some lovely spots.

There’s even a sand sculpture display on with some incredible work

More of the sculptures in the photos area..

Two superb sunny days in a row. Quelle surpris! Thursday was mostly a tourism promo for a cycling holiday in Norway with calm winds and a perfect mix of road and off road trails. The scenery was so engaging, it was a few kilometres before I realised that I was heading north and not west. Next time a GPS! The day was a mix of lakes.

And sea

Not to mention the fjords

I dutifully stopped for lunch in Mandal, even stopped in the village of Ime (family tree stuff).

Even visited the church but couldn’t find the great grand parents graves (sorry farmor).

I’m not sure which is worse, struggling uphill over gravel paths, or doing 55kph down them – quite white knuckle with a loaded touring bike

It’s funny how encounters can be. Just when I started feeling sorry for myself and tired, I met two young Norwegian girls who started out from Nord Cap (top of Norway) and now 29 days later where finishing their journey at the southern tip of Norway.

Tonight I’m camping out somewhere in the forest next to a mountain stream. It is amazing how standing waist deep in cold water can rejuvenate one’s legs.

BUT…. the forecast for the next three days is very heavy rain starting tomorrow morning sometime- there are flood warnings out for the area so I think I shall high tail it to the railway some 40 kilometres away and hole up in Stravanger for those days – we’ll see.

The day started with a wonderful 3 k downhill run, so much easier than yesterday’s 3 k uphill. As ever the views were good.

Then a break(fast) at Harry’s Bakery – not many places open at 6am

I followed the river upstream for some 35 k with the only people around being fly fishermen.

I am amazed at the number of waterfalls everywhere and the constant sound of water cascading. Along the way were houses tucked against towering cliffs.

Finally I reached Snartemo and this wonderful sculpture. It just needed a Nordic God to come and claim the sword.

And finally the railway. The station is in a valley gap in the mountains where the railway emerges from one 8 k tunnel before re-entering another 9 k tunnel less than a kilometre later.

The events in Oslo are truly horrible. There is very much a sense of shock – why here?

The weather like the mood is sombre. This weekend was supposed to be the Gladmat Food Festival. This is the largest food festival in the Nordic countries with all sorts of wonderful food.

Including this full spit roasted cow. But in sympathy to the events in Oslo, the festival was cancelled. As one stall holder put it to me, “so we lose a little money, that is nothing compared to what happened”.

I’m not sure what all the 6,000 people on board the two cruise boats would now do, although later in the day I could hear any entertainer on one of the boats exhorting people on the ship’s sun deck that “it’s fun to be at the Y.M.C.A”. I don’t think I could do that. Instead I lit a candle in the church

Next week Stavanger hosts the Tall Ships race, hopefully things will be better then.

It is funny how, when you are spending most of the time outdoors, that rain doesn’t matter as much as when one spends most of the time indoors. Stavanger.

I like Stavanger, while North Sea Oil is its main source of income (so I’m told), it has many lovely spots.

What to do with another rained out day? Go cruise the fjords of course! We left the harbor, again filled with tourists from the next cruise boat (Queen Elizabeth) and we zipped out to the fjords.

I’ve upgraded my rating of Norway from lovely to spectacular, even the “bachs” have grass roofs.

In the photo below is pulpit rock (little rock up in the centre). To give a sense of scale, Pulpit Rock is at 604 metres elevation.

The scale of the fjords is “super sized”. The ferry below has two full size coaches (buses) on it. You can see the top of a camper van on the left part of the deck.

After the cruise – yes it absolutely poured with rain and I got soaked again……

Here’s a pop quiz. Can you spot the differences between the two photos ?

As a hint it’s due to the continued presence of this

Well the forecast isn’t good for west Norway so I’ve decided to head south for (hopefully) sunnier climes. There was a wonderful fog, no not in my mind, but all over Stavanger

So it was onto the train to Kristiansand. A Brooks saddle is very comfortable but doesn’t compare to a cushioned railway seat. As we passed thru fjords, I did feel guilty but it quickly passed.

By the way, what do the hundreds of Norwegian Railway tunnels have in common with New Zealand Rugby? – they are both All Black . Okay I apologize for that really bad joke.

This, below, is the fish market in Kristiansand. I discovered it by following the smell of smoked fish, no Gps involved, just smell.

Finally after one torrential downpour, it was back on the ferry to Hirtshals.