We love Norway! As our time is running out here, we tried to delay the departure. It was getting colder and colder and it was clear to us that we didn't want to see the onset of winter. So we decided to take the ferry from Kristiansand to Denmark and not via Oslo, Sweden and the bridges. So we still found a pass road, another lookout point to stay longer in Norway. Here in the south it was autumn now and everything looked so beautifully colorful, but it was cold. At some point the good times in this country will also be over and so it went on for us.
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Stavanger - a city that we liked
From Blasjö reservoir then we are direction Stavanger driven. The search for a parking space turned out to be more difficult when you drive into a very busy area. The free one we drove to was pretty weird and full. So we drove to Jorpeland to a parking space directly at the harbor. Actually quite good too, so we could shower. In the evening the harbor was nicely lit and you could see Stavanger. The next day we went there. We got a parking space in the port directly behind an AIDA cruise ship. It's funny, our little bus behind such a big ship.
The weather was cloudy and it drizzled a bit in between. But it was warm and therefore ideal for a city visit. From the port we are directly in the old town, Old Stavanger, ran. There are many small wooden houses painted white, most of which date from between 1700 and 1800. There are apartments and small shops in there.
From there we walked to the park with the pond Breiavatnet. This is on the back of the cathedral, Domkirke. We saw a woman sitting on a park bench, surrounded by pigeons. They sat next to, in front of and on top of her and were "fed" by her. I wouldn't want to do that!
The cathedral was a building site and could not be visited. Construction began around 1125 and has remained largely unchanged since it was rebuilt after a fire around 1300. We then continued through the city center to Stavanger's famous colorful street, the Ovre Holmegate or called the Fargegaten by the inhabitants. What a colorful mix of houses it was. Just great and beautiful. There are many different shops and cafes here. Since we were looking for fries with fried fish, we looked around for them, but found nothing again. And we were hungry !!!
On the other side of the harbor basin was the Norwegian Oil Museum. We didn't go in, but it should be very interesting. Back through the city towards the car, we went to Burger King for food.
We had found nothing else affordable. Then vegan baked goods and a coffee in a small vending truck at the port. The operator happened to be German, so we had a nice chat before we walked to the bus. We're not big city lovers, but we really loved Stavanger.
After Stavanger we still have the 3 swords in the rock held to symbolize peace, freedom and unity. The monument was erected as a reminder of the battle at Hafrsfjord, in which, according to legend, Harald Fairhair fought and won against the Vikings in 870. The legend also says that the kingdom of Norway was founded in these years. That is why it is a very important monument for the Norwegians. Here we took a few more pictures and then drove on towards Lysefjord.
https://www.visitnorway.de/listings/schwerter-im-felsen/30706/
Lysefjord - car racing on the switchbacks
We still wanted the serpentine road Lyseveien down after Lysebotn drive. The pass road should be very beautiful. At a road junction in Oltedal we have one right after the turn Wool mill seen that also has warehouse sales. It was clear that we had to stop there! I was so happy to buy Norwegian wool !! It was also on my to-do list. Since we will only be in Norway for a few more days, I was allowed to use up the remaining cash. So we don't take back as much as we did with the Swedish krona. About half an hour before the Lyseveien we found a small lake where we stayed overnight.
After we had a good sleep and let everything go in peace, we drove on towards Lyseveien at noon. Basti drove first and in retrospect I was really happy about it. The pass road is great again, high and between the mountains. Once at the top you could see far and we were above the Norwegian tree line. But the way up to the lookout point was a bit nerve-wracking. A kind of car race took place. Some of them constantly overtook us with their old cars, some of them well preserved, and that with all the switchbacks. I couldn't have driven, that would have been too exciting for me.
Up at the vantage point we saw that someone was filming again and again, lying in the open trunk to the rear or up out of the skylight. Tired of living because the pace was not reduced. We stopped here for lunch and took some pictures. It was nice, but really windy. As we got to the end of our meal, the first cars were already on their way back. A car was parked right next to us and the 2 gentlemen then took pictures of the cars passing by with a drone and camera.
Shortly afterwards we drove on and we were lucky that not so many came towards us. Usually our plan was to go down into the fjord. But there isn't really anything to spend the night there and driving down and back up would have been too long because we still have to look for a place to sleep. So we only drove to the restaurant above the serpentines. We thought we might be able to take pictures of the street but we couldn't see it. After half an hour we are back and another pass road direction Brokke hazards.
Since all of this is mountainous and high in this area, it is of course a huge ski area. There are vacant holiday huts and hotels everywhere, but it can't be long with the temperatures. And they are building more houses, so there must be a lot going on here in winter. In Brokke we stayed in a large gravel parking lot because we hadn't found anything suitable beforehand.
For me, the day hadn't gone that well. It was really cold, then the car race, we didn't go down to the fjord and it was difficult to find a parking space. Basti suffered a bit because of that, of course, he got my mood. There are days like that. Despite being next to a main road, we slept quite well.
Surroundings Kristiansand - the last days in Norway
Our way led us on towards Kristiansand. The days in Norway are numbered, but we wanted to spend another 2-3 nights to Kristiansand. At some point on the E9 we drove into a side road, over a gravel forest road to a small reservoir. Here we stood by the lake and since it was still quite early, we cleaned the bus after lunch.
The place was nice and we were hoping to spend 3 nights here. It was a boat inlet, but it looked unused and there were no signs whatsoever. The next day we slept in and had coffee in peace. Later we wanted to do a little more work on the homepage.
At lunchtime, a local with a Bott supporter came. Since he probably wanted to try to get past our car to the water, Basti is out and asked if we should drive away. The local accepted and we then got the car ready in 3 minutes and drove to a place a few meters beforehand. However, this was nothing to stay overnight, as it was totally crooked.
First of all we went for a run with Finja and watched the local go boating. He actually caught up with his boat after 3 laps and drove. We have cleared the space for that! But we didn't want to put ourselves there again, because someone else could come.
So we looked for a place further towards Kristiansand at a bathing lake. We also have to book the ferry and do a little work. It wasn't that far until then and so we still had time to do everything. The ferry would leave Kristiansand for Denmark the day after next and since we liked the place, we stayed here for the last few nights. On the 2nd day we did the tests for the ferry, I cooked the whole meal for Finja and Basti edited pictures. So the day was full.
At noon a rescue helicopter flew directly over us, turned its circle and landed on the meadow next to us. The bus wobbled and it was also incredibly loud. Shortly afterwards an ambulance came and stopped at the front of the street. A few people from the helicopter then changed to the car, probably also had a stretcher, but we couldn't see anything else. When the car drove away it had no horn or flashing lights on, so it won't have been that bad. After 1 hour, the crew was back, gave everything up again and took off. Basti quickly took photos of the start and with our polar bear. Exciting.
The ferry was supposed to leave the next day in the afternoon and we wanted to fill up drinking water beforehand. We didn't want to see the city of Kristiansand anymore, because it would have been just another big city and we are not that into it. The next morning we got up early and got the bus ready in peace. Our bags are also packed for the ferry trip. Finja has to stay in the car, unfortunately, but it's only a 2 hour drive. Then we went, filled up water and drained waste water. 2 hours before departure we were at the port and were able to check in after half an hour of waiting.
We could watch the ferry entering and were amazed that it was a catamaran ferry. Basti then took pictures and we thought about how to get on the ferry and get out again, since it only has one ramp. It started and saying goodbye to Norway was really difficult! Our country!!!!
You can find more pictures in the Photo gallery Norway.
