24 Sept – Plans for Norwegian Adventure’s Grand Finale

Prior to departure to Norway, it was evident that 1) Jamie was going to come out at some point (part of his heritage is from the Central coast), and 2) it was going to be expensive. Since we have had other purchases lately, we are on a budget! When I packed for Norway, I brought the following: one roller bag of clothes for work & hiking, one roller bag with sleeping bags and a tent, and a carry-on hiking day backpack. Our intent is to camp & hike during Jamie’s visit, with a couple hotel or cabin nights thrown in. Or, that WAS the intent.

In addition to meeting budget, our goal is to see the North and West coast. This is difficult to do being peddlers. In speaking with Norwegians here, they kept mentioning some boat cruise. I blew it off the first few times, deciding automatically the word “cruise” permits luxury and exuberant charges, exactly the opposite of the tent nomad. This past weekend, when Mr. Blue Tractor Man mentioned that cruise-line, I thought, “That’s IT, I’ve had it with this suggestion. I’m googling it.” So, on Tuesday Hurtigruten got googled.

The pictures on this website are amazing. They are probably all taken in the summer (not mid-autumn) however the mountains, water, and villages are beautiful. The boat putts by all sorts of fjords and stops at a few main towns. Well, this would be a bit over our vacation budget… or NOT. For US Citizens (check), departing in October (check), whom order prior to Sept 30 (check), whom reserve a window room (sure), whom take a 6,7, or 13-day cruise (okay) there is a special 2-for-1 deal. That’s right folks, fate has struck. So, we’ve reserved a room aboard 6-day Norwegian cruiser MS Polarlys at a 50% off rate. The cruise is actually cheaper than renting a car + hotel + food for 6 days.

Don’t get me wrong, this is NO American cruise line. There is no entertainment (well, except for the natural stuff outside), no 24/7 all you can eat (they actually have scheduled eating hours), and no fancy clothes (all comfy/outdoor wear). It is purely a comfortable, relaxing, outdoor spectator sport. It should be a relaxing way to see the best of Norway’s landscape for both of us. So, we have reservations for that, in addition to a plane ride to the north and a train trip to escort us to the airports back east.

Luck has struck.

22 Sept - Weekday #9

By now you’re familiar with how my weekends are spent. You may be curious as to my weekdays. Today one of the Kongsberg employees asked what it’s like living out of the hotel. My response was exactly, “Well, I’m not there very much”. For the waking hours, I’m there for 3-4 hours per day at the very most.

The morning starts off at 6am with a “Ta Da” ringtone on the cell phone. The hotel rooms (both in Norway & Denmark) are like Las Vegas… solely in the fact that there is no clock. You must bring your own time… good time or bad times. Sorry, Matzen corn slipped out. Anyways, no clock, not even on the TV. The first few mornings I ordered a wake-up “call”, although there is no phone call. The TV is supposed to click on at the scheduled time. It worked in Denmark. It has yet to work here so I gave up on it… hence TA DA!

The bathroom is the first priority with its heated floors and “wake-up” lighting. When you turn the bathroom light on, it is super dim… almost to the point of annoyance. By the time the shower is warm enough, the lights are at their full brightness (40-60W). Now, I’m not sure if this is a designer’s sensational idea of not blinding the early risers or if it’s a defective bulb (needs warming up). Either way I think it’s fantastic and worthy of a design-in to my bathroom remodel at home. Oh, and the heated floors are grand, so add that to the remodel list too.

Post shower is Jamie time. We Skype it or phone it. Skype is preferred as it’s so much clearer and less hassle than a cell phone. However, it turns out Jamie is quite the social hubby and is certainly playing and gardening while the wifey is away… so sometimes our chats are over cell phone. It’s a good morning to me and a good night to him.

The breakfast buffet opens at 7am and it’s quite a spread. I dare say that my inlaws, a.k.a. cruise experts, would give it a nod. Here are the items I’ve tried: fresh bread (in all shapes & sizes), 5 jams, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, 3 cheeses, honey, 2 yogurts, 4 cereals, 4-5 melons/pineapple, sunnyside up eggs, beans, potatoes, and 2 types of fishy fish. I have yet to have that all in one morning. Here are the items I have not tried: bacon, sausage balls, nutella, and make-your-own vaffels (but I will!). There may be one other non-vegetarian item that skips my memory. The only items they don’t have are the standard fruits of apples, oranges and bananas (which is fine by me).

A brush of the teeth and I’m out the door with my laptop in hand. If I park on the street (not in the hotel’s I’ll-rip-you-off parking garage), I must move my car before 8am, or pay for a ticket. So, I’m at the supplier at 8am. Normal workday at the plant is 9 hours (same as at home to make the 9/80 schedule). After work I get some exercise … a run, hike, or walk in a new woods/trail/neighborhood. The fresh air here is as good as the tap water. Very refreshing.
Choosing a place for dinner is a highlight of the day. Although, depending on the restaurant quality determines if it really should’ve been the highlight of the day. I’ve not explored all the options yet. Today a new restaurant “region” was just made known to me in the old Kongsberg section, so I look forward to ordering some delectable treats across the river.

Settling down in the hotel room typically occurs around 7 or 8pm depending on my energy level. After checking in with the morning coworkers at homebase, I’ll read a book before dozing off at 10pm. I’m currently reading the Julia Child (auto)/biography. It’s a good book to nestle down with after a full stomach. Reading it during happy hour would drive me nuts!

That’s all folks, broadcasting from this little hotel room.

20 Sept – Water Up and Water Down

From Norway

After a deep 11 hour sleep, I awoke in the cozy cabin refreshed and peaceful. I took the laptop on the front deck of the cabin, surveyed the view and overcast clouds, and wrote up the prior day’s activities. After breakfast, I packed up the car and walked down to the canoes. It had started to sprinkle ever so slightly, but it was not going to dissuade me from paddling.

The paddling was great. There was nothing on the water except some ducks, a resting flock of geese, and me. First I went down fjord. Then I got distracted by a meandering path, hoping it would go through to make a loop. After 45 minutes out, the path started challenging my skills as it mellowed into a narrow, shallow stream. Once the canoe started scrubbing the bottom and the sprinkle matured into a steady rain, I retreated back to base. It was noon by the time I got back to the cabin (which was check-out time). I got on the road and headed back to Kongsberg.

A local Norwegian recommended a hiking area south of Kongsberg, so that was my plan for the afternoon. A half hour on the road and I came upon a lonely, roadside red hut situated on a lake. It’s had a full parking lot every time I’ve driven by... so perhaps not that lonely afterall. I was still damp from the paddling, and wasn’t jazzed to get back out there quite yet, so I pulled over. Walking in the door was like walking into great grandma’s house. It had a table & pantry full of antiques in the foyer. To the right was the clinking & clanking dining area. There was a “Antikker” sign pointing down the stairs. Intrigued, downstairs claimed my interest. The basement was full of old containers (pewter), china espresso/tea sets, lamps, ceiling lights, chairs, tables, and all sorts of knick-knacks. Quite a lovely collection and fun to peruse. There were some super-duper old farm tools (I think) used as wall décor and old rusty strap-on ice skates. I had to return to the car to grab the camera. Once done mentally cataloguing what I might want to return for, I visited the dining room for a hot chocolate and vaffel. The vaffels are fresh vanilla waffles (thinner than Belgian) that are served with jam. In this case the vaffel was folded in half with jam and sour cream in the middle. Yum! I was toasty and dry when I left the red hut.

Back on the road, the rain was letting up a bit. The trailhead road was difficult for me to find on the country road. All the driveways looked like dirt driveways. I had to ask twice before finding the right driveway to get to the trailhead. Once at the parking area, I parked and walked further down the dirt road. Eventually the dirt road turned into cabin driveways and then into trails. The trails then intersected other dirt roads. It was all very confusing and I never did find the right trailhead nor trail, but still had a pleasant walk in the woods. The thing to do here on Sundays (since all stores are closed, even grocery stores) is to go picnicking in the woods with your family. Although it seemed I was in the boonies with no one around… walkers, bikers, cars, or fire-roasted-weiner eaters were amongst the pines in the most random spots. I came upon a group of bikers that were sitting under a public lean-to. They had their wieners grilling over open flames, with a black kettle suspended above. You’ll see them in the pictures.

By the end of the walk I had a shadow and it was beautiful. However, I was ready for a respectable meal so checked into the hotel, took a shower, and headed out to Montal Bano. It’s a great little Italian restaurant across the street. If ther eis plentiful anything in Kongsberg, it's Italian restaurants. The bruscetta here is really great, though I'm saving a food write-up for later in the trip.
Salud!

19 Sept – Props to the blue tractor man

From Norway

Today I got to do what I wanted to do, do things I didn’t want to do, and do things I want to do again when Jamie arrives. I also got to see about 19% of all of Norway. It would’ve been 20%, however there were some scattered clouds to the South. The day started off normal enough… hotel breakfast, leave before 8am (when the parking meters start for the town), and find my way via the maps successfully.

My destination of the day was Gaustatoppen, Northwest of Tuddal (for those following on Google Earth). It was 1:15 minute drive through some of the same roads as last weekend, as well as pretty, country side roads. It was obvious I was at the right location as there were a couple dozen cars in the parking lot, along with anxious, decked-out hikers. It was impressive that every single person had solid hiking boots, pants, tops, and jackets. There were no posers here. After a stop in the outhouse, I was on my way up. The parking lot is already above treeline (~1150 meters = 3,450 ft), so it doesn’t seem that the toppen would be too far up. The first 10% of the hike was dirt with many rocks. It soon switched to complete rocks, no dirt. I was pushing it up the trail, no breaks, no waiting, so I passed a few parties. Everyone said “Hej” and weas friendly enough. Two hours later I reached the top. It had some utility tower (not apparently transmittal unless the antennas were covered), a hytta (hut serving vaffels and $4 hot chocolates), and plenty of places to sit. My first was the cement roof of the utility building. After snacking there, I realized there was more to go across a rocky ridge. After the snack, I continued another ½ hour along that nutty ridge. The smallest boulder was 10 ft in diameter. This was no normal trail. It was boulder-boulder climbing with an easy, but harmful way down on either side. I was glad to get to the top and glad to get back to the hytta. The views were spectacular in all directions. The Hardvanger National Park (where I tried to get last weekend) was clearly visible, along with the Buer glacier. The scattered clouds prevented me from seeing the ocean to the South, but all the high-country lakes were clear & shimmering. I spent a total of an hour at the top, sitting in each direction for a bit, taking it all in. At this point I noticed all the dogs. I counted only 3 medium to large sized dogs (german shepard, small mutt of a black lab, and a golden retriever). Every other dog was a small size… beagle, basset hound, mini poodles, even a chihuahua! Who brings these accessory dogs on 4 hour hikes? Norwegians do! I headed down the trail when my viewfinders were full and spend two hours descending to the car… 100s of them. I passed a ton of people on the way down, many in lesser gear than the morning hikers. Their cars filled the parking lot, and filled the roadside on both sides for a good ½ mile, not to mention a 80-passenger empty bus in the lot. Wow, popular destination!

In determining what to do next, I decided to check out a remote hotel sign I’d seen in the woods/pond section of the country road. The hotel sign was accompanied by a “Bakeri” sign, which was also particularly attractive to me. I turned onto the narrow dirt road, and soon enough had a some car trouble. The Norwegians are so incredibly friendly, and this proves it. A passing couple went to the hotel to get help. They returned to tell me the hotel would send someone down. A man (hotel employee) with a big blue tractor came to help. While that occurred, nine big strong Norwegian men (though one looked very German with the brown pants, green button down shirt, suspenders, and worn leather hat) came upon the situation and hung around for 15 minutes. The man with the blue tracker pulled through and fixed it. I meandered up the dirt road to the hotel. It was a large, antiquely, rustic hotel …(think a much simpler version of the Ehrman mansion from where Jamie & I got married). They had no rooms available for the night. So, I enjoyed a pastry, loaf of bread, and glass of wine at their outdoor picnic tables on their deck and knitted while enjoying the view overlooking the lake. There were some families from Oslo that I shared the picnic table with we chatted a few times. Everyone up there knew I was “that girl” as they had passed me on the dirt road at some point. So, thank you blue tractor man!

I hit the road again ready to find a hotel. I won’t go through the details, but I was looking for any fairly remote hotel to enjoy the peace, quiet, and scenery. I gave myself the 5-minute rule of turning around, passed the 5 minutes, saw a turnaround spot and passed it. Good thing I broke my own rule because within a kilometer I came upon a camping & cabin road sign. Now I’d been looking for the hotel equivalent, but figured to try out the cabin sign. I’d seen them numerous other times, just never explored the option. I pulled in the dirt driveway. On it’s side in the weeds was a sign that pointed “INFO” in the direction of a house, so I parked in the driveway and a lady met me at the front door. She had 7 cabins (all available) for the night for 300 kr ($50). She asked if I wanted running water and a toilet in my cabin (as opposed to shared I guess). I didn’t even answer the question, she just gave me keys to the one w/ the “extras”. It’s absolutely lovely! There’s a view of the fjord, or a 2 minute walk down to it, with canoes at my disposal. I just might have to bring Jamie hear for a night when he visits, before we leave the area. It’s a very quiet, well-furnished, cozy cabin so I sat on the porch and knitted. I slept on the mattress in my sleeping bag. I suspect that’s the deal with the cabin (vs. hotel) signs, you must bring your own linens. That sums up the day and evening!

18 Sept - Daily Work Life

This will be an entry of somewhat random thoughts that have occured to me over the past few days. Not quite the story you may expect.

Today I discovered that Kongsberg has no coin operated laundry shops. My evening walks have not shown one, and today the hotel confirmed the suspicion. The only suds 'n duds business is one that will do it for ya... only during business hours. So I did some hand laundering in the bathroom sink tonight,just to get me through the weekend.

The Norwegian work day does differ in some ways from the US days. The lunch break is about 30 minutes and the whole team eats together in the cafeteria. Almost half the folks bring their lunch from home, the other half are consumers of the salad, sandwich or hot offering of the cafeteria counter. The team socializes about town happenings, hobbies, and rarely does the discussion involve work. No one eats at their desk. It's a great team-building opportunity that we (US) have lost in many cases to being more time-oriented. Of every moment in Norway, the lunches is when I wish I understood Norwegian language the most. It spells very, very similarly to Danish (so I can more or less read it). However the pronounciation might as well be Greek.

Maintaining the work theme, in addition to some sodas, (plastic) bottled mineral/sparkling water is the only water to be found at important meetings. It might be plain, or flavored with lime, or even papaya-mango. It's all gassed though. While on the topic of water, the tap water is incredibly good here. I love it.

One of the employees have mentioned that within the past five years, Kongsberg was voted the best place to live in all of Norway. From what I've heard, it's slightly more expensive (home ownership) than other towns in Norway. It can handle the extra expense because there are quite a few technical jobs in the town. It accomodates Volvo (Aerospace), Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (large company), the Norwegian mint, and a ski center (yes, I consider skiing technical). The ski center is downhill skiing at the level of the Poconos (Pennsylvania ski hills). It's no Lake Tahoe or Mammoth.

My weekend plans involve the plans suggested by the local coworkers. They were excited to share with me some hiking and lodging suggestions. So, tomorrow will be off to the highest peak in Norway and Sunday to some other pretty hiking region... if I can make it there this time! Both locations are within 1-2 hours, so it should be fine.

Happy trails!

13 Sept - Mosses and Fossens

From Norway

Sunday morning part of me awoke at 6:45am, yet the rest of me convinced me to go back to sleep. I re-awoke at 8:15 with a leap out of bed. Well, maybe not a leap, but energized for the day of exploring. The desk receptionist recommended a hike that started 200 feet away and followed the river up into the valley to three waterfalls. According to the map, the first two miles paralleled a road (at some points joining it) so I was pondering if I should just drive up the road and park at the end. The hotel guy convinced me that the first 2 miles are pretty, so that’s what I did.

Equipped with my hiking boots, camera, and backpack of munchies, I started up the trail. For the first 2 miles the trail was a ever so gradual incline (barely noticeable) on a gravel/dirt path through a wet forest of pines, deciduous trees, carpeted with reindeer moss. It winded up the valley sometimes next to the river, and other times away. Spread like crumbs along the trail, were historical information signs telling stories of what had happened in Kinsarvik hundreds of years ago…. Whether it be the river floods, cow drama, mountain thiefs, market trading trails, summer farm fights or the rock geology. Each sign was a motivator to continue on.

My decision to hike the first section was confirmed when I looked ahead of me on the trail and a wild ferret was hobbling towards me. It made a quick turn into the greenery and vanished. I tried for a little while to catch another glimpse, but was unable to find the furry friend again. In hindsight, I should’ve looked in the trees. It’s appearance was somewhere between a black ferret and a wolverine. Turns out it was a mink! Awesome.

After about 2 miles, there is a hydro electric plant feeding off the first fossen. I mean waterfall. The hydro plant diverts the water at the top through a 2 ft diameter pipe, down the hill and into the hydro building at the bottom. This maximizes the power generated from the water. First waterfall, checked. It was only another 15-20 minutes of hiking before the 2nd, bigger waterfall was seen (though it was heard first). Second one, checked. Another 30-45 minutes in mud and carefully up smooth, slippery rock before I arrived at the 3rd waterfall. It had a swimming lagoon, ranger’s cabin, and a grassy knoll… very picturesque. Third waterfall checked.

On the hike between the 1st and 2nd waterfall, I met a friendly Norwegian couple on the trail. They were from the southernmost town in Norway and were in Kinsarvik for a long weekend away from their 11 and 14 year old boys. This was their first time hiking in the mountains without them, so the boys were concerned. They were in excellent shape and I think the boys were just jealous that they were left at home in school while the parents had fun in the forest. In addition, they had informed me that there was a 4th waterfall! I did not know that it existed, and was certainly not about to discount it from my agenda. These waterfalls are on the scale of Yosemite waterfalls; they were nothing like a typical “waterfall trail” in the States. At the lagoon waterfall, the spray from the 4th waterfall, high up on the next ledge, was tantalizing.

The next section of trail was getting up above tree line. The trees were very scattered, at most 6 ft high. Most of the surroundings were grasses, moss, lichen and rocks. I settled down on a smooth rock that had a great view of the valley and fjord. In the other direction was a view of the 4th and largest waterfall. After a rest with crackers, cheese, my shoes off, and a watch check of 1pm, I started down the hill to the car.

On the trek down, I met up with the Norwegian couple again. This time we discussed his hobby of American Cars, and more specifically, corvettes. When they are new, they cost 5 times as much in Norway as they do in the US. He had two older/collector items corvettes. He runs the website http://www.lov2xlr8.no . He posted their pictures from the hike on the website (if you scroll down on the left side of the page under “Other Subjects > Norway Pictures > Hardanger”). Anyways, interesting couple & they are planning a desert tour of the US Southwest next year. Some of the spots they are considering is Zion, Bryce Canyon, Santa Fe, in addition to other Route 66 back roads.

The drive back was rough. I was originally planning to do a loop (drive home a different way), however the road was closed just beyond Kinsarvik, so I went back the way I came. That crafts fair had ended, so all those campers and semi-trailers were heading in the opposite direction which made driving through all those tunnels quite sporty. The radio kept me entertained for a bit, even playing the song “Waterfalls” by TLC. What a coincidence! It’s been a while since I heard that tune. For the last hour I was in Norwegian traffic. It took 50 minutes to go 11 miles. There was a bridge under construction such that only one direction was open. There were traffic cops giving direction, and not favoring our direction.

On a side note, the pictures are difficult to take out here due to the overexposure. The sky and waterfalls are bright and the hills are dark. So, the pictures don’t do it justice. Included in the photos is a picture of a “thumbs up” into the sky. That is the high noon picture. Granted the horizon is mountainous, the sun is not very high. In fact, the sun doesn’t shine into many of the valleys (like the Buer Glacier valley) this time of year.

That sums up Sunday’s adventure!

12 Sept – The Buer Surprise

From Norway

My plans for this weekend changed a few times, and on my third time around, I settled for the goals of finding good hiking trails and not too far of a drive (~3 hours). My chosen destination: Hardvanger National Park. It’s the largest national park in Norway, you can see 1/6 of Norway from the peak/plateau summit, and it has the largest herd of wild reindeer. Yes folks, this is Santa’s herding grounds. As for this chosen destination, never quite made it there.

Saturday morning started on the road just shy of 8am, after the hotel breakfast. It was meandering evergreen hilly roads passing by pristine, empty lakes. An hour and a half into the drive, I go by the town of Sejford where more than half of the car traffic is exiting. I drive-by curious as to the event, and see hundreds of campers, then carnival rides, then tents. Okay, my curiosity has got the best of me. I U-turn (afterall the Norwegian highways are many times just 2-lane roads) and return to the “exit”. The parking attendant explained that the festival started as an animal petting zoo many years ago and has expanded into a crafts fair and carnival. Since so many locals were in attendance, do as the locals do! After paying to park and paying to enter (yes, entrance fee!), I passed the carny rides and headed for the tents. 92% of the craft tents were junk… black t-shirts with wolf or Indian emblems, cheap camouflage gear, trinkets, etc. It’s stuff you find in the 99cent stores at home, however they have no such stores here so it’s a novelty. The 8% that were appealing were either antiques (old farm, kitchen, or bathroom tools/toys/décor) or a wool yarn table. I purchased a wall-hanging white bucket from the 1920s that says “Sepe” (which the guy told me means soap... I just checked and it does). It’ll be a good flower holder on the wall next to the front door.

After an hour or so, I’m satisfied with my "crafts fair" visit and had bigger and better places to see so I continued on. Another hour or so of driving passes and it’s lunchtime. I pull off at an exit that looks promising (on my map) to have a lake and decent hiking on the edge of the south side of the national park. The exit quickly becomes a residential climb up a hill. The asphalt morphs into dirt road with aspen-like trees all around. Corner around corner around … what?! There’s a herd of sheep at my front bumper. I didn’t have to wait long, they moved due to the pestering of the Australian Shepard Dog and the Human Shepard. Of course I took a picture after the harrowing experience was over. The novelty was that each sheep had it’s own bell on its collar! It made quite a ruckus…. dozens of bell ringers walking down the dirt road. The lunch hike through sheep pasture was uneventful, yet pretty. Good views of distant green hills.

Back on the main road again, I went through some high country… think above tree line in Colorado, but in a wetter climate. There were more lakes and more green flora. Some snow was nestled on some of the peaks still too. I was awed by this scenery, and had to pull the car off the road to adventure out for another hike… though this one was more of a walk. Stunning.

Again, behind the wheel, I was finally determined to make the rest of the drive without distractions. I made it through many tunnels, down the pass, out through a tunnel and to my right, alas! A rainbow at eye-level (I was on the side of a mtn) and the rainbow went down into the valley. It seemed very close, however you can never tell how close they really are. Grabbing for my camera was out of the question… left to my memory only. I took my exit from 134 to road 13 North, through a small town, and got side-swiped by heavy mist. A quick nod to the right revealed twin gushing waterfalls. Pullover and take more pictures. They were big for being that close to the road. Impressive!

Back on the road, really getting there now... I promised myself at least. The water from that fall had let out into the stream next to the road. A few more tall and skinny waterfalls later and that stream next to the road matures into a fjord! My first one. Within 20 minutes I was at the town of Odda and gawking at the opposing mountain side across the fjord. Whoa! A glacier! I’m definitely going to hike to that! So, I’m taken by the Odda exit and deposited at a sign of 6 arrows. I decide to follow the “Buer” arrow as that sounds like a fitting glacier name. It took me up the old-residential valley to a farmstead with a single red house. The Buer trail starts along this houses’s driveway. It’s 4:30pm, plenty of time to hike to a glacier. I booked up this trail, to the surprise of downward mountaineers (carrying crampons + axes). Apparently they don’t see alone females hiking up such trails in the late afternoon. I assured them I was only going to the bottom of the glacier & would turnaround. That sufficed their interest. I made it to as close as I was comfortable within an hour. It was quite windy, on rocky terrain, and the sign had threatened that Buer can be unstable in areas, (let alone the fact that my own two feet were unstable from all the hiking of the day), so that meant I was about 200 feet away. They recommend touching it when you are with guides, so I'll save it for that day. Next, returned down the trail with my energy just about wasted… stumbling feet, loopy head, and wondering where to find a bed.

And I drove on. An hour later, at 8pm, I parked for the night at the Best Western in Kinsarvik. It looked like a good town to use the next day to approach the National Park Hardvanger (still the weekend “goal”). I fell fast asleep within the hour. Afterall, I had big plans for Sunday… my weekend was only 50% over!