Telemark canal

We then had quite a long drive to our next point of stay at Bo in Norway, a little town an hour SW of Oslo. We soon started to get into the mountains which were magnificent, notwithstanding the weather (which had been good up to this point in time) deteriorated with 36 hours of none stop rain. On the second day at Bo the weather started to clear and we decided to explore the Telemark canal on foot. Details of the canal are posted, so….

We started at Ulefoss and walked up river for 4 kms to Lunde Sluse (locks). We arrived just as the trip boat Victoria was locking through.

Operating the locks is quite a physical challenge. The paddles were raised by pulling a handle though 180 degrees. With a 6 metre head of water (they are certainly deeper than any manually operated locks I have encountered). The operator in this case had to stand on the bracket and lean back to pull the paddle the second 90 degrees.

Opening the gates was also quite time consuming as they were slowly ratcheted using a lever arm against a runner with “cogs”.

One of the original barges was on display. These would have been towed.

After a bit of lunch some were feeling very frisky and ready for the next part of the walk.

The eagerness was slightly tempered when someone tripped over their own laces – this could have been quite ugly without the sticks.

Eidsfoss lock was attractive. Each flight of locks sat alongside a hydro power station.

The river flow was quite strong in places and log booms were in place for much of the system to keep boats from inadvertently getting caught in the faster flowing sections.

Our walk along the Northern hills of the river enabled us to visit the Ulefos Hovedgaard (seen here during our morning walk from the other side).

Fortunately we arrived just as the museum was closing so we could quickly continue with our walk.

On arrival back at Ulefoss two boats were locking through. The first had left Lunde lock at the same time as us – hence a pretty slow walking pace is the norm for boats along this section. The second was a working boat (Ornen -1902) which was beautifully maintained.

After Bo we were due to travel to a site SW of Trondheim. We decided to change our plans for a few reasons. The 2 main ones were:
Ø Travel within Norway is slow. Most of the roads are of a similar standard to the old A roads in UK with very few motorways. Average speeds were 50 to 60kms rather than the 80 – 90 kms we managed with the van elsewhere on motorways.
Ø Norway is extraordinarily expensive. For example a dozen eggs cost about $10 AUD which is over twice the cost in Australia. It is exacerbated further as they have taken the metric system to the next stage and have 10 eggs to the dozen.
Apparently Norway is not part of the EU and is taxing and saving heavily as a protection for when the oil runs out. (We did not see a wind farm in Norway – hydro and oil presumably cover all their needs.)

Stockholm

Stockholm really took us by surprise. The harbour is huge and (without knowing the statistics) appears to be of a similar size to Sydney. Reluctantly, I have to confess it is equally or possibly more attractive than Sydney. It has made excellent use of its vast frontage – you can spend hours wondering it without covering the same ground. It also has the benefit of some considerable history with the old part of the city going back to the 13th century.

We started out with a one hour boat tour.
The extent of buildings and museums to visit is huge. The Vasa museum is one of the newest (opened 1990) and houses a galleon that sank in 1628. It was meant to be the pride of the Navy. Given that it capsized in calm water after a voyage of just 1300 metres it does not speak too well of the rest of the fleet.

Many of the ferries are quite old but working well. Behind the Strom2 there is the Kastellholmen which was built in 1846 and where four cannons are fired when visiting navel vessels arrive.

The elegant af Chapman was built in 1888 and now serves as a youth hostel.

The waterfront is everywhere a hive of activity and bounded by interesting old buildings.

Similarly some of the trams have been around for quite a while – but who needs comfort when you can have ambience?

The theatre is beautiful with its white marble adorned with gilt (- ok gold paint).

Even the old army barracks have been converted into a museum.

The 13th century Gamla Stan (old town) is on Stadsholmen island and is central to the city. The place is packed with tourists, shops and eating establishments as well as historical buildings. Some of these continue to defy gravity. If you look carefully there are substantial 45 degree cracks across most of the façade of this building as it continues to settle.

Other parts of the old city are quiet.

At the top of the hill is the Royal palace.

We were fortunate to arrive just in time to see the changing of the guard. Once ensconced it was again interesting to see what the guards did. These guards were not interested in people loitering or sitting next on the walls as occurred in Denmark. However, if you stepped within the black line that surrounded the guard box then expect a royal ticking off. It seems guarding personnel space is the driver in Sweden.

Just down from the palace is the Nobel museum. It faces a square with some very attractive buildings. Here is an interesting contrast of the history of Nobel, probably best known for the annual peace prize, being housed in an area with a gruesome history including a bloodbath in 1520.

Stockholm is definitely on the re-visit list.

Sweden - Trosa

Helen and I immediately felt at home when we crossed into Sweden. Well over 50% of the cars were Volvos – very popular and none of the one eyed outlook we have experienced in Australia. We did see one Volvo with a sticker of a Volvo man peeing on the words Audi but that is different.

We camped at Trosa which is about one hour South of Stockholm on an island. A boaters paradise with a constant parade of boats passing by. We subsequently found this is part of the Gottenburg to Stockholm (Gota) canal system. Here is the evening view from our site.
Having sent Sue and Martin off, our first job was to clean the van – not because of the mess our visitors had made but because the Helen’s sister Jo was about to join us and again we would be subject to an inspection. Having had 2 lonely nights on our own we picked up Jo from Stockholm airport.

Trosa is an attractive little village.

With a small canal through the centre.

The girls enjoyed the location.

Trosa also had a golf course which although only 6 years old was both mature and challenging. No photos as the focus was on golf. Suffice to say I lost 6 balls – but the lunch was good!

And a reminder of the view from the site – this time at sunrise…..

Roskilde - an overnight stop near Copenhagen

In order to break down our travel time to Sweden and also to enable Sue and Martin to get to the airport for their flight back to England we decided to have an overnight stop at Roskilde. The site was spacious, open and adjoined a large fjord. As it was a one night stop we did not put up the awning. The last supper (with Sue and Martin)….
Roskilde is famous for its Viking ship museum which was fascinating. They continue to build boats using the same plans and “clinker” system.

And then you can have a sail in one.

In 1962 they recovered 5 ships that had been sunk about 1000 years ago. A cofferdam was sunk around the vessels and each piece had its location recorded prior to being raised. Each of the ships parts has been attached to a metal support frame and is now housed in the museum.

After much drawing and interpretation a replica was built of the largest ship. It is 30 metres long and can carry 70 to 80 vikings. In 2007 the replica was sailed to Scotland and then onto Ireland. In 2008 the vessel returned via the English channel. The logistics of operating the ship makes interesting reading. However, being on board was clearly hard work with over 25% being incapacitated due to sea sickness. There was little shelter and sleeping was between rowing locations so just surviving was hard work never mind the sailing/rowing.

There was a small film of the trip. I did not notice anyone on the return leg who was the same as on the outgoing one! There were a range of displays of the trip including a GPS shot which included Birchington in SE England where I lived a few years ago (OK when in school).

A day with Henning

In Canberra I have been fortunate to work with a delightful Dane called Tage. His wife Marianne arranged for us to be given a tour by her brother Henning. We met up in Odense and drove to the centre. We started by walking through the local gardens with paper boats. The city’s best known name is Hans Christian Andersen. This statue of him also has in the background Sankt Knuds Kirke (Saint Knuds church – there are quite obvious similarities between the Danish and English language which is I suspect why the Danish, including our host Henning, are so good at speaking English – why it does not work in reverse remains a mystery).

The church (or cathedral) was named after Canute (King Knud II who ruled Denmark from 1080 to 86). He was slain in the church and is now on display in a glass case. I cannot even remember the name of his murderers and have no idea what happened to their remains – another case of why crime does not pay. The church décor was a simple plain white with a number of eye catching features.

The 16th century alter piece by Claus Berg is just stunning.

Han’s Hus is the very small old house where he was born. This has been extended with a museum built around it and includes gardens and a stage where parts of his some 160 stories are enacted.

We followed this with a bit of lunch. All of us opted for the smoked salmon – great. The waitress is explaining to Helen in perfect English where the fish came from, the way it is smoked, its age, how it is dressed….. The rest of us just wanted it to be served so we could eat.

Henning then showed us the Odense shipyard which is owned by the same people as operate the Maersk line. It overlooks the Odense fjord – the construction of large ships requires careful planning as getting them out to sea through the shallow waters is quite a challenge. The crane is relatively new as the old one’s brakes failed in a strong storm and ran off its rails. This one has had a similar incident but was stopped by running into a smaller crane. Any brake designers out there?

Moving to the North Eastern part of Funen we went past a range of houses, slots and churches.

The church of Viby was decorated similar to Sankt Knuds although the spire was quite unusual. Again the gardens were pristine. The church was undergoing painting and getting a photo shot without the painters vehicles was only just possible. Martin left his cap behind but did not realise this until sometime later. Henning very kindly went back for this the following day. As the cap was an heirloom this was particularly appreciated.

Many of the houses had gardens full of Holyhocks – they are called stock roses in Denmark.

We had the opportunity to view up close one of the newest and one of the oldest windmills in Denmark. Contrary to many tales the new turbines are not noisy but have a slight “whoosh” and hum (presumably from the generator). If the background noise level was not so quiet I suspect both would be hard to pick if you were more than 50 metres away.

The older windmill was a working version. It was not open during our visit but it was interesting to consider how the sails were unfurled and how the blades were kept to windward.

On the road adjoining the windmill there was a cherry tree where a local was picking the fruit. The cherries were a bit too sour for all but Sue and Henning. Sue mentioned that we called this activity scrumping and asked Henning what it was in Danish. His reply “Oh in Denmark we call it stealing!”

We finished the day in Kertiminde which has a great harbour and aquarium with dolphin and seals. We decided on a traditional dinner which was the same that Tage treated Helen and I to in Tomakin last Easter. It was very good but not quite up to our Australian experience. Henning advised that we should also have had brown (HP) sauce with it but we opted against this.

A wonderful day which was purely down to Henning’s planning and company. We look forward to the opportunity to reciprocate when Henning travels to Australia in February 2010.