The route goes from Kristiansand to Haugesund and has so far been a really pretty route to take. I’m not going to say beautiful as it doesn’t grab me by the gut. Unlike Iceland which basically slapped me round the face and said “Beautiful? You don’t know the meaning of the word until you’ve seen THIS!”
Anyway, the last time I wrote I was on the train to Kristiansand, which turned out to be having the Tall Ships festival. Which is the proper old style ship race that happens somewhere in the world every year. Luckily for me, they were still in the harbour...
One of the women that I met in the hostel in Oslo was going to be sailing on them back to the UK, I bet she’s having an awesome time!
It was nearly 10pm by the time I got to Kristiansand and as its a larger town than I thought, I headed for the nearest campsite, which turned out to be a good hours walk from the station. By the time I got there it was pretty dark, so I just pitched and tried to sleep. I say tried, however I got to listen to the concert going on in the harbour (water carries sound sooo well). As well as the firework and cannon salute that happened at midnight. Joy.
Saying that I was awake really early, so I took a stroll back into town hoping to find either an internet cafe or some information on what was further up the coast. I really like wandering round towns before anyone is up, it feels like you’re discovering a lost city... if you know what I mean.
Even though Kristiansand looks a bit rundown and tatty near the port there are some lovely parts of it, like this...
and the area by the ‘old harbour’. Which is where I found quite a few sand sculptures from the day before..
A bit more impressive than my sandcastles!
It was then that I realised the reason why the town was so quiet, even though by this point it was about 9am. Sunday. It’s one of things that bugs me about traveling. I keep forgetting what day it is! Which might sound like I’m complaining about the indulgent life I’m leading and I’m not. I just wish I could at least keep track of the days of the week better! That way I wouldn’t get so confused.
So I had the choice of a) waiting for the Tourist Info to open (12pm) or b) try to find some wifi. Now you’d think that it would be easier to find wifi in Norway than it had been in Iceland and to some extent you’re right. It’s pretty much everywhere! It’s also, unlike Iceland, 99% locked. Not so good. What I did find out was, if you go to the poshest looking hotel, very early in the morning. Are overwhelming polite with badly pronounced Norwegian, they open up their guest computer suite and let you use it, and the printer for as long as you need! Seriously. Hotel Clarion, Kristiansand. When I’ve actually got the money to stay there, I’ll come back just to say thank you!
So 8 printed sheets of google maps later I’m on a bus heading for Sogne, which would be where I’d usually start taking photos but I fell asleep (again) and only woke up when we got there. There actually turning out to Hollen, not Sogne as I’d slept through that stop. Not that it mattered as Hollen turned out to be a really pretty village attached to Sogne (like Werrington etc are within Peterborough). Filled with white wooden houses and a lovely bay...
As well as really lovely beach with probably the clearest water I’ve ever seen...
which is why I spent the next few hours paddling around the bay and sunbathing. After all I didn’t have to be in Stavanger until the 4th so there was no reason to rush! Then it was short stroll back to Sogne and another look at the bus timetable. 2 hours till the next bus. Actually I hadn’t planned on taking it that slowly! So rather than wait I stuck out my thumb and hitched instead. Picking up a ride with Arne who was on his way back from a stag weekend in Hollen. He was lovely (if a bit sleepy) and took me to Mandal. Another sleepy white wooden building, filled village. I don’t know what it is about them. They’re cute and all but I can’t actually be bothered to take photos of them. So instead you can have another picture of a beach..
This is Sjøsanden and was about a 30 second walk from the site I pitched my tent in. Such a lovely location, there are tonnes of little walks through the surrounding pine forest and the beach gets the sun all day long. I can understand why a lot of people base themselves there. So yes, another afternoon, evening of sunbathing and walking. Followed by a morning of sunbathing and general relaxation. Oh yes and drawing this in the sand..
One of the guys I’m meeting up with in Stavanger is collecting a million giraffes. You should check out the site One Million Giraffes I think it’s really cute and there’s a crate of beer at stake too!
Seeing as how it had been so easy to hitch the previous day I thought I’d try again and see if could make my way further up the coast. This time it took 3 hitches to get to Egenes, which is a campsite just outside of Flekkefjord. This time I went swimming in the fjord and spent a good few hours being hypnotised by the automated waterskiing machine they had. Basically 4 big pylons in a big oblong on the fjord, pulling around kids on ski’s. It looked really good fun and definitely more ski time than if you were using a boat.
Still feeling lazy, I didn’t do much apart from enjoy the sun and take few photos. Which is perfect until you realise at 10pm, that you’ve reached your boredom threshold and need to do something NOW! I made a pact with myself to do more walking the following day and explore more, rather than just do the beach thing, I really don’t have the tolerance to do it for very long.
The next day I hitched into Flekkefjord and spent a good couple of hours exploring. It’s a pretty town in the centre, although nearly all the ‘old’ style houses have been taken over by small shops and boutiques. Not a bad thing but when everyone is having a sale, it doesn’t really make for a good photo! Still they do have a nice church, with an octagonal main section and roof. This is the inside of it...
I really love churches, not just because of the variety of designs you can get (and yes that can be mainly internal as they all get carried away with the cross or box template usually). I love the silence you get in them. Now whether you want to put that down to a spiritual thing or not, I don’t really care. I find the same silence in libraries and I find it really relaxing.
Then on the walk out of Flekkefjord I found this..
It’s nice to know that someone is prepared if the Apocalypse happens anytime soon!
After that I got hitch to what turned out to be the middle of no where and walked for an hour down some seriously cool hairpin bends to Åna Sira...
just another pretty little village in the middle of nowhere, very picturesque though and they’ve got a lovely little bathing pool right by the road. I then picked up a hitch to Sokndal (pronounced So kin dal) and was given a drive through of Sognalstrand by the lady who picked me up. Sognalstrand is yet another protected area of wooden houses that look really cute (a little like Cornwall villages). On the way to Sokndal we did go through some lovely scenery...
It’s definitely an area I’d like to explore more. I’m not sure how great the hiking would be, but there’s definitely a reason to spend more time in the area.
After that it was a short hitch to the campsite I’m at now just outside of Eigersund. It rained last night and I’m just waiting for my tent to dry off a bit before I pack up and look to get to Stavanger to meet up with Ben and his girlfriend Vicky. I’ll be staying with them for a couple of nights and am looking forward to the chance to explore, there’s quite a bit to see, hopefully with a few beers on the way!
x
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