On Sunday afternoon our ferry docked in the port town of Kristiansand in the far south of Norway and over the course of the next few days we made our way west along the coast to a spot by the beach at Ølberg, near Stavanger. I don’t know that I have enough superlatives to adequately describe our experience of Norway so far. I should also qualify my first statement by saying we’ve only been exploring the area that my travel guides have indicated was uninteresting and could be skipped.
The first part of our journey was to the seaside town of Mandal, where we spent a quiet night in a forest campsite by the beach, before heading into town to restocked the cupboards. The main tourist season in Norway doesn’t really start until mid June so it is relatively quiet everywhere, with many museums, attractions, restaurants, cafes and shops still closed.
From Mandal we drove the scenic road to the pretty little harbour town of Farsund, with a detour along the way to the lighthouse at Lindesnes. In Farsund we found a camping car park on a point jutting out between the harbour and the entrance to the fjord. It was so peaceful there, with the occasional small fishing boat or seabird to break the silence. The plentiful Oystercatchers have a particularly high pitched call. We walked the short distance into town and up the steep side streets to the local school with some of the best views, I suspect I’d have been reprimanded a time or two for being distracted, looking out the window, had I been in school here.
Onward from Farsund we explored the historic town of Flekkefjord, with its white wooden clapboard facade homes and shops. Traditionally Norwegian houses were painted red, because the paint was made from readily available materials, where as white paint was expensive. The Dutch have influenced this town significantly over the years and the historic part of town is called ‘Hollenderbyen’ (town of the Dutch) and dates from the 18th century. The town has a varied history; booming during the 1700s when it exported stone to The Netherlands and again when the herring fishing in the area was at its peak. It became a smugglers port during the early 1800s, smuggling oak to the Napoleon occupied Netherlands. It was lovely spending a couple of hours getting lost in history.
The drive from Flekkefjord and on to Egersund was through the unique landscape of the UNESCO Magma Geopark. Moon rocks (anorthosite) formed by fire and sculpted by ice and water, this is a barren but awe inspiring; Mountains, valleys, lakes and giant boulders dropped when the glaciers slowed and melted, houses built under overhang rock balconies at Helleren. And what nature has put in the way as obstacles the engineers have taken up the gauntlet and created amazing feats of engineering and construction; a road that winds it way through the landscape, along cliff edges, through tunnels and on to bridges before diving back into tunnels again. This journey has been jaw dropping and on these cool but sunny days, Norway brought the views.
If you don’t already follow me on Instagram, you might like to for real time updates and videos of some of the spectacular scenery we are encountering: @kate_ullwer
That Magma Geopark sounds really interesting Catherine! I loved learning that anorthosite isn’t as common on the earth but is what the moon consists of–that’s so cool! Moon rock in Norway—who knew? And oystercatchers and clapboard houses–straight out of a fishing village fairy tale!
You and Tim would be in heaven here Rob. It is a nature lovers, outdoors person dream.