BOOKMARK.
	Autumn 2006 Edition 39 .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Allan Rogers takes a Norway wander on a Honda

The mountains were topped in clouds and the mist swirled like steam in a cauldron, ....suddenly it was easy to believe in Trolls.

Travelling with a small motor bike means that when packing you have to hone down to the bare necessities. You might be taking less but the decision making means it takes longer.

Around about 8.30 in the morning I kicked the starter and headed off for The Royal Quays Ferry Terminal at Newcastle some 70 miles away. Once there we boarded the ship with about 20 other bikes. Along side my little Honda 90 these were big serious creatures.

The ones with British number plates were all shiny and polished ready to eat up the Scandinavian miles. The bikes with Norwegian number plates had a fair splattering of midges and flies, returning home with evidence of covering long Scottish miles.

The riders were a friendly bunch and with helmets removed the grey hair around made it evident that this was not just a thing for young guys.

Some had routes planned and were heading for the North of Norway, me, I was just going to potter.
The ship, which is operated by DFDS, was destined for Stavanger, Haugesund and Bergen. and as she started to move out into the River Tyne passengers were already indulging in the pleasures of a cruise.

The bar on the rear deck served beer and there were sun loungers to lay back on.

It was not a short crossing but there was plenty to occupy and entertainment got underway with a rhythm and blues singer in bar, from then on it was just like mini cruise and you could enjoy all the trimmings of restaurants, bingo, casino and night club.... or go early to bed or drool over the maps.

At Stavanger in the morning the traders were setting up the flower stands outside the cathedral when I called at the tourist office to pick up some useful guides and leaflets. The first of which helped me locate the ferry to Tau.

This runs about every half an hour and is used in much the same way by the locals as we would use a bus.
Of course it takes cars too and it cost me about £6 to travel along with the motorbike.

Looking out through the big picture windows upstairs in the passenger lounge the view was like the best of the West of Scotland writ large.

On the other side, we were immediately on a quiet road and I followed the Rv 13 stopping just before Jøpeland to look at a little harbour at Hellerstninger which had ancient runes carved in a big rock on a cairn of some 2000 numbered stones placed there to mark the Millennium.
RV 13 road was pleasant enough but to get a feel of the country I slipped off to see the town Jøpeland. (There are couple of stores there but everything is closed on Sunday so, be warned, stock up if you need to!)

A small road took me past little houses; one had a cow tethered outside. It all seemed so different.

Along the fjord timber buildings were mainly terra cotta or lemon in colour and showed up bright against the green trees. For every home there seemed to be a boat moored or tied up at a jetty or in a little harbour.

Eventually I headed for the mountains and took the small road that leads up to Preikestolhytta, (a bus service connects with the Tau Stavanger ferry.)

It was beautiful enough up there staying at the Youth Hostel overlooking the lake of Refsvatnet, but the really stunning draw that brings people to the region is the Pulpit Rock (Preskestolen) if you tackle it, have good footwear and allow for a two hour walk each way for the four kilometres.

The reward is viewing a fantastic panorama over the Lyndesfjorden.

There is a sheer drop of some 1800 feet, (604 metres,) to the water below. (Don't forget to take rain wear and food)

To give you an idea of how popular the experience is, some 90,000 people made the trip in 2005.

After breakfast at the hostel with a truly international and friendly group I rode along the coast and then up a little road that passed the white wooden church at Strand then meandered past a handful of farms and houses before going down to yet another lake.

This one was called “Borheimsvatnet” (I was beginning to realise that all Norwegian place names were like a rather bad hand at Scrabble.)

I spotted the now familiar symbol on the sign for a cabin for rent and turned up a farm track to “Hamrane Hyttefelt.”

There were seven of them, hidden from each other, but each with a great view from its balcony.

To me the word “cabin” seemed an understatement.


These were small houses and I could have happily lived in mine. Inside the first impressions were of warmth and of that lovely scent of wood.

There were two bedrooms, a shower, all modern appliances and satellite television. It seemed to have everything.

Not there was much need for the TV. I heard the clomping of horses’ hooves and half a dozen young girls rode by on the nature trail that went up the hill.

Later I explored it and found notices in Norwegian about the flora and fauna, One had the heading "Hemlock" above a drawing of a shrub (I decided not to add that herb for my cooking!)

Once I had settled in I went off on the little motorbike again to explore the area. A steep road took me over the hill to Fiskå and to yet another Fjord where farms and houses with the Norwegian flags flying lined the waterside.

It was all very lush and green which I am sure had something to do with the rain that never seemed to be far away.

I was finding driving quite easy, the traffic was light and the speed limits low.

The signs were easy to understand, particularly the warning one about the moose. I am sure that had I met one I would have given it the ‘right of way’.

Or more likely turned the bike and revved like hell.


A roadside notice indicating food on Sunday 12.00 to 18.00!

It was just what I needed and it had my little Honda purring up the hill to "Ryfylkegarden Holta" where I found candlelit tables in a former farm house which looked even older than its 60 years.


I enjoyed a beer while Ivar Nerhus. cooked lunch. Later, along with others at a neighbouring table, he spoke of friendly ties between Norway and the UK stemming from the days of World War Two.


My roast beef was brought to my table at the window by a blonde girl called Rebbeca, suddenly the view was good in both directions.

I decided that Monday would be the ‘adventure day.’
I rode the Honda down to Forsand and experienced my first Norwegian Tunnel.

At 800 metres through the mountain it seemed impressive, (but was really small beer with what was to come later.)


At Forsand friendly people run the local store by the waterside.
It is also the post office, bakery and cafe. I sipped coffee and ate a freshly baked cake while watching a rainbow rise above a large bridge that I had recently crossed.

It spanned the entrance to The Lyse Fjord. The "Lyseforden” means the "ford of light” because seemingly, no matter how dark and lowering the clouds above might be, the water always seems bright.



Shortly after noon the little motorbike was strapped to the deck of one of the fast ferries that serve the three or four communities along the Fjord's 42 km length and with a few other tourists I gazed in wonder at the huge cliffs that rose above us towards mountains.

They were topped in clouds and mist that swirled like steam in a cauldron. Suddenly it was easy to believe in Trolls.

The boat with it’s catamaran hull moved fast over the water. It did not even hang around much at the little harbours. I wheeled my bike ashore at ‘Songesand’ and when I turned round the boat was already speeding down the fjord.

Then I was alone and riding up a single track road.
It soon levelled out and ran alongside a fast flowing river.

"This is easy" I thought, "maybe there is just a pass through the mountains?"

Wrong of course, soon we were climbing up to the clouds, and just before a "winter gate" (I worked that one out!) I found a great viewpoint looking back down over the Fjord.

As it was too wet for pictures and I pressed on. Getting towards the top the storm enveloped us and my helmet visor steamed up. When I lifted it stinging hard rain hit my face. It was like being under the full force of a fireman's hose. I felt water penetrate through my boots and two layers of socks.

It was all exceeding damp, but in some sort of perverse way it was exhilarating.

I passed by a couple of mountain lakes Sandvatan and Lyngsvatn. Then the road began its long corkscrew down to join the civilised and sensible traffic on the highway that led back to the warmth and comfort of my little wooden house at Hamrane. It had been a day to remember.

STAVANGER

Having enjoyed the countryside I nosed around Stavanger. It is an attractive town and with a motorbike it was easy to scoot around and view the wooden homes on the hilly streets that rise up from the harbour.

One of the most interesting parts for exploring on foot is the “Gamle” or “Old Stavanger” where cobble stone streets lead you through 18th century white washed timber houses in what was once a deprived part of the city.

It was nearly torn down but was saved and has now become a most desirable and expensive neighbourhood. In this same area and well worth a visit, believe it or not, is the sardine canning museum, (The Hermetikkmuseet.) The address is Øvre Strantata 88A. You will come away with an understanding of what was one of the towns, major industries. In 1922 there were 70 sardine canneries.


If you want lunch or a drink head for the harbour and opposite an old steamer you will find a the “NB Sørensen's Damskipsexpedition,” It is a remarkable place with a great atmosphere. Everything around the tables is to do with travel and seafaring. It is like a gigantic shipping office stuffed full of ancient luggage, maps and maritime memorabilia.

Stavanger is an agreeable place to stroll around and has more than its fair share of interesting statues. If travellers heading home for Newcastle find one that looks something like their famous ‘Angel of the North’ it is no coincidence. The small figure looking out to the harbour is by the same artist.

Not quite as tall as the ‘Angel of the North’ but certainly impressive, is the ‘Swords in the Rock’ which is located not far from Stavanger, at Hafrsfjord and is the Norwegian national monument. It marks the location of a battle that resulted in uniting Norway as one kingdom in 872AD.

To the south and west of Stavanger the route 507, the coast road, presents a contrast to the fjords and mountains that lay inland.

Near Orre and Kleppe golden long sandy bays like the one at Orrestranda are backed by dunes. In the grass red thick berries and purple flowers add to the vibrant colour.

This part of Norway provides quite a mixture as the scenery changes from the dramatically jagged rocks in the south, through agriculturally biased land of Jæren and the beaches before you eventually reach the Fjords.


If you have time to fill in before getting the late ferry back to the UK a visit to ‘Havann Badeland’ in the town of Sandnes could keep a whole family happy. It is one of Northern Europe's largest indoor water worlds and offers waterslides, wave pool, Jacuzzi and a Roman Spa. In the same complex you also find a couple of supermarkets and ten pin bowling.

My ramble with my little Honda 90 provided some strange and wonderful moments.

There were cabins with turf roofs and I was impressed by the two and a half mile tunnel through a mountain to Frafjord.

I pondered the economics of it, because there was not much at the other end. There was certainly a beautiful fjord and a few farms and cabins but little in the way of population.


Another wondrous sight was on the route 503 from Byrkjedal where the road wound up through a mountain side of massive boulder slabs, some as big as houses. It looked not unlike the volcano from the closing scene in the film of the ‘Lord of the Rings.’

There was something magical about this part of Norway and as I queued for the Fjordline ferry home I was feeling quite pleased about my 400 miles of wandering. Almost smug I confess, until a large, gleaming, 1200cc BMW motorbike pulled up alongside me.

It was a luxurious affair. I heard a whirr as the motorised stand went down and then Igor and Natasha dismounted and flipped up their space age helmets.

They were from Russia and had travelled from Oslo that morning. Newcastle, London, Amsterdam and Paris were on their itinerary. I really was impressed.

With two hours to wait for the ship to call on its way from Bergen we chatted and shared malt whisky and Russian brandy (v.good.)

Then just as the ship was approaching the dock we were joined by a third motorbike, a seventeen year old "off road" Honda XLR. It sat high off the ground.

With the bleached scull of a fox fixed to the front it looked decidedly battled scarred.

String held the front mud-guard upwards so the wheel might rise high as it bounced over rough terrain. Some of the paint work looked as though it had been sand blasted away and the animl skin seat cover was well worn. In short it seemed as though it had travelled far, and indeed it had.

Its rider, Rossa Gibbon, who was from West Cork in Ireland, had been through Greece, Turkey, Russia and Siberia plus a couple of other countries that I can't spell. In some places he travelled without maps and rode across country using saellite navigation.

There are adventures and adventures and there are friends you meet along the way who help you keep things in perspective.

Report by Allan Rogers

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Click on the picture.

 

CONTACTS & INFORMATION:

www.regionstavanger.com .............................................Stavanger Region Tourism.

www.visitnorway.com .......................................... ...........Official site of the Norwegian Tourist Board

http://www.strand-turist.com ............................ ................Information on area toured, with map.

http://www.lysefjorden.no ................................. ................Forsand area, includes larger map

http://priekstolen.hostel@vanderhjem.no .......................Youth Hostel at Priekstolen

http://www.dfdsseaways.co.uk ......................................... DFDS car ferries to Norway

http://www.IMTC.org.uk .....................................................International Mototcycle Touring Club

 

The Rough Guide to Norway

If you want to get the feel of the country before you go take a look at "The Rough Guide to Norway" In addition to touring highlights subjects covered range from Viking customs to Norwegian literature,. It hits upon all the 'things not to miss'. There are lively accounts of the major cities and towns, plus descriptions of the magnificent mountains and fjords. There is plenty of practical advice for exploring the great outdoors, plus maps and plans for every region