Wild and Windswept
We were rocked to sleep last night as we sailed west and then north to our next port of call, Stavanger, Norway.
I was curious to refresh my mental compass and went to find the chart on the top deck after breakfast this morning. Unsurprisingly there was a stiff breeze and the skies didn’t look so promising. Oh well, there’s nothing we can do about that!
Our berth was right downtown, just a short walk away from the city centre, so we gathered our things and set off for our “overview” tour this morning, with the purpose of looking out anything which we felt we might return to this afternoon. We’ve been here before, some years ago, when we visited the oil museum and pottered around, so we felt fairly relaxed about the day.
The route of our round trip took us across the harbour bridge to begin with, allowing us a view of the Navigator ocross the water, a mere minnow alongside the huge P&O Iona which had loomed over us at breakfast this morning.
From the bridge, we peered down into the communities beneath us, many of which had their own moorings. We agreed that if we lived here, we’d need a boat for sure!
Though Stavanger is not on an island, there seems to be water in every direction we looked. With the light as it was this morning, it all looked a bit bleak and very different from yesterday. As we drove, guide Nicholas pointed out significant landmarks: the centre where a biennial world oil conference is held in turn with a similar centre in Houston, TX. He drew our attention to the double decker roundabout, where there was an upper deck track above the road for pedestrians and cyclists. But what I noticed most of all was how quiet it all was, with hardly a soul to be seen and very little traffic indeed.
Our first stop, on the shores of Hafrsfjord - which Nicholas explained was the sea and not a lake - was an important site in Norway’s history. Here, in 872, the Viking Harald FairHair fought a battle to impress the love of his life, Ragenhild daughter of the King of Denmark. To win her hand, he conquered twenty or more minor kings over a period of ten years, finally becoming the first King of all Norway at the Battle of Hafrsfjord right here. The place is marked by three huge bronze swords, driven into the ground to emphasise the peace that followed.
Whilst I felt rather grumpy to be sharing this site with several coaches full of people at this moment (it’s a popular spot) it’s probably a good thing to have caught a couple of them in the picture to offer a sense of scale. These swords were enormous.
Here in the car park was something I recognised from a previous trip to Ireland: a cycle toolkit there ready for use. Also useful for e-scooter repair as well, I’d imagine - there are plenty of those here too.
Our final stop was the highest point overlooking Stavanger. There was an observation tower here with all the communications aerials and so on and we pottered around the space, trying to work out where we were. Could we identify any recognisable landmark? With water all around, that didn’t seem to be a very useful clue and Nicholas wasn’t too sure either. There was only one answer: I got out my phone.
Returning to the ship feeling a bit peckish after all that fresh air, we wondered about taking a walk down town, but just as we were thinking about it, the rain started and a sandwich and a hot drink was more tempting. As we sat overlooking the path along the harbour, uploading photos and enjoying our lunch, we watched so many family groups returning to the P&O ship alongside. With more than 5000 on board that ship, it must have felt as though half of Great Britain was in town today.
