Stavanger

Stavanger has been Matty and Van's base for a year now so I was pretty damn excited to check it all out. It is the quintessential Norwegian city where they are living, just a couple of blocks from the seaside down the cobbled lanes. Their apartment is right in the middle of town, which is great for lots of things and easy access for them for work. Not so great with the resident busking bongo drummer, who had thankfully left by the time I arrived.

Van's Mum was scheduled to arrive on Tuesday evening so I had 2 days to entertain myself while they were at work. Monday, after a very slow start, I took the rental car down the coast for an explore. There are beaches that are accessible right down the coastline and reminded me a lot of Dunedin. Quite blustery with sand dunes leading down to the water which did not remind me of Dunedin, all sorts of seaweed and rubbish washed up from who knows where. I set off on a semi-ambitious walk before being scared off by the threatening grey clouds on the horizon. Just in time too as it started to pour down just after I made it back to the car. After returning the car and making my way back to Stavanger, Matty took me on a running tour of his 'usual lake loop'.

Tuesday I commandeered Van's bike for a ride round the harbour and up a hill for some good views of Stavanger. It was 25k out to the hill followed by a short walk up. The bike took me forever with a couple of wrong turns and stopping and starting to check the map. I also discovered that Van's bottom wire to change gears had rusted into place and I was stuck in a high gear, not ideal on the hills but good exercise at least! It really was a great view up the top, well worth the effort. I only just made it home with energy levels running seriously low, coming off 4 weeks of no exercise this was all a shock to the system. Luckily by the time i made it back Van's Mum, Ching, had arrived and was cooking us a Philippine feast of home made spring rolls.

Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock) was the next sight to tick off the list, the second big scary ledge in a week. Only a 30min boat ride from Stavanger and a 3k walk this was Matty and Van's 4th trip with guests, such locals. After a nice easy wander up the hill we came across it sticking out over the water and looking mighty impressive. It appears to have been almost carved out of the rock with a nice big flat area for picnics and gorgeous views down the fjord. I found this one quite a bit more terrifying as it's completely flat so sitting in the edge, a gentle nudge in the wrong direction would be goodbye world! At least Trolltunga was sloped upwards so while it looks scary in pictures, you would have to launch yourself out to fall off it. I managed to get the obligatory snaps on the edge before hastily retreating to a nice lunch spot further back.

After going to Perikestolen, Trolltunga and doing the Oslo-Bergen railway I had almost ticked off all of Norway's main sights. Almost. The hunt for Northern Lights was on with a flight 600k into the Arctic Circle to Tromso on Thursday evening.