INSTALLMENT
#12
[Day 18, Tuesday, July 11, 2000]
Peg & Keith
Wheeler's Norway trip report,
Summer 2000
Aksdal
to Stavanger to
Jørpeland. Meeting
the Velles
Crisis! Rotraud has lost her voice. We had a feeling yesterday was too much for
her -- following all those yellow dots.
Today would be eventful for everyone.
We had to move on to
Stavanger and then Jørpeland, where we were expected, and she and Einar had
tickets on the cruise boat up the Norwegian coast. They had to leave by car to reach Bergen that afternoon for their
trip.
More
good-byes and we squeezed into the car with our luggage, Rotraud, Einar and
Ellen who had a doctor's appointment near our bus stop. We were in plenty of time to catch the bus
for Stavanger at Aksdal. It had
been raining and all was fresh and cool, if not blustery. We had to suffer a valid bit of teasing and
good natured fun about having so much luggage.
Rotraud took pictures and sent one to us with the caption: "2
Americans and 5 suitcases." We
thought we were doing pretty well managing with the back packs etc. (She didn't count the computer case or Peg's
Brekke "purse/bag.") Whoever
invented rollers for suitcases has our vote.
It ranks up there with paperclips and cheese cutters in terms of useful
inventions (did you know that Norwegians invented both of these?).
"2
Americans and 5 suitcases." - photo & title by Rotraud Slogvik
It
was a little teary saying the final farewell.
We had had SUCH a great time at Slogvik due entirely to the warmth,
thoughtfulness, and hospitality of these fine people. We knew we could never repay them. We can only hope they will come to visit us someday. (Even that
hope is problematic as we can't think of anything in our country that could be
as beautiful or interesting.)
Meanwhile, we are sure we will keep in touch and continue to share in
each other's lives.
The
bus was full and we were unable to sit together. Keith won the prize for the most interesting seat partner. The well-dressed and well-spoken gentleman
had been the owner of a small airline and had also formerly been a journalist
and a teacher. He had been a frequent
visitor to the US on business and spoke excellent English. Mentioning that he had been dealing with
some medical problems, he casually divulged that he had a manic-depressive
illness, which he further stated was under control now with medication. Keith was impressed with the openness with
which he shared about his mental illness.
We wondered if that was characteristic of the way mental illness is
viewed in Norway. (We later had the
opportunity to check this out further and were assured that in Norway there is
an "openness around mental illness" and "it is not a shame to
suffer" from such an illness. Oh,
if this were the same in the U.S.!) Our
conversation continued over coffee in the lounge during the ferry ride. We learned from him that "Norway runs
on FORMS." He had this one
criticism of Norway, that it requires too many forms. This corresponds with the binder full of forms Einar and Rotraud
had shown us, which they were required to keep regarding their farm. He was quite informative about the scenery
we were passing, pointing out interesting features such as the hot house tomato
farming that was taking place on the island just north of Stavanger now that
they were connected by highway tunnels.
The
bus pulled into the station next to the railroad where we had hoped to store
the one big suitcase for the duration of our stay in Jørpeland. Changing our itinerary, we were planning two
days in Stavanger before we headed back to Oslo by rail. Our earlier experience
with Stavanger was so great, but we didn't get to explore the town much and see
the museums. Upon learning that the
storage facilities at the rail way station were limited to 24 hours, we
realized we needed to decide which hotel we would return to the following week
and leave our suitcase there. We had
received several recommendations for good places to stay. However, sitting there in the bus station
and glancing across the corner of the lake, we saw the hotel we had stayed at
before and realized how very convenient it was. Decision made. We made
reservations for the following Sunday, deposited the one large HEAVY suitcase at
the SAS Atlantic's secure room and, with the rest of our luggage, took a cab to
the ferry terminal.
It
was two or three hours before we needed to board the express boat to Jørpeland
so we stored the luggage in a locker and, since it was raining seriously, made
a dash for the Petroleum Museum next door. This modern space-age looking complex houses
a series of exhibits related to the oil industry. Through films, photographs, models, displays and actual pieces of
equipment it traced the formation of oil and gas off the coast of Norway
millions of years ago and demonstrated the early exploration, as well as
current and future technology, of the off shore oil industry. We were impressed with obvious attention
given to safety. Three cylindrical
structures set on pilings out over the water presented a taste of what life and
work would be like out in the North Sea on an offshore platform. Keith was particularly interested in the
series of models of offshore platforms, beginning with the first one that was
brought in from the Gulf of Mexico, that showed the great development of
technology to make these massive structures more suited to the extreme
conditions of the North Sea. These
platforms are like huge floating (or in some cases standing) cities that are very
high tech. There was a large number of
these models, each in their own glass case with descriptive information in
English and Norwegian. The last case
was empty, but had the caption, "What next?"
Norwegian
Petroleum Museum as viewed from the water.
(Actually this photo was taken from the Gamle Rogaland when the weather
was much nicer on July 4th.)
Check out their web site at: http://www.museumsnett.no/nom/English/index.html
About
this time, we needed a bit of lunch.
Remembering a coffee shop at the ferry building, we returned there
passing up a chance at the café of the petroleum museum. The coffee shop had ok coffee, but not much
else. We agreed we could skip lunch for
once.
A
crowd quickly gathered outside on the covered dock awaiting the express boat's
arrival. This was obviously a commute
boat and folks were anxious to get home.
Even with the crowd we had no problems finding comfortable seats and
soon we were off heading east on this sleek, smooth sailing craft. While this area of water is officially
designated as fjords, is seemed more like open water of a huge bay as this is
where several fjords meet and start.
There were some very attractive islands and rocky areas (what is the
name for just a large low rock that protrudes out of the water?…' skjær'
in Norwegian, 'skerry' in English), but the rain and sea spray on the
boat's windows prevented any good photographs.
This was just a time to relax and enjoy a smooth ride. Very shortly, it seemed, we were nearing Jørpeland in Strand kommune (or municipality). The storm
had passed and the sun was now shinning though scattered clouds. (Check out this Strand web site for
information, a few pics & a map of this area. http://home.online.no/~strandrl/ )
Kristian
met us at the dock. Not having seen us before, he
was able to figure out who we were some way or other -- we probably had that
bewildered American tourist look -- and he and Keith quickly fell into
conversation. They had been
corresponding via e-mail for over 4½ years and had a great deal to talk
about. Kristian Velle had answered an
early post of Keith's regarding a translation and they have written to each other
ever since. It was Kristian who first
started Keith thinking of the possibility of visiting Norway. This invitation to stay with him and his
wife had been long standing and after last year's postponement, was finally
being realized. It turned out his
daughter was also on the express boat from Stavanger with us, so he was able to
give her a ride home for a brief visit with us before she returned to her own
apartment nearby. Kristian made a quick
drive through the town center and toward the outskirts and his home. The brief glance around revealed a small but
very interesting town situated along the water with a small residential area
spreading somewhat toward the east up into the hills and north and west along the
water front. High rocky mountains to the
south prevented any significant development in this direction.
Arriving
at their splendid home overlooking the water, and meeting Aud Marit,
Kristian's wife, we were invited to sit down for a fine Norwegian meal of meat
cakes in sauce. We had forgotten we
were a bit hungry so this was great!
Afterward, we were given a tour of the house which Kristian had designed
and built. To simply say he
"built" it is something of an understatement. This house had so many unique features that
were clearly of his own design and very well thought out, that it was a delight. There were 5 split levels to the design (not
including the deck) which made it all very interesting. The wood working was superb. He not only built the house but also all of
the cabinets, down to custom wooden cabinet and drawer handles, and also much
of the furniture. The walk-in
refrigerated pantry with its beautiful wooden door was amazing. Norwegian breakfasts call for numerous
components, packages, and condiments.
These were all housed on a wooden breakfast cart that was simply rolled
into the refrigerator at the close of the meal and rolled out again when
needed! Hundreds of other little
touches and big ones too were found throughout the entire home. They had raised three daughters there, all
of whom were out of the nest.
Kristian's workshop basement was a woodworker's dream.
One side of the Velle
kitchen with some of the cabinets
Kristian had built from
a "tree" he bought. Yes, that
beautiful wooden door
on the right is the refrigerator
(no refrigerator
magnets here!).
Kristian
works on an off shore oil platform for 2 weeks at a time and then has 4 weeks
off. Clearly he had done some amazing
things with those 4 weeks off. He
obviously likes to build and he was very organized at it.
That
evening we took a scenic and orienting drive up into the hills above the town
where we could get a good look down on the fjord and Jørpeland. Yet again the views were breathtaking.
< One view of
Jørpeland
We
came back down to the coast near the town of Tau and just shortly after turning
on the main highway towards Jørpeland we came to a place called Solbakk. Here Kristian showed us some petroglyphs or
ancient rock carvings. There are some
200 petroglyph sites around Rogaland county and this was one of the better
ones. The carvings on the gray granite
rock were painted red for easier visibility. Granted this makes them easier to
see, but Peg wondered at the archaeological soundness of the idea. Keith thought it was a good idea because
otherwise some folks would miss some of the faint markings. It WAS humbling to
think how long they had been there and to wonder about the original
carvers. This site was exposed toward
the sea and would have been a look out point of some sort. Reportedly these carvings date back about
2,500 years. (For more information on
this, check out: http://home.online.no/~strandrl/solbakk.html )
We
stayed up late that evening talking in their comfortable living room. They had just returned from a vacation
sailing in the Mediterranean and around Greece with several couples they
knew. Aud Marit, thankfully, was able
to understand English well, although she was uncomfortable speaking. It was here that our lack of Norwegian was
most painfully felt. Kristian and Keith
seemed to have plenty to talk about however.
They reminisced about their past correspondence and the maps and
photographs Kristian had sent. It was
also just time to get acquainted face to face after these years of "cyber
contact." Among other things, we
discussed possible plans for our stay.
The next day was to be a trip in Kristian's boat up north to Skiftun if
the weather cooperated. The forecast
was not promising.
It
had been a long, eventful and tiring day, so we retired and slept quite
well. We shared our room with Tomlin, a
HUGE gray cat that owned the home. He
was particularly fond of the foot of our bed.