Scandanavian Journey Part 5 (the last part) Forums

labbad

9th July to 16th July
Later we headed for Torp airport, we found a mediocre campsite about 20 miles from the airport beside a raging torrent of a river.
Monday the ninth Brian's last day, the rain was bucketing down we stayed in the campsite until around 1 p.m.. As we had intended to travel to Sweden after dropping Brian at the airport we first went to the ferry terminal to check on times and prices. We then made our way to the airport and dropped Brian at around 4:45 p.m. after which we returned to the car ferry at Sandefjord and got the ferry to Stromstad in Sweden. We arrived in Sweden rather late it was 11 p.m. but we were lucky enough to find a carpark with plenty other campers and caravans and parked up for the night.
The following morning Tuesday the 10th we left Stromstad at 9 a.m. for lake Venem. We had intended spending two or three days in Sweden driving around the lake, however we were in Sweden the scenery returned to tree-lined roads with a few fields here and there. It was 357 miles around the lake and we did it in one-day, the lake is supposed to be beautiful but in those miles we saw it for about five minutes and we couldn't get near it. We returned to Stromstad and went to a pub restaurant and had a lovely meal. We returned to the same car park and left for Norway the following morning on the 10 o'clock sailing.
We decided to see some of the south coast of Norway so we headed for Larvik and on to Kristansand a few miles before Kristansand we found an unusual campsite called Moglestue in the haggard of a farmyard run by an old woman who was quaint to say the least. We were told to stay away from the field on the left as they would be digging the spuds the following day. We found a grand spot under an old oaktree, we were able to connect to the electricity surprisingly enough and the amenities weren't bad either.
The following morning we discussed what we would do next, remember what I said about the clothes shop at Eidfjord, it seems the clothes at this shop where half the price compared to the shops in Oslo so I was informed, so we(?) decided to head back in that direction for the remaining few days, it also took us through the best of the scenery again.
We left the farmyard and headed north there looked to be an interesting road running beside two lakes. It was a beautiful drive with fabulous scenery all the way from rolling fields to spectacular ravines with the quaint little villages at the base of towering mountains. We finished up that night in such a village the descent into the village was another skid mark situation, for 20 minutes, it included 20/30 hairpin bends down the side of a mountain, whith the rich smell of hot brake linings. The campsite we stayed at was called Buoy in the town of Dalan. On the valley floor surrounded by mountains with a fine broad River it was majestic campsite large spacious and well laid out, it had all the amenities and they were first-class.
Left the campsite at about 10:30 a.m. and headed for the Trollwollen shop at Eidjford which was about 150 miles away through Rodal and Odda, one of the most beautiful drives in Norway, spectacular scenery around every bend in the road. Alison enjoyed the shopping I had a great chat with the shop owner he spoke perfect English and was a mine of information.
We went back to the car park at the dam and stayed another night.
Left the dam car park for the final time and headed back towards the ferry crossing we has used when Brian was around at Brimnes to Bruravik. Headed in the direction of Bergen on the coast. The scenery as well as the weather was beautiful, we found a carpark high up on a hillside overlooking a fjord named Bjornafjorden at around 5 p.m. the place is called Fusa and we settled down for the night. The wind got up with rain and we had a stormy night.
The Sunday morning was still rough, weather wise so we sat where we were until 1 p.m. we headed south in the rain and came to Grindfjorden which is about 40 km north of Stavanger. We found a beautiful campsite beside the fjord one of the very few we found with a hard surface. It was a beautiful spot beside the fjord with the mountains on the other side.
Finally the last day has arrived, headed for the docks at Stavanger at around 11 a.m. in miserable weather. We arrived there much much too early and had to hang around for number of hours, eating drinking tea, reading, time passed. Alison headed up town for a walk around and to see a few shops.
Boarding time arrived and got settled on board. Went for a meal and had a large steak which was outrageously priced. Slept no problem and woke early went for breakfast around 8 a.m. it was a buffet affair where you could eat as much as you wanted, which I did and made up for overpriced steak the night before. It is a full day's voyage that seemed unending however it should be said the sea was kind both coming and going, it was flat calm on both occasions which considering the reputation of the north sea was a blessing.
Finally disembarked in Newcastle at around 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday the 16th and headed for Manchester and on to Pembroke the following day.