Episode 6

As we headed toward the Norwegian border along the coast we came to the Tanum rock carvings. There are a great many carvings in quite a wide area. Many date from as early as 1500BC with the majority made in the 1500BC to 1100BC era. By far the most popular drawing is that of boats, there are said to be over 10,000 carvings of these in the area. I only saw a few and had my photo taken with some as well as with one of the most famous ones, the 'Spear God".

Archaeologists who have studied these carving in recent years have filled them with a red substance and that makes them much easier to see in photos, so my humans really liked that.

It would have taken a great deal of work to chip and etch these drawings into the hard granit using just the stone tools that we available at the time. It is believed that some were modified in the Bronze and Iron age from 500BC to 1AD. The tools used were different and so to the style.

My humans really enjoyed the best part of a whole day visiting a large number of sites and the museum where there was a replica of a bronze age farm. Looked very 21st century to L because many of the logs used had been sawn by a chain saw, and the leather used to shield the fire from the thatch roof had been cured by the most modern of methods.

Called into a supermarket and topped up our supples before heading into Norway. It was right at the border and full of Norwegians stocking up. L got the impression food must be much more expensive there. As soon as we crossed the border we had to pay a toll for the road, about $3. If we had kept to the main roads we would have had to pay several more before reaching Oslo.

Taking a less direct route we stopped and looked at the locks near Halden. Here, there are 4 locks, the highest lifts the level 26.6m. A girl we'd met said it was the highest lock in northern Europe, not sure if she meant just this single lock or the group of four. We had been lucky that it was a Sunday when we visited as the locks are closed, empty and in the process of being renovated so the area would probably be closed to idle wanderers like us if it had been a work day.

Some way further on we came to another lock and a lake where there were a couple of tour boats moored. It seems from a sign my humans read that these boats usually cruise through all these locks, however, this summer it seems unlikely that will be the case as there still appear to be a great deal of work to be done on the locks before they will be in working order again.

From here on the electronics started playing up again and we made frequent stops where D would lift the bonnet and poke at this or that. Now it seems to be the suspension but also the glo plugs don’t always come on. Boy oh boy, the car is really playing fun and games with D this trip.

We came to an old fort, not really old as forts go seeing as it was only built at the beginning of last century 1901. It was built at the time Norway was under Swedish governance and didn’t really like it. In 1905 when negotiations were underway to resolve the problem and split from Sweden it was de-commissioned and partly dismantled as a ‘peace’ offering. Now it stands as a monument to peace. One can still see where the guns were placed, some are still in position, and there are quarters that are all underground. It sits atop quite a hill so commands a good view of the surrounding area. Presently the only thing it really overlooks is grazing sheep. I suppose they could become threatening somehow.

David worked on the suspension problem here and after a great many hours work only succeeded in making the problem worse according to L. I’m not passing an opinion on this. We made our way to a Mcdonalds where D could use the internet and he ordered a part from the UK. It will have to come by courier company as apparently the post is quite slow to Norway. Because of the louse internet connection at all the Mcdonalds my humans tried it took a great deal of effort and several phone calls to get the part ordered and sent. D was not a happy chappie during this time.

I did get to meet Sigrid. Sigrid is a lovely more senior lady whom my humans met several years ago in Antarctica and who still enjoys travelling here and there frequently. She has not long returned home from Israel. We spent a day with her at her home. She has a lovely home that sits on top of a hill that overlooks Oslo fjord. She and her late husband built it in the latter part of the 1940’s, and now the ‘powers that be’ have insisted the Americans could built a new embassy very close by despite a great deal of opposition from all the residents.

May 17th is Norway’s national day, and a public holiday. We had chosen this day to visit the 12th century ‘stave’ church at Heddal S W of Oslo. This is the largest surviving stave church, and most of these churches are in Norway. Stave is a form of construction of a wooden church, and this is a truly good example.

Being the national day there was to be a church service followed by a parade along the main road to a recreational ground. We arrived as people were beginning to arrive for the church service. Many people were in national costume. For the women this meant a long skirt, most often black with a great deal of embroidery on the lower part, an embroidered blouse, jacket and sometimes a scarf. The men wore knickerbockers and long socks and jackets the same colour as the socks. All looked very smart. Of course not everyone was in costume, those that weren’t were mostly very smartly dressed with the men in black suits. There were a couple of young girls in short shorts and skimpy tops with longs coats because it was quite chilly.

After the church service masses of people arrived and the parade was formed. Several schools marched, each under their own banner, two brass bands eventually turned up, they were late and held things up for a while. The last group was led by a tractor towing a trailer full of little kids, probably a kindergarten. A great time seemed to be had by all. It was quite a colourful spectacle and my humans are very glad they witnessed it.

D has now discovered another suspension problem, one of the airbags has a leak, probably a faulty bag. He will try and get a replacement one here or in Sweden, it was possibly the reason that the control system was burning out.

© Lynette Regan 17th May 2013