Oslo Tales

Thursday 8th August

At 6.15am we were all woken by a very loud alarm from Dan Dales' bunk. The fusillade of clothing articles and shoe attire eventually roused Dan sufficently for him to accede to the 'polite' requests to turn the alarm off and somnolent tranquility was restored. Until some half hour later when Dan suddenly sat bolt upright, wide awake and shouted "Get up everyone - it's Oslo day! We've got a train to catch, sites to see and girls to meet!!" He was trampled in the rush to the washroom.

After a rushed breakfast we made a hasty departure for the station at Eidsvoll. Despite the driving skills of Phil we just missed the 8.56am intercity - however the ensuing delay waiting for the next local service train meant that we could take advantage of the superbly clean and efficient washroom facilities at the station.

Following an uneventful train journey we arrived in Oslo and made the trek along the main shopping street Karl Johanns Gate to the City Hall (Radhus) where we bought some postcards and made use of the public facilities again. The City Hall looks out over the Oslo harbour, which appeared to be teeming with boats big and small - a luxury liner berthed under the walls of an old fortress (which Phil informed us was the Akershus castle), lots of yachts and small speedboats zipping around the harbour waters, a few tankers and container vessels moored up, the Oslo ferry boats ploughing their way back and forth to the tourist attractions of Fram, Viking Ship, Ra & Kontiki, Norske Folk Museum - all situated on the Bygdøy peninsula.

Our initial impressions of Norway's capital city were quite mixed although we all agreed that it seemed a laid-back place with lots of space and consideration for the pedestrian. No-one really seemed to be rushing anywhere, and in the gardens next to the City Hall several of the Oslo's prettier inhabitants thought nothing of stripping down to their bare essentials to top up their tans during what appeared to be a lengthy lunch-hour. Much to our amazement and delight!

We posed for what was the traditional "here-we-are-in-Oslo" group photograph ....

... and then made our way to the ferry quays to do the tourist thing over on the Bygdøy peninsula. Thanks to Ernst pulling a few strings with the head curator of the Fram Exhibition we were able to get into the Fram Huset as it is called free of charge. Thanks Ernst! Ernst was obviously a big fan of this Fridtjof Nansen guy who was a famous polar explorer at the turn of the 18th-19th century and had Fram specially built to survive the ice-packed seas. In fact Phil (who turned out to be quite knowledgeable on Norwegian matters due to his previous six visits there) steered us to one or two specific exhibits of interest there - in one photograph Nansen bears an uncanny resemblance to the late Frank Henderson, who set up the 44th Gloucester Venture Scout Unit and died before his time in 1996. And we now understand what Ernst meant when he spoke about "The Spirit of Adventure".

The history and cultural lesson of the day was however cut short for some who found a happy group of girls from Germany slightly more interesting than the life and times of Norway's most celebrated explorer. Dan Dales particularly made an impression with his command(!) of the German language - which prompted the following log entry ....

Further visits to Ra & Kontiki and the Viking Ship museums were voted against in favour of a return to Oslo city centre and food - the rumblings of Stubby's stomach were mistaken for thunder and several Japanese tourists immediately donned waterproofs and put up umbrellas. While waiting for the ferry's return it was noted that a certain Mr L & Mr B were engaged in conversation with a couple of young ladies from Germany - hmmm! Must be something about Norwegian boats.

SHEEPY (aka RICH E)

Let's get one thing straight: there are many fine women in Oslo. Pretty much wherever you look, there is some figurine of beauty parading down the pedestrian streets bathing in the Scandinavian sunlight or modelling herself against some divine dress. I am sure there will be articles all about this subject spread throughout the logbook. Perhaps I will write some of them.

But today I will stay far away from this subject because sometimes it can get a bit tedious for the reader. "You had to be there to understand" and all that.

The first thing of note was the Fram Museum. Very nice - good building and even better ship. Quite amazing idea - Nansen wanted to lodge the ship in the pack ice and float with it to the North Pole. Anyway, Rich H knows more about it than me ....

Hi! My name's Rich Holland. You may remember me from such articles as Friday 2nd August or perhaps Monday 5th? Anyway, the Fram. Amazing ship, its hull designed like an upturned egg so that the pressure of the pack ice lifts it up and carries rather than crushing it, like an egg!

In July 1893 Fram left Norway and entered the pack ice off the North Siberian Islands, being carried with it to a latitude of 85° North. Nansen and a friend (Hjalmar Johansen) then set off in an attempt to reach the pole by skis but were forced to turn back at 86° 14' North, a world record. It took them four months to get to Franz Josef Islands where they holed up for the winter and from where they were subsequently picked up by a British ship on its way back to Norway. They arrived back on Norwegian soil 5 years to the day after setting off. The Fram eventually emerged from the ice pack near Greenland. These were some very hard guys.

Fram was also involved in other polar explorations. Otto Sverdrup took an expedition 1898-1902 to the Artic islands north of Canada. Otto Sverdrup discovered more new land in the North Pole region than anybody before or after, all together between 200-300 square kilometres were mapped. Later Roald Amundsen took her to the Antartic. In 1910 Fram set out for the Ross Sea. Roald Amundsen took Fram deep into the Ross ice shelf (78° South) in order to kick start his South Pole attempt. He establish his base Framheim on the barrier in January 1911. The South Pole was reached by Amundsen and four of his men on 14th December 1911 after about two months travel by dog sleds.

So you can see, the vessel Fram is an amazing bathing beauty of a ship.

Thanks Rich!

Afterwards we took the ferry boat back towards Oslo, then spent some time trying to find a shop that sold food. After lunch which took place in a park with a view, it was time for the group to separate. The older ones headed towards Frogner - the place with all the statues .......

It was surreal. And obviously the place for Norwegians to take their recreation too. I'm afraid to say that the heat got to us all and we had to take some relaxation amongst the statues. It did cross our minds to try and blend in with them but then Phil didn't think the Norwegian police would see the funny side of things:

"Jumping in and out of saunas to roll in the snow with only your birthday suit on might be acceptable behaviour to most Scandinavians in winter but exposing oneself at the height of summer for the sake of art, even amongst so much bare stone, would be frowned upon in the most liberal of Norwegian circles."

Fair enough!

MATT

Some key impressions of Oslo 2002

1 : Chris Smith was right - take sticky tape!!

2 : Framhuset visit a success for various reasons and objectives. Ja richtig!

3 : Buy Flexi-Kort tickets for all boat/train/bus journeys in city centre zone; they're cheaper than the single fare and you can get them free on the Bygdøy båt service if you sweet-talk the cabin crew!

4 : Bygdøy båt service also good for meeting young German ladies who you might later see at Vigeland Park.

5 : "Thong of Norway" very popular amongst younger female population.

6 : Don't let Adam loose with a camera during the mixed bathing season in Oslo!

7 : Glasmagasinet closes at 7pm (B*gg*r!)

8 : Major down point - MacDonalds etc rubbish junk food outlets now in evidence (yuk)

9 : Local beer 58NOK/demi-liter. Cheers Pete!

10 : Matt said you could have too much of a good thing - and he fell asleep amongst the Vigeland statues!

11 : Website for more informasjon on the  Fram Museet

12 : Website for more informasjon on  Fridthjof Nansen

13 : General informasjon on Norway at  One World Nations Online : Norway

14 : Website for informasjon on  Gustav Vigeland's Museum & Sculpture Park in Oslo

Taken from Daily Log Book Entries