Stavanger and Preikestollen
Before we even got here we had decided to stay a minimum of 2 nights in Stavanger, its a lovely city and a few of our friends had said there's plenty to see and do here so after a leisurely breakfast we headed into town to try and find some shops and have a look around the harbour and Old Stavanger area. On the way into town we passed one of Stavanger Museums, with a large whale skeleton outside. Unfortunately this part of the museum is shut on a Monday so we headed down and came across a Reme1000 store next to the bus station. We popped inside to get a few supplies and check out supermarket prices to see if our Norway trip could last 2 months, or just 2 weeks. The first thing anyone said to us before we came away was "Oh Norway, bloody expensive place"....this became so tiring after a while. We had actually done a little research and listened to people in the know. Aye its not cheap, but having holidayed the Swiss, French and Italian Alps over the years I was pretty sure we could stretch the purse strings just a WEE bit further to make it work. It's not a drinking holiday (I am still drying out after the Hebs tour) its a touring and sightseeing and most importantly a family bonding holiday........Joyce had made sure our van was well laden with food, just incase we couldn't afford to buy some staple food stuffs to keep us alive and see us through our time here. Gone are the days in any holiday destination I have been lately where food is desperately cheap whether that be mainland Spain, the Canaries or anywhere else in Europe for that matter. This I don't mind so long as what is presented in front of me is half decent fare, and that is not always the case. We cook and eat in the van most nights and as yet I have never been disappointed with what's on offer from our larder and Joyce culinary skills.
Old Stavanger is nice, little streets with small well kept houses all painted brightly white, with flowers which are in bloom just now. We wandered around and came across the Norwegian Canning museum. Before the oil boom in the 60's the main industry in the (then) small town was the catching, processing and canning of brisling, sardines, pilchards, sprats or whatever you want to call them, they are all pretty much the same thing. And then exporting them around the world. I am partial to my pilchards and decided this was a visit for us. We paid our money and were just in time for a guided tour, fortunately for us it was in English, and it was very informative. The inside of the old original building is full of the machinery used in the pressing out of the tins, the processing and smoking of the fish, there was no machine to pack the fish into tins, this was done by hand. The sealing of the tins after around 1905 was done by machine, prior to this the tins were soldered shut and one man could solder around 500-600 tins a day, the machine could seal 1000 an hour. The tins were then washed and then boiled in an autoclave which slightly cooked and sterilised the contents of the can. The cans were then hand dried and labels added before boxing and shipping. This little factory which employed 70 people aged anywhere between 9 and 75 years old could process and can 10000 cans of fish per day....sadly apart from landing the catch here which is still quite big business, all the rest of the process if now done in Poland, it is cheaper to ship the fish half way across Europe and can them there. However, there is no machine that can pack the fish into the tins as accurately and apparently this is still done by hand. Logan became the youngest factory member packing some rubber fish into cans, aged 3.5 years old, lol.
The boys seemed to quite enjoy this tour and although ready for lunch clocked the Norwegian flags on sticks they had been craving for a few days so good behaviour was rewarded with a flag each which the duly looked after and waved for the rest of the day.
We walked to the harbour area and found as seat in the sun for lunch near a huge liner belonging to the Holland American Line. There was also a smaller boat just up the quay and it seemed to have a bit of a queue forming at it, so after lunch we took a wee walk up to see what it was all about. Turns out it was a tour boat taking passengers up the Lysefjored to view Preikestollen. It was 13:55 and it was departing in 5 minutes, so a hasty decision was made after enquiring about the cost of course. The sun was out, we had all we needed and soon we were casting off on a superb large 1 year old catamaran with indoor viewing areas with comfy leather seats and all mods cons. The trip would last 3 hours and get us back to shore in time to visit Reme1000 for some vital beer supplies that we had omitted to buy earlier in the day. The boys enjoyed sailing out past the big liner and then under the bridge leaving Stavanger harbour area. We followed the coast and were taken along and inside some lovely islands with just a few little houses where people lived or maybe had holiday homes. The boat was maybe only a quarter full so there was loads of room to move around at will and check out all sides of the boat for the views, big memory cards are required for trips like these!! We sailed up into Lysefjord below vast vertical cliffs plunging into the water, this was not a small boat and we were literally meters from the shore exploring little coves along the way. Eventually we passed under Preikestollen, an almost perfect square of rock about 25 meters square, jutting out from the cliff over 600meters above us. Its a walk we might embark upon in a few days time if the weather stays good but we shall see. You could see people (very small ones) standing right on the edge of the square. From below its amazing that the block still perches there ands I am sure one day it will fall off. Apparently it was used as a location for Mission Impossible 6 and saw Tom Cruise who usually does his own stunts hanging off the side of it.....by all accounts he didn't walk to get there however. After passing this the captain steered us towards a large waterfall (Foss) and nosed the boat to within a meter or so of the rock whereby a silver bucket on a pole was dangled under the fall to collect some water. This was duly offered in (single use👎🏻....bad for the environment) plastic glasses for us all to taste. It was almost as good as Scottish water.....
After this we about turned and headed back along the fjord and around the islands. At this point the boys struck it lucky, a crew member had clocked them amusingly counting rivets at the top of the stairs and after chatting to Joyce and them for a minute asked if they would like to come up onto the bridge and see where the boat was controlled from. This, of course was an offer too good to refuse, Callum, as anyone who follows our blogs will know is a veteran having previously steered a ferry across the Shannon, a dolphin watching boat in Dingle, and The Maid of the Loch on Loch Katrine and now was about to add a state of the art Catamaran in a Norwegian fjord........So upon we went, it was like something from a modern starship enterprise with screens and controls all over the place. Both Callum and Logan had a shot in the captains chair while myself and Joyce took a few pictures and chatted to the 2nd in command. The captain had actually gone for some food. Captain Callum, its definitely got a ring to it. After some time we thanked the crew and left the experts to their jobs and were soon back in Stavanger harbour, the tour over. It had been good and well worth the money.
We nipped back up to Reme1000 for the beers and then back down to the town where we pushed the boat out even further eating out in Burger and Beers restaurant. It wasn't extortionate and I manage to sample some Tau beer which my mate Tim had recommended. The beer was pretty decent, actually the cheapest on the beer list and it remains to bee seen whether it gives me the hangover he said it might.....I only had 2 so I doubt it will. The beer prices were certainly amusing as can be seen below. Its not a place for a boys drinking holiday that's for sure.....at least not for my palls anyway. Food over it was back to the van, tidy up and get the loons off to bed. Not a peep from them, clearly the fresh air has worn them out.
We are now further north than anywhere in mainland Britain, in fact level with Kirkwall on Orkney. Sunset isn't till about 10:30 and its still very light still at 11:00pm. Soon we will push on north and we will need to make sure all the gaps around our window blinds are covered to try and get the van dark for sleeping, alcohol cannot do that for us this trip😳😉.
Old Stavanger is nice, little streets with small well kept houses all painted brightly white, with flowers which are in bloom just now. We wandered around and came across the Norwegian Canning museum. Before the oil boom in the 60's the main industry in the (then) small town was the catching, processing and canning of brisling, sardines, pilchards, sprats or whatever you want to call them, they are all pretty much the same thing. And then exporting them around the world. I am partial to my pilchards and decided this was a visit for us. We paid our money and were just in time for a guided tour, fortunately for us it was in English, and it was very informative. The inside of the old original building is full of the machinery used in the pressing out of the tins, the processing and smoking of the fish, there was no machine to pack the fish into tins, this was done by hand. The sealing of the tins after around 1905 was done by machine, prior to this the tins were soldered shut and one man could solder around 500-600 tins a day, the machine could seal 1000 an hour. The tins were then washed and then boiled in an autoclave which slightly cooked and sterilised the contents of the can. The cans were then hand dried and labels added before boxing and shipping. This little factory which employed 70 people aged anywhere between 9 and 75 years old could process and can 10000 cans of fish per day....sadly apart from landing the catch here which is still quite big business, all the rest of the process if now done in Poland, it is cheaper to ship the fish half way across Europe and can them there. However, there is no machine that can pack the fish into the tins as accurately and apparently this is still done by hand. Logan became the youngest factory member packing some rubber fish into cans, aged 3.5 years old, lol. 
The boys seemed to quite enjoy this tour and although ready for lunch clocked the Norwegian flags on sticks they had been craving for a few days so good behaviour was rewarded with a flag each which the duly looked after and waved for the rest of the day.
We walked to the harbour area and found as seat in the sun for lunch near a huge liner belonging to the Holland American Line. There was also a smaller boat just up the quay and it seemed to have a bit of a queue forming at it, so after lunch we took a wee walk up to see what it was all about. Turns out it was a tour boat taking passengers up the Lysefjored to view Preikestollen. It was 13:55 and it was departing in 5 minutes, so a hasty decision was made after enquiring about the cost of course. The sun was out, we had all we needed and soon we were casting off on a superb large 1 year old catamaran with indoor viewing areas with comfy leather seats and all mods cons. The trip would last 3 hours and get us back to shore in time to visit Reme1000 for some vital beer supplies that we had omitted to buy earlier in the day. The boys enjoyed sailing out past the big liner and then under the bridge leaving Stavanger harbour area. We followed the coast and were taken along and inside some lovely islands with just a few little houses where people lived or maybe had holiday homes. The boat was maybe only a quarter full so there was loads of room to move around at will and check out all sides of the boat for the views, big memory cards are required for trips like these!! We sailed up into Lysefjord below vast vertical cliffs plunging into the water, this was not a small boat and we were literally meters from the shore exploring little coves along the way. Eventually we passed under Preikestollen, an almost perfect square of rock about 25 meters square, jutting out from the cliff over 600meters above us. Its a walk we might embark upon in a few days time if the weather stays good but we shall see. You could see people (very small ones) standing right on the edge of the square. From below its amazing that the block still perches there ands I am sure one day it will fall off. Apparently it was used as a location for Mission Impossible 6 and saw Tom Cruise who usually does his own stunts hanging off the side of it.....by all accounts he didn't walk to get there however. After passing this the captain steered us towards a large waterfall (Foss) and nosed the boat to within a meter or so of the rock whereby a silver bucket on a pole was dangled under the fall to collect some water. This was duly offered in (single use👎🏻....bad for the environment) plastic glasses for us all to taste. It was almost as good as Scottish water.....
After this we about turned and headed back along the fjord and around the islands. At this point the boys struck it lucky, a crew member had clocked them amusingly counting rivets at the top of the stairs and after chatting to Joyce and them for a minute asked if they would like to come up onto the bridge and see where the boat was controlled from. This, of course was an offer too good to refuse, Callum, as anyone who follows our blogs will know is a veteran having previously steered a ferry across the Shannon, a dolphin watching boat in Dingle, and The Maid of the Loch on Loch Katrine and now was about to add a state of the art Catamaran in a Norwegian fjord........So upon we went, it was like something from a modern starship enterprise with screens and controls all over the place. Both Callum and Logan had a shot in the captains chair while myself and Joyce took a few pictures and chatted to the 2nd in command. The captain had actually gone for some food. Captain Callum, its definitely got a ring to it. After some time we thanked the crew and left the experts to their jobs and were soon back in Stavanger harbour, the tour over. It had been good and well worth the money.
We nipped back up to Reme1000 for the beers and then back down to the town where we pushed the boat out even further eating out in Burger and Beers restaurant. It wasn't extortionate and I manage to sample some Tau beer which my mate Tim had recommended. The beer was pretty decent, actually the cheapest on the beer list and it remains to bee seen whether it gives me the hangover he said it might.....I only had 2 so I doubt it will. The beer prices were certainly amusing as can be seen below. Its not a place for a boys drinking holiday that's for sure.....at least not for my palls anyway. Food over it was back to the van, tidy up and get the loons off to bed. Not a peep from them, clearly the fresh air has worn them out.
We are now further north than anywhere in mainland Britain, in fact level with Kirkwall on Orkney. Sunset isn't till about 10:30 and its still very light still at 11:00pm. Soon we will push on north and we will need to make sure all the gaps around our window blinds are covered to try and get the van dark for sleeping, alcohol cannot do that for us this trip😳😉.
hey pilchard packers another cracker of a day for the crew of captains (poor Joyce lol) I am still further north than you gang yet at 60 degrees north up here on sunny Shetlands, your doing fantastic with the blogs well done
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