Norwegian Mizen

Tue 23 October 2007
Happy Special Birthday, Marie!

Sun 21 October 2007.

THEY DID IT.

Those SOX are now American League Champions!

Bring on the world series!

Sunday 24th June, 2007

Rumor had it that breakfast would not be served until about 09:00 this morning. Guess what? We were up early…so I went to check. And there was already another family tucking into a full breakfast so we joined them. It meant we got another early start on a beautiful day during which we were blessed with warm sunshine for the whole trip. Our final motor biking day in Norway.

B had spotted that we were close enough to Lindesnes, which is the most southerly point in Norway so we diverted off the E39 and down the 460 to the most southerly point in Norway. There has been a lighthouse on this site for over 350 years. Indeed, in 1656 Norway’s first ever lighthouse was built, well lit - literally, here on February 27, 1656. It consisted of 30 tallow candles in the upper floor of a three-floor tower. The light was closed after only a few months. In 1725, two lighthouses were built: one on Neset at Lindesnes and the other on Markøy about two nautical miles to the northwest. In 1822 a lighthouse was built with a light that was fueled by gas. In 1854 a new lighthouse equipped with a Fresnel lens was built. The lighthouse here now was completed in 1916. At the time it housed three families who lived permanently within its walls. The old coal fire lantern from 1822 has been preserved and the lighthouse station is now a listed site. Fortifications from World War 2 are also preserved at the site. The entire complex is located within a nature reserve and recreation area. One of the lighthouse keepers, Rolf Dybvik, has a gallery just below the lighthouse and sells his watercolor paintings of the South Norwegian landscape.

At the coffee shop we had _____ and ____ (you can fill in the blanks now!). As ever the waitress did not escape lightly as B quizzed her about the meaning of Lindesnes. She went off to investigate and reported it as meaning “Lands end” but though it also meant “A windy difficult (to sail around) place”. The oldest Norse form of the name was Líðandi. That name is derived from the verb líða 'go to an end' - and the meaning is probably just 'the end'. A later form was Líðandisnes, where the word nes meaning 'headland' was added. And yes you guessed it. She was invited to ‘take the rest of the day off’. Yis are getting good now theat we are getting to the end.

The route to the lighthouse tested our essential approach to motor biking. Real motor bikers seek out roads that twist and turn and enjoy whipping their bikes around the bends at whatever speed they feel is within their competence. The route to the lighthouse was ideal. A perfect surface and endless bends of varying curvature. B loved it. He got off the bike and extolled the virtues of the narrow twisting and winding route we had just traveled. I knew then I would never be a true biker. After years and thousands of kilometers and two bikes I still did not look forward to the uncertainty of tight bends. I felt the concern at danger rather than the exhilaration at taking the risk. Too risk adverse to be a real biker. The same nature that makes me nervous when S stands on the edge or when A jumps from a plane. Not that I do not enjoy biking. On A roads and higher it a different experience to the car. Certainly nothing beats it to get by in congested cities.

At Lindesnes though, I was reminded of my first love of two-wheeled transport: the bicycle. Maybe that has been bred into us. I know I was delighted that Andrew and I got the chance to tandem from Galway to Dublin in the summer of 2006. There is something about the bicycle that makes life seem better…no, that makes life better. And here at Lindesnes I envied two cyclists at they prepared to start their Norwegian Mizen to Malin journey by starting here and heading for Nordcap – 2,500 km due north!! Good luck to them. Their families seem proud as they waved them off on what I sincerely hope was an epic journey for them. They got off to a bit of a shaky start as we passed them after a couple of kilometers having some minor difficulty. B gave them two of his lucky shamrocks and wished them well on the rest of their trip.
We made our way as far as Flekkafjord for lunch. It was a lovely warm day and Flekkafjord is a lovely spot. The photo of the café shows only one parasol raised. That was ours, at our request! We strolled around its quiet streets after our meal. Excellent. Even saw a monument to Seamus’ summer trip, or something!

Just before Stavanger we stopped for petrol. This had become a ritual. All the stations took credit cards at the pumps and were very efficient.

After 296 kilometers we reached Stavanger and the final Thon of the trip by 16:30. The Thon rose like a beacon welcoming us into the city.

For the coming week the FIVB World Tour beach volleyball event was being held in Stavanger. A few days earlier, a ship brought hundreds of tons of beach sand to the town. There was enough sand to place it half a metre deep around the harbour, where ten courts were built. There was also a barge in the harbour with 2 courts and a beach-bar. Apparently it takes about three weeks to build the main stadium, which closes the road on the north side of the harbour. Conoco Phillips is the main sponsor of the event, which brings people from all over the world. In the first couple of years it was just the men that competed here, but now it is both men and women. It brought a great atmosphere - and Stavanger is popular with the players (the large prize fund may also help) - made even more special by the visits of large cruise ships to the harbour. A side effect though, as we had discovered was that the hotels were very full. When we got to our room it sported an excellent double bed. My turn to be assertive. Our room was changed despite the hotel being ‘fully booked’. Hope whoever the later comers were they were ok with a double!! Now, lets explore Stavanger……