Day 15: Oslo - Ferry Ride

Today was an early start from Frederikshavn as we had to catch a ferry to Norway. We drove for about 50 minutes to Hirtshals and boarded the ferry at about 8.30am. The ferry left at about 9am and arrived at Langesund in Norway at 1.30pm. The ferry ride was very relaxing and we had some great seats at the front of the ferry so we had a great view of where we were heading. It was quite exciting watching Norway getting closer in the last third of the trip. While aboard we enjoyed a beer, cocktails and bubbles, a delicious sandwich and the Great company of our fellow travellers.

Upon arrival we had about a 2 hour bus trip to Oslo. The thing that we noticed immediately once we were in Norway was the different countryside compared to Denmark. It is much more mountainous and forested and very picturesque. It's a beautiful country and we are looking forward to seeing more of it over the next few days. We learned some facts about Norway along the way including that Norway is one of the biggest exporters of oil in the world following the discovery of oil in the North Sea in 1969, despite this Norwegians actually pay some of the highest prices for petrol in the world. What I also found interesting is the Norway government have also implemented a range of tax concessions and waiving all tolls for electric and hybrid cars resulting in about 5% of all cars being hybrid or electric, about a 1/3 of all new cars bought being hybrid or electric and Norway aims that by 2025 all vehicles will be electric. I find these types of policies and aims to be inspiring.

The discovery of oil has made Norway a very affluent country that has no debt and has created a sovereign fund that invests overseas to ensure the country continues to reap the benefits of the income from its oil reserves well beyond there exhaustion. Wouldn't it be great if our government had done, or would do, something similar with all the mining royalties that we are missing out on and nor investing for the greater good of our country. Norway also has a very comprehensive welfare system for its citizens.

The affluence of Norway also means it is one of the most expensive places to live so we are expecting to pay quite a lot for food and drink.

One of the first things I noticed about Oslo is the amount of construction going on in the city, I counted at least 20 cranes in the sky within a kilometres or so radius of the city centre from the vantage point of the roof of the opera house, which incidentally cost some $700 million to build. Norway is also undertaking the construction of new tunnels across the country to improve its road and transport network. Another great thing they have done in Oslo is to build tunnels for its highways within the city taking them out of the cityscape.

After sussing out the roof of the opera house with Amy, Luke and Bec it was time to go back to the hotel to shower up and get ready for tea, the weather was also starting to get gloomy so it was best to get indoors. Apparently it rains in Oslo 2 out of every 3 days so it would be very lucky to be here and not have at least some rain.

Dinner was at Voksenaasen a hotel at Holmenkollen which is the highest part of Oslo. We dined with Marcia and Sally Anne, they are both retired and from Sydney and we enjoyed their company. The view from the hotel was also spectacular and we were lucky that the skies cleared after our meal so we could have a great view of Oslo. I was also impressed by the library at the hotel and found several books I will look up when I get home.

On the way to dinner we also had a look at the Holmenkollen Ski Jump, this was very impressive and it would be great to see it in action during winter but today it was mainly being used by people exercising running up and down the many steps.

Anyway, today was a great day, very relaxing on the ferry, exciting to be in Norway and topped off with a great meal. We are looking forward to what tomorrow will bring.

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