Oslo: Green spaces, boardwalks, vikings and explorers!

A moment of rest with a coffee catch up with George, before a day of hot spots and off track adventures.

To the grand central station, a good starting point then took the tram to Frogner Park!

A huge park of 110 acres with naked sculptures by Gustav Vigeland, green spaces, lakes and rivers and so much more…

Children’s playground with a gothic theme

Tree lined avenues with the last of the Autumn leaves.

And Sculptures, made of granite or bronze, of naked people….to follow but a few…

Throwing his woman into the lake

Girl child

The athlete….and Sue!

A bunch of babies…and Russ

And the yoga pose…many more amazing statues, a total of 212 (just a taste for you here)

Wandering through this peaceful park with postcard autumn scenery.

The final golden leaves still falling, Russ hiding in the trees.

Iron gates with more of the artists creations.

Large green spaces and resting areas. This park is the biggest tourist attraction in Norway, although today we felt like the only ones (almost) in the entire park!

We had planned from here to take the bus to the three museums on our days schedule, however the sun was trying to peek through and we decided to walk the forty minutes instead,

The inlet at the start of what turned out to be a beautiful coastal walk (again two kiwis and the world around us)

Boardwalks and rocky paths – looking out into the fiords on this beautiful day.

Lunch stop (having anticipated our need to eat at some point we had brought rolls before leaving town)

The coastline was spectacular and colourful!

We swung past the boathouse of the castle on the hill, which was built by King Oscar, king of Sweden and Norway in 1852.

Here is the castle looking up from the track.

Not long after this we had to head up to the main drag to the Viking Museum (first stop on the museum tour)

Viking ship Oseberg built in AD820. The Vikings originated from Scandinavia and were the pirates of their time stealing from churches, monestries, villages and cities.

Many Norsemen settled down in the lands they invaded and the ships were then pulled ashore and used as burial sites – these ones have been uncovered and evidently they have just found another one in Norway!

These ships and Viking adventures reigned from 800AD until 1066AD.

Next stop the Kon-tiki museum.

The adventures of Thor Heyerdahl who was born in 1914 and died in 2002. A Norwegian explorer who believed that South Americans may have settled in the Polynesian islands (against historic theories) He set out from Peru, in a balsa wood boat and let the sea currents take him on his travels.

This trip took place in 1947 and he arrived at Raroia Island (one of the Tahitian islands) in 101 days!

This other boat the “RA 2” he made from papyrus reed and he then set out to prove another theory; that Africans travelled to South America by using the currents. He left from Morocco and arrived in Barbados, thus questioning again the accepted historic theories.

Coffee break needed, by the sea, before the last museum experience of the day.

Russ getting in the fold with Ronald Admunsen and his team, who were the first men to reach the South Pole (about a month before Robert Scott and his party arrived).

This takes us to the third and final museum “The Fram Museum” – which houses the ship that Admunsen made this voyage in.

From the viewing platform. And we could climb aboard!

Sue at the helm! We went below deck and watched movies of the voyages. Fabulous old ship and very well maintained.

We are now back in Oslo at Vinterwonderland – the Christmas fair that just opened today.

And we are doing this before heading home!