26–28 August: Onwards to Oslo

by Chris Bounds · 29 August 2025

We are on the train to Trondheim, passing through Norway’s central range, past all the visual cliches that one associates with Scandinavia. Forests, chocolate box farms, summer-struck ski slopes, beautiful lakes and glacier-coloured streams and rivers. Every form of travel has its compensations except flying, although far too many of them give you a sore bum from sitting down for hours. This trip is taking seven hours, but the view has been worth it and it hasn’t hurt to stop for a bit, given that we have walked between 12 and 14 kilometres every day so far. We are well prepared for the hike!

Oslo, and Norway in general, has been my favourite stop so far. I would happily go back to Finland and explore more of the country, especially the northern areas, but what I have seen of Oslo would bring me back in summer or especially winter. Stockholm with the frozen archipelago sounds great, but we left Oslo with the sense that there was more to see just in the city. It reminded us very much of Hobart, a perfectly manageable and very human city where a lot is happening but the pace is, if not laid back, certainly sitting rather comfortably in a bar overlooking the harbour.

We did all the things that we’ve learned to do when we first come upon a new place. We got to the hotel—Thon hotels seem to be a very common and reliable Norwegian chain—unpacked and headed for a long walk to stretch our legs and get a sense of the town. We walked down to the harbour and around the waterfront, marvelling at the number of cruise ships and Baltic ferries that were berthed along both harbours. One realises that cruising from Sydney is a bit of a side-show, with one deep-water birth in each major city suitable for the new mega cruise ships (barges?) and a couple of others. I think even King Street wharves are gone, now. I remember ships being reversed parked there to serve as floating hotels during the Sydney Olympics. No wonder the State Government would like to buy Garden Island, but in the present security climate, they won’t get it.

Talking about forms of travel reminds me to mention children, because we’ve been struck by the number if children encountered during our travels. All the Nordic countries have amazingly child-friendly policies to encourage natural population increase, most notably generous ante- and post-natal care, free transport, 12–18 months of parental leave and excellent public education. As well as all those little blonde-haired tackers running round, we seen lots of family groups coming off the cruise ships from other European countries, as well as Americans in pensioner pairs or organised tours including children, clearly conducting reconnaissance missions in case they need to escape en masses from Trumpty Dumpty’s fascist states of America.

We found a nice local Thai restaurant to save a few Kroner (if you need to ask the exchange rate, you can’t afford it) and headed for bed. After a great (complimentary) breakfast, we headed off for our walking tour of the city. Lo and behold, another fugitive from Texas, but whose excuse was that she was married to a British husband on a working visa. Clearly her tour, which was excellent, with lots of good research and humour, was part of re-education and naturalisation program.

Sadly, it started to rain and we decided to scrap our plans to go island hopping and find the Fram museum, so did a bit of a wander around the town and the Aker Brygge area, explored the amazing Town Hall and the National Museum (lots of Nordic Design) contemplated going in to the Nobel Peace Museum to vote against Trump but decided that the rain had spoiled the day enough without the orange factor, and had a great dinner at a gastro pub/micro brewery. They can certainly make a decent beer.

If the Vasa was awe-inspiring, Fram was brilliant. Jeremy reminded me of Winter Holiday, when Nancy sends the coded message to the others, ‘Who is sleeping on the Fram?’

We wouldn’t want to: the cabins were tiny, and the explorers lived on board for years!

We left Kon-Tiki for next time, and the Viking museum won’t open until next year, but a return trip is certainly on the cards, probably in winter! We visited a couple of the islands but really just enjoyed pottering around the harbour on the ferry.

We finished up by visit the Bar Code area, which is near the central station, and has interesting street food, and did the obligatory climb of the marvellous Opera House and visited the Public Library. We should be able to build something like this Canberra to complement all the national institutions. C’mon Albo! But for heaven’s sake talk Andrew Barr into building a decent stadium first!