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Published: June 14th 2014
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At Pulpit Rock (1)
Pam on top of the Rock Preikestolen (The Pulpit Rock) cruise and climb 9 June
Today was a fantastic day. We saw some most amazing Norwegian scenery today and we spoke the Kerrie & Adam.
We boarded the cruise ship/ferry in Stavanger Harbour and cruised out at about 10.00am passing the Petrolium Museum, the Old Cannery and all the beautiful harbour-side houses. We soon cruised into the Lysefjord which runs 45 km deep and 42km long. The fjord was formed by glaciers during the ice ages.During the most recent ice age, about 10,000 years ago, Norway was covered with a layer of ice that was around 2,000 metres thick.
The day was overcast and the breeze was cool (actually cold if you weren't protected from the wind). We stayed on the top deck as we could see more...even though we got cold.
We got talking to an Irish couple who had travelled quite a bit over the years. I also spoke to a young Australian lad who was working in the UK as a carpenter and cabinet maker. The company he was working with had sent him to Norway on a job - pretty good! He told me the
WH&S regulations on building sites were even more ridged than in Australia but the standard and methods of workmanship were worse in the UK.
At one stage of the trip the ship wedged its way into Fantahala ("vagabond's cave") which is a small mountain cave named after a group of vagabonds who sought shelter there on the run from the police.
Next was a stop to see the goats at the foot of the Pulpit Rock. These goats are put out to graze during te summer months, and they have become rather spoiled with food from the boats that stop by and feed them - which is exactly what we did.
We saw fishing villages, salmon and mussel farms along the way. We even saw some seals playing in the fjord.
Then we saw what we really wanted to see - Preikestolen which is a massive 600 metres vertical cliff that sits on the edge of the
Lysefjord. Its top is a natural lookout of several hundred square metres, almost perfectly flat, and the rock is the region's main tourist attraction, and one of the nation's landmarks. We had decided that we would drive back to
this spot, later in the afternoon so that we could see it from the top.
Next we saw the Hengjane Waterfall where pure, fresh mountain water plummets 400 metres down into the fjord. We sampled the water which tasted almost sweet.
After 3 hours we arrived back at the Stavanger Harbour, very satisfied with what we had seen.
So it was back to the campsite by bike and we packed up ready for our drive to Pulpit Rock. The way to the Rock was very well sign-posted and we got there in an hour at about 4.00pm. We found there was excellent info on the walk o the rock, We spoke to a guy who had just finished the walk which took him 3 1/2 hours. With the long days, we decided to going. With trekking boots (highly recommended), water and 'fuel food for Tom off we went.
To get to the top, we follow the marked path for 1.45 hours from the Preikestolhytta, where we parked our motor home. Food and accommodation is also available there. The path was mostly rocky and taking it steadily, it was no problem. There were several really steep pinches
where we thought we were back on steps made by the Incas! There were also a few board walks over boggy areas.
And then we saw it, the Pulpit Rock. I will let the pictures tell the story. We admired this amazing scenery. It was exhilarating. We walked as close to the edge as we dared all of which were great photo opportunities. After about 20 minutes, we started our descent back.
We arrived back at our motor home at 7.30pm. Wow, what a hike. As we drove 3 kms to a caravan park, we were exhilarated and buggered and very pleased that we made the decision to walk the track. We had a cold beer - oh those beers are the best after heavy exercise - and I cooked up some salmon and vegies in the motor home. We fell into bed and slept like babies.
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