No Way! We're in Norway.

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Friday.
We started the day with a walk in the forest before heading back into Hertishals. The sun is shining again after last nights showers. At the service station just outside the town there are facilities for disposing of waste and filling with water, that done we head to the dock and join the row of campers to get on the ferry. The ferry is big blue and white ship and very new looking. After a while we board the ship,it looks like it's not going to be too busy. Logan has to stay in the vehicle for the journey, we go upstairs and find a place to sit and have our packed lunch, before we've eaten it were on our way. The journey takes three and three quarter hours, we wandered around the ship and visit duty free, Les is amused by the bottles on the shelves rattling together. There a a couple of places to eat on board, a cafe and a classier restaurant, a casino and a bar situated at the rear with long glass windows where you can watch where you have been. It would have been better to see here we were going! As we approached Norway we sailed into a fjord and into Larvik. After disembarking we joined the red customs line as it showed a dog on the sign, at the little kiosk Les showed them Logan's passport, after some discussion it appears that we had a problem, we hadn't realised that Logan needed to have seen a vet at least 24 hours earlier to get a worm tablet and his passport stamped as proof. The customs lady told us that the rules were very strict and poor Logan would have to go to kennels to get the worm tablet from a vet and stay for 24 hours. The port authority arranged for a van to take him. Luckily the kennels were at the town we were heading for,to visit Joe and Jeanette. Once Logan had left for his adventure, we drove up a lovely valley to Andebu and found our destination without any trouble. Joe was in his workshop playing with one of his Land Rovers, he was surprised to see us as he hadn't picked up our message to let him know when we would arrive. Our connection with Joe and Janette is 127 Land Rover ambulance campers, Joe has a fine specimen still in working progress. After a cup of tea and a catch up we settled our selves in, and enjoyed a beer and evening meal before turning in.Saturday.It was lovely to see Jeanette this morning, as she was out with friends when we arrived. After a late leisurely breakfast Joe drove us into Tonsberg, a pretty town on the water's edge. We visited a small quayside where there is a replicas of a Viking ship, a beautiful vessel which had been made in the traditional way. Close by there was a few people dressed in a Viking costumes, the ladies were dying wool with plants boiled in large iron pots, under the cover of a very large tarpaulin an even bigger ship was being built, this was going to be used to sail on an epic journey a around Norway, through the Baltic States, into the Med, then to the UK and Ireland before returning to Norway. The chap dressed as a Viking chatted about his journey for a while with us. As we left we passed a small square where there was a lot of local people dressing in traditional costumes, Janette explained that the youngsters had been taking their conformation. Along the marine we stopped to sample Norwegian fish cakes, one made of catfish with garlic and the other haddock, they were very tasty.Tonsberg has a small area with old traditional buildings which we walked through on the way to a tower on top of the hill, this was the site of an old fortress and gave us excellent views across the fjord and islands. On the way back we stopped to collect Logan, the kennels said he was a lovely dog and had been well behaved. After paying an extortionate bill we took him home. He was pleased to see us.In the evening we sat up far too late chatting and enjoying some great Norwegian hospitality.Sunday.After our late night we were later than usual getting up, after another late breakfast we set off for a local lake, to take a walk and have a BBQ. It didn't take long to get there. We set off walking in the lovely warm spring sunshine, after a short way we were trampling through patches of snow, the remnants of what has been a harsh winter here in Norway. Logan was loving running through the the forest trails splashing through the mud as he charged back and forth. Every so often thought the trees there were views of the lake, occasionally the path was at the waters edge. There was one spot where we watched a few frogs moving around at the waters edge. The forest is carpeted with pretty white flowers, unfortunately non of us knew their name. When we returned to the car park we gathered the BBQ things together and then Janette noticed a poster banning fires in the forest, we decided to return home and cook and eat on the deck. On the way we called at the local Stave church, which is 400 years old, photos taken we drove back home. After our meal Janette helped us make a route for the next part of our journey and turned in for the night before us, as she was going to work in the morning.We chatted with Joe and put the world to rights until late, with the lighter nights we don't seem to have any concept of what time it is! Monday.Janette is off to work at eight, so we got up to say goodbye, after breakfast we started to put our things back into Dream Catcher, Logan as usual is first in, making sure he's not going to be left behind. We had noticed that he had picked up a couple of ticks on our walk yesterday, we have a special collar with us to get rid of ticks and stop insects from biting him, with collar fitted, it wasn't long before the ticks had dropped off him Joe very kindly supplied us with some meat and a piece of exhaust for the cooker! We then we're ready to hit the road. Thanks so much to both of you for a wonderful introduction to Norway and all the great tips you shared with us.Once on the road we wound our way along the scenic roads following a fjord, enjoying a lunch stop with stunning views. Later in the afternoon we took the wrong road and ended up on the motorway going into Oslo, we passed through an enormous tunnel, it had several slip roads leading off into the city. In the tunnel the thermostat showed the engine was too hot. Les thought that the heat in the tunnel may have been the cause, luckily a combination of switching the radiator fan on and reaching the end of the tunnel the temperature settled down. Once I had worked out where we were we took a slip road back onto the smaller roads and decided that a nearby lake might be a good place to camp. Unfortunately the car park had a No Camper van sign, we drove on a bit further and found a pleasant car park by a river in Hurdal, we decided that we would be ok here. After a cold drink we took Logan for his walk, we found a forest track and he enjoyed his run. It was then time for tea followed by a bit of blogging.

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Photos

Waterfall flowing to the lake
Waterfall flowing inlaketo the

Joe and Janette
I see no ships!

Frog
Is this a Norwegian Prince?

Bird on a wire
We don't know what it is, any help appreciated.