Panic-Buying Sunday
Bergen – 9th June
Today we travelled from Leirvik to Bergen, the photos are views from the two houses. Leirvik shows a glimpse of the harbour and Bergen a glimpse of the hills. Between the two neighbouring Bergen houses you can just see the tram lines that we’ll use to get to the city centre. Quick access to the trams will be very handy because Bergen is one of the wettest cities in Europe.
Before we left Leirvik we did a quick driving tour of the harbour and visited one of the only 5 things Trip Advisor suggested to do, visit the monument Storddora (Gateway to Stord). It has 20 propellers that rotate in the wind and sparkle in the sun, lots of rotating today and no sparkles.
We caught the ferry from Sandvikvag on the island of Stord, to Halhjem on mainland Norway. Again we had the same efficient service, drive on, race upstairs for lunch, and then drive off. The ship was more modern and had a big door guard that lifted up and ramp that lowered for cars to enter, we drove on and could see right out the other end (see photos). The journey is 45 minutes so I had enough time to examine the lunch options and went for the brown cheese and butter pikelet. Brunost or brown cheese is just cheese boiled until it caramelises.
Once off the ferry we took the longer rural road to our apartment in Bergen. The roads are narrow, with the occasional passing layby, most locals just charge at you assuming you will pull over. And if you thought you can take the back roads to avoid the city road tolls, you can’t, they have cameras set up on all of the roads into the city. The photo is off an old 12th century monastery that suffered under the reformation, the ruins look modern because a group are restoring them.
Today is Sunday and as usual Roger’s six pack of beer ran out on Saturday, we also had very little food stocks, however being Sunday the supermarkets are either closed or on reduced trading hours. We drove pass several closed supermarkets and when we eventually found a small store open you would have thought that a pandemic lockdown had been announced. The car park was chaotic; people ran into the shop, frantically grabbed items and pushed us out of the way. There were only self checkouts and as Roger was able to source some 2.5% alcohol beer we had to get assistant clearance. Between us and her or the store one of us made a mistake and we got charged for 1 can not 6. We paid NZ35 cents per can of beer, when we take the cans back for the recycling credit it will work out to be 10 cents a beer. The joys of panic buying, not only did we get a bargain beer purchase but we got caught up in the frenzy shopping and just grabbed stuff, now we are in for a few days of creative meals.
Here are some details on number plates and plate recognition cameras – Norway car number plates have two letters and five digits. The two letters represent the county they were registered in, for example in the photo is a car with a non standard shaped plate, it starts with NZ, this means it was registered in Notodden. The alpha code bears no resemblance to the county name.
If you have an electric car then the first letter will be E, this is for camera recognition because they can drive in the bus lane, and get free or cheaper parking and toll charges. Just about all vehicle user pays charging is done by number plate recognition, this includes parking, toll roads, toll bridges, ferries, speed cameras etc. You can register in advance to get a cheaper deal or wait to be invoiced and pay extra.
The car with the green plate RL is registered in Stavanger.
A green plate means the vehicle gets special reduced vehicle taxes because it is principally designed to carry goods and not passengers, sort of like a Fringe Benefit Tax exemption but not.
Vehicle taxes in Norway are high so registering for a green licence plate reduces you costs. In NZ registering a car for a fringe benefit tax exemption doesn’t means you pay less vehicle costs than the average car owner it just means your business avoids extra costs.
So for cheap driving in Norway, either get an EV, get green number plates or ditch the car and catch public transport.
Today’s ABBA tribute is ‘The day before you came’ (1982), for all the comfortable and cosy beds we have had so far, especially after a long day, and more so when the weather has deteriorated. Our current apartment is very nice, it has central heating, a spacious bedroom and although not important a TV with English speaking channels.
I need a lot of sleep, and so I like to be in bed by then
I must have read a while and turning out the light
I must have yawned and cuddled up for yet another night
And rattling on the roof I must have heard the sound of rain