We started the day
with a visit to Rosendal , an area known for its long shipbuilding tradition.
Gjøa was one of the many boats built here and used by Roald Amundsen on the
expedition through the “North West passage”. The ship building museum has
maintained tools and models from the
time of the ship building period 1855-1955. The small community of Rosendal keeps the boatbuilding tradition alive. The
community has taken upon themselves to restore the old wooden boat Gurine which
was built right after Gjøa. The locals showed off their old lady and gladly
offered a tour for those of us who passed by. The lucky ones caught the workers
in their coffee break and got a taste of the local pastry “Svele”. So far, the
community of Rosendal has spent 7500 hours of volunteer work on Gurine. The
plan is to have her finished in 2017. They discuss lively during the coffee
break where to go sailing when the work is done. Will it be Torshamn (Faroe
Island), Caribbean or to neighbouring fjords?
Another famous
attraction in Rosendal is the manor “Baroniet”. In 1650s a Danish nobleman came
to Bergen and met the daughter of the biggest landowner in the area. When they
married in 1658 they were given Baroniet as a wedding present. King Christian V of Denmark gave the estate a
status of barony, the only one of its kind in Norway. The property remained in private ownership
until it was donated to the University of Oslo in 1927. We enjoyed the
beautiful park around the manor.
The weather was
splendid and the Hardangerfjord beautiful so the lecture about fjords and
surroundings where given on outside decks.
In the afternoon, we
landed in the village Ulvik which is famous for fruit and cider production. Brakanes Hotel
lies here in this beautiful location.This
highly respectable hotel was established in 1860 and is surrounded by high
mountains, sparkling fjords and a well-organised cultural scene.
