Nordmen and Vikings

While in Oslo we visited some of the Bygdøy museums. First was The Kon Tiki Museum. This one features Thor Heyerdahl's amazing exploits.  He was a great explorer. The first boat in his lineup is the RA.

You have probably read about this craft made of reeds that are lashed together. Everything is lashed together including the boards that hold the mast, the cabin, the rudder---- the whole nine yards.

This was home sweet home for the crew, who sailed from West Africa to the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean.

Next in the line was the more famous Kon Tiki raft which Thor and his crew sailed from Chile to Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands of Polynesia in 1947. They lived on this bolsa log raft for 99 days. We watched the film that the crew shot and looked at the displays from both above and below the water level.

The only shelter from the sun and elements was this little hut made of thatched leaves. Of course everything is lashed together. There are great sites online for reviewing the voyage of the Kon Tiki and both RA and RA II. Thor explored his entire life. He did serious work on Easter Island and other places in the Pacific. Our appetites for exploration were all warmed up when we entered the next building.

The good ship "Fram" (Forward) is housed in its own building along with many articfacts and exhibits from both Fridtjof Nansen, who explored the North Polar region, and Roald Amundsen who was the first person to trek to both North and South Poles.

The Fram was built in the late 1800's. It was designed to be driven into the polar ice cap and not break up as the ice froze around the ship.

This year was Fridjof's year in Norway. Many exhibitions and celebrations about his life have taken place across the country. He was also a great humanitarian and statesman who worked tirelessly for displaced peoples who suffered so much after the First World War.

The museum is set up in the half light of the arctic winter. It feels cold in there even on a warm day. You can climb all over the ship. I love that. Drew Van Winkle and I spent about three hours one time on a WWII Liberty Ship in San Francisco. You have to see everything, you know! This wasn't so big but it was a cool Sail and Steam combination and just oozed the history of these explorers.

The main cabin of the Fram - place to relax between watches in the Arctic.

Below decks. That is an extra crankshaft for the steam engine. It is easy to get a sense of just how much pressure the ship could withstand by looking at the bracing and multiple layers of the hull.

"OK, Here's the plan"

The theory was that you could sail into and get stuck in the pack-ice of the North Pole. As the ice shifted around the pole you could "sail" across or very near to the pole. By taking navigational readings you would know when you were near enough to jump out and go by dog sled to the pole. Now just plant the flag of Norway and go back to the ship. Didn't work out. They were in the ice for THREE YEARS!! The sled teams couldn't make it over the rugged ice to the pole. Then they couldn't find the Fram so they had to make it back to Norway on their own. (You have to read about this)  Since the big melt of the past few decades most of the ice is gone. Now a summer trip to the pole wouldn't be quite the same.

The square rigging all fits neatly in the museum. They project images of the northern lights while you wander around - nice touch.

The ship provided protection from the Arctic cold.

This is Amundsen's group dressed for the Antarctic. He also used the "Fram" for his exploring. I guess it is just in the Norsk blood. Ever since the time of the Vikings they have been sailing across oceans to find out what or who was there.

Our final stop was the Viking ship museum.

These ships were real sailing/rowing ships of the 800 AD era. They were used for burial of important people but the ships were not built for the burial. They were ships of the line, so to speak. This is the Viking version of a pleasure craft. It doesn't have much hull above the oar locks so it wasn't designed for ocean travel. 

You can see the holes for the oars are in the top board. Don't you just love the lines of these ships?

The bow

The archeological team in the late 1800's at the burial mound.

Fifteen oars on each side and 2 or 3 men per oar. Your seat was your sea chest with all your stuff inside.

Just a reminder of how far these oarsmen propelled the viking ships - even, as we know, to North America 500 years before Columbus. They robbed and plundered far and wide.

Here is an ocean-going version of the Viking ship.The holes also had little covers to keep water out when no rowing was going on.

This is a good view of the keel and rudder.

The little hut was found on the ships in the burial mounds. It contained the guest of honor and various servants chosen to die and accompany the queen or whomever, some freshly slaughtered cattle, goats, swine etc., as well as other stuff for the journey to Valhalla or wherever they were bound. Other finery was on board as well.

These carved handles are accented with silver nails.

The wooden cart survived 1000 years underground pretty well.

Very fine carving on the cart.

Take one final look at the majestic lines of the ship as we leave the museum.