RIB-Safari to Oscarsborg!

I just came back from a site inspection. We were invited by the Oscarsborg Spa Hotel to come and visit them! This is not so easy, since the hotel is located on a small island some 30km south of Oslo, in the middle of the Oslofjord, in an old fortress. Therefore transportation from Oslo was provided!

We left the office at 11.30 and took the "Trikk", which is the Norwegian word for tram, from the central station to Akerbrygge and went to the Lofoten Restaurant, which was the meeting point. 

When we arrived at 11.45hrs we were the only ones and couldn't see a RIB boat waiting for us. We were already concerned that the RIB-safari was canceled, due to the heavy fog on the fjord.

After some time we realized, that there were few other people also waiting and so we asked them, if they would know something, but they didn't. After some more minutes we heard an engine sound and out of the thick fog a RIB boat appeared. 

 

The skipper fixed the boat and brought a couple of bags onto the pier; these were our life suits, boots, hats, goggles and mittens. Luckily RIB-Roy (Roy is actually his name) also had MultiTubes, these textile things, that you can wear as a scarf, a hat or whatever you can think of, for us to cover our cheeks and chin. 

And so we started putting on all the clothes and accessories to not get cold during the one hour trip to Oscarsborg. All these things were really needed, we just had had a temperature drop last night and this morning it was -20°C. Luckily it got "warmer" until we left and it had "just" -15°C. However, when you are flying with up to 40 knots/~75 km/h over the water it can get kinda chilly.

Anyways, we eventually started and made our way slowly through the thick fog out of the harbor of Oslo. We were going really slowly and couldn't see a thing. After some time Roy, our skipper, got fed up and increased the speed a bit. He was so sorry for the low speed and always ensured, that it would be just a couple of meters more until we would come out of the fog.

This was all you could see!

After some more time we stopped at a place where there are often seals. Roy stopped the boat and we were looking for some seals on the rocks or in the water. The water was so clear at that point, that you could see the ground some meters below. Unfortunately we were not lucky enough to see any seals and so we continued.

Trying to spot some seals!

Shortly after that the fog cleared, Roy put the pedal down and we finally picked up some speed and were flying over the water! It was hard to hold the camera still and to take proper pictures, since even small waves were shaking the boat and the going got tough!

Picking up some 40 knots!

We stopped on the way for some more sights and Roy was explaining and guiding very nicely. He told us about the lighthouse keepers, about the pubs on the shores of the fjord and about the fortress and how it's canons had sunk a German military ship in World War II.

Eventually we arrived at Oscarsborg, where we were already expected by some people of the hotel. We went into a conference room to get out of the life suits and from there we were taken into the restaurant. We had a really nice lunch, with many different cold cuts, cheese, but also warm dishes, like salmon and elk. It was delicious and during the lunch we had good conversations.

After the lunch we walked around the large hotel area. The hotel has rooms and facilities in many of the different houses of the fortress. We walked through the rooms, to the Spa and also saw the outside area. We ended in the conference and banquet rooms, which were located in the actual fortress building. We had a short coffee break, were talking again and soon the day was over.

We even saw a ghost!

We took the ferry back to the shore of the fjord and were brought back by bus to Oslo. We were brought to the central station, where we got off and from where we all walked home; each one in his or her direction. 

All in all it was a really nice day. Of course, it was freezing cold, but super exciting! I really would love to do something like this RIB-safari again in the summer and maybe in a narrow fjord. Then, I reckon, there wont be any fog and maybe we would actually see some seals. I think this is a good reason to come back to Norway at some point!

~M~