Kristiansand is Norway's fourth (or fifth, if you believe Wiki)
largest city and is perched almost on the southernmost end of
Norway's peninsula at 58 °N. It has a population slightly in excess
of 75k, which would not be impressive in North America, but it
seems to be quite impressive for Norway!
Alternatively called Christiansand, this coastal town was
founded by Christian IV who very wisely recognized that Norway
could use a city right about there for commerce and defense
purposes. And when you're the King of Norway, and when you say
"here the town shall stand," a town stands, yes it does, and you
can even name it after yourself.
It's good to be the king.
Kristiansand is considered a resort town. So what is there to do
there? Well, there's a great zoo and animal park. And a theatre. An
annual music festival. And beaches, common in California, unusual
in Norway. And although it is Norway, being right on the North Sea
moderates its climate so that it is not as cold as most of the
country come wintertime. Bonus.
Oh, and you can see ships being built and repaired in
Kristiansand as it is a major repair facility for the North Sea oil
fleet. Another bonus right there.
Now I know you must be asking yourself "Why Kristiansand? If she
wanted to contribute a cache to the Little Norway region of the
foothills why didn't she pick a more commonly known city such as,
say Oslo?"
(And admit it...Oslo is probably one of about 3 Norwegian towns
you can even name without googling it, right?!)
"Surely," you continue, "there must be many more
interesting facts that could be presented about Oslo or
Lillehammer--or, er, ummm, one of the many other fine Norwegian
municipalities that I just can't remember offhand at the moment!
But to chose a town that I have never heard of?!"
Shows what you know.
It just so happens that Kristiansand is the home of my son's
lovely, intelligent, and delightful girlfriend, who is coming back
to Cal to work on her master's (we call it "coming home," heh.).
She came to Berkeley last January for a semester abroad, and
felicitiously met my son, also a student there. Sparks flew. Heck,
raging bonfires flew, and her departure back to Norway in June
caused both of them much separation anxiety.
But she is coming back/home, and this cache is being placed in
honor of Merethe's return to Berkeley, her January birthday, and
with our thanks that she seems to like the boy. She deserves a
Nobel Prize for that alone.*
So Happy Birthday Merethe, welcome back, and all the rest.
Cache notes: while the cache is not directly off the path, you
will not need to bushwhack to get to it. If you find yourself doing
so, find another way. The cache is larger than a regular, but
smaller than a large. Getting to it is not that easy, but once you
get there finding the cache is not that hard.
Many thanks to Species5618 and Oatlet #2 who went out
with me to fill in the Little Norway section of the Auburn State
Recreation Area--we had a great time planting caches out there
today. Please take the time to enjoy this beautiful area and
remember: all the usual foothill caveats apply. For details about
the area in general, please see one of the other area caches as I
am too lazy to type it all myself, and anyway, why duplicate the
effort when it has already been done so well?
*Yes, yes, I know the Nobel Prize is SWEDEN, not Norway. So
sue me.
Note added in July, 2007: Michael & Merethe are presently
spending the summer in Norway, and seeing a bit of Europe whilst
there. They've even set up a blog to chronicle their Nordic summer:
They look like they're having fun!