Oslo - Norway - page 125

Polarship Fram Museum MUSEUM
Offline map ( www.fram.museum.no ; adult/child Nkr60/25, free with Oslo Pass;
9am-6pm Jun-Aug, shorter hr rest of yr) Nature is often the best architect. Which is
why,whenthewell-knownshipbuilderColinArcherwasaskedtodesignashipwhosehull
could withstand the crush of polar ice, he looked no further than an egg for inspiration
(this oval design means that when ice is contracting against it the boat is pushed up and
onto the ice rather than being merely crushed by it like other ships). Launched in 1892, the
Polarship Fram, atthetimethestrongestshipeverbuilt,captainedbybothFridtjofNansen
and Roald Amundsen, spent much of its life trapped in the polar ice. From 1893 to 1896
Nansen's North Pole expedition took the 39m schooner to Russia's New Siberian Islands,
passing within a few degrees of the North Pole on their return trip to Norway.
In 1910 Amundsen ( Click here ) set sail in the Fram (meaning 'forward'), intending to
bethefirstexplorertoreachtheNorthPole,onlytodiscoverenroutethatRobertPearyhad
beaten him to it. Not to be outdone, Amundsen turned the Fram around and, racing Robert
Falcon Scott all the way, became the first man to reach the South Pole. Otto Sverdrup also
sailedtheschooneraroundsouthernGreenlandtoCanada'sEllesmereIslandbetween1898
and 1902, travelling over 18,000km.
You're allowed to thoroughly explore the ship, peek inside the cramped bunkrooms and
imagine life at sea. In addition, there are detailed exhibits complete with maps, pictures
and artefacts that bring the various expeditions to life, from Nansen's attempt to ski across
the North Pole to Amundsen's discovery of the Northwest Passage and the fateful rescue
attempt that ended in his disappearance.
Kon-Tiki Museum MUSEUM
Offline map ( www.kon-tiki.no ; Bygdøynes; adult/child Nkr60/25, free with Oslo
Pass; 9.30am-5.30pm Jun-Aug, shorter hr rest of yr; ) A favourite among chil-
dren, this worthwhile museum is dedicated to the balsa raft Kon-Tiki , which Norwegian
explorer Thor Heyerdahl sailed from Peru to Polynesia in 1947. The museum also displays
thetotorareedboat Ra II, builtbyAymarapeopleontheBolivianislandofSuriquiinLake
Titicaca. Heyerdahl used it to cross the Atlantic in 1970. For a full rundown on the life of
this extraordinary explorer, Click here .
Norwegian Maritime Museum MARITIME MUSEUM
Offline map ( www.norsk-sjofartsmuseum.no ; Bygdøy-nesveien 37; adult/child
Nkr60/free; 10am-6pm mid-May-Aug, shorter hr rest of yr) The author Roald Dahl
once said that in Norway everyone seems to have a boat, and there is no better place to ex-