As we pulled into the harbor of this little town at the southern tip of Norway, a small fishing boat passed by. We would see one more of those later during our adventure. Then a large ferry was pulling out.
It was probably bound for Denmark.
We docked within easy walking distance to the center of town and our morning destination: the local bus stop. But first Santa's helper had to feed the moose.

I had found out, with the help of the local tourist office, that there was a small town Hollen, a few miles west, that was worth a visit. A local bus would be a good way to do this. In Hollen we could take a small boat trip that looked interesting.
So, with some newly made friends, we did this neat excursion in the morning.

Hollen turned out to be a beautiful little town with a great harbor. It has several cottages and appeared to be a wonderful summer spot for a few days on the water. Along with some locals, we waited a few minutes before the boat left the dock.

The boat trip takes about an hour. It stops at three or four islands to drop off and pick up passengers who have homes on the beautiful rocky islands. Here are a series of pictures without any further explanation.

There is one narrow section between two islands. As the boat passed through, we could see some petrography on the granite wall. They appeared to be symbols indicating Norwegian royalty had been here in 1935, 1938 and again in 1971. I think if I had been one of those fortunate folks there would be a lot more dates to follow.

We made one more stop in this little alcove where a fisherman has his home and gear. We had seen one of these boats while docking in the morning. Notice the 'mail room', a small shack with boxes that was right next to our stop.

It was time to return to Hollen, but on the way I could not help but notice more folks just having fun with their kids, including a lady with her blond girls just sitting after a day on the water. It was time for another ice cream cone.

The bus took us back to Kristiansand in time for some shopping, lunch and simply walking around to see this quaint city. There is one main pedestrian street but also some nice side streets to explore. With a great morning trip behind us, we were a bit weary and only saw some of the main points.

We saw several of our friends in town, including Morris and Karen. They are a wonderful couple we had met and talked to during our days at sea. Now it was back to the harbor and the ship.