We woke up to a beautiful morning, with the river below like a mirror. I ate my breakfast outside - no midges thank goodness.  
We carried on down the 41, following the river, until we got to Kristiansand, where it widens out to join the sea.

We turned on to the main E39 - the main road to Stavanger - a town we won't have time to visit.  
Our goal was the seaside town of Mandal and particularly the Tourist Office there.

We wanted to book tickets on the Kristiansand to Hirtshals (in Denmark) ferry for next Tuesday 23rd June.    On our laptops the ferry info from Norway to Denmark is in Norwegian. From Denmark to Norway it is in English!  Also we don't have a printer to print off the tickets.

We found the MH parking easily by following signs off the E39 for the Buen/ info centre at Mandal   We could park here for 24hrs for 100 NOK ( about £8.50) inc electricity.

We went into the TO in the Buen centre, but they could not help us book tickets. They advised that we use a computer in the library next door!  The staff here pointed us in the right direction. The computers were Mac, which was fun......., but a young woman who was leaving let us use the one she was using and we managed to book the tickets - 174e and send the info to the printer downstairs.   One sheet cost 20NOK and I only had a 200 note, so they let us have it for free!   They were very kind and helpful.   Once we had booked the tickets we could relax. Phew!

We went over the pedestrian bridge into town, and following the sound of a band ,found a youth brass band and drum majorettes performing in the square.   For the rest of the day we kept hearing the sound of drums and band music.
We wandered along the river front and along a path through some trees to the beach. This is Norway's longest sandy beach and is an 800m crescent of fine pale gold sand.   There are lots of small rocky islands offshore and lots of speedboats zooming around. The sky and sea were a beautiful blue and it just didn't look like Norway at all - more like N Spain, Britanny or the rocky bits of the South of France.   We had a lovely afternoon just lazing in the sun.

At about 10.30 pm we went for a walk and climbed up to Uranienberg.   This is a huge rock which towers over the town, with a lookout post at the top. It is a very steep climb with lots of steps, but the views at the top are fantastic.   We watched the sunset and then wandered back down at about 11.30.
During the war the germans dug deep into the rock  and had guns all over it.  The underground bit is now a carpark.