Hot Mess Kayaking: Mini Trip to Jostedal

Nearing towards the end of August things started to quieten down in Sjoa..... by quietening down it actually I got a couple of days off as had pretty much worked all of July and part of August straight!

Toni pumping the rafts before a trip

Photo: Jacqui Whitehead

View of part of the small town of Jostedal

Photo: Jacqui Whitehead

I got to get out on the river my first day in Jostedal and it was so much colder than Sjoa! This is because it is a glacier river so the water is around 5 degrees. Andreas and Toni kept joking about a massive hole on the last rapid of the trip trying to get me nervous (and it worked!). The river was pretty short and relaxed compared to the Sjoa River but the last rapid did have a big hole which managed to get another kayaker swimming but I was thankful I just blasted through the hole and had a lot of fun.

Gear shed for River Pig Rafting in Jostedal

Photo: Jacqui Whitehead

Toni and Ben fooling around while doing post-trip clean up.

Photo: Jacqui Whitehead

My second day in Jostedal was pretty fun. I went with Mo's girlfriend to see more of the area. Jostedal has some of the biggest glaciers in Europe so there are a lot of tourists coming everyday to go trekking or on a kayak/trek combo to the glaciers.

One of the glaciers which you can view from the Tourist Information Centre in Jostedal.

Photo: Jacqui Whitehead

We both went blueberry picking then searched the forest for chanterelles and were lucky enough to find a big handful of them to make a pie for dinner!

Everyone in Toni's house decided they probably owe at least one bootie beer for a swim within the last year so we all did a joint effort.

On my last day Mo took me out on the largest glacier in Europe (apart from Greenland!). We took a motor boat out to the glacier and saw a few small ice-bergs floating on the way. As we approached the ice-berg we also heard a large crack. It could have been ice from the glacier falling in miles away as it is about 50km long!

Mo getting ready to take us out on the boat to the glacier

Photo: Jacqui Whitehead

Before we set foot on the glacier Mo ran us through some basic safety and we got crampons fitted to our shoes which would help us not to slip on the ice. We all were also attached to the same rope by carabiners. Mo was leading us so we were all essentially attached to him. If someone accidently falls through the ice the people either side will stop the person from falling down as we are only about a metre apart. I'm not quiet sure on our trip if this theory would have worked as there were a few kids which I don't think would have been heavy enough to fall but at least we didn't have to find out from experience!