A Slightly Different Summer to Previous ones in Norway

Finally I’ve made it back to Norway again. In my typical style I leave plans to the last minute. I was meant to be working as a photographer like previous years but after some really difficult decision making I decided to just come out to Scandinavia for a holiday without working for a shorter period of time so I can see more of the country I have never had a chance to see.

After working in the UK for 6 months I bought myself a car – a nice VW Golf Estate and took the ferry from the UK across to France and set off alone up to Norway….. the long way around through Sweden up to Norway without getting additional ferries to shorten the driving time.

The driving wasn’t so bad as soon as you get through Sweden it starts becoming light most of the day making it easy to drive through the night. I must say I’ve never had to wear sunglasses at 4am!

I made it to Sjoa around 8.30am expecting to get some sleep for at least half of the day but ended up kayaking down the Sjoa and going to an ‘asado’ with 2 roast lambs for dinner.

The following day was the beginning of a road trip with my friend Becky that I hadn’t planned on taking starting with kayaking down the Lower Bovra and driving towards Jostedalen. After driving for some time after leaving Lom and the Lower Bovera we came across a cross country track with plenty of snow but also plenty of elite athletes training, such as the Austrian team.

I’ve never cross country skied before and was told by Becky I would probably fall over a lot and I laughed thinking if I can ski this will be super easy. I’ve always thought of cross country sking as being a bit of a wimpy sport but after realising it was a lot harder than learning to downhill ski I quickly changed my mind! Not having the sole of your boot attached to the ski and having very narrow skis on your feet make it difficult to balance. Add in the technique on gliding forwards with coordinating the arm movement and things get even tricker. I slowly got the hang of liding my skis forwards rather than ‘walking’ but when it came to downhill then the multiple stacks started.

Becky and I would of looked like the odd pair out on the track with Becky using her dog Ramp to ski around and constantly shouting stop or wait in Norwegian, and myself in track pants (soaked through on the bum) with a pretty brightly coloured hoody with my dreads piled on top of my head with pink tips. We certainly got some funny smiles from the Austrians who were training hard.

After our one lap we kept driving searching for a picturesque camping spot for the night. We came to the Fjord in Luster and decided to camp by the fjord because it was complete with a volley ball net, jetty, some strange red scupture and a picnic table. We didn’t see any signs saying we weren’t allowed to camp there but were concerned we might get told off. Since it was so amazing we took the risk. We did have a police car pull over but they had just stopped while on their mobile phone and left us in peace with our ‘gourmet dinner’ and what we called luxury camping set up for the night.

The following day was my 31^st Birthday. 31 came around pretty fast and I almost forgot it was my Birthday at all. We packed up and drove towards Jostedal stopping at a ncie balery on the way and in Gappun for a look around as it was described as a tourist stop but there was nothing to be too excited about there.

Another big day was install once we got to Jostedalen with a hike up to one of the glaciers with our friend Colin followed by a random ‘party’ in the guide house that evening.

Last time I visited Jostedal my friend took me out on the biggest part on the glacier which required us to ride a motor boat out across the lake to the glacier. This time the glacier was a lot closer to town and we had to hike a little bit to get there before kitting up with a harness and crampons. I was a little unsure and intimidated by the glacier this time. My crampons felt as though they were slipping off  my shoes (sneakers are not the best idea for any sort of hiking) so it was hard for me to climb or walk downhill combined with my fear of heights. I also have a huge respect for the glaciers and it also feels like there is an unknown world under all of that ice in the holes and crevasses.

Everyone was a bit tired the following day after staying up late the night before. Having a more relaxed day allowed me to visit the waterfall where a friend dislocated both their shoulders a few years ago and have a look at the new visitors centre which is now open but still in construction after burning down a couple of years ago. The structure of the building is meant to resemble a glacier but some might interpret the design as a turtle, armadillo, space ship etc.

I still need to head out on the river so there will be more photos and stories to come.