Well here is the conversation between Isaac and myself....
Me: Scandanavia looks pretty nice..... Isaac: Yeah it does.... Should we go?????
After a week of tossing up ideas we had finally planned a cheeky week to Norway!
Thankgod we did! Norway was absolutely beautiful!
First we caught a RyanAir flight to Oslo... Well...... actually to a place called Torp which was in the middle of nowhere! (Thanks RyanAir) I had met some super nice Norwegian girls whilst on an overnight bus in Vietnam and continued to travel with them through Hanoi and Halong Bay. Thankyou to Kaja who picked us up at around 1.30am from a small country town train station and drove us home to her familys amazing farm. Isaac and I stayed in a little cottage out the back of the farm and were spoilt with delicious bacon and eggs! The next day Kaja drove us to an old town called Fredrikstad where a strange 2nd hand market took place. Next we were lucky enough to cross the border into Sweden and visit a very important shop - the lolly shop! After a few drinks with the fun Jovall family and a couple of nights in the comfy cottage we headed for the capital, Oslo.
The comfy cottage at the back of Kaja's farm, very comfortable!
The 'beach' on Kaja's farm. This lake freezes over in winter, perfect for ice skating!
The comfy cottage at the back of Kaja's farm, very comfortable!
The 'beach' on Kaja's farm. This lake freezes over in winter, perfect for ice skating!
Fredrikstad markets
A tough day at the markets deserves an icey cold beer and seafood lunch :)
Oslo was somewhat disappointing... Dirty, dodgy and not what we thought we were going to get for the richest country in Europe! Anyway we still found some parks, an awesome statue area and a decent hostel. We managed to enjoy ourselves here but one day was enough before we jumped aboard the scenic train to Bergen.
A massive tiger just nere the train station in Oslo
Mum... I have set up a sportsbar over here. Hope your ok with it!
The AFL grand final will be streamed live for those wondering......
Oslo statue park - yoga style
Ok... so in Oslo they have decided to have 2 red men as they found 1 red man wasn't enough to stop these crazy pedestrians.. Actually no one has any idea why there are 2 red men!
An icey glass of 'Aass'. Yes the local Norwegian beer is called Aass. Small things, small minds!
An early start to the morning (6am) saw dumb and dumber just make the train by 2 minutes! We are soooo stupid! Thankgod we made it as the train ride was spectacular. The train was pretty empty so we constantly found ourselves jumping from side to side with our cameras looking out at the stunning scenery. The 7 hour trip was well worth the $60 Aussie dollars and the weather was rather warm with minimal clouds, prefect for sightseeing.
Haha! I had to put this picture in. Posing for stupid train photo!
Haha! I had to put this picture in. Posing for stupid train photo!
The view out the window! Not bad hey...
More views.. It continually changed as we wound our way to Bergen.
Lets just say this train ride was a fair bit nicer than a Melbourne Metro train to Jolimont!
Arriving in Bergen we were met by Eirin who I had also met on the bus in Vietnam. After checking into our hostel and quick wander around the funky city/uni town of Bergen it was time for an ice cream and a sit down. Bergen has to be one of the prettiest cities I have been to so far. It is basically surrounded by 7 different mountains and everything is mostly built from timber. Oh and the population is a mere 260 thousand which means it is never really busy.
Arriving in Bergen we were met by Eirin who I had also met on the bus in Vietnam. After checking into our hostel and quick wander around the funky city/uni town of Bergen it was time for an ice cream and a sit down. Bergen has to be one of the prettiest cities I have been to so far. It is basically surrounded by 7 different mountains and everything is mostly built from timber. Oh and the population is a mere 260 thousand which means it is never really busy.
Wood, wood and more wood along the waterfront
Norway now sell canned children for any of those out there that are interested!
Lucky for us Eirin had 2 days off uni so she was able to take us around to see the sights. With the sun shining brightly and our lunch packed we headed out on a hike up a mountain about 40 mins out of Bergen. Dramas after around 15minutes into our hike as we came across a sheep that had somehow managed to get its hind leg caught in a fence! Somehow after the sheep had passed out and a few stressful phone calls to the owners we managed to free the poor thing.
Not sure if I really should have been standing there taking pictures whilst Eirin was holding the sheep and on the phone!
The hike was so much fun. We stopped off at Eirins family's cottage for a bight of lunch and a rest, filled our drink bottles from the fresh stream and conituned our way up. After around 3.5 hours we made it to the top where the views were absolutely spectacular! One side of the mountain was all trees and grassland whilst the other side was a deep blue fjord (a long narrow inlet with steep sides carved by glacial activity -thanks wikipedia!) We spent around an hour or so up the top eating our second lunch, lying around and just admiring at how beautiful the view was. Another couple of hours saw us back at the bottom of the mountain and reunited with the sheep we had saved earlier that morning. Lets just say he was looking a little healthier!
Halfway up and the views are already spectacular..
Sheep footprints...... Followed by wolve footprints! Ooooooooohhh scary stuff.
The summit of Broknipa - Dumb and Dumber had made it without getting lost or falling off the edge!
Isaac, myself and Eirin enjoying the view... One of the stray sheep took the photo for us.....
Not a bad place to digest lunch and have a wee little nap.
Awesome fjord!
Back to the hostel we went where it was shower and dinner time before a night out in Bergen. This cool little uni town provided us with quite a fun night where we met a few of Eirin's mates and headed for a grungy pub very similar to the Corner Hotel in Richmond. It was wine night to after a few wines and a fun night the lights came on and it was time to head back home for a couple more drinks before calling it a night and climbing into bed around 5am.
After a little bit of a sleep in we awoke to another bright sunny day.. Were we really in Norway? Bergen is the place for rain. Apparently 276 days of the year are rainy days.... We didn't see a single drop the whole time we were in Norway! Crazily lucky according to the local Norwegians! With shorts and T shirts we left the hostel for a wander around the backstreets of the city before taking a bus out to another mountain. This time only a 45minute hike to the top but it was bloody steep! Once again the views over Bergen were gorgeous. We finished off a lovely afternoon with some ridiculously expensive fish and chips down by the docks. $20 out of pocket but one satisfied tummy! An early bed to rest our tired bodies and to make sure we made our 8.30am train back to Oslo.
The views from the top of our second hike
With one night left in Norway we caught a train to the smelly town of Moss where Isaac had some long lost cousins to catch up with/meet for the first time! We were treated to a Christmas style dinner with roast Moose, tatties, mushrooms & berries from the forest and of course topped off with plenty of good wine and beer.
I had to get a photo with this sign!
Yes Norway was ridiculously expensive and yes one week is a short time to spend in a country but I am so glad I was able to get a taste of Scandanavia. This is definetly a place I will come back too....... most likely when retired and not on a tight budget!
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