Norway 2014

By Helen

So I’ve been back in England for 4days now, and I’m missing Norway and the travelling lifestyle a little. I thought I would use this blog post to review some of my personal highlights of the trip, and to share some of my photographs.

We’d only been at Nordvoll farm for 2 days when we went fishing on a lovely sunny day and got surrounded by dolphins. They were so close and it was perfect. One of those “wow” moments!

The many sunsets that we saw were always beautiful, especially when watched from the beach.

 

“Swimming” in the sea. It was so cold that I couldn’t get further in than my ankles. And there is no photographic evidence, so it might have not happened anyway!

 

I enjoyed all the work on the farm, even when it got tedious sometimes. One particular memory is lining green boxes with toilet paper to dry the strawberries from the rain. But also how can one forget the waterweed! Guess which carrots are the smallest and pulling up the biggest! Weeding salad and not knowing what was a weed and what was a plant. Sitting in the strawberry fields in the rain getting very wet and cold and losing all feeling in my fingers to the point where it was painful.

Running back from Snarby beach through a thunder and lightning storm was pretty impressive. Then getting a lift home in the neighbours car, being soaked through with no power until next morning. Roger had to cook burgers on the BBQ in the rain. But he was wearing a cool hat, so it’s all good!

Getting a lift to the beach

We climbed the mountain behind the farm one evening after work. The view from the top was awesome!

 

Topless Tour

Another highlight would be climbing Ullstinden. We did this on the hottest and sunniest day of our time there. The climb was very long and we were scrambling over rocks and through forests. But I felt such a great sense of achievement when I got to the top. Definitely worth the climb!

Dream team: Helen, Joe and Alice

From the week traveling:

The first day was definitely the longest. Spending 11hrs on buses was challenging. And reaching the hotel room in the evening was the most welcome thing ever! I remember the kind bus driver that, even when his shift was over, let us back on his bus so he could drive us to our hotel! Thank you so much!

 

Bus selfie!

There is a bench in Bodo that is right on the sea front. I enjoyed sitting there and watching the ships and the German boys jump into the cold sea!

Bench

I enjoyed spending a nights on the sleeper train. It saves time as you go to sleep in one place, and wake up in another. Boom - accommodation and travel in one!

Trondheim was a busy student city and we had a great time exploring it and getting lost when trying to find the university! They also had a really great charity shop.

Posting a postcard

Couchsurfing would have to be something else I include here. We had two great hosts who shared their houses and couches with us. So many great laughs! We also got more inside knowledge of Norway than you would if you had stayed in a hotel room. I recommend it!

Couchsurfing

I enjoyed exploring Oslo really early in the morning when it was deserted. Oslo has so many beaches you wouldn’t guess it was the capital city! I also enjoyed dressing up and  going out in the evening to the Irish Pub and talking to the Oslo locals who are all very friendly! However, spending £8 on an Alcopop is a bit expensive! Eating ice creams the next day on the sea front was awesome too!

Beach with 2 shores :)

Double the ice cream, double the fun.

In Bergen I enjoyed climbing up Fløyen with our couchsurfing host. You could see the entire city from the top!

Getting caught in the rain in a business industrial park was also really funny!

Our WWOOFing experience and travelling has just wetted our appetite and worsened our travel bug for seeing more of the world and creating more life lasting memories. 

 

WWOOF tshirts