Norway Part 1

For our summer trip this year we decided to WWOOF on a farm in Norway. WWOOF stands for World Wide Opportunities On Organic Farms. You pay for your flights, and you gain accomodation and food in return for your labour. Our chosen location was Nordvell Farm, around 30km out of Tromso and 200km into the arctic circle. This is the first 2 weeks of our time here. More to come hopefully! 

After a good flight (with a slightly abrubt landing) we arrived at Tromso airport, where we were slightly surprised to be able to connect to university internet. Not the first thing you expect when you arrive in the arctic circle. Unfortualty the flight was late due to lightening storms in London and this meant that we missed the last bus. We had no choice but to attempt to get a taxi. While doing this we managed to confuse the taxi driver by not actually knowing the name of the place we were going and It didn't occur to us until we were halfway there that we had the address in our bag. I blame the (non-existent) jetlag. After forking out 700 NOK (about £70) for the taxi we had finally arrived at our new home, Nordvol farm. Our host, Roger, was waiting for us and I think he was a bit worried that we weren't going to make it. I don't think anyone had every got cab up to the farm before! All the other wwoofers were in town for the night and so we had the house to ourselves. The view from the house was incredible, we just couldn't quite believe we were finally in Norway. The midnight sun takes a while to get used to though.  

The next day was our first day on the fields, where we discovered our new hatred for the worst plant in the world: water weed. The carrot fields in Iceland last year didn't have this problem. As you can see there seems to be a pattern forming in our summer holidays. 

After our days work we were invited fishing. Helen managed to catch a lot of seaweed before eventually catching the biggest fish of the day. It was defiantly a new explerince being in a rowing boat out into the Arctic Ocean. Although Alice's poor attempted rowing left a lot to be desired .

 In the evening we also climbed to 'The Cross' which is on top of a steep hill. Helen was in her pjamas, perfect climbing gear! 

 On Sunday we were back to weeding with more fishing in the afternoon. This time our luck wasn't in, however it didn't matter as at one point we were surrounded by dolphins. They were so close to us and we think one even touched the boat. It was incredible to see them so close. 

While here we have also tried some interesting new foods. Whale was a highlight and tasted like steak which is fine by us. We also had reindeer sausage from Sweden on pizza and dried reindeer. While chewing on our reindeer we could see  dolphins swimming in the sea again. Pretty special. 

On Tuesday we it was apparently National Norway Day which was a perfect excuse for a bonfire. We still aren't completely convinced this day exists, but we aren't complainig. We built a huge fire and attempted to toast sausages on it. They didn't really cook through but we are still alive. Just.

 

When we were back at the farm the two women who set up WWOOF Norway were there. We were amazed at just how young they were. They are the same age as us and had set it up in their spare time whilst at university. I don't know what they thought about us rowdy lot though as We spent most of the meal feeding each other and chocking on wine. It was hilarious. Later that night we went down to the beach to in the midnight sun and had stone skimming competitions. Obviously ours bounced the most, It just happened when no one was watching! 

It is incredibly relaxed here. We work all day 9am-5pm and then have the whole evening to do your own thing. You never feel like going to bed as it is still light and you can spend hours just sitting and watching the view. The mountains seem different everyday. 

On Thursday we finally took a day off. We caught a lift into Tromso and spent the day wandering around town. Of course we visited h&m because what else would you do when you go abroad but go in the shops you have at home? We crossed the bridge to visit the arctic cathedral but didn't go in as you had to pay. We are students afterall . It was still impressive from the outside though. 

Tromso looks very much like you would imagine an arctic town to be, The only thing missing was a bit of snow. There is even a cable car which was the one thing Alice's mum remembers from her trip here when she was 20. It can' have change much as this was nearly 40 years ago now (sorry mum). We had to leave earlier than we would have liked as the bus doesn't go all the way the farm each trip it takes. We did have time to pop into the library though which was very nice. Helen can't stay away from the library for too long! It's surprising she didn't do some work on the banned D word. 

Helen almost put her suitcase over the limit on the way over here by bringing over 1kg of food. She didn't need it though as we eat feasts every day. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are all huge meals with loads of bread and potato.  I don't think we could ever risk going hungry. And we thought we would

Loose weight here. 

By Friday, a week after we arrived we were still weeding, it never seems to end! In the afternoon however we were cutting runners in the strawberry fields which was a bit different. It's nice to be working basically on the beach. The weather was amazing, defiantly not what you expect in the arctic circle. That night there was an incredible 'sunset' ( you can't really call it that as it doesn't actually get dark) which turned the entire sky red. It was stunning. 

On Sunday It was just strawberrys. All day. So many strawberrys. We started off  picking them in the morning which quickly turned into a rotten strawberry flight. We then went in to cutting runners in the big field which was a daunting task. After we had finished we decided it was time for a dip in the arctic sea. It was so cold but amazing. Even if Helen didn't make it all the way in. 

On Tuesday we were finishing with a couple of friends of our host. For ages the engine on the boat wouldn't start which was a bit annoying. It was also an interesting moment when he handed us a bowl and said if we needed to use the toilet he would look away. Luckily we manged to hold on as going on a tiny boat would have been interesting to say the least. In the end Alice caught one of the biggest fish and we also caught the a huge Cod. 

 Tuesday night was sad as we lost out 4 German wwoofers. The farm is now so quiet without them. I don't know how Roger goes through people leaving so often. It must be very hard. 

We started a new job of planting new strawberry plants on Wednesday. This involved using fertiliser which was a mixture of sheep shit, soil and water. As a city type, Alice was not impressed with an afternoon shovelling sheep shit. It's not how most dream of spending their summers. Alice also found a strange shaped bite on her leg. We rang the doctors to see if it might beed attenion but it turbed out to be ok. A trip to Tromso a&e dedinatly would have been an interesting experience. That evening, after work, we walked and cycled to Snarby beach. Alice got a lift sat on the back if a bike which was like being 13 again. The beach was beautiful with a white sand shore, even if it was a little chilly. On the way back we it caught in a massive thunder storm . The rain was so heavy and the lightening so close. You could actually feel the thunder shaking through you. When we about half way home the neighbours, who had seen us leaving the house, drove to pick us up. It is honestly one of the kindest things anyone has done for us. To come out for no reason in a thunder storm to pick up a bunch of semi- strangers is amazing. When we returned, the house had lost power so we had BBQ dinner in the rain. Definitely noy what you would expect after a storm. The power was out for over 12 hours in the end. 

As we write this another thunder storm is taking place. We all sat on the porch watching the really heavy rain. Hopefully there won't be anymore powe cuts!

This blog was written on a phone with really dodgy wifi. We have no idea what it looks like on a computer. So ignore the dodgy formatting and spelling!