Webber.net.nz

Oslo
On Saturday we had quick look around the centre of town. Immediately we noticed the temperature was much more mild only -4 or so. We had a peek in Oslo Cathedral and brushed past Parliament before taking a bus to the Bygdøy Peninsula. After paying out £6 for a single 10 minute bus ride we looked the at Viking museum which has 3 amazing preserved Viking ships from the 9th century.

About this time we were at a bit of a loss for what to do for the afternoon and it was starting to snow but we hoped on a metro up to Holmenkollen. We were lucky that the annual winter festival was on at the ski jump centre that looks out onto Oslo city. This meant we were treated to a world cup 50 km cross country skiing race and also some of the warm up ski jumping. The place was heaving within Norwegians, Fin’s and Swedes. The all were clanging cow bells, sipping vodka and cheering all the various competitors on, in between doing everyone would do a little gig that was really aimed to keep your toes from getting frost bite.

Traveling Home
Today we got up at 5am to get the bus to the airport and back home. Our trip was pretty uneventful which was good because bad weather has gripped much of the country and cancelled many flights.

The Norway pics are here

Friday we woke up to our usual breakfast of appelsin (orange) juice and muesli. I was in an adventurous mood so I tried a few of the traditional Norwegian breakfast cold cuts. After a hard boiled egg on wholemeal bread, I moved onto a caramel coloured brown cheese called Gudbrandsdalsort. Tasting much better than it looked it gave me the confidence I required to try the pickled cod dish. It tasted worse than it looked. The dish had slices of pink cod which seemed to be fermenting in the creamy white sauce. Not recommended.

We walked around sleepy Rorøs looking at the craft shops in the historic timber houses which lined the two main street. The town is another Unesco World Heritage site perhaps aided slightly because both the main streets tapper (narrow) as the rise up the hill creating an illusion the are longer than they actually are.

There wasn’t much to do in the town apart from husky dog riding. We went to the towns museum which had some interesting models of ore mining but little else of mention. We were going to rent sparks (kick sleds) from the tourist information office but they were all out. Instead we walked around in the snow a little more and paid a quick trip to a local reindeer farm.

When it was then time to get something to eat for late lunch I was not deterred by my last Norwegian culinary experience. While Susan stuck to sweet and sour veggies, I enquired “What is this” pointing to Elghakk on my menu. “Elk meat cut into small slices” the waitress replied. Well after happily eating Rudolph the other night I wasn’t about to let down his friend. To my suprise the waitress defintion of small pieces was mince. So I wound up paying 166 kn (£15) for the most expensive plate of creamy mince in my life while Susan munched happliy on her veggies.

We then spent the rest of the afternoon and evening catching trains to get back to Oslo.

Susan was anxious as we got up this morning. Her cause for concern was the 6 hour husky dog trek we were about to embark on. However rather than the -10 degree temperatures, she was actually most worried about what was going to happen in the arctic wastelands of Norway if she needed to goto the toilet.

We found out that we have been quite lucky, it was -30 in Røros on Monday and it’s not uncommon to hit -50. We padded up well at the husky farm in huge jump suits and boots with big woollen socks.

Our tour guide was quiet and almost husky like himself. He didn’t say much and seemed in his element, with the icicles falling of his beard while plowing through snow covered hills.

Things started pretty easily. You stand on the back of the sled and the 6 dogs eagerly drag you trying to keep up with the 12 other dogs our guide was riding. The steering mechanism was basic but functional. Taking your foot from one side of the sled and leaning on the other side would move the sled more in that particular direction. Braking involved stomping one of your feet hard on a metal pick/trawling device which created resistance for the dogs. To stop the dogs completely was no easy task (especially as the egg each other on to run faster), this involved deploying an anchor into the snow.

My 6 dogs were unlucky; the got 90 kgs of me rather than lightweight Susan who struggled to get enough downward force to put the brakes on enough for the dogs to take any notice. Downhill the dogs would go crazy and I really needed to slow them down before the sled plowed them all over or (as I experienced) flung me into the snow.

We stopped after 3 hours under the pretence of giving the dogs a break. Susan was struggling with cold hands and I was pretty tired giving the dogs by kicking my way up the hill. We rested in a narrow crevasse like valley on reindeer skins to eat our Sandwiches and hot drink the dogs seemed quite happy eating snow and peeing on each others spots.

When we took off again things really started to get cold. We were getting to the top of the mountains, trees were becoming sparse and the wind was picking up. In fact it’s what I imagine the Siberian plains must look and feel like. Both Susan and I were starting to lose feeling in our thumbs.

I would have liked to take some photos on top of the mountain of the amazing panoramic views. Unfortunately my hands were struggling to maintain grip on the sled and when I did manage to get out the camera (like me) the sub 20 temperature had seriously hampered it’s functionality.

The descent was very welcome as the temperature picked up remarkably when the wind was no longer whistling across the top of the hills at us. The husky dogs also appreciated the decline with a salivating anticipation. They weren’t so keen on dragging us up hill even if we helped push, but the chance run unhindered was euphoric.

The trip was definitely something we won’t forget in a hurry. Susan and I agreed that if there was a next time we wouldn’t be quite so zealous and perhaps 3 hours would be a little less exhausting. That said the dogs seemed to think nothing of the 51 km of arctic cross country they completed in 5 1/2 hours.

Well there wasn’t much to see in Lillehammer on Wednesday. The world ski jumping champs was going to start soon so the town was in anxious buzz, busily moving snow about.

Eventually we finally found a bank that would cash our travellers cheques so with kroner in hand we trotted up to the Olympiaparken to see if any ski jumpers were practicing. Unfortunately, there had been a warm up competition in Finland on Tuesday so most of the jumpers would be travelling. Also the ski jump stadium was still full of snow so the guy frantically whizzing up and down in the snow plow was probably quite happy about it too.

After watching some kindergarden children toboggan down the hill side (which seems to be as far as we would get to ski jumping) we made tracks to the train station and our 4 hour train ride to Røros.

Røros was very cold when we arrived at 7:45. The temperature had been around -10 most of the day but it seemed more like -18 when we were walking around with no sun. I talked Susan into letting us by dinner so I got to eat reindeer (sorry Rudolph fans). It was a lot like venison only more beefy and served with cranberry sauce. Regrettably, the downside of eating out in Norway is the brisk walk 500m down the road to your accommodation in -18 degree Celsius temperatures.

Yesterday after we made it to Oslo and struggled to the train station with our packs. We needed to collect our tickets, so went to the office where we had to take a number to join the queue. 196 and they were up to 159! Finally with our tickets we boarded the train to Lillehammer. I commented on how nice the trains were in Norway. We had a cabin with a table and comfy reclining chairs. I was pondering that this was probably like British First Class when the ticket conductor arrived to say that we were in the Komfort Class and would need to pay 75kn each for the privilege! At least we got a ‘free’ hot chocolate and comfy seats!

We arrived in Lillehammer without other issues. It was a bit of a challenge carrying our packs up the streets to our hostel (GjesteBu) but this was mainly because of the patches of black ice.

On Tuesday morning we got up early made so sandwiches, and charged down the hill to bus that was waiting to take us to the Hafjell. The ski field was impressive, Susan seemed to think most of the easy runs were more equivalent with a NZ intermediate. Perhaps this is because most Norwegians invented skiing and most start when they are 3.

Susan showed astonishing persistence with me as I struggled with making a snow plow (V to stop) on the easy slope but it wasn’t long before I was left to my own devices to master my special fall over spectacularly stopping method. While Susan kept catching mountain views and gracefully craving up the other easy slopes.

Mid afternoon with a battered backside and bruised pride I enlisted the help of a private tutor. Susan believes it paid off because after 11/2 hours including a few outstanding crashes, I can turn right, stop most of the time and flounder around in what occasionally ends in a left turn. This (according to my instructor Marcus) is good progress. I have
yet to manage getting up when I fall over. This is much to Piwi’s disgust as he would appreciate any improvements as living in my backpack meant he kept getting a beakfull of ice.

Anyway it was a great day. I think we are both feeling it now

At first it seemed that we be late for our flights went we woke up. However we had forgotten about snappy 2 minute walk to the airport and we ended up on our flight to Norway with plenty of time. Ryanair like many of the other budget carriers doesn’t fly directly to Oslo’s main airport. Instead we landed about a 2 hour drive away from the city centre in a place called Torp.

Our first impression of Norway is that theres a lot of snow. Snow was stacked up about 1 metre high at the airport. The guy at passport control was really keen on finding out what a New Zealander was doing all the way over in Norway. When Susan gushed about the fantastic snow was the guy didn’t seem to share the same level of excitement mentioning his back was sore from shovelling snow. 3 people were on top of the airport arrivals terminal as we were leaving. They were lifting piles of snow. Apparently your house can cave in if you don’t clear it.
Our bus driver was saying that Oslo had one of the biggest dumps last week.

Well off to Lillehammer.