Brom sees a waterfall

Coocoo

Did you miss me? Did you wonder where I was yesterday? If you did, it might be wise to remember I am on holiday with the Two Dutch Dopes! The ones that took the wrong train just because it was standing at the platform. The ones that forgot money, driver's licence, tickets to the Edinburgh Tattoo. Just to give you an impression of their dopiness. 

The wrong and small waterfall

Okay then, yesterday. Do you remember the plan? If not, here it is: first we would put everything in the loft that Mara wanted to keep. Then we would take everything that Mara didn't want to keep to the Salvation Army (around 10 am). And they did that. Noooo problem. They had talked about driving to see some waterfalls that might be nice to see, so after having dropped the stuff off, that's what they did. 

Langfossen (the right waterfall)

The first waterfall they saw was a bit... ehm... small. Turns out it wasn't the right one, because only a few minutes later there was a nice big one. So, we parked the car again and took photos. We finished our lunch (bought at the small waterfall place) and continued to the next one. Which was a bit more spectacular, although I did wish Mara had brought my rain hat. Not because of any rain, but because of the spray of the water.

Låtefossen (the more spectecular one)

While driving from one waterfall to the next, the plan became: drive on to the little town following the waterfall (called Odda), get out there, walk around a bit, get back in the car and drive home. Possibly with some dinner at the small waterfall place (Åkrafjordtunet). And then they saw a sign with a large map on it. Well...

Wool on tree!

They drove straight through Odda. And just kept driving. And driving. And driving! Because they had changed the plan. Instead of Odda, they were going to see the Hardangervidda. A big nature area that was just around the corner(!). It wasn't just around the corner, but it was doable. Mara said. 

Our favourite view

We stopped in Eidfjord, because they saw some wool on trees. I mean, really? That's worthy of a stop? But, I had to grant them that: it was. After that, we got some supplies: water and bamsemums (marshmallows with chocolate) and on we went. Towards the Hardangervidda (Hardanger Plains). 

Panoramic view

Well, what can I say other than: it was soooooo worth it! It was beautiful! It was stunning! Every turn we took, there was a new view that took our breath away. Want to see snow capped mountains? What about snow covered ground and ice covered lakes? It was just... WOW!

Snowball! 

After all that we drove down to the town of Geilo and they wondered. Because the plan had been to see the waterfalls and return home, the subject of supplies had not come up. Nor had the subject of GPS or road map, since it was an easy way to the waterfalls. It was by then around 5.45 pm and we were a long way from home. 

View over an icy lake

Mara asked at a local petrol station about the shortest way home: basically the same way we had come. The big question however was: would we? Or would we get some basic night supplies and get a hotel? Well, in the end they had themselves a pizza each and drove home! And we didn't get home until 11.15 pm!

A great tasting pizza Mara said

It was a long day and Mara (who had done all the driving) and Gera were tired when they got home. But boy oh boy, it had been a beautiful day, despite the rain on our return. That's what happens when you are having a holiday with the Two Dutch Dopes!

During the return trip.
And yes, there was plenty of rain in those clouds.

Winter in Norway

When Pepperfly and I made our way over to our sledding adventure, it actually snowed in Haugesund. I was a bit worried about that, because when it snows here, it usually snows elsewhere as well and much harder. However, after only one kilometer, the snow had stopped and the roads were clear. Very clear. 

The distance to Sauda from where I live is about 100 km. And along the way there was a worrying lack of snow. Of course we saw it on some of the mountain tops and occasionally a bit further down, but not much more. Were those colleagues in Sauda really right? 

But then we saw snow by the side of the road. Granted, it wasn't much and definitely not enough for sledding, but it was snow. The closer we got, the more snow we saw. And then once we got to Sauda, one colleague actually drove ahead of us to an area where there was more than enough snow to satisfy all those snow wishes I've had lately. Two feet of snow. Easy!

But not only was there snow, there was ice as well (as my poor knee can testify). Everywhere in the mountains, melting snow/ice was dripping down and freezing again once the sun set. Or little streamlets of water that come through the rocks, freeze on coming out. 

There was even a small waterfall that was still going strong, but its spray had caused some severe freezing. In fact, we wanted to see it up close, but the path was just sheer ice and in the end, we had to walk in the main road to avoid any mishaps. 

We were lucky in our choice of Friday though. On Saturday the weather had changed and it was much worse. In Haugesund it was snow, sleet, rain and a lot of wind and I know there was quite a bit of snow on the roads towards Sauda as well. But we had the most perfect day.

Being cultural

On Friday night a colleague asked me whether I would be working on the weekend. When I replied in the negative, he asked me whether I would like to go cultural in Stavanger. Well, I had never been to Stavanger (apart from the airport), so I thought that might be a good idea. 

On Saturday morning he picked me up at 10am and we made our way to Stavanger. It was quite chilly, but it was dry and pretty good weather so we were happy. Our first port of call was... a shopping center. From there we made our way to the city center where more shops were to be found. He told me about Stavanger (he lived there for a few years) and occasionally we stopped to take a few photos.

But mostly it was a shopping trip. I kept my purse strings mostly closed, but I did get a few things. My concession to 'culture'? A book by Shostakovic. About the work camps up in Siberia and stuff. Oh, and Robin Hood! I think I like culture Norwegian (well, Icelandic really) style!!

The green grass

The road markers went up in late September
They help mark the road in heavy snow

When I first told people I wanted to move to Canada, one of the things that was often said to me: but it's cold in Canada! Then when I moved my focus from Canada to Norway, one of the things that was often said to me was: but it's cold in Norway. 

Moving to a country where the temperatures are usually below the temperatures of your home country is something else. At least that's what it sounds like. Since there are a lot of Dutch people living in Norway, even on the same road as me (I still haven't met them). And they all knew what they were getting into. Cold and dark! 

It may be cold, but also very pretty

Yet on the other hand, during the summer, the sky where I live doesn't go black in the night and stars are harder to see. Because a dark navy is all the night is capable of during the summer. Further North the sun doesn't even set at all, giving people a month or two/three of perpetual daylight. Of course, right now it's perpetual night!

Oh yes, that's mine! Honestly!!

But it isn't just the dark and the cold where I live. Since I live close to the sea, rain is a usual occurence. Very usual in fact. Rain coats and suits are a must if you live here. Because life doesn't stop because it rains. During the winter that rain will often turn to snow, but not so much that we are covered in feet of snow from December to March. An hour inland though and it's another matter altogether: a lot more snow than we have here. 

I moved to Norway because of the cold. Because I do better in cold than in hot. And to be honest, I like it here. Yes, of course I would love to go and see sunshine on occasion. Warm myself beside the pool with a cool glass of beer. For a holiday. Because actually: the grass in my garden is green enough!

This was a prompted post by Spin Cycle. Thank you Ginny Marie at Lemon Drop Pie and Gretchen at Second Blooming.

Habits

Every country has its own habits concerning the Christmas season. In the Netherlands people would either get a Christmas bonus/thirteenth month or a Christmas box filled with goodies. Here in Norway it is done a bit differently. 

As part of the economic input of people, taxation on wages in November is lower than in any other month. Half as a matter of fact, leaving people with a lot of dosh to spend on Christmas. Like on Christmas curtains, crockery, food, gifts, whatever. And it is a booming business as well! Which is nice, since I like Christmas.

Then there is another habit: the Christmas dinner (julebord, literally Christmas table) organised by companies all over the country. The company I work for is no different, although it is organised by some colleagues instead of management. And as all other social things: people dress up! 

So, black dress it is, red shoes and where on earth is my Christmas hat???

Remember the calendar! If you want to have a shot at winning one, click on Calendar and comment! Give-away ends November 30th!

Hiking

I have shown you the photos. Of me on hikes. Long walks that lead to milk acid in legs, dizzy heads, blisters and excruciating muscle aches. Long walks that lead to beautiful spots, usually quite high over sea level. But I am not the only one on those hikes. There are loads of Norwegians loving nothing better than going on those hikes.

The brand of chocolate featured in the commercial is a popular brand. I use it when out on hikes. And to get me hiking even more, every single wrapper comes with another tour! All over the country.

That is not the reason I show you this video though. It's more to do with how it looks like when I am out on a hike. The hard terrain, the weather (although I have not yet experienced rain while out on a hike) and the breath-taking scenery.

Norway isn't so bad...

PS: before anybody asks: yes, long woollen underwear is a must in this country! I still have to buy them, although I do own a woollen shirt and woollen socks. They work a treat!

Pride in your work

One of my many many jobs

Yesterday I told you a tiny bit about all the jobs I had. And when I say tiny, I mean miniscule. I once made a resumé with all the jobs on. It was over four pages long and only listed, it didn't explain anything. I had to scale it down considerably and am still on two pages!! I might actually tell you some stories pretty soon, since there is so much to tell, but right now I will continue with the thought I had yesterday. 

Now, while I was still living in the Netherlands and working as a coach driver I had to take several courses. Like the one I did on First Aid. The courses had to be taken to get our code 95 as it is named in the Netherlands. Basically, every professional large vehicle driver (goods and people) has to do 35 hours of training every 5 years. Out of those 35 hours, 7 have to be practical. I did 28 hours back in the Netherlands. And then I quit, which meant my boss wasn't going to fork out for the last course. 

When I came to Norway therefore, I had to take the last course, but nooooo, over here they say you have to take the courses within a certain amount of time. Besides I hadn't gotten hold of the official certificates I needed, so I needed to do the whole 35 hours again. This week I finally got to do them. 

Parking. Just not for tanks!

We started on Tuesday, getting through dry laws and how a motor works (I never understood in Dutch, let alone in Norwegian). On Wednesday it was Thursday and we did more laws and more dry stuff. On Thursday it was Wednesday and we got a crash course in CPR and fire fighting, were explained about food and movement, responsibility and tunnels and a few more laws.

Today will be another theory day and then tomorrow will be driving day. And after that I will get my code 95. However, where it is just called code 95 in the Netherlands, here in Norway it is called YSK (Yrkes Sjafør Kompetanse), which translates to Professional Driver Competancy. Doesn't that just sound a whole lot more grown-up and proud? 

I am proud of my work and proud of all I have achieved over the last 14 years. And I am proud to soon be able to have that pride show on my license. 

Photo on Sunday 2013-22

While we drove to our destination last Saturday, we passed the Hardangervidda. A huge area that is quite high up and is absolutely breathtaking. Mind you, I do have a thing for long views that aren't hampered by too many mountains! And if there are no trees, it gets even better (I am funny like that). So, that area was just perfect. 

It had some feeling of The Burren (Ireland), but it was so much bigger and even more impressive! I will definitely go back there some day. The sticks that you see at the side of the road are the road markers, since the weather can be quite treacherous during wintertime. 

The result

The original plan had been quite simple: start hiking at 8am, be down around 4pm-ish and then drive home. Be back home well before midnight. That plan had a few flaws. Firstly, we couldn't get breakfast until 8am, which meant we left about 45 minutes late. Secondly, there was this awful descent that took three times longer than an ordinary descent would have been. And thirdly, they took me along!

By the time the coach was moving, it was 7.45pm. Almost four hours late! But the distance hadn't shrunk, that was still a six/seven hour drive! And we had to get some food into us as well. So, in the end it was half past three in the morning when the coach rolled onto the lot! I had tried to sleep on the coach, since I had made a fatal booboo: I had forgotten to change my shift and had to work an early shift! I finally hit my pillow at a quarter past four in the morning. Only to be rudely awoken again an hour later!! 

I was late for work by only a few minutes. But I made it through the day. Some how. Because as the day wore on, I started feeling worse and worse. The backs of my calves were burning, as were the fronts of my thighs. I couldn't lift my arms higher than my shoulders and my back was hurting in places I didn't even know I had (the places I mean). By the time I went home, I walked like an arthritic 120-year old! Getting down steps was agony, as was getting down slopes. 

I got home and on the couch. Laid down to watch some Doctor Who and eat some white chocolate (she must be psychic). When it was time to go to bed though, ooh. It took me the longest time to get into a sitting position, let alone off the couch. And don't even talk about getting up to bed! 

In the middle of the night I woke up because I couldn't even turn around in bed anymore! By the time I had managed it I was so awake I had to go to the toilet, which meant a further twenty minutes! Tuesday was therefore even worse than Monday had been. On Wednesday I started feeling better again though. On the mend so to say.  

The question now is of course: would I say yes again, after all, this is my Yes-year! Welllll.... With some adjustments, I might! First of all, I need a bit more (read a lot more) training. I am so out of shape, getting up a 25 meter incline is taking my breath away. Secondly: loosing a bit more weight would be good too, but I guess that once I get more training, I will loose weight. Thirdly: I need better gear. I have good shoes, but they are Dutch path shoes, not Norwegian stony mountain path shoes. I have a lovely bag, but it's way too small. I need good clothes, although the clothes I wore on Sunday were good. And fourthly: I need to take better care of my feet, regarding blisters and the like! So, perhaps my next tour will be...

Trolltunga! I will keep you posted...

The fumes

The huts in the olden days. We slept in more modern quarters

After a glorious trip, having dropped off the cyclists somewhere on the way (it was a joint cycling and hiking group, we would meet up again on Sunday, when we would drive back together), negotiating narrow tunnels and sheep sleeping in the middle of the main road from Oslo to Bergen(!), we made it to our night quarters. 

Two sets of bunkbeds for me and my one colleague

There are lots of huts being run by the Tourist Board and this was one of them. We got our beds, since there was enough room, but if there hadn't been, we wouldn't have been turned away: matrasses would be found and if it would be the dining room or the bathroom, some place to sleep would be found! They are like that over here. 

The graveyard in the grounds

After a lovely dinner, a good sleep and a hearty breakfast, we started our hike at a quarter to nine in the morning. According to the information we had, it would be about a six hour hike. (See how I have decided to change walk to hike?) The weather was fantastic, sunny and almost without wind, so pretty soon the hot stuff (ie sweaters etc) came off. The path was okay, a little gravel, a few stones, nothing to worry about. 

Now, we were to follow the path along the river, but even though the river went down, the path went up. Which led to my first steam train impersonation. It was heard many a time during the day. A few extra pounds and no fitness level whatsoever will do that! Anyway, I made it up, I took photos and we kept on walking. And walking. And walking. Until the split in the path. 

Off on our hike

There was a 'short' route following the river (ahem) and there was a 'long' route going up quite a bit and then down again along a path that had looked quite tricky. According to all present I would manage quite fine on the long route. So, up we went, me huffing and puffing at the rear. When we finally made it up though, the view was absolutely breath taking. So beautiful. Definitely worth it!

Well worth it!

We had a meal break while enjoying the view and then started our descent. Well, that wasn't tricky. It was downright harebrained and dangerous. And that was the general consensus! The tricky path that had been there only two years earlier had been hit by a rock avalange in 2012. According to the receptionist at the huts, it was quite safe, but it certainly didn't look or feel it! Basically we had to scramble down a steep mountain over smaller and bigger rocks. Some of which were loose!

This is what the descent should have been like

Since there were nine of us, we couldn't go down too close to each other, just in case stones and rock would come down, so it took ages to get all of us down. Probably about an hour and a half in all! If it had been a path, it would have taken us about a third I would think. I had to grab rocks, roots, trees, I had to slide down, find my footing, make awkward turns, but I did in the end manage to get down. Thanks to one of my fellow hikers who told me where to go!

This is what it was!

The first people had been down for over half an hour by the time we got down, so my rest was quite short, but we had to press on, after all, the cyclists would be waiting. By then however, my legs were starting to feel the strain. The leader of the pack told me about half an hour later that it was only an hour longer. FOUR hours later I was still struggling. Up and down and up and down. Rocks and stones on the path. I had lost all joy in the hike. When we would catch up with the rest I would flop down, in one case right into sheep shit and not even caring!

No path, just rocks and rubble!

In the end, it was me and two colleagues who made it down last. Very very very slowly. Because by then I was going on fumes. I needed to rest about every five to ten minutes. But getting strength back was nigh on impossible. The breaks needed to be longer and longer. I drank river water, ate nuts and carrots, but I just got slower. The tears were close, I was dizzy at times, my legs wobbled and my knees buckled with almost every step.

An early photo. I was still smiling!

In the end it took me ten and a half hours to get to the coach. And only because at some point we were met by two of the cycling party, who told us the path would be rock for only 500 meters more, before turning into a flat gravel road for about twenty minutes. I could have kissed them! I had a good drink of water, found strength again and after only one more short 30 second stop half way, I finally made it to the coach! It was 7.30pm!

More to come tomorrow!

The flutters

When I first thought about moving to Canada, I had never been there. I don't even think I had ever met a Canadian! But I persevered. It came to nothing. So, no Canadian lumberjack for me! Then I set my sights on Norway. A country I had never visited. Went on two short holidays, liked the place, got a job and moved. 

Odda

I love where I live. It's beautiful. I like my job. Of course it has its ucky yucky moments, but doesn't every job? And I decided at the start of my new life that yes would be the word of the day. Would I like to come on a tour? Yes. Not knowing where it went, not knowing what it was about. I would answer in the affirmative. 

There were blue plums, yellow plums and morelles for sale all along the roadside

So, that's how I found myself on Saturday morning on a coach headed towards the innards of Norway. Where we would go hiking. Now, you may remember my previous hiking experience. If you don't or are new to my life: here's a link! I told everybody about my experience, but I was told it would be allright and it would fine and it would be fun. So, YES it was. 

It would take about six or seven hours towards our destination and since I have this little condition called car sickness (don't snigger), I sat in the tourguide chair the whole way. Taking photos of this, that and the rest. The main road towards Oslo was little more than a country road. Then again, the traffic was little more than country traffic too! 

We saw some cyclists clearly on holiday. We saw a cathedral like roundabout in the middle of a tunnel. We saw some more cyclists on a tour from Voss to Geilo (mad the lot of them). We saw waterfalls and plums, tunnels and sheep and lots more besides that. 

Hardangervidda

And I fell, finally, head over heels in love. Flutters included. I love Norway!

Falling in love

I will tell all very very soon (probably tomorrow), but I need some rest and some Doctor Who, not necessarily in that order! Because, yes, I gone and done it again: climbed up and down some %#$@* Norwegian mountain. I didn't know hair could hurt, nor did I know there were muscles in my back. I do now!

For now however, I leave you with the photo of the backside of the package I got in the mail today. Thank you Pepperfly (and S)!

Summer

I spent a few of my summers in countries other than my homecountry. I spent a few weeks in Belgium in my not quite youth. I can't remember it raining once. Then I spent a summer in Yugoslavia, where it rained every Tuesday it seemed. A summer on Sicily, where the only rain that fell was so-called ghost rain: you could see it fall, but it was so hot that it would evaporate before falling on our heads. And then, a few summers in England. Which wasn't as bad as people usually say it is. At least I can't remember it being so. 

I have now moved to Norway. Live in a lovely cottage in the Norwegian countryside (I might have mentioned this before). And it's summer. Summer as in summer in Norway. Nothing like the 40+ degrees we had on Sicily, or even the 30+ of Yugoslavia. Summer in Norway is 17 to 23 degrees. Day time temperatures not changing that much during the night. But just because the temperatures are summery, it doesn't mean the weather necessarily is. 

Last week we had a few glorious days. Which ended on Sunday with some heavy rainfall. Then yesterday a lot of wind. And this morning a massive thunderstorm, which actually shook the house! But inbetween the weather is nice. Sunshine, nice temperatures and racing clouds. Plus an occasional day where you can sit in the sun and enjoy summer. In Norway!!!