Archive for the ‘Family’ Category

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Back over the mountains

Tuesday, August 5th, 2008

646Sogndal was our decision point: should we continue north to Geiranger or start the journey eastwards back toward home. Geirangerfjord is supposed to be perhaps one of the most impressive fjords in Norway but we decided that we were all fjorded out and opted to take the tourist road over the mountains to Lom instead. This route is definitely worth making part of your itinerary – particularly when the sun is out as it was for us. The views across the Jotunheimen mountain range were stunning.

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Trains and (more) fjords

Thursday, July 31st, 2008

637Next stop from Bergen was Gudvangen where we were staying at Gudvangen Camping in another hut. Sat on the balcony of our accommodation we had a great view of the waterfalls tumbling down the cliff face opposite – all the more so when the sunshine was replaced by an impressive thunderstorm in the evening. It was hard to believe that the road we looked out over was the main route from Oslo to Bergen, particularly as the traffic seemed mainly to consist of empty tour buses!

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In and around Bergen

Wednesday, July 30th, 2008

622Our first choice for accommodation on the outskirts of Bergen had fallen through and we picked Riplegården Sommerpensjon in a bit of a rush. We were a bit dismayed when the guy showing us around proceeded to tell us not to leave our car up the road otherwise the windows would get smashed and about the drug addicts they had to throw out in the winter. It also transpired that most of the accommodation was taken by long term residents so, poised ready to leave, we waited to see who came home from work. As it turned out, everyone was very nice and, although in need of a good clean, the pensjon actually made a good base for our four night stay in Bergen and did, as promised, have a good view over the fjord from the balcony.
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Mountains and fjords

Saturday, July 26th, 2008

616Having waved goodbye to Christine’s Mum at Geilo station the next leg of our journey took us away from the railway and up on to the Hardangervidda plateau. Perhaps due to the bright blue skies overhead it didn’t look quite as bleak and barren as I had imagined it to be. It was a pleasant enough drive though with some nice white peaks in the distance and the odd glacier to add to the scenery.

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Sunny start to holiday

Thursday, July 24th, 2008

610We had always planned to take some time off to explore Norway towards the end of our stay here and, with practically no-one left in Oslo to work with, the end of July seemed like a good time to go. We had thought about getting the train across to Bergen but practicality prevailed and we decided to drive the hire car across. We still intended to make the most of scenery though by taking the R7 throught the Hardangervidda.

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Oslo in the rain

Sunday, July 20th, 2008

604Christine’s brother Ian, and his wife Sarah were our latest guests. They arrived on Thursday night on the late flight from Bristol. Fortunately they had a good day out at the beach in the sun on Friday (whilst yours truly was working) because come the weekend the weather wasn’t so kind. On Saturday it was just threatening and we managed a walk out to UllevÃ¥lsetter but the heavens really opened up on Sunday. Our Oslo itineries don’t cater for bad weather (unless you’re a fan of museums) so we just walked around the city centre sheltering from the showers when we could. This provided my first chance to take a good look at the new Opera House up close. It’s an impressive beast and I must try and get back there with the camera when the weather is better. Ian and Sarah timed their departure just right as we got soaked getting back to the car from seeing them off at the station. They took with them some of our belongings – a sign that it’s now less than a month to go before we return to the UK (and that we’ve accumulated a lot of stuff whilst we’ve been out here!)

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Emma on a bike

Monday, July 14th, 2008

598Emma finally made it out on her first bike ride this evening. One of our neighbours had generously lent us an old bike and child seat ages ago but it took a while to get a helmet for Emma and then to get the seat attached to the bike (the bike it came off having a larger seat post). To offset her blue for boys helmet (they were out of the pink and neutral helmets in her size) Emma was sporting tights and skirt. Surprisingly (given her usual dislike of hats) Emma seemed to accept the helmet without too much fuss.

We were only out about 15 minutes as the spring return is locked solid on the front gears and I wasn’t going to tackle any of the local climbs on our first outing. It was long enough for Christine to get the vacuuming done which Emma hates. Emma seemed happy enough on the back of the bike although it is difficult to tell when she is tucked right behind you. She was burbling away to herself for much of the time although seemed to go quiet when we sped up. Not sure whether that’s fear or enjoyment! I don’t think we’re going to be planning any long trips given the state of the bike but it’s nice to have something else to do with her in the evenings and to know that it’ll be worth us getting her a seat when we get back to the UK.

Lastly, I would like to point out that the honking great 4×4 in the back of the photo is not ours!

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Weekend in Oslo

Sunday, July 13th, 2008

595We’ve had a fairly quiet weekend at home in Oslo. Christine was sick on Thursday night (food poisoning we reckon although we’re not quite sure from what) and was still recovering. We just went in to town yesterday. We started out at the playground in Aker Brygge although Emma largely ignored this and just walked her buggy up and down instead. Next stop was the tourist information office in the hope that they would help us decide on the route for our summer trip to the west coast. Strangely enough, although very nice, they couldn’t really help in our general indecision between having a relaxing few weeks and cramming in the sights. We walked back home via Frognerparken as the sun was shining by this point.

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Posted in Family, Orienteering, Travel | 2 Comments »

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