13 and 14 July I took my second rest day at Budsjord gard, another farm with a history stretching back centuries. I am glad that I changed my mind and stayed here - the alternative is way down in the valley below and it would have been a couule of hours and a steep climb to get here. Tomorrow I just walk 50m up the road and I am back on the path. Got a lift into Dombas today, then spent the afternoon catching up on my diary.... read more

Today the path turned north again around a large bluff. There was enough room for the E6 and the railway on the river flats, while pilgrims take a tortuous path along the lower slopes. It was tough going. Once heading north, the path then went up to the valley heights - twice! Both pretty strenuous climbs, particularly when my glasses misted up in the rain and I had difficulty seeing the path, let alone the view. There was an entire change in the vegetation at the altitude, and the path became very rocky and difficult. Spectacular walking but very slow going, perhaps less than a km every 20 minutes and lots of breaks to figure out how best to walk some more difficult stretch. At the end there was a long roadside walk alongside the E6, ... read more

Too tired for much of an entry. Veldre to Brottum: 39k, 957m of climb in 8hrs 49 mins walking done over 11hrs 35mins. Brilliant views over Lake Mjosa from Moelv.... read more

2/7 At Konfirmantsalen, Veldre, and have the place to myself. I left Hamar too early to walk through the Glass Cathedral, but had a quick look around the site before heading to that other place of worship - a shopping centre. Reached Furness kirke around lunch-time and Veldre kirke late afternoon.... read more

I understand that people might want to see photos. I would love to, but this is the first internet machine I have been able to access since Oslo! That was now six days ago. It is a terminal, not a PC with the ability to download photos. The short blog entries are being done by my daughter from SMS texts. There was one night where that wasn't even possible, but if I can send text, that at least lets you know that I am alive and well (if a little footsore). So please accept that it might be a few days before I can share photos with you.... read more

Left Bogbakken relatively early, not quite knowing whether the Pilgrim Centre estimate of the distance was correct, or my hosts more pessimistic view that it was a 30km walk. Within a 100m or so, he was. Today was a three church day. The first after a couple of kilometres at Tangen, the second at Stange, and the third a mere glimpse in the distance of the Glass Cathedral, a ruin that has been covered to preserve it. Only from a distance, it looks like any other large glasshouse. I only hope it lives up to its expectations tomorrow. After a short road stretch, it was into the sort of country that in Australia one might characterise as red-neck. Places still in the process of construction with an unregistered Alfa, two unregistered Mitsubishi, and a skull over ... read more

B&B at Bjorknes 28/6 Long urban stretch leaving Dal before some quite rural road, farmland and another gully scramble to get to Eidsvoll kirke then the town. Long afternoon walk to Langest. Bjorknes about 6km off trail. Stats: 30.5km, 507m elevation gain, 86km covered, 113km walked. Finnsbraten 29/6 Short day to Finnsbraten. I got driven back to where I left the trail. One navigation error early (1.5k, but steep). Passing Floyta Lake I met Borja, a Spaniard who had started in Eidsvoll. He was camping. We chatted then I moved on while he broke camp. He passed me later determined to get past Espa. I stopped at Finnsbraten and got set up - collected water, set fire, etc. Later had two women visit - not me but the hut. Nice to chat a while. Bogbakken 30/6 ... read more

Lets just say that this is not a day I ever want to repeat. My quick calculations before starting led me to the conclusion that I would need to walk 27 km today. A bit of a stretch after yesterday, but still not too big a leap. That just didn't happen. Breakfast The difficulty with staying somewhere where there are no cooking facilities is that one cannot whip up a decent breakfast, and so the first thing on a pilgrims mind is where to find sustaining hot food and drink. So rather than bypass Klofta, I detoured into town to find only the railway station kiosk open. A bitter vending machine coffee and soft muffin were my lot, and an extra 2 km on the day. Time for another kirke It was a short walk, but ... read more

Catching the Bus So I stayed in Oslo again last night following my walk to Olavsgaard, intending to catch the bus back out to start walking from there again today. With my big pack ready, I headed into the bus terminal on the tram, which with a couple of false starts took about 40min, and I was soon on the bus. About five minutes later we stopped outside the hotel to pick up passengers. Researched that well, didn't I. Back on St Olav's Way I will claim that I wasn't lost, just taking a short cut! I found out that the one reason that land isn't farmed, forested or build on here is that one can't. It's not about keeping pleasant green space for innocent travellers to take short-cuts through, but about leaving the excessively steep ... read more

There's little interest in reporting that nothing out of the ordinary happened when one is starting on an adventure, but that's pretty much how today was. I suppose there were the minor moments of adjusting to being in the northern hemisphere. One that always gets me sooner or later is the difficulty that sun is in the logically correct but otherwise unusual place for an Australian - the south. I made it through the day without it being a problem, more because it was hidden by cloud for most of the time that I was out and about. So I still have that to look forward to. Another is that people on the street have some not so subtle different behaviours. Oslo drivers seem pretty well behaved, so pedestrian behaviour is almost normal. Except that all ... read more