Hermansverk and Forde: "Seriously, who hides in the laundry? I mean, what are you - a sock?!"

---

Hi everyone,

We have made it safely to Bri's 'family' in Forde... It was a mostly uneventful trip. We left Flam and caught the bus to Hermansverk, and, thanks to a really friendly Norwegian dude, were dropped outside of our hotel. He was very amused throughout the trip by our inability to pronounce place names correctly, and also an interesting exchange a nervous Michy had about tunnels through mountains;

Mich: This bus doesn't go through that dark, scary tunnel does it?
Man: No...
Mich: Oh, wow! Im grateful for that! I really, really do not like the idea of going through a mountain.
Man: But we do have to go through that mountain over there. And that one. And... I think that one also.
Mich: Oh. Dear. God.
Man: Oh! And also, we go through what I think is Europe's longest tunnel - 25 kilometres.
Mich: Argh!

So we arrived safely in Hermansverk. "Where on earth is Hermansverk?" you ask. The middle of goddamned nowhere. On a fjord. Exciting stuff. We watched television. And went to a cute little pub (probably the only pub in town). The night porter was lovely - he made us breakfast and we spoke to him at length about Australia, Scandinavia and our travels. We caught an early bus to Forde where, without a Norwegian speaker to help us, we were dropped at the hospital instead of the bus station. Bri and Lillian found us, though, so all was not lost.

Bri, Alyce and Mich had lunch in the city centre and walked home. We met the kids - Andreas (12), Gina (7) and Elias (just turned 6) - who were adorable. Lillian, Gina, Elias and the girls went for a long and fairly spectacular walk between dinners (yes, they have two here) and it has been decided that tomorrow we are driving up a mountain to go hiking and hopefully play in some snow. The family has been wonderfully accommodating - especially towards Michele, for whom they have bought soy milk and corn cobs for the BBQ tomorrow. We are really enjoying being in a family environment and being able to eat fresh food!

Anyway, it's getting late and we have a big (last) day ahead of us.

Love to one and all...

Michy & Alyce.

---