Last few days in Norway

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6 SEPTEMBER 2009, SUNDAY

Father’s Day today so after showering and packing I logged into the internet and my Skype account and called home briefly. Then it was an 8am breakfast before checking out and being on our way by 8:45am. It was about a ten minute drive before we had a brief ferry journey across a fjord.

Then it was a bit of a drive on to Narvik which is known for being involved in WWII and having several warships sunk nearby. Stopped at a WWII memorial briefly before heading on to a service stop for a 15 minute toilet and food break. Then it was about another hours drive until we got to the Polar Zoo, a 275 square kilometre zoo which houses Scandinavian animals in their natural habitat. Cost slightly under 20 euro to get in, and that was with the group discount. Got there at around 12:30 or so and we knew that there was a predator feeding at 1pm so we headed off to have a quick look at what we could before coming back to watch the feeding at four different cages. Saw Reindeer and Elk, Arctic Foxes, Brown Bear, Lynx’s, Moskus’, Wolves, Wolverine. There were lots of young animals which was kind of good to soo. The two cutest ones were called Salt and Pepper - two baby brown bears - one Albino; hence the names. The baby Lynx’ were also quite cute. The Wolverine really surprised me though - it looks quite harmless but it is quite a predator - it has the crushing power of 3 tonnes and in the wild will bring down an elk on its’ own.

By the time we finished at the Polar Zoo (well - rushed through it anyway) it was 2pm and time to get back to the bus for lunch - which was a beef and veg soup with bread; cheese and biscuits and some fruit. Then it was back onto the bus for another few hours until our arrival into Skibotn at around 4pm or so. Then it was a quick set up and check in before we all put on our swim wear and headed down to the river for the Polar Plunge. The water temperature (so we were told) was a whole 10 degrees. Brrrr.

We got there just as some people were starting to jump off of the bridge and some people were running in, so we got to see their reactions first - and it wasn’t altogether bad really!! They were cold but looking forward to the sauna which was due to follow. The remainder of us ran and jumped in and while I didn’t stay in very long - run and jump, then run out basically!! - it wasn’t as cold as what I had thought it would be. By this stage the sauna was at 80 degrees and was packed, so we stood in the room out the front of it and enjoyed the mild 30 degree or so heat there for a good half hour.

By the time we had dried and dressed we had time to get a load of washing on and relaxed a little before an 8pm dinner which was pork chops (I skipped that section of dinner) with vege and potatoes and gravy. Then it was my turn to do dishes (again) before heading back to the cabin and having a very chilled out evening, rotating washing on the heaters to try to fix it.

MONDAY 7 SEPTEMBER

Another drive day today so no hot breakfast. It was also our final day heading north and the first day that we saw wild reindeer by the side of the road (the highlight of the day’s driving as you can imagine). There were the mandatory rest stops, including lunch in a supermarket car park where we had the opportunity to buy snacks and alcohol (still very expensive) before having salads and the usual fruit and cheese and biccies for lunch.

From there we spent the rest of the afternoon driving before arriving in Olderfjord at about 3:30pm or so, where it was checking into our cabins and an incredibly early dinner at 5pm so that those people going up to Nordkapp could get up there for sunset. Despite being one of the reasons I did this trip; I didn’t think that the cost was worth it not to see midnight sun and potentially miss out even on a sunset, so I, along with about 15 other people, stayed behind. Sat outside for a while kicking a soccer ball around and chatting in the cook tent; before agreeing it was too cold and squishing into one of the cabins for a few drinks. Waited up until the others arrived back at about 11pm or so. They heated up some of the remaining soup and chicken curry and rice for a midnight snack (they were all quite drunk) and then we all headed to bed.

TUESDAY 8 SEPTEMBER

Completely free day today but nonetheless I woke up relatively early - probably because I am used to doing that now!! Showered and dressed before heading down to breakfast for cereal and toast at about 8:30am. Had a quick walk down to the beach as well to have a look while waiting for the hot breakfast (eggs, beans and toast) which wasn’t until 10am this morning because of the late night the night before.

Everyone was talking about going on the 10km hike just behind the camping ground - so in an attempt to beat some of the crowd and avoid walking in a group of 30, Jess, Peter and I headed off. It was slightly uphill for the first part, with the track fairly clearly marked with red ‘T’s on stones and dots in some places. But the trail did split quite often and we had to keep a bit of an eye out to make sure we were on the right path. Went past some great viewing areas when we got to the top of the mountain which looked out onto the bay in the Olderfjord area. The weather was nice and sunny too which made for a very pleasant walk. As we were just dawdling and taking our time on the path (enjoying the scenery) we were soon caught by a few of the others. Despite this, we stayed ahead of the pack for a while. On what appeared to be the way back, Peter and I wandered off the track to walk up onto some rocks for a better view. Jess decided to head back on her own, and somehow in wandering from one viewing point to another Peter and I managed to get onto a path which wasn’t marked by red dots. When eventually we came across a few other people from our group, we had worked out we weren’t on the right path and had to backtrack our path somewhat before realising we had turned the wrong way at a T intersection while looking for a better viewpoint. Heaps of mushrooms scattered the sides of the paths too and I collected a MASSIVE one that I saw - just for the sake of it.

The 10km trail ended up taking us over two hours; but a good half hour or so of that was off the actual trail itself. Not like there was anything to do back at the campsite though! No town to speak of, and apart from enjoying the afternoon sun and some souvenir shopping, the rest of the afternoon passed with pretty much everyone sitting around the cook tent.

Dinner was at 7:30pm and was cottage pie with veges and waffles for dessert;. Then it was an early night as we knew we had an early start the next morning. Did some reading before sleep.

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