Oslo city centre is a combination of old and new buildings. The older buildings reminded me of Denmark with the darker stone colours and the new ones were huge metal boxes with windows. In a strange way it reminded me of Glasgow however not as pretty. My hostel was a dump, in this case it just proved that having a central location compromised on everything else (atmosphere and comfort) and it was the most expensive one I have stayed in throughout my travels to date! Glad I was only staying 2 nights and a massive lesson learned on my part, if the hostel world rating is less than 80% do not touch it with a barge pole. The high point of my stay was walking along the tramlines and seeing some lovely buildings outside the city ... read more

Best way I can describe Bergen, it is a picturesque city (however it looks and feels more like a small beautiful village) inundated with mini markets every few metres (kiwi, rema, rimi, 7eleven, coop, spar to name but a few). In light of my previous city breaks in October, it would be fair to say I should have expected the weather to be similar, i.e. wet....but the naive optimist in me tried to hold on to the notion that October was not the Scandinavian norm....how wrong can you get! Locals in Bergen wear head to toe gortex / waterproofs and look prepared for anything the elements throw at them. I on the other hand was only semi-prepared, so I was totally relieved I brought extra clothes, that way I remained dry throughout the trip. Due to ... read more

Day 1 Friday 19th October 2012 Despite the early start (up at 3.30am ouch!) it has been a great first day. Flight left on time and was early on arrival as the announcement stated, I can't recall if this was my first Ryanair flight, but certainly was impressed! The bus journey took an hour and a half which was pleasant enough giving me the chance to see the countryside before heading into the city. First impressions were abit iffy....the outskirts looked rather depressing and grey, the light drizzle did not help. However within minutes the scene changed and you could see old buildings with real character. It took me a couple of detours and 45mins to find the hostel (which considering previous experiences was pretty good going), but it was certainly worth ... read more

One way to remember a walk is to be faced with challenging weather conditions, a great sense of occassion and good company! Pleased to say that all three were amply met during our walk up Ben Nevis on Saturday 1st Sept 2012. Well after two and a half months of anticipation and planning, Grace & I, finally made our way on Friday 31st August to Fort William via the scenic route….following 4 small de-tours (all part of the adventure!) we arrived at our hostel “Chase the Wild Goose”. There were several events taking place on Saturday 1st September: a) the Ben Nevis hill runners race, where aprox 500 hill runners head up & down BN via the quickest route…my uncle Derek was one of them (his time on the day was 2hrs 30min)! b) the 3 ... read more

That's another 5 munros off the to do list! Still have not used the tent though :-( But it was another great weekend away and the sun did come out both days, so did the rain, the wind and the crowds...but you can't have it all!!! Saturday 14 July 2012 Carn Gorm, Meall Garbh, Carn Mairg and Meall nan Aighean (from Invervar near Glen Lyon) I met another fellow car sleeper at Invervar car park. At last I don’t feel as weird anymore, there are others like me our there :-) Glad to report I did not get lost on the way up this time….however managed to do so on the way down thus adding another 1.5hrs to the day and 1 mile hike on the road back to the car in Invervar. I guess it ... read more