Friday 24 August 2012

The Road Trip - Norway pt. 1

Boy does it show when you cross borders!

and *that* is a huge Troll.
We are on Day 5, and after hiking in Abisko National Park, having lunch and stopping at a gas station (again) we finally cross the borders to Norway. And wow, was that obvious!

Even if we didn't know where we were going or what we were crossing, the change in the landscape was so direct just after the border, that it was perplexing: from quite 'boring' almost no changing Swedish nature, to mind-blowing green scenery, red huts, trolls and small waterfalls.
Everyone (or at least in the car that I was sitting in) perked up and started taking pictures, while having their jaws dropped and repeating: "Amazing! Amazing!". And it continued to be so for the whole rest of the trip. ^^


So after invading the country, we started searching for a camping place, since we already had spent most of the day hiking and eating. We found quite a good one at approximately 1am in the "night". I use "night" because there was actually no night: we had long ago crossed the polar circle and 'night' was not on our dictionary anymore. But that "night" was special, since it was the first brightest. When it was 2am it was as bright as during the day. So we enjoyed the so-called Midnight sun. Even after midnight. :)

That had it's positive and negative sides: on one hand, having light was the best for camping and sightseeing, since we could see everything, anytime, and not worry about getting late.But on the other hand, we lost track of time. Without the change in light we didn't realise how quickly hours where spent here and there.


Day 6 was for some of us the most awaited day of all: It was Lofoten Islands day. And it was truly amazing! We were lucky since it had perfect weather, exactly what people needed for pictures! The route was to to cross all islands till end and then come back. All of them were connected with bridges so it was fairly easy to do: no need for ferries whatsoever. 


When we reached the end, we found the island called Å. No, I am not joking you, this is how its called. We had to take pictures there, so it went like this: only the girls, only the people whose name starts with A, and then everyone. The situation was quite funny, and it sparked a lot of jokes, for example, when we first saw the road sign, a girl from the van announced using the walkie-talkie in a very sexy voice: "We have just reached Å.." (as in Aaahh)

Funny thing those walkie-talkies, they were mostly intra-car for communication, but that of course did stop anyone from using them for making fun of things (or people). We had several 'inside jokes' about them, but the funniest were the different styles we used with them:
- flight announcements: "This is the navigation car speaking. Our next destination is Kiruna. Estimated time of arrival 12 pm. External temperature is approximately at 13 degrees. [...] Thank you for flying with [insert name of driver] Airlines."
- military codes: "This is Falcon. The bird is in the nest, I repeat, the bird is in the nest. Over."
- or WRC Rally commands. Which unfortunately I don't remember in detail in order to write them down..
- or just bubbling nonsense. And letting the others trying to understand what you actually meant!

I also don't have quite good pictures of the scenery, because this is the point that I got totally disappointed with my film camera (stopped working unexpectedly) and didn't simultaneously take pictures with the digital one. Actually I stopped taking any pictures at all, up until we returned to Gothenburg. (There are really amazing photos, just not mine)

But anyway, the view was totally amazing, and we had the time to enjoy it. We stopped several times for pictures, the enormously high mountains combined with crystal clear blue see water and colorful randomly arranged houses had to be captured! Even seagulls:


Later on that day we reached the dream cabin. We were hosted by a most generous member of LBG Trodheim in his family's cabin in the middle of nowhere. Literally in the middle of nowhere. It was located somewhere northern from the Lofoten islands and it was between various lakes. We couldn't even reach it with the cars, we had to walk there. And carry all of our heavy luggage and stuff. But it was not so much hustle, and the cabin was totally perfect! So cozy and warm, everyone wanted to stay there for the rest of the summer!

So the first night after a small living room gathering with talking and drinking, people searched for sleeping places, and from the moment they had it, everybody just dropped dead and slept like a baby until late next morning.

Day 7, the relaxation day! Totally fabulous! We started with a long long breakfast, and as soon as most of us got up, we split into teams: some went hiking, some stayed at the cabin. Some also went fishing and swimming in one of the surrounding lakes.


Later, after everyone was back, we prepared a super-duper pasta dinner and prepared for the funniest IE I have ever experienced. Since we were in a place we couldn't party as normal, we decided to make it a bit different. We arranged chairs for everyone around the living room and placed all our drinks and food on the two tables we had there. We worked in a circle: each country had to do a language lesson and a brief presentation of the stuff it had brought. After presentation all stuff went clockwise (and counterclockwise) for everyone to taste.


The thing I enjoyed the most was the atmosphere. Since we were already a week into the event, people knew each other more or less, so everyone was relaxed enough to make jokes even without the influence of alcohol. ^^ Country, language and even best related comments and jokes were always there: what best way to enjoy an IE. ^^

And that concludes the 7th day. For more, on Norway pt 2!


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