Some Things That Happened in Two Days in Norway

Martina's photo's here

80 quid for a taxi!

The only campsite we could get was 20km away from the airport. "Sod it, let's get a taxi." On asking a driver at the airport rank, our brains first working out it was 7 or 8 pounds, but the penny soon dropped that it was an order of magnitude higher. "Welcome to Norway" as the busdriver said to the train station.

"The Cold Air Is Delicious"

As we got off the train around 9pm, a slightly drunk, scruffy man started talking to me in Norwegian. "Sorry, I don't understand". In perfect English he breathed in deeply and exhaled saying... "The cold air is delicious. I have been on the stuffy train for two hours". Then he looked in a bin. Great use of English; Better than our tramps for certain.

The Chinese Takeaway Drinks

Aware that we were in a slightly dodgy situation with no liquid, and after the false alarm of a petrol station being open only to be automatic with no shop, we were more than relieved to come across a chinese takeaway on the very edge of the town. We didn't understand each other, but understood each other perfectly well. Left laden with coke and juice, and had a few glasses of water before we left.

The Camping By The Road

Five Km short of the campsite we were heading to, we stopped, exhausted at half past midnight. We had to set up camp, thankfully in a full moon, in a little patch of flat land near a small clump of trees. So happy to be cosy and resting. The rain started soon after, and the sound of the rain on the tent made it all the more cosy.

The Soapy Apples

As we walked along the road, a couple of time we passed apple trees with recent drops. After a polish, the were like pale golden delicious, but with an, at first, citrus tang, shortly followed by a strong flavour of soap. 'Fraid I chucked them.

The Suicidal Moose

"We haven't seen much wildlife" I mentioned to Martina. I turned round to check traffic behind us as we walked though the countryside along the 118. I saw a young moose shoot out the forest almost hitting a van, slipping on the road as he tried to turn round, loosing his footing. We stopped and watched for a while; He'd gone. Another van passed us and I turned to watch it go near where the moose was. It shot out the forest again, just making it across this time as the van swerved. About 50m on the other side, he stopped in some bushes, contemplating the meaning of life I expect.

118 247

We spent so long walking along the 118, I'm afraid we spent sometime singing Weebl's catchy jingle.

The Nice Bus Driver

When we arrived, we chatted with the station shuttle bus driver and he gave us lots of useful information. We seemed to be the only people not heading straight to Oslo, and certainly the only one's foolhardy enough to be camping with the oncoming storm. When we returned, he recommended a really cheap hotel, and even drove us there. And his mate stopped for us the next day. Really nice people.

The Cheap Nice Hotel

The best value I think in Norway seemed to be this hotel for 650Kr that was perfectly acceptable. It had heat, flat soft beds and duvets. That is all that mattered.

The Laying Down on Soft Bed "Orgasm"

The relief of finally reaching a safe haven, and kicking off wet boots, socks and jeans, drying out and laying down on a soft bed and pulling a warm duvet over your aching body induces something pretty close, without a doubt. Oh. My. God.

The Spread On The Toast: Mackerel or Child

In the basket in the room were little pots of spread. One with a picture of a mackerel contained mackerel. One with a picture of a young boy we couldn't work out, but child on toast tastes nice. Bit like pate.

The Man On The Sofa

As we were waiting for our departing flight, a young man kipping on an airport sofa was dumped on the floor as the leg broke (for the second time). Lips were bitten.