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Scandinavia Eurotrip 2023

lipca - października 2023
93-dniowa przygoda według Ian & Emma-Jane Czytaj więcej
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  • 70ślady stóp
  • 18kraje
  • 93dni
  • 447zdjęcia
  • 16filmy
  • 15,6kkilometry
  • 14,0kkilometry
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  • Scandinavia Eurotrip 2023
    11
    Dzień 29

    Hiking Hardangervidda National Park

    9 sierpnia 2023, Norwegia ⋅ 🌧 8 °C

    So one of the biggest reasons for coming to Norway was for the epic hiking. Now they're pretty kitted out for this with all these cool cabins scattered across the country and trails in between, but planning the hikes ended up being trickier than we initially first thought. It's also difficult to gauge how intense the hike is going to be... especially when 1 has to factor in a heavy backpack.😬 Anyways, we probably bit off a bit more than we could chew for our first hike! It ended up being a gruelling 92km hike over 4 and a bit days with an elevation gain of 3800m! We averaged about 20km a day over VERY rough terrain ie post glacial boulder fields, glaciers, bogs, steep rock faces etc. It really pushed us both physically and mentally this hike, but it was cool to be able to say we managed to do it and we definitely learnt A LOT of lessons from this about packing light!😅 The hike had some incredible views though and was spectacular in every other regard! Czytaj więcej

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  • Scandinavia Eurotrip 2023
    1
    Dzień 33

    Driving in Norway

    13 sierpnia 2023, Norwegia ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

    So this gets its own post! Driving in Norway is an experience...firstly, the speed limit is 80km/hr for most of the country, so it takes aaaaaages just to go relatively short distances eg it'll take 3hrs to go 150km with all the tunnels and ferries etc. That brings me onto the next point. Tunnels. God do they love a tunnel here! Including having circles in the tunnels which is interesting (see the video)!We also went through the longest tunnel I've ever (and probably will ever) go through...25km long! Emz and I almost passed out from holding our breath for that long!😉 Czytaj więcej

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  • Scandinavia Eurotrip 2023
    Dzień 34

    Norway: Bergen

    14 sierpnia 2023, Norwegia ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    So after the hectic hiking in Hardangervidda, it was on to Bergen we went! What a picturesque city and faaaaar better in this regard than Oslo (although this wasn't difficult!🤦🏻‍♂️). Quite a touristy place, but there's definitely a reason for it! Beautiful, narrow cobbled streets with cute wooden houses, all built on these little islands and peninsulas created by the fjords. There was also a bustling fish market where they even had WHALE meat on offer. Norway is one of the few countries where whale hunting is still practiced, but we avoided trying the meat due to the ethical implications of whale hunting. Instead we settled for a Norwegian beer bar which had an impressive array of Norwegian beers and finally we ended the night with our first try of Norwegian cuisine at one of their fine dining restaurants. Emz and myself weren't overly impressed. The food was okay, but nothing special for the price. Still, Bergen is a place to be visited if going to Norway and we had a good time here! Czytaj więcej

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  • Scandinavia Eurotrip 2023
    Dzień 35

    Norway: Lom

    15 sierpnia 2023, Norwegia ⋅ 🌧 10 °C

    After leaving Bergen, it was back to the mountains for more....yep....hiking! But first for a night near our intended hiking spot in a cute little cabin of which by far the biggest highlight was seeing our first bit of Norwegian wildlife...we saw a MOOSE!!!🫎😁 Finally the binos came in handy in this relatively desolate environment! Czytaj więcej

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  • Scandinavia Eurotrip 2023
    1
    Dzień 37

    Norway:Hiking& she said YES!😁🥳💍

    17 sierpnia 2023, Norwegia ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    So as the title suggests, this was the BIG hike where Emz said YES to marrying me!😁 But it wasn't all as plain sailing as it would seem. Initially the plan was to do this on the previous hike, but a combination of having to write a poem in a card in a long drop (the only time I could get away from Emz) and us being so exhausted that mere survival held stronger sentiment than proposals, things never really materialised in the 'grazing a knee' department. So onto hike no. 2 in Reinheimen NP. A less challenging hike and one where surely nothing else could go wrong, right? Besides, Emz had already passed her final test with flying colours of doing 145km hiking across the Norwegian mtns with 5000m elevation gain in 10 days.😉 Anyways, the weather was set fair for our day 2 of hiking and this was D-day...the planned day! But things quickly didn't seem so rosy when poor Emz put on her hiking boots and was in absolute agony from them. Emz being Emz, wanted to attempt to hike on and thought that us not hiking that day would ruin our already amazing 3 month holiday. I managed to convince her through her tears that it was okay for us not to hike - especially if one was in pain - ; us not hiking wouldn't ruin the holiday and we could just chill at the cabin (by far the best cabin we'd stayed at as well) on the lake and have a picnic. Emz eventually came around to the idea and it was at this picnic on the rocks beside the lake where this amazing girl said YES! We both couldn't be happier!😁🥳💍

    We celebrated with a little bottle of prosecco I'd carried around for 145km, a bottle of nice french wine and some Norwegian people in the cabin made us blueberry pancakes for dessert which was lovely! We also met a girl named Live (pronounced 'lever') who joined us for the last 2 days of the hike and Emz and myself were both very impressed. I can't say I've met many 18yr olds that go hiking for 4 nights in the mountains by themselves and even have their own rifle!😳 Anyways, she kept us both entertained with her stories. All in all though, a great 4 day hike and Emz and myself think it's probably one of the best in Norway😏😉😁     Czytaj więcej

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  • Scandinavia Eurotrip 2023
    Dzień 39

    Norway: Geiranger

    19 sierpnia 2023, Norwegia ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    This place gets a quick mention...it was on our way from where we hiked in Billingen to where we were going to next which was Alesund. This place -with it's many switchback roads - is incredibly beautiful and provides an excellent view of the fjords of Norway. As I keep doggedly saying to Emz, ' I can't believe that these fjords - absolute things of beauty - were formed by glaciers in the ice ages millions of years ago! It's also crazy to think that some of these rocks are older than bones! 'Bone' as a material only evolved 55mil years ago and some of these rocks are 2bil years old!' 🤯 Anyways, my compadre doesn't seem nearly as enthused about geology as I am and she just thinks it's funny that the whole glacier talk has kind of become a mantra for our trip.😔 I'll just have to keep 'chipping' away though and she might eventually come around to the idea...a bit like birdwatching🤓😏 Czytaj więcej

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  • Scandinavia Eurotrip 2023
    Dzień 39

    Norway: Ålesund

    19 sierpnia 2023, Norwegia ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    So as a newly engaged couple, we left the hiking and the mountains behind us and headed to Ålesund, a town on the west coast of Norway. The name Ålesund we were told (by a Norwegian on our hike) means Eel Sound ('sound' as in water passage). I think this place is aptly named as what can be seen from my photos is how the water snakes its way around many islands in an eel-like fashion. The first night in Ålesund we could've spent phoning people to let the wide world know about our engagement, buuuuuut the Bokke were playing Wales and we had bought tickets to go and watch a local country band performing top American Country hits by Johnny Cash and the like. So engagement news was put on hold for a night. The Bokke thankfully smashed Wales and it was off to the Theatre Fabriken for the gig. The gig was good fun! Emz and I were definitely the youngest in attendance at this gig though by a looooong shot! It turns out the Norwegians like to dance though, so we got to sokkie and our heads must've looked like blonde and brunette boats, bobbing amongst the sea of greys and whites.
    The walk to the gig did give us a good view of the town and I think it was the best town we visited in Norway and would recommend the town to anyone visiting Norway. It is far smaller and also feels far less touristy than Bergen, yet still has really beautiful architecture and the beauty of all the little islands in the sounds.
    The next day we spent the morning engaging with the uninformed family and friends about our engagement. This was met with a lot of enthusiasm which was great from both family parties!😁 We then did another hike (yep, we can't seem to get enough of these bloody things!), but just to the view point over the city as can be seen from the photos. We also wanted to have a nice engagement supper in celebration, but forgot that it was a Sunday and in continental Europe, EVERYTHING seems to come to standstill on a Sunday! Or maybe we are the spoilt ones living in London where nothing is ever closed, who knows🤷🏻‍♂️ So the engagement supper was put on hold for now. Overall a great little town and one we both thoroughly enjoyed visiting!     Czytaj więcej

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  • Scandinavia Eurotrip 2023
    Dzień 42

    Norway: The Arctic Circle!!

    22 sierpnia 2023, Norwegia ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    The next 2 days after Ålesund were spent driving the slow roads of Norway northwards. So basically 6hrs in a car each day with me driving through the endless rain listening to podcasts whilst Emma slept! She can't nap during the day, but pop Emz in a car and she passes out within about 20min!
    The coolest part of us heading northwards though is we entered into THE ARCTIC CIRCLE!!😁 The latitude of 23.5° from the poles (correlating to the 23.5° tilt of the Earth on its axis) where one can experience a polar night (no sunrise) in Winter and Midnight sun (no sunset) in Summer. This line does change though as the Earth is never exactly at a 23.5° tilt. This is the furthest we've both ever been Northwards on land and - by all likelihoods- will be the furthest we ever go North on this planet of ours. Our final latitude reached was 67.07°N. We celebrated with a cold beer in a jacuzzi at these cute little Arctic Cabins that we were staying at.     Czytaj więcej

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  • Scandinavia Eurotrip 2023
    Dzień 43

    Sweden: Wild Camping

    23 sierpnia 2023, Szwecja ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    So what goes up, must come down and since we had reached our northward most point, it was time for us to start following the swallows and heading back South. But first, we had to drive East to scoot around the Gulf of Bothnia (the sea btwn Sweden and Finland). The highlight of this drive eastwards into Sweden is we saw our first ever REINDEER!!😁 Only our 2nd animal in these desolate landscapes.😁

    Now, if you didn't know this already, Norway is regularly rated from various sources as the most EXPENSIVE country in Europe! Up there with Switzerland and Iceland. I think it's safe to say that if our credit card were a dog, its tail would be firmly tucked between its legs as we departed this beautiful country. So in this regard, we were happy to be heading back into Sweden (which I think highlights the fact that Norway is pricey when you start looking at Sweden as a 'cheap' country). But to hit the ground running with cost saving, we decided to exercise our "Allemansrätten", the Swedish word meaning "every man's right", which basically means you can camp anywhere free of charge (provided it's not right next to someone's house of course). We had had such a good experience earlier on our trip with these free shelters in the Swedish wilderness, that we thought this might be a good option. Well, where the other wild camping was one of the highlights, this was certainly one of the lowlights! With the shelter being a bit dilapidated and the road to it miserable (Olaf - our car - almost got stuck), we decided to move onto greener pastures. Sadly, it would seem our 'greener pastures' had been victim to Lord Kitchener's 'scorched earth policy' and were no better than the crappy shelter. We drove to a dead end in the forest and decided it was here that we'd camp. On closer inspection though, this area seemed to be someone's fly tipping haven, but we were both too tired to head out again and look for another spot. So we set up camp in a mosquito infested rubbish dump where I thought the tyre hanging in the tree really completed the Feng Shui of the place. A place to remind us that it's not all roses travelling and that will be remembered but which we would really hope to forget!     Czytaj więcej

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  • Scandinavia Eurotrip 2023
    Dzień 44

    Finland: Tornio Camping

    24 sierpnia 2023, Finlandia ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    It was a vast improvement on our previous night's accommodation when we arrived to an actual campsite in Finland. Running water, electricity and no mosquitoes! Bloody luxury! It was also at this campsite that we would dive straight into a very Finnish thing to do i.e. using a SAUNA at the end of the day. And one way using a sauna is very different in Finland to more western culture, is that in Finland, this is done entirely in the nude (at this campsite, they did have separate saunas for men and women). So off I trotted to the men's sauna after sending Emz on her merry way to the women's sauna. Thankfully, a lifetime of hockey and cricket locker-rooms had prepared me for this so it was really no big deal to do this. However, I did feel I was the scrawny wing, in a locker-room filled with the forwards of an unfit, overweight, middle aged rugby team when I entered the sauna. Later, after I told Emz my story, she told me of her sauna experience. By the sounds of it, if I had the back row forwards in my sauna, then Emz had the tight-head prop in her sauna. A poor lady that probably hadn't seen her foof in years by the sounds of it! Anyways, an interesting experience all round.

    Our last night at this camp was spent having a braai and sipping wine whilst watching probably a once in a lifetime demolition by the Springboks over the All Blacks! A truly incredible experience and for almost the first time, both Emz and myself were homesick to London as I think almost every expat Saffa we know was in attendance to that historic game! I just hope we haven't peaked too early! Come on Bokke!🇿🇦💪

    It's also important to note that Emz won her first game of Scrabble at this campsite! As revenge, she beat me on her final move when I was leading. Our games are anything but tight!     Czytaj więcej

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