Buskerud

Will had found a peaceful and scenic looking spot on Park4Night and so we drove a bit further today, hoping to pull a 2 nighter there. The land we travelled through was becoming increasingly agricultural, with growing fields of wheat, barley and oats, green hay being cut and the golden stubble that remained from crops that had already been harvested.

The roads were good quality so we made decent progress and soon arrived at a camper service point attached to a petrol station, near the area we intended to stay. Travelling through different countries you soon develop a knack for quickly identifying the nationalities of vehicles and within a few seconds of pulling in behind a white transit style campervan, we realised it had a GB registration! We got chatting to the young couple from South Wales who were just setting out on their adventure of living in their van (like us this time last year). They'd crossed the channel, hot footed it up here and were on their way to the Arctic Circle. What treats they have in store!

We knew our overnight spot was near the top of a hill and followed the sat nav's directions. The maps have been pretty out of date in Norway and it directed us up a small road in a housing estate. This small road got ever more narrow, winding and steep with every turn and unfortunately ended in a single track on a slope too steep for the van to climb. Vicky leapt out to help Will judge clearance and goodness knows how, but he managed to execute a many-pointed turn using someone's driveway, while the towbar scraped on the ground and a nervous neighbour told Vicky 'there's no way you'll be able to turn here, no way!'. The neighbour told us the road hadn't been a through road for 10 years, but kindly gave us instructions to get to where we wanted to be.

On the way we payed a £3 self service toll but upon finally reaching our overnight spot we knew immediately that all the trouble had been worth it. A bit of rough ground off a quiet road, the spot looked down a steep hill over a beautiful lake that spread out for miles, dotted with tree covered islands. A causeway led from one side to the other and the golden fields of crops made the land on the far side look like a patchwork quilt in places. This stunning scene was further enhanced by a brilliant blue sky and warm sunshine on our backs.

Soon after we arrived, another white transit campervan with GB plates pulled up. We went out to say hello and ended up inviting Sarah and Andrew, a couple from New Zealand, in for a cuppa. They'd got visas and had spent some time in the UK where they'd been working, before buying the van and coming over to the continent. They intended to tour for as long as they could before selling the van and backpacking over Eastern Europe. They were an easy going and fun loving pair and we really enjoyed chatting with them.

Will took the tandem out and we both went for a few walks over the two days. Mother Nature had commandeered the woodland paths for use as streams but we still enjoyed our stroll, which was made no less pleasant by being able to forage wild strawberries, rasberries, lingonberries and as many bilberries as we could eat.

On the first night we had hoped to watch the Perseid meteor shower but cloud cover and heavy rain prevented any sightings. However, the sky was virtually clear on the second night and Will caught a glimpse of two shooting stars. Despite this, the night time view we remember is that of street lights snaking around the lake and accross the causeway far below us, like an illuminated model.

We left on the Sunday morning after watching a series of paragliders run and launch themselves off the top of the hill. What a place to fly!Read more