Day 9, Saturday 19th April 2014

We had two options today. One was to be up at the crack of dawn, miss breakfast and head up the Hardangerjøkulen for a 20km round trip before getting the train to Oslo at 2.20pm. The second was to have a more leisurely morning, enjoy a last breakfast at a DNT hytte and then head toward Hallingskeid. Sean and I had a long discussion about what to do. There were two trains available to get us to Oslo, one at about 1030hrs, the other 1428hrs. Although we wanted to arrive in Oslo with time to try and catch up with friends, we definitely wanted to get a little more skiing in, so the morning train was not an option. This left a decision to make as to whether or not to try for the Hardangerjøkulen, or play safe and have a more leisurely morning. I have to admit I am maybe a little more reckless when it comes to deadlines, whilst Sean was wearing the trips "sensible head". Ultimately then, we agreed to head toward Hallingskeid. This meant we could take our time about getting up, dressed, packed and fed. The dormitory we had slept in held about 18 berths so, needless to say, it was a little cramped when everybody was getting up together.

We managed to salvage all our gear and pack it away without mishap. We had already elected to travel light this morning, so our plan was to leave the majority of our kit in the drying room and just take the bare minimum. Then it was down to the dining room for our last breakfast, and we definitely made the most of it. Porridge for me this morning, whilst Sean enjoyed both porridge and some boiled eggs. We made our pack lunches for the mid-day meal, filled our flask with hot chocolate and we were ready for the off. The day was very much like the day before, bright sunshine and practically no wind, and after both getting a little sun burnt the day before, we made sure we applied twice the amount of sun cream as previously!

The route between Finse and Hallingskeid is quite flat and we made very good speed from the start. How fast was brought home to us when we passed the first pair of Norwegians. Now, I am not being smug about this fact, it is all about measuring our own abilities. We know we are not as good on cross country skies as someone who has been skiing the winter trails since they could first stand up, so we measure our improvement by how we are holding our own in relation to Norwegians on the same trails. The fact we had caught up a pair of Norwegians, without making any conscious, competitive decision to do so, made us feel quite good about how we were both progressing. Certainly, Sean himself had taken to cross country skiing like a fish to water and it was so nice not to have to stress about how he was coping and just enjoy the time with him. So on that note, we just enjoyed the day. 

And what a day it was too, here are just a few shots to give an idea of the beauty of nature we were experiencing;

You can't help but smile in such wonderful surroundings and conditions!

After we had travelled about 5.5km, we reached a point where it seemed appropriate to turn back and strike out toward Finse. On the way, we came across the Finsehytta tracked vehicle that we had noticed breaking down half way across the lake the night before. It had obviously been too cold to carry out repairs during the night, and it had just been abandoned where it stopped.

As we re-crossed the lake, we paused to watch the kiters who were out in force on the flat frozen ground, flying their colourful foils and catching some quite big "air" as they hurtled backwards and forwards. It really was an idyllic setting. We reluctantly trudged back up the short hill to the hytte and quickly sorted our gear before enjoying one last glass of the cold, home brewed cider to wash down our lunch.

Then it was off to the famously high railway station to await our train to Oslo. As we had a little time to spare we took a little stroll around the small outpost.

Above is the hotel, Finse 1222. You may also have on occasion seen the photos we post from the webcam at Finse, and here is that very same camera on the side of the railway station;

This is the memorial to Scott and his men outside the hotel;

And another look at the novel walkway between the two parts of the hotel. How to make the best use of a bit of left over rail track and a spare railway carriage!

A picture postcard view of Finse;

Our train arrived on time and we boarded for the return journey to Oslo. This time we were a little more awake and took the trouble to pay a little more attention to the countryside we were passing through, it really shouldn't be missed, even if you have undertaken the journey before.

We eventually arrived in Oslo and jumped on the metro to Høyenhall from where we walked to Manglerud. And that was it, the end of our trip. We had just one more night before returning to the UK. First things first, a "proper" shower. By that, I mean it was time to have a shower for the first time in a week that didn't shut down after three of four minutes, bliss! Then we had to stow away skis and gear, by which time we were starving! But where to get food from on the Easter weekend? We rushed to a local store and, as expected, it was shut. I then thought a nearby kebab and pizza place might be open, Easter not having much meaning to the proprietors, so we rushed there, arriving 5 minutes after 10pm only to find the owner locking up for the night!!!! Oh well, back home and an early night then! It had been a lovely evening though, and a picturesque sunset over Oslo.