I was met by family friends at the central bus station in Oslo and went home with them to enjoy a delicious chicken meal, and maybe one too many beers in view of what was to commence today! This was followed by a quick trip around the corner to visit the in-laws, and consume yet another beer, before then getting an early night.
The pilgrim centre in Oslo is closed this week, so I knew I would not be able to get a pilgrims passport there. Instead, I visited the Diocese of Oslo offices, also home to the bishop,of Oslo.
I had managed to get a lift into the icy centre at 8.15, so figured I would have to hang around until the offices opened at 9. Not an attractive proposal this morning as the rain was of biblical proportions. Happily, the office was already open and I was welcomed inside by some extremely friendly people. I explained what I wanted and was given the necessary paperwork, before being invited to join the staff at the offices for their morning prayer. I'm not normally a religious person, but thought that as this is after all a spiritual journey, then that might be nice. I was led into what I can only describe as a basement chapel which I was told, dated back to the 1200's. It was a very cosy room and was amply filled by the eight go us in there. I was given the order of service in Norwegian to follow, and in honour of my presence, the hymn book was scrutinised for a tune which included English lyrics. "Amazing Grace" was duly selected and I eagerly joined in. The service was concluded with my forthcoming journey, and myself, AND my family back home, all being blessed. It was really quite lovely.
From there it was off to the medieval ruins on the Oslo waterfront to begin my journey.
The first marker at the start of the path
643kms, I still can't really get my head around what I am undertaking. Navigating out of the city of Oslo was always going to be slow going due to the road system, but added to that was the torrential rain that made following the map obtained from the bishops office almost impossible, even though it was in a waterproof map case. I just couldn't see it. Additionally, the markers for the path are quite small, sparse and easy to miss. Thus I was thankful I had uploaded the route as best I could to my GPS. Even so, I still made a couple of wrong turns, though it was all okay in the end. I took a small breather to watch Oslo's finest clearly carrying out some weapons drills and house entries at the rear of a large police station I passed.
Although I had meticulously planned my route, I obviously had not paid enough attention to where the path took me. After stopping in a sport shop to get some camping gas, I was surprised to find they didn't stock any, but I was helpfully informed that if I crossed the road there was a large shopping centre with an XXL store inside. I followed the directions to find it was the very XXL store I normally shop in when in Oslo. Anyway, I got the last bit of kit I needed and off I went. One thing that has really been worrying me is the weight of my rucksack when packed, 20kg. And that is without fluid. I'm sure any experienced distance hikers will be horrified at this, but I couldn't see how I could make it lighter. Carrying iPad and emergency battery packs doesn't help, but if I didn't I couldn't blog, and this is one thing I really wanted to do during the trip. I was a little reassured that the friendly Dag at Cotswold Outdoor had carried a similarly heavy pack when touring Norway, and he is a lot smaller than me. Even so, it's heavy! The Osprey rucksack itself though is behaving wonderfully. The hip belt is taking all the strain and it is feeling really comfortable to walk in. Tha Salomon boots are just awesome, like a pair of waterproof slippers!
Due to the continuing rain, when I started travelling along a network of forest paths, the going became very difficult. For much of the distance the paths were bare rock and consequently very slippy. With the weight of the rucksack adding to the situation, I nearly took a tumble on several occasions.
In the woods, there was the same problem with the markers, which seem to be quite sparingly placed, certainly nowhere near as regular as the DNT markers I am used to following. A spurious GPS reading caused some confusion, and I wasted time taking a wrong turn and then retracing my steps, but all was good in the end.
Whilst following this section of the trail, it intersects with the "old kings road" which appears as a sunken road through the forest.
Whilst on this section of the walk another problem was highlighted, re-hydrating! I seemed to be gulping down water like there was no tomorrow and although I have a 2 litre hydration bladder and 2 750ml bottles, it doesn't seem like enough, and there was sparse opportunity to refill them. I was eventually able to refill them at Skedsmo church where I found a wedding rehearsal in progress, or should I say coming to an end.
I didn't suddenly become a wedding crasher! By this time I was starting to feel a little tired. The feet were holding out great in my expertly fitted boots, (thanks James), my back was good, even with the weight. I was just tired. Then I realised I was lugging along with me a pair of walking poles. This was something I had thought long and hard about. Were they really necessary? I finally decided that, as they were a cheap and cheerful set from Lidl, if I found them of no use I would just dispose of them. Anyway, I decided to give them a go, and found I had a new lease of life, off I went.
Although the rain had now stopped, it was promising more, so around 6 o'clock I started thinking of a place to stop. I was aware of a farm house offering accomodation to pilgrims, but that was starting to look like to far to travel. In another pilgrims account of his walk, I remembered him saying that church grounds were ideal to camp in as they were quiet and always had a source of water. This being said, I noted on the map that I was approaching a church at Frogner, so decided to suss it out. And it was everything it was supposed to be, a nice, well kept lawn perfect to pitch a tent and an outdoor water supply. Up went the tent, and on went the stove.
The last piece of kit to trial, the Primus Eta spider. Once again, I wasn't disappointed. It boiled the water fast and I ate my super noodles out of the included plastic bowl, feeling refreshed and re-fuelled. One thing I wasn't looking forward to was packing a wet tent in the morning as it was clearly going to rain again overnight. On exploring the grounds of the rather large church though, I found a very clean outdoor toilet of Tardis like proportions with a heater and running water. Sorted. Down went the tent and everything moved into the toilet, which I couldn't see anyone using at 8 at night.
An en suite, kitchette and drying rack. The final tally for today? I had set myself a target of 30kms and I managed 35, so I'm happy but tired. On the plus side, no blisters or injuries, though Imwill,have to see how I feel in the morning.
Now for an early night. Nos da.
