Hardangervidda 2016, Day 2, Oslo to Hallingskeid, 31st March 2016.

In my rush to get the blog started last night, I missed one of the highlights of the evening, a deer coming to graze at the back of Hege's apartment! This saw all three of us rushing for cameras in the hope of snapping a photo of the animal. It was obviously a bit of a diva as it was quite happy to loiter and strike the occasional pose as we fumbled with cameras and settings.

Right, back to today. An early rise turned into a rather lazy morning as we sought to catch up on a little of the sleep we missed out on yesterday. We had plenty of time though, our train wasn't due to leave Oslo until 12.03pm, so we had leisurely showers and packed, and re-packed, our rucksacks. Last minute adjustments were made with some kit identified as surplus to requirements and not worth the extra weight. We were aiming for about 10kg and Emma ended up with 10.5kg, which was okay, she's no shrinking violet. Sean's final tally was 12.5kg and mine was 13kg so, all in all we weren't horrendously overweight. In addition to the sacks, we had to haul with us our provisions for the train journey, dinner at Hallingskeid, breakfast and a pack lunch for tomorrow. We eventually left Hege's about 10.45 and, with rucksacks, skis and provisions, made our way to the bus stop and headed into Oslo.

The central station in Oslo is a rather weird and wonderful place. Amongst the crowds are to be seen people dressed for expeditions into the mountains mixing with those heading for business meetings, tourists jostling with "hip" teenagers and then there is the seedier side to the station with groups of young male Africans looking to prey on the innocent. You really do have to have eyes in the back of your head at times! As much as I love Oslo I fear for the first impressions some people get when arriving at the rail station.

We found our track, track 3, and decided to wait out in the fresh air rather than experience the paranoia of watching all our gear in the main station and, after seeing off a train to Stavanger, ours duly arrived at the station. It was about 20 minutes early, but that gave us plenty of time to find our seats and settle in. Travelling on the NSB trains is an absolute pleasure. They are clean, roomy and airy, making train travel in Norway an absolute pleasure. It also meant that the ensuing four and a half hour journey was not a daunting prospect at all. Far from it, the Oslo to Bergen rail journey has been voted one of the worlds most beautiful trips in the world when it comes to rail travel. It is so wonderful that NRK, the Norwegian television network, made one of their famous "slow television" episodes about the journey in real time, documenting the whole eight hour trip. Our journey took us gradually higher and higher into the mountains.

Below is Geilo, a popular alpine ski centre.

Also on the train journey, despite the wonderful scenery outside the windows, Sean took time to partake in one of our favourite Norwegain cakes, kokosbolle, something we acquired quite a taste for on our road trip a few years back.

I could go on and on about the train journey, but would probably leave you feeling rather bored. Suffice to say, it is a wonderful journey and, if it appeals to you in the slightest, you must take it.

We eventually arrived at Hallinkskeid at around 4.30pm and it was quite different to when I last visited, about seven years ago. The station itself is actually inside a tunnel and when I last visited that tunnel had been made of wood. At that time it was a first for Hanne and I, actually embarking on a ski tour, and we wondered what we had let ourselves in for as we were the only ones to alight the train in a dark, cold and damp wooden railway tunnel. All that had been missing was the tumbleweed. That particular tunnel, however, burned down just a few weeks after our visit. Now there is a more modern structure and, in addition to a more welcoming station, we actually had a welcoming party. Well, a welcoming party consisting of just one person. Bankt was a volunteer with the Bergen turistforening who own the hytte at Hallingskeid and he had coincidentally just seen his son off on the train to Bergen, the same train we had just got off, so it was more good timing than a special welcoming.

Anyway, Bankt took us under his wing and escorted us down to the hytte, giving us the grand tour and letting us pick our own bedroom. We were to be the only guests this night.

Although owned by the Bergen touring organisation the hytte, as many privately owned hytte are in the mountains, is sort of affiliated with the DNT, Den Norske Turistforening. As such, the standards are pretty much the same across the board, as are the prices. Hallingskeid itself is not staffed as such, in the sense of meals being prepared for guests etc., but it does have a well stocked pantry.

The pantry is operated on an honesty basis, you take what you want and leave the money for it in a sealed envelope. There's plenty to choose from and more than enough for the discerning traveller. 

After settling into our room:

Bankt kindly offered to take us out on a small trip to let Emma get a feel for the skis. I'm just going to share the photos with you as they pretty much speak for the self:

Sean and Bankt

A toasty minus 5

On getting back to the hytte it was obvious the kids were starving. How so? Probably the chorus of, "Dad, we're starving!". So, on the stove went the new potatoes we had hauled all the way from Oslo with us, the moose balls in gravy and peas. 

Emma still isn't quite sure what's what with the moose balls, are they or aren't they? Whatever, she enjoyed them, as did we all, washed down nicely with a can of our favourite beer, Ringnes.

After dinner? Very little really, just chilled out in the lounge of the hytte which had a roaring stove as a centre piece before an early night for all three of us. This night however, the kids were taking no risks, ear plugs were the accessory of choice due to a certain persons snoring the night before!

Hardangervidda 2016, Day 1, Rhos-on-Sea to Oslo, 30th March 2016.

It doesn't matter how gently someone says your name at 4.15 in the morning, you still manage to levitate half a metre off the mattress in shock. Groggily, I hear Sean whispering, "Dad, it's quarter past four". Yep, cheers matey. After a hectic day yesterday, running around making last minute preparations for our journey, a few more hours sleep would have been welcome, say another eight! It was not to be though. A quick shower and then all three of us, Sean, Emma and I, off to John Lennon airport in Liverpool to hop on the plane for Torp in Norway.

As we fly along the Norwegian coast, in the distance we get our first glimpse of snow capped mountains. Our fellow passengers were the usual eclectic mix of passengers unique to Ryanair flights. The privileged few who think that, due to their special status in life, they just HAVE to pay the extra for priority boarding. Why do such people stroll to the front of the queue with such smug looks on their faces? And as for their kids, when it comes to smugness, they take it to a whole extra level. As for the flight itself, what can I say, Ryanair are Ryanair. They do what it says on the tin, get you where you want to go as cheaply as possible. I get so hacked off with people moaning about Ryanair, people who know exactly what they are going to get by booking tickets with them, but then expect first class service. Ryanair ARE a budget airline!! They even got us to Torp about 15 minutes early, what more could you ask for? Okay, legroom, decent food, clean toilets, cabin crew that speak the same language, pilot and co-pilot that probably weren't flying Eastern European military aircraft just the week before, soft landings and easy take offs, cleanliness, but hey, that all costs money!

So, we land at Torp (with a bump), sort out our luggage and head out to the Oslo express bus for the two hour bus trip to Oslo. As is usually the case there takes place a mass migration from Ryanair plane to airport bus. This means that, if you have suffered a two hour flight with insufferable people, invariably you have to settle down to a similarly annoying and insufferable bus trip. In our case this meant a gaggle women with their extremely badly behaved young boys who were allowed to run free shouting and screaming at their leisure. I sort of wished I started mimicking the love of my life who never failed to carry with her a pair of earplugs on such journeys. We may live and learn, but don't necessarily always pay attention.

On arrival at the central bus terminal in Oslo it was just a short trek to the water front to catch a bus up to Manglerud where we had booked accommodation through Airbnb. I used the same accommodation last year on my first trip arranged through Airbnb and was so impressed I wouldn't consider staying anywhere else in Oslo. Hege, the host, is a lovely lady and it is more like staying with a friend. For those interested in details for the accommodation, I will post some further details at another time. Suffice to say that after our 4am start, it was nice to reach our destination and breathe out.

As we had some spare time to kill, we decided to take a trip down to the city centre and take in a few sights, starting with the opera house which Emma had not seen before. A short bus trip followed by an equally short walk, and there we were:

From the top of the opera house you get quite a good view of the Oslo waterfront, including the horrendous (my opinion only) "barcode" buildings.

Well, I was probably asking a little much of the kids (OK, they're 18 and 21 but they'll always be kids to me) after our early morning start and, as should have been expected, all anyone wanted to do next was go to nest and chill out. Back on the bus, back up to Manglerud, a quick stop to buy pizza, Grandiosa of course, Norway's most popular meal, and back to the apartment. We also purchased some supplies for our stay at the first hytte tomorrow, Hallingskeid. This would consist of moose balls!!! No, not literally, but meat balls made of processed moose meat!

Hege had returned home by then, so what followed was a relaxed evening with someone who already seemed an old friend, whilst the sun set over Oslo fjord.

One final piccie, this is the welcoming you get when you arrive at Hege's place, a personal note on the large blackboard.