Rough weather...

was the forecast for this weekend. Which means our planned hike to Hellsegga has to be postponed. A lof of rain and hard winds from gale to storm and it all came friday afternoon. I tried to bike home in strong crosswinds and then came Beate from work and she stopped to pick me up.

Saturday morning I was baking scones while the wind ravaged outside. The power went off and on but they turned out really good anyway. Later, me and Andreas picked up three boxes of new climbing holds for Vestlofoten Klatreklub. Then we went to the climbing wall to build some new routes. I am new at this but I'm learning and it's so much fun. I was also invited to Andreas brother and sister + their families for what I was told is a kind of tradition in the weekend to eat a kind of regular rice pudding and another kind called "rømmegrøt" (which is a kind of porridge made from sour cream, flour and milk) this is served with butter, sugar, cinnamon and some kind of cold cuts (meat).

Sunday I also went to the climbing wall to build some more. Yesterday I finished one route and today I made one and a half, which I might finish during the week. Gunnar and Øystein were also there building and painting shelves for the climbing shoes to be sorted in different sizes. Cecilie also came by. Kjartan and Øydis brought us some more coffee. So it was a good weekend.

Monday we had security seminar at the climbing wall for all of us that will be in charge during opening hours. Next weekend we will have the official opening of our climbing wall!

Tuesday I realized too late that the road was glazed with ice and so I crashed flat on the road with my bike and smashed my knee really hard. I couldn't bend it because it hurt so much and I limped the last part through Gravdal and up to the hospital. After a while my colleague told me I was deathly pale in the face and I felt dizzy. She went for a nurse and they put me in a bed with my feet up and checked my blood pressure which was low. A doctor had a look at my knee and luckily nothing is broken so no need for xray. It's definitely time to put back on the studded tires. Winter is coming up again!

Øystein building.

Gunnar painting.

A lot of green holds.

Gunnar painting even more. 

Climbing after the seminar.

Vest Lofoten Klatreklub.

Violet Road

Heading down from Gauktinden.

Wednesday - After work me and Andreas went to Gauktinden. Weather was fine when we started but later there was some fog and rain. It was quite steep so we had to be careful getting down when it was all wet.

Thursday - I left my bike at Leknes center to be able to get home friday night. So I took the bus home and it was quite funny because today it was an emergency practice in Lofoten and it was a scenery right there on the road to Ballstadøya so it was full of military with weapons, vehicles and victims. But our busdriver was also taking his job seriously and he had no patience at all so he went out yelled and screamed that everyone has to move their vehicles because he needed to get through.

Friday - I was ready for concert so I took the bus to Leknes and we went to a pre-party at Rebekka and Lena's house. They live really close to Lofothallen where the concert is. It as nice meeting some new faces and some familiar. Violet Road was the main band and they were really good. I skipped the after-party and rode home on my bike in the rain. It was a bit wobbly at sometimes but eventually I got home.

Saturday - It was raining and I was just home resting and watching movies.

Sunday - I forgot my harness in Andreas car so I had to pick that up and then I went to the climbingwall. This weekend there is a food festival so that's really cool and kids can come to try the climbing wall. Today is the first time I've seen our wall and it's brilliant! So we hang up some ropes and then the kids stand in line. We took turns from putting on harnesses, finding the right shoe size and belaying. Me and Martin took a break and tasted some of the local food. There was a lot of seafood, cheese, bread, coffee and more seafood. The kids were so happy and it was great to meet some new climbing friends. Me and Martin stayed remained and climbed a few routes before going home.

Stjerntind

We picked up Martin in Ramberg and headed for Ytre Skjelfjorden. We went up those steep and grassy slopes. On our way up we found millions of tasty blueberries. It was not that easy to find the right slope up but finally we reached the walking peak and we saw the others. One could say it consists of 5 peaks and now we had to walk over and then finally climb the last one. It took some time before we found a possible route and when we had a look at the watch we decided that we didn't have enough time so we went down. We are still getting to know this area but next time we know a quicker way because we can skip the walking peak.

 

 

 

 

 

Stopover in Gravdal

I stayed over at Andreas crib until I would get the key to my fisherman cabin. Friday we drove to Kabelvåg and went hiking with Guro to Rødlitind, Spisstindane and Ørntind. On our way down we found some chanterelles! We went back down and made pizza for dinner with Guro, Marianne and Øystein so we came back kind of late to Vestvågøy. Saturday it was foggy and raining a lot so we changed our plans a bit; picked up my key and moved my stuff from the storage room and then off to Kabelvåg where we went climbing indoors and then we made dinner with some friends before we went back to our island. Then our plan was to try for Stjerntinden sunday because the weather forecast looked really good. So I stayed one more night in Gravdal since we were leaving early.

Rødlitind.

Guro at summit.

Guro.

Blueberries.

Heading down from Spisstindane.

Ørntind.

Returning home

Waiting for the train to Trondheim.

The night train to Bodø.

Hurtigruten harbour / waiting room.

My tickets!

Bodø.

Stamsund.

Ure.

Stamsund harbour.

I left Gothenburg and went back to Elverum to spend a little time with Knut. I want to give all norwegian train conductors a gold star for always being so happy, helpful and serviceminded when I want to bring my bike! It's the total opposite to travel with bike in Sweden. This is also my first time traveling with Hurtigruten, I was really excited. I met an italian guy at the waiting room and later when we boarded he whispered to me; I think I'm the youngest here onboard. That was quite funny and it probably tells you a bit about the kind of people travelling with Hurtigruten normally.

Returning home meant mixed feelings. It was good to see my beloved mountain peaks again and at the same time an empty feeling that the adventure is over. But on the other hand I'm back for new Lofoten adventures and I look forward to get back to work as well!

I am ever so grateful for having the possibility to do this trip Norway from north to south!

Hönö

Then I spent a day with Nina in Helsingborg before I took the train to Gothenburg, then bus and my dad met me when I arrived with the ferry. Two of their grandchildren were also there. Lazy days with picking apples, making apple pie, reading a book, watching a movie and just being in this peaceful environment.

David.

Apples.

Joanna and the neighbours cat. 

She is so much like a young Frida Kalo.

The bike roadtrip is over...

What happened after that? Well after arriving Lindesnes I had some more free time so I took the first morning bus from Spangereid to Kristiansand and then a train to Oslo and further on to Hamar where Knut picked me up. I left my bike in Elverum and two days later I went to Sweden to visit my brother and his family. It was lovely to see them!

Lemur at zoo in Påarp.