Fil-quċċata

Yes guys, I'll be honest with you. One thing already gave me a stomachache before the Scandinavia trip, and that was the weather, especially in Norway. The past few days have taught me better that temperatures felt just above freezing can be managed somehow. And let me tell you, everything passes. So finally, 3 days with continuous rain and a chilly 8 degrees during the day are over. I would be lying if I said that camping is fun under these circumstances. No, it's not fun at all, at least not for me. If you have a way to heat up, it's obviously different.

Wet clothes, dirty shoes, freezing cold, and no way to warm up again. But grumbling and moaning doesn't help at all, and you can't do anything about the weather. However, as a big wimp when it comes to the cold, I really struggled with it, and sometimes I really wished I was in the cozy, warm south. Well, complaining doesn't help.

But actually, we managed pretty well. Did you know that Ikea has the best vegetarian meatballs and the best veggie hot dogs? I won't even start with the cinnamon rolls. And all that for a very small amount of money. Oh, and you can even have breakfast here for a small amount of money.... Guess who was sitting at Ikea for breakfast at 9:30? Yeah right, us.

That's right, we spent quite a lot of time at Ikea. Firstly, you were allowed to spend a night there for free and secondly, you could warm up there from time to time. Despite the rain, we visited the town of Bergen. Quite conveniently, there was a free shuttle from Ikea to Bergen every hour.

In evenings, we had a warm soup and went under the covers with a hot water bottle.

Despite all this dilemma, it's actually more cozy in our camper in bad weather than in the camper in New Zealand. Because here we have at least an insulated car, which proves to be very advantageous.

After 4 days, the sun finally came out and it got warmer again. Man, we were so happy, like little children. You can't imagine how much you appreciate that again. You also appreciate the warm shower in between to the fullest.

We continue to the south of Norway. In Norway, by the way, ferries are part of everyday transportation. Since Norway consists of so many fjords, some of which extend far into the country, it's almost impossible to avoid them.

In Norway, you often have to pay a toll if you cross certain roads or go through tunnels. Apparently, it works like this, that a toll is charged until the road is paid off. Usually, they are small amounts of money, but let's see what the bill brings at the end of the month.

Nevertheless,Norway has been a cheap country for us so far. We haven't even stood on a paid parking spot here, only for free. It's just nice that Norway offers you this opportunity.

Since we loaded our car with groceries again in Sweden, we also live here very economically in terms of that. Because groceries in Norway are crazy expensive, at least for us. Even more expensive than in New Zealand.

We continue to Stavanger. The next morning, we set off early to hike to the popular Preikestolen. After 2 hours, we could convince ourselves of the spectacular view. A natural rock platform offers an incredibly great view over the Lysefjord. Looking down makes you feel a bit uneasy. I can understand why this hike is so popular!

We were glad that we started the hike so early because on the way back, we encountered proper crowds of people.

Personally, we found the hike very pleasant and doable.

After 10 km, we arrive happily and contently at Bob. A short drive, plus a ferry crossing, takes us to a nice spot for the night. Here we stand right in front of a lake. Sheep regularly walk by here. However, they haven't walked by since they sniffed our hiking shoes. Well, that must mean something.

In any case, a bath in the lake after a hike comes in handy and with sunshine, it's even more enjoyable. In the evening, we had a delicious vegetarian meatball dinner with meatballs from Ikea.

It was worth it! :)

Cheers