Sunday trips

Here in Norway, it is common to spend your free time in nature. I really put that into practice this Sunday.

After lunch, we met at Ole Bjarne's place and he showed us a small bay. On the way there, we had to cross several fences. It was quite funny, as I was too small to climb over them and somehow managed to climb over while others just hopped over. Then we walked through a flock of sheep and along a small stream through a small coastal forest. In the end, we had dinner on smooth rocks with a great view of the small island near Dale, and of course, the bridge again.

After our little hike, Ole Bjarne had another appointment, so we were back home around 3 PM. Alex and I decided to take another short hike nearby. We had picked a 1-hour trail from a brochure. The beginning was relatively easy, but then we had to climb up a steep meadow. Here is the view of the fjord landscape:

A bit further in the local mountains, we found this beautiful house, which we called the weekend cabin, and made up a little story about its owner/resident.

Finally, we arrived in the shade (yes, I managed to get a sunburn again despite sunscreen...) and followed a small path through the forest. At some point, we came across this sign:

A troll forest! We decided not to follow the designated route and started walking through the troll forest. The forests in Norway have almost no undergrowth, so it was very pleasant to walk on the small path.

Eventually, we saw a building to the left of the path, which we of course had to check out.

And very close by, we also caught sight of the trolls:

We continued on the path until we discovered a shortcut somewhere, in retrospect not the best decision, but read on...

At first, everything was idyllic and it felt like walking through pure and untouched nature.

But eventually, it became like this:

And a few hundred meters later, we had to pass a relatively steep part in the forest, where we had to hold onto trees for about 200 meters and find grip on slippery roots and rocks. In between, we had to pass a small stream including a waterfall, which was no problem thanks to our hiking shoes.

But without this climbing passage, we would never have had this view:

After the second hike, I wanted to enjoy the sun in our garden for a while, so I took a blanket and planted myself on the grass.

While doing my homework (out of loyalty to the students) and nibbling on my cookies, Ole Bjarne passed by with a Nepalese couple (I was already walking with them yesterday) and asked me if I wanted to join them for a little boat trip. So I quickly changed and went on the boat with them.

We drove around a bit and just when we were watching some birds that looked like herons, I had a bite and caught a cod fish about 50-60 cm and 0.8 kg. Ole Bjarne killed it for me and at home, I filleted it.

Together with potatoes, it ended up in the pan, and this is what my dinner looked like:

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After this exciting day, I'm looking forward to school again, but also to the sun, which is supposed to shine until Wednesday, and then it'll rain again.