Willy builds a terrace and The Priests arrive in Norway

 

 April 2012 to June 20th 2012 

My solo trip to Norway

April 30th to May 15th 

After our holiday in Gran Canaries (April 2012), Willy flew to Norway to spend Easter getting instructions for terracing the West coast of Norway and I stayed on in the UK. The plan was for me to drive up to Norway with the car after May 2012. I had to wait until May because if not we would have to buy a complete set of winter tyres for the car to be legal in Norway. As that would have cost more than the car was worth we decided to wait.

On the way to the West Coast

The 1st part of the trip was a drive down to Harwich via Judith's (sister) in Banbury, then an overnight ferry trip from Harwich to Arlsberg in Denmark, this was followed by a 3 hour drive to Hirtshals in the far North of Denmark for an overnight stay. The following day I caught the ferry to Larvick in the South of Norway followed by a drive North through Oslo (which is incredibly easy as there's a tunnel) and an overnight stop just north of Oslo before the final assault on the West coast which is another 7 hours drive. 

Still on the way

I was really very lucky as the Norwegian winter was still very much in the air and the road up to the West coast would not be easy in snow without at least snow tyres if not chains but fortunately no snow on the roads.

Arrived safely on 1st May to assist with the terrace building activity.

Cement Mixing

Before we left Australia, Willy's sister, Kirsten had asked Willy if he was interested in building a terrace on her house on the West coast of Norway. This sounded like a good opportunity to spend sometime in Averøy (the area Willy comes from) and earn some spending money. 

As it turned out it's a very big terrace with large expanses and a grand staircase down to the sea but as always nothing is beyond the capabilities of William.

By the time I arrived Willy had managed to get the framework laid out and built a small sample section which met with approval so it was full steam ahead.  My job was mixing concrete - lots of it.  You can get some idea of the size of the terrace from the photograph and this is just one part!  

Bart II

Bart II  - Most evening we would go for a walk over to one of the other Islands (they are all joined by either bridges or causeways). One evening we managed to collect a cat just like Bart but in many ways much nicer than Bart. This cat thought he was a dog as he just followed you everywhere and followed us all the way home.  This was a problem as Kirsten doesn't like cats and also it would be unfair to feed it as we were leaving soon. The poor thing sat outside looking in through the windows and was still there in the morning. We tried to catch it and take it home, but Bart II was having none of that. So the only way, was for me to walk him back to where he lived.  Bart II followed me, and  Willy  came to pick me up in the car.

Grant & Brian with
red scarf

Monday 7th May - Brian and Grant Day. This was the day B&G aka The Priests arrived in Molde on the Hurtigruten from Bergen. They were on the start of a 8 day cruise up the West coast of Norway. The boats are part of a daily mail service that was started in the late 19th century carrying mail and supplies to the inaccessible northern areas of Norway.  Today it still a carries freight and mail but also passengers. The boats go as far as Kirkenes well inside the arctic circle and then back to Bergen.


Molde is quite a large regional centre (famous for an annual jazz festival) about 90 minutes drive from Willy's so we decided to go early pick up some supplies from the Asian supermarket and the hardware store and then eat.   Pepe's Pizza was selected for the gourmet meal. The most expensive Pizza in the world as it turns out. It was also Norwegian Schoolies day - didn't know anyone could make so much noise without alcohol!

Unfortunately it was a rather wet and cold evening, so not a great welcome  and certainly not showing Molde at it's best as it is a rather nice town with mountains and Fjords etc. 

The boat arrives dead on time and the boys are there glass of red wine in hand. 30 minutes later,after a quick chat on the quay side, off they sailed to the Arctic Circle. We would see them again in Nesna one week later.

More cement mixing

Between the 7th and 14th building continues on the terrace thankfully it was by now starting to take shape to the extent that you could walk on parts of it but there was still a long way to go. Sometime during this week I was thrown off the building site, something to do with quality control I think, or  maybe that there was no more concrete to mix so I was made redundant. However I was soon let back on the site to do other menial tasks....

To the Artic Circle in a Skoda

Monday 14th May - off we go to pick up B&G.  William's geographical  knowledge of Norway is not good. We discovered this when we went looking for Nesna on the map. We were sort of expecting it to be near Trondhiem which is about 3 hours north, Nesna is actually 750Km north which is about a 12 hour journey. This is mainly due to the Norwegian speed limits which rarely get above 80KPH and frequently are set at 50KPH and the fines are heavy AUD500 for 10% over the speed limit....

On the drive from Nesna

Anyway off we go and stop for the night in a place called Mosjøen which is about 90 minutes from Nesna including a 30 minute ferry trip. Weather on the way up was good, the road goes through some great country side with a couple of ferry trips thrown in. Unfortunately by the time we got to Mosjøen the weather had turned cold and very wet or as the Norwegians say was "raining female trolls". 
Surprisingly for what seemed like a rather sleepy town out of season, accommodation was surprisingly difficult to find but anyway we eventually to get a room for the night.

The Trollstigen

Up early the next morning for the final leg to Nesna arriving in good time to meet the boys after their epic trip.  Managed to fit most of the stuff in the car (by now we had a roof pod) and off we set on the trip South. Hadn't decided yet whether to break the journey or drive straight through back to Averøya. On the way down we made several stop for photo shoots and a picnic lunch - the weather was good all the way which was very welcome after the previous nights weather.

As it turned out we drove straight through from Nesna to Averøya arriving back home just before mid-night. It had been a long journey with Willy doing most of the journey and me just doing the important part, mainly to catch the last ferry with just 2 minutes to spare.

The Lighthouse 

The week with B&G was fairly quiet, after their time on the cruise think they were quite happy to take it easy and just enjoy the peaceful surroundings.  We did some short trips including a visit to Kristiansund for shopping, the same walk we had done the previous year to the lighthouse and a day trip to Bud which is a really nice very picturesque village not far from Averøya. 

One night whilst out walking with Brian we came across Bart II again, Brian obviously has a way with cats as on this occasion he decided not to follow us home.

Åndelnes

Tuesday 22nd May - Brian and Grant are catching the Oslo train from Åndalsnes tomorrow so decide to drive to Åndalsnes and spend the night there. Åndalsnes is about 100Km inland from Averoya it's an extremely beautiful area which includes the Trollstigen (trolls footpath) road which is a series of loops and switchbacks. Unfortunately when we arrived the road was still closed due to the danger of avalanches. Normally the road opens at the end of April but not this year!

Åndelnes

Wednesday 23rd May -  Drop Brian and Grant off at the railway station. Decide that as we are in great walking country we should do at least one walk before heading back to Averoya. Talk to the lady at the local Tourist Information office who recommends an easy 2 hour walk that starts in the middle of the town. After 30 minutes on this "easy track" I give up, it's almost vertical and we've only reached half way. WRK carries on but he also gives up not because it's too steep but because he's alone and arrives at an area where there's very little to hang on to and the path drops away on both sides.  So it's back to the car and back to Averoya.

The Terrace

Thursday 24th May to Monday18th June - Time to complete the terrace. The weather is very mixed with some really nice days and some that are not so good. I am allowed back on the building site cutting timber and general dogs body. Must admit it seems to be taking forever to finish but looks really good.  

Willy has somehow acquired a large dried salted fish - cod I understand, also known as baccalao. Not sure where it came from but there is no way it's coming in the house - the smell is just unbelievably rank!.

Willy's Fish

 Every morning the fish is taken out of the garage and hung on the washing line and then put back into the garage at night - strange ritual but I am led to believe that the sun and wind is good for it.  In the meantime bit are broken off and chewed.

In the evenings we do some fishing with Willy's brother Jan Ove and I catch an awesome cod. 

John's fish

That's a slight exaggeration as Jan Ove caught it but I reeled it in. It's enourmous and tastes absolutely delicious.

Eventually, despite the weather, the terrace is completed and we prepare to head South once more.

We are leaving just before mid-summers day which is a shame as I am now used to endless daylight. It's also a bit sad as I am not sure if I will be back before we set off back to Australia. 

Completed at last

We say our good byes and 'thank-you's' to all at  Averoya and set off the next day back on the trek down to Oslo en-route to see Kirsten and Arild before leaving Norway.