Silly Billies Return to Roam

Just before our trip to Slovenia we had a visit from Mark and Sylvia to Trondheim. We had a very pleasant few days walking in the forest, swimming in our lake and catching up in some good Kiwi company! Then we found ourselves (including Cris who was still traveling with us) running full tilt down the hill in the rain to catch the bus to the airport, laden with tramping packs. A bit of a cliche start to my stories these days. We laughed as we jumped on the bus - we were already stinky and sweaty and the trip had not even started! We flew through Stansted, then braved the evil Ryanair to Venice (actually Treviso). From Treviso, where the temperatures were soaring, we took a train to Trieste. Trieste is right near the Slovenian border. We hopped off the train and onto a bus whose driver assured us was heading to the border. We had 40 minutes to reach the train station across the border. After 30 minutes on board the bus Chris decided we were definitely going the wrong way. Suddenly we sa...

(Warning: Long blog, if you just want lots of pretty pictures Click Here ) After a very busy 2 days in Trondheim madly organizing our new flat it was time to board the train again - this time to Bodø. The weather had been fantastic, 25 degree days, blue skies and we had our first warm swim in the very same lake we were skiing across a few months earlier. Now we were off for another adventure in Northern Norway, starting with the Midnattsolgaloppen (4 day orienteering competition) then 6 days to explore the Lofoten Islands - the long spit of interconnected island which extends far out from the Norwegian coast and is covered in spiky pointy mountains rising straight from the Atlantic Ocean. So Chris, Cris and I stumbled off the train after 10 hours in a place called Valnesfjord, about 20km from Bodo. We wandered into a pretty forest filled with pom poms and found ourselves a very nice spot to camp, plus a refreshing stream to dive into, as well as our very dear friends midges and mosqui...

One hot sticky Trondheim day school was out and Emily and Chris were running very fast towards the Trondheim train station, backpacks swinging. Sweating heavily they hooned into the station, stabbed the reservation code into the machine and retrieved their train tickets before sprinting off to the platform. A rumble and they were off to Oslo. A chirpy looking young man with blond hair and blue eyes who could easily pass as a Norwegian greeted them at Oslo Central Station - one Cris Lovell Smith! The train then wound its way for another 7 hours up through some spectacular mountain scenery, before a gradual descent into the city of Bergen. We were feeling rather weary and trudged with heavy packs up towards a beckoning forest. Suddenly we stumbled upon some steep lines running up the hill - a funicular! We were saved, and after a steep ascent and wonderful views across Bergen we were able to pitch their tents in a pretty little piece of forest. Emily was awakened by the smell of ...