KIRUNA AND LULEÅ (SWEDEN)

Having had enough of the cold, rainy and generally depressing weather of northern Norway, I jumped on a train from Narvik to Lulea and was soon back into Sweden, where the weather wasn't that much better and the scenery possibly worse (flat, forest and woodland with a few nice lakes. At least Norway had mountains !). Whilst initially I planned to spend a few days around Kiruna, the the horrid weather and monotonous landscapes quickly convinced me this would best be put on hold for 'another time'. I eventually arrived in Luleå in the late afternoon and after a chilled out evening in front of the TV I was pleasantly surprised the next day to be greeted by cloudless blue skies and some warm weather. It was certainly nice to see the sun again. I quickly discovered there wasn't a whole heap to do in Luleå, although I did enjoy exploring around the cathedral and a number of forest walking trails situated on the waters edge. It certainly was nice to walk around and take in some of the sights, without having a rain-jacket and 15 jumpers on....

Having seen all there was to see in Luelå I headed further south to the small town of Piteå in which another friend of mine Pontus was studying. Whilst the town was also quite pleasant, it once again provided very little to keep a traveller such as myself occupied for long. Thankfully given that the new University year had just begun upon my arrival, there were a sufficient number of student parties and activities to keep me interested for a few days. In addition I found it nice just relaxing and attending to domestic duties such as washing clothes and emails. On my first night in Piteå I attended the university 'table hockey' competition, which I assumed was going to be 'air-hockey' (at which I am an absolute champion)... Unfortunately however, it turned out the Swedes had invented an ice hokey equivalent of 'Fusball' and as such the game of table hockey involved moving 6 or so players on a small plastic table and trying to get a little puck in the opposition goal. Given my lacking ability at the less technically demanding fusball I was pretty convinced this wasn't something I would succeed at quickly and needless to say, I sucked big time, losing my 2 games 4-0 and 8-0... Thankfully I was able to entertain myself after the 2 losses by drinking beer and was reconciled by the fact that if it had have been a beer-drinking competition I would have blitzed them all.

Photo 1: Landscape around Kiruna (Flat, covered in trees and not much else).
Photos 2-4: Various places around Luleå.
Photo 5: Table hockey game in progress - yes it is as complicated as it looks
Photo 6: Pontus and myself.

LOFOTEN ISLANDS (NORWAY)

I left Trondheim about lunchtime, the day after my massive bender and was feeling a little sore and sorry for myself. However, the prospect of a 18 hour boat ride on the Hurtigruten (Kong Harald), northbound to Bodö did provide me with the consolation that there would be plenty of time to recover. I must say that the trip wasn't the most exciting thing I have ever done - the weather was pretty ordinary and hence there wasn't a whole heap of magnificent scenery. However, I used the opportunity to catch up on some sleep, just chill out and watch TV, update my diary (which was about a month behind) and meet some other travellers. Also, I seemed to consume an enormous quantity of food, which tends to happen when there isn't a lot to do. The boat was dominated by 60-70 year old Germans although there were a few Spanish and Italian groups too, which I spent some time talking with - which helped to pass the time.

I slept on one of the couches in the main lounge on deck 7 - one of 2 poor backpackers who didn't want to fork out the money for a cabin. Still it was comfortable enough. Passed through the arctic circle in the early hours of the morning and then got into Bodö about lunchtime the next day and spent the rest of the day just checking out the town - which was quite nice, even though there was a fair bit of low lying cloud around. Camped in the backyard of the local youth hostel that night, but managed to smuggle a mattress and pillow into my tent at night and had probably my most comfortable night's camping ever. Also met some nice backpackers at the hostel - a few Germans, a pom and a handfull of others.

Left Bodö the next day on a ferry to Moskenes in the Lofoten Islands. Surprisingly the weather changed from pretty poor to quite good over the course of trip and when I arrived I dumped my bags straight away and spent most of the day wandering around - soaking up the sun and getting some good photos. On my way south to a small town called Å, I met some nice Italians who were spending about 10 days looking around the islands as part of some organised group holiday. They were kind enough to invite me around to their cabin for dinner that night and after finding a top spot next to a lake to pitch my tent (for free !) I gathered about half a kilo of blueberries that were growing naturally around the place - my contribution to dinner. Met a crazy Russian who was camping close by and then arrived for dinner. VERY ITALLIAN ! Heaps of food, lots of noise and good fun... Everyone was very kind and I was surprised at how well a number of them could speak english.

Departed to bed quite late and was awoken quite early by the 'pitter-patter' of rain. The rain settled in for the whole day, which meant it was very depressing. Thankfully I was able to hang out with the Italian crew in their warm, dry cabin. Played cards, more updates of the diary and then whenever the rain stopped (which lasted for about 10 minutes before it started pouring again) I tried to duck out and check out more of the surrounding area. A pretty abismal day, but not completely wasted and at least I managed to avoid spending it alone in my tent. That night it was another dinner with the Italians - the boys had also invited a number of local girls for dinner, which ended up being quite hillarious for a number of reasons.

Firstly, they had thought that 5 or 6 girls were comming and had spent most of the day saying 'cinque bara sei' (5 or 6). However, when only 3 of them showed up, a number of us took great delight in repeating the line as much as we could. Secondly, many of the boys seemed to have brushed over the fact that only a handful of the group could understand or speak english very well at all. Given that none of them spoke Swedish or Norweigan and none of the girls they had invited spoke Italian, the need for translators (or ambassadors as the boys referred to the role) was apparent. So, I along with a few others spent most of the night trying to translate things back and forth between the 2 parties, which was pretty hilarious because I ended up talking to the girls more than the Italian boys did, which frustrated them immensely. However, the message seemed to be conveyed with them understanding my spanish-italian mixture most of the time.

The food was once again great and it was definately an experience. A few of them headed out after dinner to a small pub a few kilometers down the road but I decided to hit the sack. Thankfully there was room on the couch in one of the cabins so after making a quick dash through the rain to pack up belongings and the tent, I returned, laid everything out to dry and then got some quality sleep (alot better I'm sure than if I had been in my tent !)

The next day, we parted as the Italian group headed to another Island to the south by ferry and I trundled my way north towards Narvik. Caught a bus to Svolvaer and whilst there were a few nice towns along the way, most of them were very similar and it was good to finally arrive in a town with more than 1 shopping centre and some other basic infrastructure. Finding accommodation proved to be the biggest hurdle in Svolvaer, however I managed to convince a German couple that they could let me sleep on their floor (using a spare mattress) and pay something towards the room. The weather improved markedly in the afternoon and so I made the most of the sunshine by just wandering around and taking in some more of the nice scenery the place had to offer. After a nice warm dinner I managed to semi-decent sleep until I was awoken by the Germans departing at 6am !

Lazed around in the morning and after some emailing and a little more sightseeing, it started to rain so I went to the tourist office to find out when I could leave. Unfortunately this turned out to be the next day- major bummer ! There was no accommodation to be found (well nothing for a reasonable price) and there was no way I was camping in the rain, so I 'borrowed' the largest book in english which I could find in the library, acquired a couple of cushions from seats outside a local restaurant and then shacked up in a relatively dry and warm patio outside one of the main town buildings (away from prying eyes thank goodness as I don't think the townspeople would have approved of my 'vagabond' ways). Pretty much read continuously for 18 hours, with a few breaks for eating - didn't move at all and needless to say, the rain kept falling. Feeling pretty rude and tired the next morning I dragged myself off to the ferry and finished my book on the 3 hour ride to Narvik. Definately an experience and as my Mum said, at least now I know what it is like to be a refugee !

Narvik was a nice little town - one of the primary ports shipping out iron ore from the large mine in Kiruna, Sweden (not that I really cared so much given my state at the time). Located the nearest youth hostel and crashed for a few hours, checked my mail and then watched some TV. Unfortunately the weather was much the same as in the Lofoten Islands so that didn't exactly lift my spirits. Wasn't in the mood for going out (even though it was a Friday night) and took a well earned and needed early night. The next morning I grabbed the earliest possible train to Sweden, hoping to finally escape the crappy Norweigan weather - which for the record I managed to do.

Norway was certainly a spectacular country and at times when the weather was kind, I got some amazing photos. The fjord area around Geiranger and Ålesund along with the Lofoten Islands were definately the highlights... However, the poor weather and high costs of everything made the trip a lot less enjoyable unfortunately and I am convinced that the country would be best attacked in short 1-2 week trips rather than in longer bursts. Still I'm glad that I had the chance to finally see it for myself and I have no doubt that I will return at some stage in the future to check out a few places that I didn't manage to visit this time.

Photos 1-2: Hurtigruten ship which I took from Trondheim to Bodö.










Photos 3-6: Various shots from around Bodö





























Photos 7-12 : Day 1 around Moskenes and Å (brilliant weather)
Photo 13: My campsite in Å
Photo 14: The Italian crew


































Photos 15-17: Day 2 in Å (less than brilliant weather)
Photo 18: Dried cod (stockfish) hanging in huts all around Å
























Photos 19-28: Awesome photos from around Svolvaer.
Photo 29: Park sculpture in Narvik.

ÅLESUND & TRONDHEIM (NORWAY)

Following some great weather an enjoyable hiking in and around Åndalsnes, I took the bus west to the coast and stayed in a slightly bigger city, Ålesund. Unfortunately, the warm weather caused the formation of a thick fog, which blanketed both the town and surrounding islands, making it impossible to appreciate this supposedly picturesque town, famous for its 'Art Noveau' style of housing. I spent a few hours wandering around the city before returning to Åndalsnes and then taking a train to Trondheim, where I am currently.

Trondheim is a nice enough place, although the weather is yet to allow me to appreciate this former capital of Norway. Some of the architecture is pretty impressive, but apart from that, it seems just like many of the other cities aorund Norway. My plans are to leave here tomorrow and take the coastal express (Hurtigruten) north to Bodø, which is just south of the Arctic circle.

With pretty much nothing left to do on my last day in Trondheim I spent the majority of the day on the computer, updating my blog and sending various emails. I also had a little more of a wander around the city and had a look at some shops (mainly scouting for semi-decent Norweigan music) but with the poor weather and lack of things to keep me interested, it was a pretty boring day. That night was by far the 'biggest rager' I have had in Scandanavia, with beer prices at the local student pub being about AUD$5 for a pint - the cheapest I have seen in Scandanavia just about. Needless to say I hit it up pretty hard. Met some cool people - some of them friends of Birgitte (my friend from the south of Norway) and others just randoms. Also bumped into Bernhard, who I had met about a week previously in Voss (near Bergen). I spent most of the night kicking a small, plastic oil bottle around the streets, showing people my soccer moves and generally causing chaos. Managed to annoy a whole heap of people and amuse most of the others so that was good. Other activities for the night including riding bikes (I have no idea who owned the bikes).... We didn't even make it into another pub or club because no one could decide where to go. After my makeshift soccer ball had been confiscated by 'security' in the local Hungry Jacks store, I decided to call it a night. Had a lot of fun, caused a ruckass and that kept me satisfied...

Photos 1-3: Colourful buildings in Ålesund, unfortunately enveloped in fog










Photos 4&5: Very ornate and picturesque cathedral in Trondheim
Photos 6-9: Various points around Trondheim







































Photos 10-14: Night out in Trondheim.

GEIRANGER (NORWAY)

Having exerienced some magnificent scenery in the southern fjordlands, I continued north from Stryn onto a small town called Hellysylt. The fjord cruise myself and the spanish girls took from Hellysylt to Geiranger was probably the most breathtaking of the cruises I took, even with the weather being a bit shoddy. There were about 10 thousand waterfalls and a tonne of interesting scenery. When we arrived in the town of Geiranger, the girls continued on pretty quickly (they were on a tighter schedule than me), whilst I spent a few hours just wandering around, checking the place out. Luckily enough the QE II was also visiting the town for a few hours at the same time so I got some good pictures of the fjord, town and boat....

The bus ride from Geiranger to Åndalsnes was absolutely spectacular and one of the most amazing things I have experienced in the whole trip, including South America. It was breathtaking scenery the whole trip - glaciers, snow capped mountains, crystal clear rivers and huge waterfalls, vibrant green pastures and forest scattered with dashes of yellow and purple from the various flowers growing. Amazing ! This trip included an almost 2000 metre decline in about 10 minutes on the famous 'Trolstigen' or trolls road.

Åndalsnes was a fairly nice little place, however upon arriving most things were shut so I was forced to camp on an extremely bumpy piece of ground on the side of the road. Needless to say I awoke quite sore the next day. That day I hiked to the top of one of the mountains just outside Åndalsnes. It was pretty steep but the views from the top were pretty incredible. Again, the weather was kind, which made the whole experience a lot more enjoyable.

Photos 1&2: Waterfalls in Hellysylt
Photos 3&4: Seven-sisters waterfalls in the Geiranger fjord
Photo 5: Carmella, Myriam and Neomi before we caught the ferry to Geiranger
Photo 6-12: QE II and fjord viewed from various points in and around Geiranger






































































Photos 13-15: Views from the mountain outside of Åndalsnes
Photo 16: Glorious weather in the fjordlands just before Åndalsnes
Photo 17: Sunset over the fjord
Photo 18: Small town just outside of Åndalsnes