"God helg"

I know it is quite a long time since I last updated my adventures.

Now I am living and working in Norway, Bodø and it has been surprisingly hard to make a everyday life because all of a sudden I have to make everything myself: cooking meals for myself, cleaning both my room and my clothes, work a full time job as a carpenter, get into bed in a decent hour and at the same time try to get social with the natives.
I want to tell you all about the few but great adventures I have had so far and here is the first on from back in may the 7th. Enjoy:

Ready?..

It is not for the faint hearted!

It is not for persons who do not dare things!

And it is definitely not for anyone with a weak stomack!

But if you really want to do something that will push your limits, enlarge your interest in the nature of Norway and make you feel like you are flying then this is the thing for you. This is for everyone who wants to try something new. It is nothing like a trip in a speed boat and it is nothing I have ever tried before. 

Steady?..

A good thing to remember is:

You will not fall out of the boat while sailing

Look around and look closely (You might see sea eagels)

Wear warm clothes!

Bring a camera - in the suits there is pockets (Big ones I might add)

GO!..

The start

Me and Lizanne - a girl from The Netherlands - whom I am living with at the Kultursenter

You jump into this huge suit, put on skiing glasses, a hat and gloves and then you will get a life jacket that will blow up immediately if you will fall into the water. You will laugh about how you imagine you look and have a laugh with the other "rafters" because you all look like spacemen. Eventually when everyone is ready you will get into the boat consisting of 3 or more seats in one or two rows. You do not get clamped to anything - you only have your seat, a curved iron bar infront and behind you and then you are ready to take off. 

- If you hear from anyone that you will not get any wet during the trip they are very wrong - especially if you sit at the front of the boat (I did) - 

The Culture

The geology from the time where Norway was covered in ice. - It is actually the bottom of the sea that once where there 

We were 10 individuals going on this raftiong-trip. One of them was my contact person here in Bodø - he helps me with everything, invites me to things and take me places just to show me around the place - and he was the guide of the trip and he gave everyone of us a map of the trip and where we would make a short break so he could tell us something about the culture.

Some of the things he could tell us about was the history of Bodø.

When it first became a city there were 22 men living here and were established in 1816. Bodø, located just north of the Arctic Circle, is the largest urban area and city in Nordland county, and the second-largest inNorth Norway. Now there live 49.040 people and Bodø has its own airport, military and university. It is the capital of the Nordland. 

Once - for like forever ago - Bodø was covered in 3km of ice or more.

Some of the other things he told us was about the fjord.

The fjord sometimes has a depth of 400-600 meters and contains "Saltstraumen" the strongest tidal current in the world. Up to 400,000,000 cubic metres water flows through a narrow passage every six hours with water speeds reaching 22 knots. 

You can feel this when you sail into the stream. 

The Nature

Mountains upon mountains, small villages and birds are to be seen on the trip. You will experience the most clear water you probably have every seen and that with the beautiful greenblue color! The mountains are amazing, pointy and breathtaking from the view of the boat. 

The Adventure

This is at the "Saltstraumen" and actually in the middle of it when it is at its highest.

Have you ever tried White Water Rafting? Sailing a speedboat? Had the experience of flying? Been on a roller coaster for two hours and still like it? After a trip of Rafting you will have experienced all four of them. 

The white water rafting is experienced both because you are on the water but also because you will have a lot of going up and down, moving from left to right in no time - you just have to add a motor and then puch it to 60 knots. 

The speed boat experience obviously is because of the boat with the motor and because you move fast across the water without any sails.

The experience of flying appear when the boat take a running start before a wave is created and then like a surfboard get on top of the wave and then hang in the air a while before it drop down inbetween the old wave and the new one just ahead of you. Sometimes I could not see the water in front of me because of the surfing on the waves. It was so cool!!

And the roller coaster experience is because you do not really get any rest, the boat jump up and down, from side to side at very high speed and of course the acceleration when starting is all parts of a great roller coaster trip.

----*---*----

The trip take about 2 and a half hour!

I did not take any notice of the time and I felt like the trip was over in an hour or so. I got the trip for free together with another exchangestudent (The girl to the right on the picture). If you are to take a trip like this then I recommend you gather as many of your friends as possible (max 12) and split the money between you because you rent the boat and pay for the gas and that runs up in 3000 NOK to 4000 NOK.

But do it! Just do it!

From Bodø to Bliksvær, Helligvær, Vokkøy, Sørlandego and back

Leaving Bodø!

First stop was Bliksvær! Population: 5-9 people, except when fishermen or hikers comes around

After a 10 minutes stop at Helligvær we came across Vokkøy. We only saw a couple and their child!

View of Sørlandego!

Sørlandego! The biggest of all the islands. They have a school and several shops.

The Sørlandego island from Rønvik viewpoint!

Northern Bodø where a lot of paragliders come! You can also practise ice-climbing here.

Bodøs fortress.

Back in Denmark with the blue sky

19th, 20th & 21st - Gudenåen

Kom hjem klokken 00 om torsdagen. Vi havde været på vej hjem i 25 timer da jeg endelig kom hjem, og Sofie manglede stadig et stykke. Næste dag havde jeg aftalt med en veninde, hendes mor og min mor, at vi skulle en tur på Gudenåen. Vi tog afsted klokken 14 næste dag, og kom i vandet ved 17 tiden da vi skulle i vandet ved Silkeborg og den anden bil skulle lige køres til Bamsebo, hvilket var vores stop på ruten vi havde valgt at sejle. Vi havde også min hund med, Kilya.

* I arrived home at 00PM thursday. Sofie and I had been on our way home for 25 hours and Sofie was not even finished with her journey when I got home. The following day was the day were my friend, her mother, my mother and I were going to sail on Gudenåen. We had our dog, Kilya, with us.

My mother in her kajak. Looking good, hu?

Our first stop friday evening. 

Kate (my friend's mother), Silja and I in the morning right before breakfast

Dag to var meget afslappende i starten. Vi tog os god tid om, at spise morgenmad, pakke sammen og komme afsted. Strømmen gjorde det meste arbejde for os i starten, men ligeså snart vi kom til Tange sø kom der andre boller på suppen. Her havde vi modvind, så godt som ingen strøm der hjalp os på vej og en kano der vejede det dobbelte lige pludselig. Min mor og Siljas mor var i deres kajakker, og havde det ret nemt, for det var Silja og jeg der havde det tunge læs. Det føltes som mere end time vi var på den sø, og det var som om der ingen ende var på den, så ved slutningen af den, fandt vi et natursted, hvor vi slog lejer, så vi havde så lidt som muligt af søen at sejle på næste dag.

* Second day was very relaxing. We took our time to eat our breakfast, pack our things and get going. The flow in the water did most of the work in the beginning and then we arrived at Tange lake. We had  headwind all the way, no flow to help us at all and suddenly our canoe weighted twice. Siljas mother and mine were in kajaks and had a more or less easier time than we did because we had all the heavy stuff onboard. It felt like an hour on that lake and it seemed like there was no end to our trip but we found a place to camp so that we did not have to sail as much on the lake as this day.

Kilya jumped into the water after sitting on the kajak. 

The view from our new camp - Tange sø

Silja and I relaxing after the struggle on Tange lake

Den tredje dag startede ud som den anden; meget afslappet. Silja og jeg sejlede mod elværket ved 11tiden om formiddagen og her skulle vi have kanoen og kajakkerne over på den anden side af værket. Man skal gå over til der, hvor man sætter bådene i igen og hente en båre med hjul på og så kan man transpotere ens båd hen til der, hvor man skal have den i. Det tog lidt tid, og vi blev på elværket i et stykke tid, hoppede i vandet og nød varmen lidt inden vi fortsatte mod vores slutpunkt: bamsebo.
Resten af vejen var let, da der var en masse strøm på den her side. Vi havde frokost på et tidspunkt, hvor der ingen var, og så ankom vi til Bamsebo. Siljas mor og min mor kørte efter den anden bil, mens Silja og jeg fik fragtet vores ting op til der, hvor bilerne må køre til.

The third morning was like the other one: very relaxed. Silja and I took of at 11AM and sailed to the power plant where we had to walk with the canoe to get it on the other side of the plant. You have to walk to the place you get the canoes in the water to get a cart and then transport the canoe that way. We stayed at the power plant for a while and jumped into the water and enjoyed the sun before we got into the canoe again and headed to out final destination; Bamsebo. We has our lunch on a quiet place and then we arrived to Bamsebo, and while Siljas mother and mine drove off to get the other car, Silja and I moved our things to the parking lot .

Over and out