Horton Hears a Who

A glimpse into our two weeks in Norway and Sweden.

Our first night camping.  We thought we'd struck gold with this camp site - in the end it ended up being one of the dumber ones, mainly due to the fact it was just in a layby off quite a major road.

I took this photo on our first day on the road, but I think it sums up quite nicely a lot that Norway was about.  I never got over how much water there was in that country, be it a lake, stream, waterfall or fjord.

Our second night camping; roughing it up a little more.  We went for a swim in the lake here - when I say swim, I mean I made it to my knees before chickening out.  David didn't even make it that far.

We bought a camp cooker our first day in Norway - it was the best investment of the entire trip (that and the coffee plunger we managed to get for free)

A beautiful walk up a mountain.  To the right of the picture you can see the zig zag lines of the ski slopes (obviously not operating).  There were houses dotted everywhere, but barely anyone around.  It must be seriously buzzing in winter.

Lunch with a view - after walking up said mountain.

Our third camping spot.  We did think about sleeping in the tent, but our nerves got the better of us.  This was probably my favourite campsite - dubbed fairy-land, for all the magic in the air.  

Fairyland.  It sounds really boring, but the moss on the ground was amazing.  It was like its own little world - I kept imaging Dr Suess' Horton Hears a Who.

Spot the houses.  Green roofs were a common site in Norway.  I want one.

Watching the world go by.

A very cool walk to a waterfall.  The walk itself was what impressed all of us.

Another camp site.  By this stage I'd lost count which night it was but it was our first site of a fjord.  We started at one on the east coast in Oslo, and then made our way over to the west coast, and here.

The North Sea (at a bit of a stretch).  The water was actually more fresh water than it was salt water.  And freezing.

Iain and David contemplating life - and what better a spot to do it?

We often had breakfast, lunch and dinner with amazing views.  This time it was beers - a serious luxury in this country.  At almost $3 a bottle for their cheapest, we would spend a good half-hour in the supermarket weighing up the pros and cons of getting beer.  Beer usually won, in fact I think it always won.

Another stunning view after a walk up a mountain.  Unfortunately it clouded over, and rained just as we hit the summit.

The rugged west coast (spot the David)

Lunch with a view.  This was a pitstop in the middle of a very long day of driving - and may or may not have entailed us driving a dirt track, quite possibly only meant for walkers.  I wish I could say this was the only time this happened.

Our first night in Sweden (actually this is the morning after our first night in Sweden).  We woke to the lake covered in mist.

It quickly cleared to be a gorgeous morning.  Had one of our best swims here.

We spent almost an hour driving out a peninsula on Sweden's largest lake and finally came to the tip of it where a large concrete jetty jutted out into the water.  Big enough to fit the van, we momentarily looked at each other and quickly decided that the jetty had to become our night's camping spot.
The lake was so large you couldn't see the other side, the left of this photo sort of shows that.

Many a sunset was witnessed.  Not so many sunrises were seen, however.

The reflection in the van goes some of the way to give away the view they're admiring.  

Man makes fire.  An almost nightly activity for the boys.  They seemed to take great pleasure in it, and we took great pleasure in eating the food cooked over it.  

Our two weeks in Norway and Sweden ended with a couple of nights in Stockholm - a seriously cool city.

- Hana