Nord-Norge: Seløy



before the hike (read below)

 I can honestly say that although we arrived home in the cold rain today, this was one of the most memorable trips I have been on.  I have no idea if Kristian and Merete read this, but I want to thank them again for taking me with them to Northern Norway this past week.  I will keep this trip with me forever.

On Thursdays I normally end school at kl. 14.00, so it was normal for me to leave school early.  But this past Thursday, Merete was there to pick me up with Solfrid in the car.  Merete had just picked up TWO packages for me in the mail (thanks Nanny, Daddy, Mommy and Bauer!!) with lots of cool things inside! 



On the hike (read below)



We went out to lunch and I opened the packages there at Maja's (where Eirik works after school).  After we finished, Solfrid went to the hairdresser and Merete and I went to the airport where we met up with Kristian.  We flew on some tickets that Kristian had for being a pilot with Widerøe and after two short plane rides North (one stop in Trondheim), we arrived in Sandnessjoen.  It was quite dark and late when we arrived, but on the way there, I was able to sit in the cockpit with the pilots (THANKS KRISTIAN!) and take lots of pictures of the purely beautiful landscape that Norway as to offer. 

After arriving in Sandnessjoen, we walked around the town and got some pizza before getting on the ferry for about thirty minutes to another Island.  From there, we drove to Seløy.  This was where I have my first GREAT memory: I saw the Northern Lights for the first time in my life.  It was amazing!!  It was as if I had seen a ghost.  I don't know how to describe it.  Then as we were driving, we had to stop because there was a sheep in the road.  I couldn't stop laughign about it, but it was totally normal for this area.  There were no big or harmful animals around, so the sheep "roam freely".  After, we arrived at the house right on the ocean and unpacked and went to bed. 

The next morning, I woke up and looked out the window for the first time.  This was another great memory: again, pure beauty!  Right outside of the window was Syv Søstre (or, The Seven Sisters) mountain and Dønnmannen with the shape of a man's face on top of the mountain.  Also, the sky was totally clear and the water equally as much.  It was as if I had landed on the lesser-known cold Caribbean, the water was so blue!  This was all literally what I saw right out the window from where we ate breakfast, lunch and dinner.  I'm sure that I spent all of our meals just staring out the window and trying to keep up with the conversation at the same time. 

Kristian took me on a walk to where he normally fishes while in Seløy.  He casted out and casted out but no fish were biting, so we walked back to the house.  We all got dressed in hiking gear, made our lunches and got in the car to go hike Dønnmannen.  First we had to set some crab traps for dinner.  We drove along the road to a white house and Kristian casted out again for bait there.  He got one fish and had me reel it in.  I wish I could remember what kind it was - I'll just post a picture xD  Then we used the head as bait for the crab nets and Kristian and Merete set them up and threw them in the water for us to get after our hike up Dønnmannen.

 We drove to a "Meeting Place" near the bottom of the mountain and began our climb (after feeding some horses a few carrots we brought for our lunch).  We walked along-side the Caribbean-blue water and then up a VERY STEEP AND ROCKY climb between beautiful yellow-leafed trees.  I was already out of breath and we hadn't even made it up very far.  This was what I would call Rock-Climbing-Without-Ropes... not hiking.  We also hiked up next to (and sometimes IN) a stream.  It was so intense and fun!  We were also eating wild blueberries the whole way up... tehe...  xD  We took a few breaks and went up a totally steep and rocky terrain after the wet and tree-y terrain.  This required a lot of consentration.  Anyway, after two and a half hours of hiking, we made it to the top of Dønnmannen!  It was totally breathtaking.  We had some food at the top and had to put on winter jackets because it was so cold and windy. 

We walked across the top to another peak and then began our climb back down.  This required a rope that was already attached to the mountain.  This was the first time I got nervous during the whole hike.  It took me longer than it should have to go down the 20 meters of rope straight down, but it was safer than climbing down without it!  Kristian and Merete were very patient with my slowness because of nervousness, but after that initial 20 meters, we were off again.  It started to get dark quickly, so we had to hurry down.  It was almost pitch black by the time we got down on the other side of the mountain, so we had to walk all the way back to the car, which took another hour.  All together, we were on our feet for seven hours on that mountain!  It was really intense and I will never forget the view.  The view made it all worthwhile.  I am so thankful that Kristian and Merete took me with them.  I'm not sure if I would do it again tomorrow, but I want to do it again sometime in my lifetime. 

Regardless, I was SORE the next day.  There's no way around it.

The next day we slept in, had a late breakfast, and then went on an ADVENTURE TOUR!  We got to wear ocean rescue clothes and went on a rescue boat out on the ocean.  We saw a handful of the 1,700 islands and ended on an island with a memorial to some people who died from tsunami that hit there years ago.  My camera died quickly through the trip, so I don't have many pictures...  But Kristian took many and I will upload those pictures as soon as I get them :):) 

That night we went out for a festival of food!  We had all of the typical island food (fish, special breads, etc etc) and then we went downstairs to the bar.  I was too tired to dance, so I just sat and watched everyone (I tend to do this now that I'm an exchange student - learn by watching).  The younger people at the bar were the ones who were getting wasted and hanging all over each other and as the age went up the level of drinking went down and the dancing went up.  I was sitting next to an older gentleman and we were talking about the cultural differences at the bar.  I think I was just too tired to move.

The next morning we slept in again.  Some people came over throughout the day and we watched some movies.  This was how the rest of the time was spent.  We entertained and watched movies.  Both of which helped with my Norwegian!  On the last day I took a bike ride around the island and a little past.  It was nice to just ride a bike, alone.  Like I have mentioned, alone-time is quite rare and valuable in the exchange program, or at least in my experience. 

Today we took two planes home and now after unpacking, I must repack to go SEE DIDRIK TOMORROW IN OSLO!! 

Caribbean blue water :)