MELs' Blog

Road trip… (Part III…)

Posted on October 10, 2009November 3, 2009 by meltirol

Friday, 2nd October 2009 – Jondal – Röldal – Jörpeland/Strand, 290 km (excludes the 50 km’s we went for- and backward – wrong way…;-)…)

Good morning Austria! Another awesome day! Blue sky, cold, snow shining down from the mountains. Our destination for the morning: Sommarskisenter Folgefonna… Along the way we passed…

…so some life was going on here… Although we didn’t see any people around but we still had to go further… Where were the skiers, were there any??? We went up there around 9 a.m. or even earlier but didn’t see any other cars driving up… Hmm??? Why;-)??? There was no sign were it said STENGT, so we drove up the mountain, passed the info board, went further and there it was again – a snowy road … The road was getting more and more slippery…

We should have turned around by that time but know it was impossible. The road was getting steeper and steeper – no possibility to turn around. I had to give everything but at the steepest point my caddy said: NO – don’t go further… Well, we didn’t make it up that hill, were stuck! Good that Vroni had an expert training for driving in snowy conditions in NZL last year… We both had to keep cool… So we were stuck, in the middle of nowhere – only possibility – to put up chains on my summertyres (I know, you don’t drive up snowy mountains with summertyres!!!;-)…-I really know and wouldn’t do that back home…)… One problem: the tyres didn’t fit! They were the old ones from my VW-Polo, were a little to small – I’ve been told they would fit – but Mc Gyver Vroni was so clever and with the help of two expanders she fixed the chains… So now we were able to go up the hill, turn around and go back into the valley. Slowly, very slowly I was driving down the road – no crash barrier would stop us if the car decided to not follow our strongest wish – get back down the mountain safely! We were quite “stupid” that we went that far… It happened but all went good…

…got back down safely – were requited with that gorgeous view…

…back on the road again… Breakfast along Hardangerfjord – again beautiful!!!

Next destination: Röldal – well known for the Freeride Comp @ the end of the winter season… I really wanted to go there, so we went for a hike up the mountain, viewing some skiable lines…;-)

…went into the wrong direction – had to drive back all together around 50 km’s… well, no worries…;-) Night stop near Stavanger – plan for the next day – hike up Preikestolen…

Saturday, 3rd October 2009 – Jörpeland/Strand – Preikestolhytta – Sirdal – Evje – Svenes, 275 km

It was raining that morning, so not the best circumstances to go hiking. We were both suffering from a cold, feeling not 100%. First we went to Jörpeland, to the tourist office – checking out the weather for this and the next days… Well not good for today and the next day… It turned out to be a shopping morning as the weather forecast predicted a bit better weather around noon. It was not right – it was raining cats and dogs! We drove up to Preikestolhytta to check the situation there – we really wanted to go up Preikestolen – it must be so cool up there – of course much cooler when the weather is fine… Preikestolen is known for it’s beautiful view over the Lysefjord, a lot of Basejumpers are coming here because it drops 600 m’s straight down… More info about that: www.visitnorway.com / Stavanger area…

We went into the Hytta, two people came just down, were soaking wet and said the conditions are just horrible… I kind of still wanted to go up but the weather was really bad, me and Vroni were both not healthy and the view would have not been good…

Lysefjord... somewhere in the fog - Preikestolen...

…back on the road again – the next ferry just waited for us;-) – we came there, had to stand in line for 5 min. before it took of… sooo lucky!!!

As we didn’t go up Preikestolen, we decided to drive all the way back to Horten – we would be home around midnight… but the plan changed again… The weather turned out to get better – so one more night on the road – this time in tent @ a really nice place…

Sunday, 4th October 2009 – Svenes – Heddal – Kongsberg – Horten, 285 km

Last day on the road – drove through again beautiful scenery – Telemark – stopped at Heddal and yes – we met an Austrian guy there. On the parking lot. He saw our car – came to us and asked what we are doing here? He was sooo happy to talk to some Austrians, was a nice talk… He started to work in Oslo two weeks ago and well again – was really happy to talk to some Austrians!!!

…back to Horten – my place – a nice long shower – dinner with Vroni and Stine – went to bed early – next morning – had to take Vroni to the airport – traffic jam in Oslo – we were both sitting on needles – but happily we made it an hour before her flight – so, all in all A HAPPY END!!!!

IT WAS A GREAT TRIP!!!!! Thxxxx Vroni for coming up!!!! WAS REALLY COOL!!!!

Road Trip… (Part II…)

Posted on October 8, 2009October 9, 2009 by meltirol

…can’t remember where I stopped;-) hihi… wait, one moment – have to look…

ok, here we are…

So after having had a wonderful morning @ the glacier we headed further South-West… Next stop should be Aurlands/Naeroyfjord… We got to Kaupanger, where a Ferry should take us all the way through those beautiful fjords… But we were unlucky. The last tourist ferry for this year had taken off at 9.30 a.m, we were there in the afternoon;-)… Would have really been BEAUTIFUL!!!! So, we had to change our route, once again;-) – didn’t really know where but there was a Pick-up truck standing at the parking place – 2 man sitting in there – at the back the pick-up full with sheep… So Vroni asked those guys how we could get to Naeroy… They were really kind and we found out that our Road Map was quite old… We could take the tunnel;-)…

Short Ferry to the other side and then we had the option: taking a 40 km Tunnel or a mountain pass… No question: We went for the mountain pass! On the way there a sign was saying that the Pass is STENGT! But we ignored it, nobody was there to ask so we went on this gorgeous pass…

sheep warning us... don't go up there... bähhhh....

One car came in our direction, that was it… Then we finally got to the barrier – stengt – but no locker on there – so we could open it… Well, we had to decide quickly – should we go there? yes, no? – bad weather was coming in – snow up in the mountains… – as Vroni didn’t say anything against;-) – we went for it…

…it was like a never ending mountain pass… Lots of snow on the street, it was really hard to find the way – I kept on driving in the middle of the road – very sl0wly – me and Vroni were kind of sticking in the windshield – Vroni was quite worried;-), so I had to stay cool;-)… Well, we were in the middle of nowhere, driving along the snowy road with SUMMER TYRES;-), at some parts it was quite slippery…

Vroni was always checking the altitude on her watch – we didn’t loose any… At some point there seemed to be a light and guess what, there were 2 two pick-up’s from workers standing along the road, so we were not alone anymore – well, we couldn’t see any people but we knew they came up here, so we can manage to get down the mountain;-)… Finally we got further down, no more snow road, just very wet and there it was – another BARRIER and there was also a lock on there, so we just thought – sh… – we can’t go back anymore… what shall we do… BUT – we were sooooo lucky – the lock was open!!!! We could pass the barrier!!! Thank godness!!!

Back down in civilization we drove by the beautiful fjords Aurland-/Naeroyfjord – covered in fog – but still gorgeous…

…Dinner @ a STENGT;-) Camping Site – it was raining, so we had to find a shelter, so why not go there?;-)…

Just 10 min. before we were leaving a tractor was driving in – oh no…;-) But the landlord was REALLY NICE!!! So no problems, I was talking to him – all good…:-)

…Left the campsite and drove further. Actually we were searching for this Stalheim Hotel were you should have a great view to Naeroyfjord, didn’t find it but some km’s after Gudvangen, we found it! Went there, it was already night, so didn’t see a lot;-) and found a cool sleeping place to stay overnight.

Thursday, 1st October 2009, Gudvangen/Stalheim/Naeroy – Voss – Bergen – Norheimsund – Hardangerfjord – Jondal, 216 km

Next morning BLUE SKY, snowy mountains, awesome view – quite cold though… Went for a morning hike to explore the surroundings, didn’t see the fjord though… Well, didn’t matter – wonderful day!!!

…afternoon with our bikes in Bergen… AND it was NOT raining!!!! 🙂 Bergen is known that there is ALWAYS rain… up to 22 days of rain in the month…

…exploring Hansestadt Bergen…

…Ferry to Jondal (again – we were really lucky – any plan when and if there would still be a ferry in the late evening… – just had to wait 20 min… and could go to the other side of the Hardangerfjord…) In our Norway guide it was saying that there is a sommarskisenter near Jondal… So why not go there? As we weren’t lucky with the first one to see, let’s try… But it was to late to go up there today, it was already night, so we found another sleeping spot near some farm houses along the way to the sommarskisenter…

…to be continued…;-)

Road Trip… (Part I)

Posted on October 7, 2009October 9, 2009 by meltirol

Ok, I will try to remember and write down most of this adventurous trip… As I already mentioned, we had a great time and Norway is just a beautiful place to travel…

Monday 28th September 2009 – late afternoon: Vroni arrives @ Gardemoen Airport – good to see her! From there we start directly our journey…

Gardemoen – Fagernes, 192 km

The girls @ Gardemoen Airport...

I didn’t really plan a route where to go, just had an overview where it would be cool to go… It turned out throughout the whole journey that this was the best idea! No plan but sooo lucky;-)…

Well, you know what – I will add more pictures (I guess that’s more interesting;-)…) and will tell some stories to the pixxxx… Easier;-)…

…yes – can u believe – we slept in there for the whole week;-)… nice, cosy and warm;-)… I brought an extra duvet as I knew it’s gonna be cold in the nights AND that was a really good idea… I started the trip with a cold, Vroni caught one during the week. The air in the car during the night was horrible, sooo dry that we both suffered from that…

2nd day: Tuesday, 29th September 2009: Fagernes – Beitostolen – Jotunheimen N. P. – Lom – Gaupne, 253 km

…we drove along and found this nice, vacate hut and had breakfast there… yeah, sun is shining…:-) brrrhh, really cold…

…driving, stopping, driving, stopping to take pixxx and this with a max. speed of 80 km’s/hour… In Norway you don’t get far within an hour – it takes ages to get from one point to another… I guess another way of enjoying nature…;-) Our average speed was 60 km’s/h…;-)

The second day we were getting closer to the mountains, snow was greeting… Jotunheimen National Park…

Along the way we drove by a Sommarskisenter, saw some cars coming down the glacier and thought – well, it’s not far, so let’s drive up there! It was already 4 p.m. and we didn’t think much about it – a steep road led us to the Skisenter, we were unlucky – it was already stengt (closed) – no passing through… So we had to turn around and keep going on our journey…

…Knorr Sonntagssuppe, downjacket, gloves, hat… all you need for a good dinner…;-)

…heavy winters @ Jotunheimen National Park… Along the way @ Sognefjellsvegen, passing the first mountain pass – this snow stack shows how much snow they get… amazing!!!!

3rd day: Wednesday, 30th September 2009, Gaupe – Nigardsbreen – Kaupanger – Laerdal/Aurland – Gudvangen, ca. 230 km

It was raining in the morning – so “standing” breakfast underneath the little shelter we build…

…to be continued…

Road Trip…

Posted on October 6, 2009October 7, 2009 by meltirol

…just a short message – I’m back in civilization – had a great time on the road with Vroni – saw lots of mountains, snow, sheep, fjords, lakes, water, slept in the car for the whole week except once in the tent, hiked, explored the beautiful nature, drove nearly 2000 km in 6 days, what else – just had a great time, were sooo lucky, good weather, not planning anything is sometimes much better, biked, sat in a canoe, glacier, National Parks, lived on Knorr Fast Food the whole week, thxxx Coleman Benzinkocher, Ferries, winterroads + summertyres + not fitting chains = not good;-)…, passed stengt (closed) mountain passes, saw Bergen without rain (because it always rains there), Sommarskisenter,… CADDY – I love U!!! 😉

SOOOOOOOOOOO many impressions in such a short time – I still have to put my thoughts together to write them down – but not today, will do that the next days – I promise… Pictures will follow tomorrow…

Our travel route:

Landkarte

Offline 4 the week…:-)

Posted on September 27, 2009September 27, 2009 by meltirol

…will be gone for the week… Road-Trip with Vroni to Western Norway… jipiiii!!!!

Have a great week!!!!

Ha det bra, Mel:-)

A sunny day…

Posted on September 26, 2009September 26, 2009 by meltirol

Could you imagine sleeping in a disco???? Might sound like a weird question;-) but I was in that situation last night:-(… Some students were having a party downstairs in the living-room which is directly above my room. Anyway, they had soooo loud music and didn’t turn it down until 4 o clock in the morning!!! Somehow I was too lazy to get my bud down there and join them as I couldn’t sleep in that noise… So I slept on and off throughout the night, not very recreative…;-)

Got up early in the morning to finally start writing my essay for American Literature – oh man and I’m still not finished yet…;-(

Beautiful sunny day, high temperatures around 15 degrees, a good day to go climbing. Some students from the climbing group @ university college joined for a great climbing session in the afternoon, close to Tonsberg…

Some impression from that…

Mel:-)... doesn't look like it but it's a 7-

@ the top... getting the carabiners again... quite scary if u r laying on top of the wall facing the ground and knowing that u r not allowed to make a mistake... — @ the top... getting the carabiners again...

This and that…

Posted on September 25, 2009September 25, 2009 by meltirol

Hei, hei!

Orientering – running through the forrest by searching posts can be a lot of fun!!!! This time we went to a different place where we didn’t know the area, so that it was proven we aren’t able to cheat… And also it was the first time that each student started by him/herself. Time was running and within 1 hour we had to find 10 posts, hidden in the forrest… Well, I was so focused to run to the second post, that I completely forgot the first one – didn’t see it on the map;-)… Typical me!!! So I had to run back to the first post, where I met Henriette, together we would find everything quicker, so we ran together. Cross-country through the woods… We did pretty well – at the 5th and 6th post even more people gathered, so by the time we ran over the finish line we were approx. 8 people, which made it quite easy to find the last posts…:-) It took us around 40 minutes – jipiii, back at the start…

We had to wait until everybody got to the finish, so we waited and waited. Half an hour later, one girl was still missing, so our teacher decided to send out some boys to search for her… After a while she made it too… She lost too much time at 2 posts, that was the reason for her delay…

Climbing session in the evening. It’s quite cool because I introduced the sport to some spanish girls and italian students and the italian guys came again;-) So they seem to like it… We made plans for Saturday, to go climbing outside… Looking forward to that…

Today some studying for English, in the afternoon I biked to the gym at university. It’s so weird – those guys who train in the gym don’t seem to be familiar that a girl is lifting weights too;-) Isn’t that weird??? And also none of them is talking to me;-(… Well, I don’t care, it’s just funny to watch how uncommunicative they are. Not only to me though, they don’t speak to each other… The most important thing for those guys is: training their upper body, especially their biceps to show off…;-)

On my way back to my place I stopped at one of the many apple trees along the road. But the problem is always the same – they are standing in a garden belonging to people;-)… This particular one though caught my attention because there was easy access to pic some apples where the owners couldn’t see me…;-) Fruit is very expensive here AND an apple a day keeps the doctor away…:-)

News from back home: Mum wrote me that the new skis and boots from Nordica have arrived. So they are just WAITING for me to get home and ski with them… Nordica is again supporting me with skis and boots this winter – thanks to Flo!!!! AND this coming winter I will be part of the Ziener Team, they are supporting me with skiclothing and gloves!!! Thanks to Nicole and Lisa!!!! So the winter isn’t far anymore and I’m soooooo looking forward to be back on skis!!!!

Next week – “studyweek”, which means travelling around Norway and taking my books with me… Vroni, one of my best friends back home in Austria, is coming for a visit on monday and we’ll go on a roadtrip to the West… Can’t wait till monday…

…Tromsö-Lyngen-Sommaroy… up North…

Posted on September 21, 2009September 22, 2009 by meltirol

…back further South;-)… I’ve spent a long weekend up far North @ Tromsö to visit a good friend of mine, Niki. It was really good to see her and meet her friends, we had a great time!!!

Well, after having 3 options how to get to Oslo-Gardemoen, the airport which shall bring me up there, I decided to take the easiest option – taking my car. So I left Horten Thursday morning, allowing me some extra time before takeoff. That was a good decision because right before Oslo I got stuck in a traffic jam. I was a bit worried as I didn’t have any information if I could make it in time… But thank godness – I just lost 40 minutes, so I made it in time.. At the airport, check-in, having some lunch and after that I was strolling to the gate. As I got there, the information board said: GATE CLOSED… But I was still in time, so why is that??? Did I miss the flight??? No, as we found out, it was just an error on that desk… Good!!!!

2h flight, getting picked up by Zitá, Niki’s friend, straight to the students café @ university Tromsö – the most northern university of the world… wow, really big university – more than 9000 students study here – http://www2.uit.no; pick up Niki from the Norwegian course – drive to their home… They live in a cute little house, sharing it with 6 other students, about 10 km’s from the university – beautiful view to the sea and mountains…

This weekend there came soooo many impressions together, so I won’t be able to write everything down – otherwise this will turn out to be a novel…;-)

Friday: The weather god meant it quite good with me – it didn’t rain so I decided to go for a hike on the nearby mountain, as Niki and Zità had to go to university… Having trouble to find the little path first, I finally found it… You have to know that the hiking path aren’t so well signposted… I had a gorgeous view the higher I got up the mountain – being able to see Tromsö and the surrounding mountains…

I hiked and hiked and hiked, reached the top and went even further… So I got to another view point…

I went so far so I didn’t want to hike back the same way… I spotted out another option on the way there, which I decided to take – hiking cross-country along the water-course down the valley… By the time I got down half-way, my feet were already soaking wet – I was swimming in my hiking boots;-) Well, just walking in marsh and wetlands, how would you expect it to be;-)? Finally I got on a small path, following it, loosing it again, finding it again, loosing it again and so on…;-) That’s the way hiking is here…

…back to Niki’s place, biked to university to meet the girls, exploring Tromsö city, back to university 4 the international students party…

Saturday: Rainy day @ least here in Tromsö. Although there weren’t the best conditions to go to Lyngen Alps we decided to go. I really wanted to go there as I know that some fellow friends have been here for backcountry-skiing and I wanted to spot out some mountains… For the next trip – skiing up here… Alberto, an Italian guy joined us… About a 2h car drive to Lyngen – weather was changing throughout the journey – when we got there, it actually turned out to be quite good, means it wasn’t raining… I was just happy to get out there and be up in the mountains…

Our hiking tour started @ the Spar Parking place @ Lyngen and took us through autumnal forrests. After a while we reached the Skihytta – an open cabin to everyone, where you can stop by, have a rest and get a shelter when there is tooo bad weather outside…

Niki and Alberto... our supposed hiking route...

…Having had a short rest and quick lunch we went further – Niki and Alberto wanted to reach the nearby top of the mountain. We got to the foot of the mountain, the gras and rocks were really wet from the snow and as I looked up this mountain, I decided that it’s a “no go” for me… Just hiking up cross-country on a rock-field, where the rocks were just completely wet, no visibility up there – not worth to go… So Niki stayed down with me, Alberto wanted to reach the top, no matter how the conditions were… So we split up and made up a time for the meeting point – in 2 hours back at the Skihytta… Me and Niki went a bit down the mountain, Niki wanted to go further into the valley – I suggested it might be a good idea that we aren’t crossing the rock-fields… I was proven to be right, as suddenly a huge rock came down the mountain, causing an avalanche, not activated by Alberto – thank godness… So also Niki was happy that we didn’t go up there… We still saw a red dot far up, nearly on top of the mountain, so everything seemed to be fine with our Italian guy…

After a lunch break we started to go down the mountain… Hiking on/off the sheep paths and finally just going cross-country down… We couldn’t spot out Alberto anymore, hoping that nothing happened with him… We reached the Skihytta and waited inside, as it started to rain… 6 p.m. and no Alberto there… Me and Niki got a bit worried, what if something had happened to our Italian friend??? We wouldn’t be able to do anything for him. And as he didn’t have a cell phone with him, we could just wait. So we waited, and waited, and waited. Half an hour… No Alberto here… An hour – still no Alberto here… One hour and 10 min. later finally the door opened and there he was. He felt sorry but he missed the trail and went to far East, not being able to find the shelter anymore. So he went to far down and had to hike up again… Everything was fine – we didn’t have to call the mountain rescue – thank godness…:-) It was already starting to get dark as we finally got to the car again…

Sunday: Road trip to Sommaroy with Niki and Zitá… Finally saw some deer, had quite good weather again, took a lot of pics and enjoyed the time…

...watch out car, reindeer crossing...:-)

In the late afternoon the girls prepared dinner – mushroom schnitzel – mmhhh, very good!!! I couldn’t believe when they told me that Norwegians don’t pic up any mushrooms, as they say it’s not good for you… Right now up there you can find tons of mushrooms and blueberries and hardly anyone takes the chance to pick and eat them… It’s a proof that Norwegian people are really spoiled with there beautiful nature and don’t act very ecological. Wasting energy, throwing food away – there are many examples. But I guess rich countries just don’t care, as they have enough ressources…:-(

…Time to say good bye to my friends up north – fligtht back to Oslo – to my car – trying to get gas from the Jet gas station, didn’t work with my credit card – no gas there – next gas station – forgot the tank cap @ the first G.S. – back to the Jet G.S. 🙂 – finally dog-tired arrived my flat…

Not much news…

Posted on September 16, 2009September 16, 2009 by meltirol

Hei, hei!!

Had my first test today in Orienteering and it went quite well. It was a written test in the gym. All the students where spread out all over the gym, lying on the mats. The teacher got a phone call during the test and went out the gym and it was really surprising me that no one was trying to cheat!!! I was allowed to write the answers in English – thank goodness!!! Although I could remember some definitions better in Norwegian…

So the past days a lot of studying was going on and I had to read quite a lot in English. There is enough to do for school but it’s really nice to have the freedom to decide when I do it… So enough studying and enough free-time… Gives me the chance to get ready for the winter as my right foot is still not so strong and it’s still sometimes painful to train. I guess I have to live with that – Pain seems to be my friend;-)!!!! My right foot won’t get 100% anymore I but I try to get most out of it…

stupid pic but look @ the stationary bike - maybe from the 70's??... — ...hard work @ the stationary bike - maybe from the 70's??...

I’m off for the next days – flying up further North – to Tromsö… Visiting Nikki, a friend of mine – she is studying up there, so I’m looking forward to see her and am curious what to explore up in the North… The weather forecast doesn’t promise good weather… So I’m leaving the sunny south and change it for rainy north…

Have a nice week and weekend!!! Cheers, Mel:-)

Sunday, 13th Dec oh September;-)

Posted on September 13, 2009 by meltirol

I guess I can’t wait for winter, that’s why I already put the date on december;-)… But it’s still some time to go…

Nice sunday today, another day with sunshine and beautiful blue sky… Stine’s birthday today – we were baking muffins and a chocolate cake together, which got a bit black but u still could eat it;-) I had to leave @ 11 a.m. for bouldering, so Stine had to take care of the cake… It really got huge and suddenly it kind of fell together…;-) See the pix;-)…

So another trip to Tjome with Rod. It seems to be a climber’s and boulder paradise although the rock is very sharp and it really hurts after the magnesium on the hands is gone… I finally found a rock where we will be able to do some rock climbing – yes!!!!