Tusen takk for å ha meg Norge - se deg neste år

Can you believe it... its raining in Ulvik... Now there's a surprise! Well this is my last blog from Norway. The car is packed to the gunnels and i'm just hanging out waiting for tomorrow to arrive, Then its a 7 hour jaunt across the country to Brevik, even though its only 300 miles its like driving back and forth to Meribel from Moutiers, Twisty mountain roads that go on forever. This time however I will be doing it in the day instead of the murky sunset / sunrise of may. Weird how 5 months ago we had only 1 hour of darkness per night here and now its almost like Britain. I have to be at the port at least 5 hours before departure as the cargo ship i'm traveling on needs to load me before packing its decks with containers. 3am we are due to set sail and then I guess its 41 hours of chilling out in my cabin. Not much else to do surrounded by water for so long. Still, now I know what to expect, I have supplies, music and films with me to while away the hours.

I really am going to miss this place, Hopefully I will get posted back here again next year, who knows, i have the winter to get through yet. Still, new challenges every season, new faces, new beginnings, Its all life experience.

I can honestly say the Norwegians are among the nicest people I have ever met. Such a great way of life out here. For example, I took some unused tickets back to the station the other day, they just took them off me, said they would return them to head office and we would be credited for them... and so it was done. So easy. Can you imagine that in England... I never received them, what tickets? who are you? I want a receipt for them bla bla bla...They are of such a trusting nature, and it makes you the same way.

Well to all my new found friends over here, a thousand thanks for making this the most memorable season of my life, I will be back, I will miss you all, and look after the place in my absence.

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Shut your eyes and think of somewhere.....

Al though I have been a little quiet on here lately I must just say that its going to get quieter. My time in Norway is almost up and in less than a fortnight I will be back on that cargo ship to the UK. I was scheduled to be on the boat on the 16th September but with some jiggling and juggling it has now been put back to the 23rd dropping me in the lovely town of Immingham on the 25th.

For saying that we are slowly closing the operation down, the last couple of weeks have been manic. After the Judges trotted of up north in search of trolls, my folks descended on Voss of a long weekend. I think they enjoyed themselves, taking in Ulvik, Norway in a Nutshell and a day out in Bergen (yes it rained) to mention but a few. Izzy returned from Sweden stocked up with her mouth teabag nicotine thingy's... (I have no idea, so don't ask:) so normal service has been resumed once more. The 'Boys' from the Green Cafe have been fired for.... well what haven't they been fired for... late serving, underage serving, partying until way after Ulviks bedtime and generally being 20 year old's in charge of Ulviks most happening bar.

Needless to say the Friday night gatherings continued at the Red Cafe, with more of a 'relaxed' atmosphere. Even George is back on the scene! Adina has left Norway (Our woman in Loen) without even meeting me! Neil has packed and is ready for the off on Wednesday and I've just said goodbye to Rich who is off on Friday. Looks like i'll be the last one holding the flag of st George till the very end.

This is a first too.... last week my clients leaving Voss for Balestrand got out of the taxi during the ferry crossing, when it docked at Hella, the first port, they got off, not realizing the boat then carried on to Dragsvik. With the driver in Dragsvik and the passengers in Hella I get a phone call telling me what has happened.... Easily resolved but trying not to laugh was harder. They were so embarrassed when they passed back through Voss on Sunday. Good job we have a good communications network over here!

Well, I'm about to start packing up the flat and eventually loading the car, My plan is to move down to Ulvik for the last week as the Brakanes Hotel seem to be the only ones who want to feed me. Then a few days tidying up any loose ends before the off.

I'm sure I'll write some more before then but if not... see you on the other side.... i'm not looking forward to a couple of months in the UK but it will be cool to catch up with a few people too.....

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Så lenge Norge, dens blitt emosjonell, jeg elsker deg og ønsker å bo for alltid

Its been a while since my last blog, but then I have been a little busy, first of all, most of the clients this week have taken part in all of the activities and secondly I had a visit from my bestist buddies Sara, Tony and the Twins Callum & Ella... Hurricane Irene... Pah, nothing on those pair :)

The sun even poked its head out for a few minutes on Friday, enough to make the Osa Mountain trip enjoyable again, maybe the last time I go up there this year, who knows!. The evening cruise was more like crossing the channel in October, That was the first time Ive seen white water on the Fjords!

Sat in the Hotel garden on Friday evening watching the kids playing on the boats gave me a great idea, one that Dad will be holding his head in his hands and muttering "oh no not again" under his breath, when he reads this....

I fancy building a boat, not too sure yet whether to go for a Kayak / Canoe and somehow build a platform to hold an outboard or just get a crappy fiberglass hull and make a speedboat from it. Ebay seem to have a few 'old buckets' from a tenner so i'm still pondering that one. It need to have an engine so I can explore further AFjord and also small enough to go on/in/around the car and trailer. I figured if I come back here next year and I have all this water to play on (and no wind Dad, before you suggest one with sails) then what better toy to bring with me..... Ideas please :)

Time is running out in Norway now and things are starting to close, The Ulvik Hotel was the first to go and shut its doors on saturday. Folklore evenings are no more, Osa Mountain is no more, and even the nights are drawing in. (Yes I know, darkness in Norway!) Even Izzy has gone to Sweden...

I will certainly miss this place and all its quirkyness, I have some great new friends here now, but time wont stand still and my skiing muscles are starting to twitch... Lots of plans for the inter-season seeing as I didn't get one between winter and summer, although I think 6 - 8 weeks is too long, That said... I think I can now tell people what's happening this winter...

Inghams have offered me Resort Managers Position in Val D'Isere, I have accepted, contracts signed, bond paid, Job done. Think about it, No Pre Madonna Chefs to deal with, No drunken Chalet Girls oversleeping, No Chalets falling down or blowing up, No Maintenance men driving 2 hours to 'Look at the Job' and best of all... No pre season toilet scrubbing... Pure Bliss! ..... and a brand new resort to play in. That will be soooo weird having skied the 3 valleys for the last 9 winter seasons. Let hope i'm up to the job, Inghams are great to work for, I have thoroughly enjoyed it here (but then I think you have gathered that :)

All I have to do now is haul all of my stuff back through Scandinavia re-pack in Britain and drag it all to France again....

Barn's Boats & Beer

What a fantastic week, the weather has been great, well three days of sunshine so I guess thats the Norwegian summer over with. I've managed to pack in quite a bit this week, firstly I went to my first Folklore Evening... that was different!

I have booked the clients into 3 or 4 now but this week I decided to stay over in Ulvik for a couple of nights and this weeks event fell on a night I was there, to be fair, I only wanted to have a look at what it was all about so I could explain the event better to the clients, but once inside you can't just leave!

Anne-Marie the local school Marm' was hosting the show with half a dozen of her students, all dressed in the Norwegian National Costume, and dancing around in a barn! Before long we were all invited onto the dance floor to join in. like I said... Different!

The following morning was a trip up Osa mountain again, this time in sunshine too. Got some really great shots and ventured further into the wilderness... Truly stunning indeed.

That night I was aboard the Lady Anne for the evening cruise and then back to the girls pad for a pre party before descending on the Green Cafe once more for more debauchery and partying.

This time it was Karoline's leaving party and an even better turnout than before... I think we have started something now, the Cafe is becoming very popular on a Friday with all the young folk!.

Back to Voss this morning for some much needed sleep. Looks like I'm having some visitors in a week or two, so Norway just keeps getting better and better :)

Shame I only have about 6 weeks left....

06 August 2011 - Enige og troe, indtil Dovre falder

What is it with Norway this summer!!  I mean, before I came here, the last time anyone had heard from the Norwegians, some Viking ship had landed in Scotland... and within a month some nutter has bombed the capitol, shot up an island of school kids and now some mad arsed polar bear has gone round munching on some Brits up in the north!... Seriously, I had to look on a map when I got this job, just to see exactly where Norway was... Yeah we all know its in Scandinavia to the right of Britain somewhere, but to be fair I wasn't sure exactly where!

The Norwegians don't go around making much of a song and dance about anything, they just get on with their lives and live in peace. We see an occasional Norwegian emblem when the European cup starts but thats normally short lived, no disrespect, quite the opposite in fact, the Norwegians are a lovely bunch of people who, although are involved in the UN and other peace keeping forces, don't shout about it like the Americans or the British, hence we don't hear from them much. But over the last few weeks they seem to have been dominating the headlines.

I think it must be down to the demise of 'The News Of The World'.... With them gone, all the celeb's in Britain have been let off the hook and normal news is being reported instead. Whatever the reasoning, lets hope that the saying 'Things Always Come In Three's' is true and Norway has had its share of tragedy and bad luck for the next 100 years.

As the Norwegians would say "Enige og troe, indtil Dovre falder"  -  United until the mountains of Dovre crumble.

n

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03 August 2011 - Not Lost for Words, Lost for Time

Busy busy week this week, Just had 16 clients descend on me all at once, Smooth enough transfer day but with lost luggage and all, its been a long day...

I did manage to get a couple of 'Night Time' shots though.....

I'll be back blogging some more in a couple of days when it all settles down again... have some great news too...

Be back soon.....

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29 July 2011 - Come Fly With Me

Yet another fabulous weekend with some 'out of the blue' twists...  Firstly our man in Balestrand came to visit. Over coffee, Neil & I put the world to rights again on Friday, whilst chatting away I get a phone call from Rune, the chappy who owns our transport company here in Voss, offering me a chance to go flying with his son in an hour....

For a change it was a beautiful day and of course I jumped at the chance. Soon Rune had collected Neil & I and we were off to Voss airfield where the tiniest plane I had ever seen was sat in the Taxi lane. A two seater plane / glider combination, all very shiny indeed. Before the flight Rune & Olav were telling me how new the plane was, like 6 months old and costing 1.5 million (I reckon we are paying these taxi drivers way too much) even converted from Krone into pounds thats about 200K

 

With the pre flight checks done and a brief explanation of the dials and controls, Pedro and I were bumbling along the taxi rank to the end of the runway, Not quite what you see on Top Gear but I was assured it was long enough for this thing..... 

Some dial tapping and engine revving later we turned onto the strip and boom we were off.... within a few yards we had lift off and were soon making our way up into the blue..

Pedro had suggested we head towards the glacier  but as we climbed over the mountain range we could see a thick cloud hovering over it... 'Ah best not' says Pedro, 'I'm not qualified to fly in clouds' 

Talk about 'vote of confidence' here I am sat in an egg shell with barely enough room to move when the pilot says he's not that qualified! 

I do know a little about flying licenses so to be fair on him, I was not too worried. We decided to fly towards Ulvik instead, dropping in height to fly in the Fjords. If I thought Norway was a beautiful country before this, then it was an understatement... Once again, my breath was taken away with the scenery and this time it was all landscape.

As we neared the Brakanes hotel I'm shooting pictures like i'd just got a new camera.... I wanted to get a great ariel shot of the hotel but I was having trouble getting the angle as we flew over head...

'Put your camera out of the hole in the window' Pedro says just before banking the plane right over, so now i'm underneath with only the plastic canopy between me and the earth... I got the shot I wanted though

If that wasn't enough, Pedro then says 'do you want a picture of you?'   'Sure' I reply wondering how he will do this. He proceeds to take the camera and give me the controls of the plane... A joy stick between my knees 'Pull back to go up, forward to go down,  left etc etc...' Pedro kept the back end in check with the foot pedals but the rest was up to me... 

Don't be fooled by the happy smile... I was as nervous as hell at this point.. 

It was a bit twitchy and felt like we were on a rollercoaster but nevertheless I was flying a plane.  Pedro then decided to show me a few tricks that the thing could do, flying close to the ground to feel the bumps from the air pressure (which actually felt like we were running on the wheels) and to top it all off, he switches off the engine and we glide back towards Voss catching a few thermals on the way.

We had pretty much flown the route I drive to work in Ulvik and even came back the short way over the mountains and Solsoe lake... Much quicker than in the car thats for sure.

Way too soon it was all over and Voss airstrip came into sight....

Touchdown was as smooth as the take off  and so that was that... from a cuppa with Neil to buzz round the Fjords in a light aircraft. I know my days in Norway have been some of the best in my life but this one was surreal...

Well thats my 'Bucket List' a bit shorter at least...

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28 July 2011 - Pondering about Poland

Finally a couple of days of sunshine here in Norway, to be honest I was beginning to think it would never happen! Time to put the camera to the test.

Oddly enough, all of the clients this week have either gone off walking or ventured out on the Nutshell tour, and as they were all in resort by 6pm yesterday, I have very little to do until Sunday. I decided this morning to take a trip up to the ski area of Voss by means of the cable car. It's only the 2nd time I have used my season pass for the lift system this summer, for obvious reasons too.

Quite busy at the top with many a paraglider launching themselves off the side of the mountain... I had one mission, to capture the same photograph as is in the Inghams brochure.. I think I got it, and to prove it I took one of the other car too..

There's one... There's another one...

As expected the views were spectacular but there wasn't far to wander (My own fault for wearing sandals I guess) so I just hung around the paragliding site for a while and watched a few launches before heading back down again.

I had an idea the other day, so when I got back to the gaff I did some research and I think it might be possible to drive home through 15 countries... I pumped some way points into google maps and to drive from here to Denmark, across to Sweden, up to Stockholm and across to Helsinki, down to Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Czech republic, and across to Holland, taking in Austria, Germany, Belgium and France too... Not forgetting a toe into Russia. I don't fancy taking the car in, but if i'm 60k from the border, its got to be done.... Might just be feasible... I'll come back to you on that one, need to check my finances first.

After all... it wouldn't be the maddest thing I've ever done....

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22 July 2011 Certainly A Day To Remember

What a week! ..... Well the good news is, i've not been shouted at yet but then it has been the weekend so I guess I'm still in the firing line, i'll keep you posted on that one.....

Since I last posted an awful lot has happened but then you will have seen that on the news, i'll come to that in a minute.... Firstly Rich came over on Wednesday and we had a quiet and chilled night in trying to watch 'The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button' Not what I was expecting, no sign of racing cars anywhere! And I think to be honest we were watching it on rewind??... very strange indeed. I say trying, we kept on pausing the film to chat and I'm sure we almost put the world to rights.

Thursday involved a trip to Ulvik, welcome meetings, wander walk etc then the fun started... we took out a kayak  and paddled across the Hardanger Fjord to a small island which was habited by goats (I'm not making this up honest) it was a glorious day and very surreal gliding across mirrored black water. I'm told the Fjord is 400+ metres deep hence its dark colour, our intention was to go for a swim. But as we neared the island the water became clearer and we could see the bottom....  Yuk, it was thick kelp entangled with all sorts of debris. We paddled around to the far side and found a beach, we also found a strip of, what looked like sand'. This seemed the ideal place for a dip with hardly any kelp to get in the way. It was at this point we heard some bells, and as we beached the kayak two billy goats came wandering up, bells rattling away as they got more and more curious.

They seemed to look happy so we left them to chew on the canoe as we waded out into the Fjord.. Bloody hell was it cold! before I had waded to waist deep my legs had gone numb! "sod this" says Rich and dives in, only to shoot out again like something out of thunderbirds. I had no choice now, you know when one person is wet you're gonna get splashed and that's even worse, so.. with breath held I too went under, I can see now why Rich shot out again.

Right, enough of this for a game of soldiers, back to shore, kit on and gone. It was quite pleasant drying out in the sun as we paddled back but I think we attracted the worlds supply of bugs, either that or the drying water was kicking in the paranoia.

Soon we were back at the Brakanes and went for lunch. The rest of the afternoon was spent chilling out with George the manager, a few games of pool,  dinner,  and then a rather large game of chess. The central green in Ulvik has a huge chess board in the middle and Rich is as competative at chess as he is with most things. I think I won 2 - 1 though :)

The following morning we actually made it down for breakfast, a first really as Rich is nocturnal at the best of times and for some reason I was awake at half 6! The weather was looking grim but we had decided we would take the car up to the top of Osa Mountain regardless, if nothing else it was something to do! Isabella, the receptionist from the Ulvik Hotel was on a late shift so she joined us on the jaunt too.

I must say it was a very different sight this time, and only a week after my last visit...

Almost all of the snow had gone but the lake still looked beautiful... watch this space, when we get a sunny day (hahaha) I'm going swimming in there :)

Even my iceberg was looking sorry for itself... needless to say we couldn't talk Rich into standing on it.

Back down the mountain we stopped in Osa for a coffee before heading back for dinner.

Sat in the bar afterwards we watched the shocking news unfold about Oslo... I don't want to write much on here as you will all have seen the news, lets just say we all felt terrible and it was made worse seeing the reaction from the Norwegians there. For ever and a day we will remember the twin towers as 9/11 and the London terrorist attacks as 7/7... But for me especially July 22nd from now on will mean more than just my Birthday.

I don't know if to carry on writing is appropriate, but I guess I will have to at some point.

After a few beers in the hotel bar we descended on the Green Cafe, we were joined bu the Brakanes posse along with Tone from the Strand, Unfortunately we had to leave Karoline on duty in Ulvik... well someone has to look after the place and as George was at the party, I guess she drew the short straw.

Talking of George, I have no idea what he was on that night but he was doing some very strange impressions indeed, before disappearing into the night. 

The playlist as ever got disrupted and I have no idea what we were listening to in the end.... after being fed a tequila sunrise by Niall, I didn't care anyway! I was not long left in this world and soon had to be shown the way home.

Even with the hangover I had a great night, hung out with some great new friends and let off some much needed steam... 

Saturday was quite chilled with Rich buying me a painting of some coffee cups from the local 'open all hours' 'we sell everything' shop in Ulvik before heading back to Voss to watch the end of Benjamin...

Thanks to all those who showed up for my party / soiree we must do it again sometime but preferably on a day not marred with sad news...

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19 July 2011 - I'll tell the Jokes Arthur

Probably my last blog until after the weekend as Rich and I are heading down to Ulvik tomorrow for a few days of Norwegian fun. The plan is to get some climbing ropes etc and scale something... quite what, i'm not too sure. But failing that, we still need to take the Kayaks out for a paddle. Either way it will be fun to get out and about and i'm sure there will be a good turnout on Friday at the Green Cafe.


I have been having fun with the camera this week but to be fair the weather has been awful so I'm a bit reluctant to put any pictures up here until I have some good ones. here are a couple I took while trying to be 'arty'

Yes that's a bottle of Voss water and at 45 NOK (£6) for 1/2 Litre I think the camera could be the least expensive bit if I were to take up professional photography here!


I do wonder sometimes if I'm the only person reading this, I have spent today writing my MSR (Mid Season Report) As always I included my humor in there, only to be told that 'its entertaining but it needs to be more serious' and the boss hasn't seen it yet... think i'm gonna be in trouble tomorrow.


I'll just keep my humor to this blog site, so drop me an email if you're reading this, otherwise it will be as much use as this weeks 'News Of The World'


I mean, what's wrong with writing in the report that its only rained 3 times since i've been here, all of may all of june and all of July! and that I want a company canoe not a car. I suppose the reference to the Hot women of Norway might have got them a bit flustered but i'm only telling it how it is.


I'm still waiting to hear the next installment of the stamp issue, the latest I sent must have confused her. I said that I was in Norway and couldn't buy any British stamps here and sending her an envelope with Norwegian stamps and a UK address would not work. I'm hoping she replies with 'don't you have anyone in the UK who could do this for you'? to which my answer will be 'YES YOU' Checkmate!


I did catch some news from the UK today and I cant believe the MP's questioning Rebekah Brooks didnt ask her the question we are all dying to know....... Why dont you cut your hair????


Ok, Catch you after the weekend (Technically Friday is the end of the week so, yeah, after the weekend :)

16 July 2011 - You bring the G&T

Yet another great weekend here in Norway (Yes I know, but my weekends are from Friday night to Sunday Morning) Firstly, the trip up to Osa mountain went better than I expected, every week we get a little higher and higher, basically until we run out of road because there is still snow about... This week however we made it to the very top......

and wow, what a sight. The big lake full of ice bergs, on top of a mountain! Quite a spectacular view indeed.

That was the first time I had stood on an iceberg

Even I was a bit concerned that it might tip up or break or something and I didn't fancy getting my new trainers wet, What I didn't bank on was 8 guests all wanting to take the picture... er like i'm stood on an iceberg with nothing on my feet!.... Hurry up and press the button!

The evening meal was proceeded with a cruise up the Hardanger Fjord aboard the Lady Anne, a cruise ship/boat owned by the Brakanes Hotel...

I'm not sure of the difference between a boat and a ship, other than you can put a boat on a ship but you cant put a ship on a boat!... As usual it rained all the way out and back, clearing up as we docked back at the hotel.

Later that evening, the Ulvik posse congregated upon the Green Cafe, Not a bad trendy pub / bar / sandwich shop run by Niall who is from...  'of all places' Coventry!

The music is of your own choice, basically go in and mess with the playlist and boom... The unfortunate thing is the posse is made up of all nationalities, Swedes, Chechnyan, Moroccan, Russian  and even the odd Norwegian,  so the music tastes did vary somewhat.. Ive not heard James Blunt followed by Metalica before. As it was Mikalea's leaving party there was a good turnout and was in full swing by 2.30am. Quite bizarre for the sleepy town of Ulvik to be in party mode.

Well Today my camera finally arrived (I know! only how long???) But it is all I was hoping for so this afternoon I've been doing my David Bailey bit and taking pictures of all sorts of rubbish around Voss, Expect to see some stunning photographs from now on as I get my head round the F2.8 1000/1 200isa waffle flange converter nonsense. Kelvin Media's Tech Support line has been inundated with emails and tex's this afternoon as I twist dials, press buttons and generally waste a lot of film... Oh wait!

See... I can do 'Depth Of Field'..... well it was in a field if that counts!

Now all I have to do is everything ive done in Norway 'Again' and this time photograph it!

... Expect some classic shots next weekend... and yes that will include Tequila :)

13 July 2011 Philatelists News from Scandinavia

What a day... and mainly one filled with good news! Firstly customs let my trainers through without any import tax... because they were a birthday present, which... Check this out....  they wanted to see my date of birth on my passport to prove I wasn't lying! I had to laugh, especially with the comment "ok sir we will let you have these, lets call it a birthday present from Norwegian customs"... gee thanks guys, I get to buy my own trainers and you let me keep them as a present from you...

And secondly, my provisional contract came through for the winter (still cant say anything but its exactly what I wanted) A very happy bunny indeed today!

Oh I must show you the emails regarding the stamp issue... Priceless!

Dear Rob,

We have just received your envelope in the post for your Food & Hygiene Certificate; unfortunately we are unable to send this as the envelope needs to be stamped. If you could please send an A4 stamped self addressed envelope and we will get these sent out to you.  Sorry for any inconvenience caused.

My apologies, I had my mother post you the envelope as I am currently in Norway,  she must have forgot to put the stamp on it, could you please send the envelope back to me and I will correct this error and return it to you with a stamp affixed. Many Thanks  

Thank you for your email You will need to send another A4 self addressed envelope with the correct postage cost attached, and we will get this sent out to you, This would be much appreciated.

No problem, I will send you another envelope this time with stamps on, Could you please still send my original envelope back, we both need to watch the pennies obviously

I wonder how long I can keep this going before someone sends her on a 'time management' course... surely its cost them more than 32p of her time to send these emails...

What's even funnier is that I know the guy who is in charge of distributing them and they are in PDF format on disk... she could just as easily attach it and send it with her next email... I guess that would need a training course though!

On another note though, someone had moved my stick I noticed as as I drove to Ulvik today... but don't worry, I put it back again... you never know, it might fall down one day and I don't want to be responsible for the collapse of the mountain and the road closures!

Right I'm off, busy day tomorrow and you never know... I might even have a new camera!

11 July 2011 - They're not all Trolls & Trogladites

This is something you wont find in England... Chatting to the lady at the post office in Oslo today, After going through all of the 'å speake til en operatør trykker på en' I finally got to speak to Anneth who had an absolutely hilarious take on the English language "how do you spell your name? I asked" A Alpha N November (I'm impressed at this point) N Norway E England T Tyne Bridge H Hotel.... Excellent! 


I explained my predicament regarding the camera to which she says "I will ring Customs personally for you, Do you have enough... how do I say in English, ... err... Electricity in your phone?".... I'm guessing she means Credit, but "yes love, I'm on the landline" 


5 minutes later she comes back on "Hij, I spoke with them personally but they have gone for sandwiches and are not back in country till tomorrow, but I smiled nicely at the phone and my friend he puts me to front of queue in the morning, may I call you when I come to work?" ... "yeah that would be great thanks" "My friend he say you no have a Norwegian ID number but its no problem, I gave him mine"... 


After that I didn't feel like shouting at them and calling the place a shambles, but rather sat back and smiled with a happy glow. I'm beginning to love the Norwegians once more.


Today I had some fantastic news about the winter and where I might be going - I cant say anything just yet as I'm sworn to silence until the final planning is done and the contracts are out... But its nice to know I'm still wanted. Lets just say I will love the job and the place I will be working.


I'm on a mission today too, to find an album by Matt Hires called 'Take me to the start' Its not available on iTunes UK but is available on iTunes USA - my account is UK and try as i might, I cant buy it! also its not available on any download site and GoMusic.Ru is off line today... anyone got any ideas?


On that note i'm off for an early night, Tomorrow I'm guiding some clients around the 'Norway In A Nutshell' tour.... Does that make me a 'Fjord Escort'?


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10 July 2011 Camera Shy

With all of the to'ing and fro'ing at the Citroen garage, it seems that the car is running ok once more, 4000NOK later and a new coil, the misfire has finally gone and she runs as smooth as the day I got her. Good job really, I don't remember much of the journey back from Bergen yesterday. Not for any other reason other than I was entranced in music by 'One Republic' I'm not too sure if they are a new band or just new to me. Mikaela from the Brakanes Hotel told me about them and I must say, I'm impressed with the sound.

Quite a straight froward transfer day today, 3 people flying out and 4 moving from Ulvik to Voss, Welcome meetings done by 3pm Dinner at Fleischers and now to settle down to watch Californication. Its such a pity to get easy days when its Sunday... there is nothing open here! today is normal Norwegian weather too, by that I mean Rain, so chill out time it has to be.

Tomorrow I start all over again with the battle of customs. I ordered a camera from eBay about a fortnight ago and its been sat in Oslo customs office ever since, they want my Norwegian ID before they will release it - Obviously not having one, they then asked for my drivers licence, but that was no use to them as it had the wrong address on it... well der yeah, its got my english address on it.. OK sir, send us your passport - but that has no address on it either, no but it has your photograph... AHHH so does my drivers licence, but why would you need my photo? you're in Oslo, i'm in Voss, you have no idea what I look like... How about you send me my bloody camera, i'll take a picture of myself with it and send it back?

Oh and here's one for you... We posted an addressed envelope out the other day so they could send me my Food Hygene certificate and today I get an email saying they can't send it to me because there were no stamps on the envelope. Ive just written back saying I would be happy to correct this error on my behalf if they can send the envelope back to me, i'll put a stamp on it.!!... It does make you wonder where they find these people really!

Post has to be the one thing that does wind me up about Norway, It takes forever to get stuff sent and god help you if customs get hold of it!

Oh well, I better make good use of this quiet time, I have 20 people coming on Wednesday so It will get busy again... I bet thats when my camera arrives... and I'm too busy to fetch it!