Norway experience - waterfall

This lovely little spot was 30 min drive and then another 30 min walk from us.
The water is fairly icy in temperature as it runs off the mountain. It proved a little too cold and deep for us to get behind the waterfall, but next time I might brave it....

The kids had to go in the water, of course. Morfar now knows why I always bring spare clothes whenever we go on an outing...

Another shot from the river - the boys were determined to walk the length of the river.

The waterfall in its full length.

Norway experience - Hunderfossen Family park

Panning for gold like Jake's namesake ancestor Jacob Moule.

Meanwhile Thomas had fun learning how to manouvre a fork-lift....

Then a digger.......

And finally a Mercedes SL500.....

Norway experience - Hunderfossen family park

Lucie enjoyed her time at the Shell driving school. The area had traffic lights, a petrol station, pedestrian crossings etc. Lucie ran red lights, drove the wrong way around the roundabout and generally had a wonderful time!
The pools and waterslides had water heated to 26 degrees, so the children had a great time while morfar and I were a little chillier in the 16 degree air.

Lucie ventured out into the big pool and worried the lifeguards somewhat. I don't think they are used to 4 year olds being able to swim...

And....... here comes Jake......













Ta-Daah!

Norway experience - Little Possum....

The stream that runs by the house provided hours of entertainment. It was lovely that the children had the opportunity for play and games that didn't involve electronics.
After a busy morning playing around in the stream or in the sea, there was nothing like a little rest in the sun.
This particular rock was a favourite hang-out. I think it's official name was PHQ5 (Pokemon HQ no 5 - there were another 5 PHQ's around the property.... mostly along the stream or the seafront)




LP climbing what used to be the foundations of a summer barn in the mountains.

Norway experience - Turtle....

There is nothing quite like a stream and a drain for hours of fun..... water levels went up dramatically after a few days of heavy rain, and Little Possum played "Pooh-sticks" (Serena, you will know what this is! :)

Turtle was by far the most devoted to the stream - practically an inhabitant of the drain.
Turtle is very strong and was able to put his muscles to good use when helping Morfar mow the lawn. ("Lawning", as LP calls it)
Turtle the adventurer is surveying the area on a little outing to the Atlantic Road area

Norway experience - Doodlebug....

The children now know where Santa's reindeer camp out when it's not Christmas.......

In the absence of suitable trees, one can always find alternatives...... like climbing up the roof on top of the shed.......












A bit of drift wood shaped like a 'J' was a special find.... "sadly" it could not come home to Sydney with us
The place has an abundance of berry bushes - raspberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants and strawberry plants. This bush here was the favourite though as Doodlebug developed a liking for gooseberries. (Joke: what's small and hairy and goes up and down? A gooseberry in a lift..........)

Norway experience - water......

The children braved the fjord which was a little chillier than earlier in the summer. Turtle was a little nervous about the possibilities of a shark having followed us from Sydney, but we all agreed that the water in Norway was too cold and that a shark wouldn't like it. We did have a school (?) of porpoises one morning, though!
My little vikings conquering the fjord and the seaweed.
Morfar's boat was popular and we had several trips out on the fjord. The children all had a go at helping to steer which was a lot of fun.
"I feel the need - the need for speed!!!" LP has shown herself to be another little adrenaline junkie and morfar had to keep a moderating hand on the rudder and the accelerator.....

Norway experience - Svanhild

This old sailship - the "Svanhild" - was built in 1889 down at the seafront 100 mtrs away from our house. It has been restored, and the local neighbourhood committee arranged a visit "home" for the ship. So it happened quite by luck that we were there during the "Svanhild Day".
A welcoming committee dressed in period clothes were waiting on the pier, and the flags were flying at all the surrounding farms and houses. Jake noted the flags - we love our flag in Norway and fly it for every special occasion - family or more public occasions and in the smaller communities all flags will fly at half mast when a local resident dies.
We were all allowed to climb onboard for a special visit and to explore the ship. Here is the ladder from the sleeping quarters to the deck.
A great time had by all, and nobody fell overboard.

Norway experience - woodland

We visited the cemetery where my mother is buried and after tidying up around her grave, we went for a walk in the woods surrounding the cemetery. Along the path there was a row of hollow trees which was very exciting for the kids to explore.

Here's Doddlebug in his tree, climbing up as high as he could.


Turtle just managed to peep over the edge of his tree.
LP's new boots were perfect for our walk, particularly when it started raining in the middle of it. Shame LP and I didn't have rain-coats though...
Self-reliance/emergency preparedness course: "Build your own emergency shelter".

The Norway experience - the last day

LP and Turtle at the "Teknisk Museum" in Oslo, testing out the viscosity of various fluids by pumping bubbles through them. Lucie is in practice for a future at the gym on the step machine...... We had a great visit to the museum which can best be compared to the Powerhouse museum in Sydney or the Science Museum in London. The most popular section was this interactive Science area.

Concentration level was high as Doodlebug was balancing a beach ball on the jet of air from an overgrown hair dryer, trying to guide the ball through the hoops. He did not give up until he had it licked, and then did it a few more times just to prove that he had really mastered it.

And then, after a wonderful month, it was time to return to Sydney. Bye bye for now, hopefully it won't be too long until next time. We are thinking that we ought to do winter next time around.

Morfar took us to the airport and it was very sad to say good-bye.

This is at the airport in Helsinki Finland, while we waited to board our flight for the second leg of the journey to Hong Kong.

our holiday library

While on holiday we visited the local library. This is a library that serves a community of 6500 people.
The photos are of the children's section only and do not show the media corner that had one wall of audio books and another of DVD/videos. I was really impressed with the number of books and quality of the library in general and I told the librarian that this library (which is regarded as a "small" one) completely outshines my local library. He told me that the local municipalities in Norway prioritise library services and that the government has a "Culture Fund" which allots grants to libraries etc. I am glad to see a return from the extortionately high income tax paid in Norway. Of course, my children did not enjoy the library as much as they could have had they been able to understand Norwegian. They did, however, enjoy the DVDs and we also found a "Horrid Henry" book in the English section (yes..... the library also has a foreign languages section for chilren....).

Norwegian tooth fairy performs admirably!

Turtle lost another tooth and then proceeded to lose it. We had to write a letter to the tooth fairy explaining the situation. In the morning Turtle looked under his pillow and was very disappointed to find there was no money. This was until I explained that the tooth fairy works differently in Norway. By the bed was a glass of water and in the glass was a coin. The tooth fairy had been very understanding of Turtle's predicament and accepted the note in lieu of the tooth. Happy toothless smiles all around.

Salutations from Norway|

We made it!!!!! The longest journey of my life, but the children behaved amazingly well considering they had to stay in one place for 10 hours at a time. Those of you who know my children will know that they generally struggle to stay in one place for more than a few minutes.... They did really well, and I didn't even have to use Phenergan.

Cathay Pacific was wonderful, but I declare Finnair to be particularly stingy since it's the first long haul flight I have made where you have to pay for any mid meal snacks...... No pot noodles or packets of chips for peckish little children (or grown-ups). They also required payment in Euros of which I had none, so ended up paying in HK dollars getting a terrible exchange rate. Live and learn. Will arm myself with a couple of packets of biscuits for the return journey. Biscuits are fortunately still allowed on the plane since nobody has found a way of making explosive ones yet.

So, one week or so into our holiday I am happy to report that we are having a good time. Turtle is being suspicious of any foods Norwegian (with the exception of lollies and chocolate which he has deemed safe). Shepherd's pie went down a treat as it was declared to be Australian despite all the ingredients being Norwegian. I am sure if you are 6 yrs old this makes sense!

TV watching is minimal due to the fact that there are only 2 TV channels to watch - one public and one commercial channel. The great thing is that the morning cartoons are completely uninterrupted by ads.... Advertising aimed at children is illegal in Norway, so no junk-food or toy ads. YAY!

The weather has been mostly good, although we had some spectacular rain for a couple of days. Australia could have done with some of it. The children are having a great time playing in the stream by the house and down by the seashore which is 15-20 mtrs away from the back door depending on the tide. The children are spending most of the time outside playing and I have trouble getting them inside for bed. It is hard to persuade them it really is bedtime when it is still bright daylight outside. At first they thought it was an evil scheme of mine to get them to bed early.

Onkel Knut had left a racetrack for the kids to play with. It was so big that the only place I could assemble it was in the barn. It took me 3 hours and the best of my engineering skills to assemble. Thomas was impressed and gave me a pat on the back for "doing a good job". A rare compliment and one that I treasure!

No photos yet because I have not found a way to upload. The internet is accessed at the local library which is beyond impressive!!! I am soooooo disappointed that my children do not read Norwegian because the choice of books here is phenomenal. I used to think Kuringgai library was ok...... but it fades by comparison.

Until next time - farvel!