I think I can truly say that Norway has knocked my socks off.
We had all heard that Norway was lovely, but the sheer scale of everything has absolutely surpassed all expectations. Every country road seems to be surrounded by postcard perfect views to the point where it's almost overwhelming. There have been tears, happy tears, at how mind bogglingly striking the landscape has been.
It even smells like happiness. Sweet, earthy and green.
Trollstigen pass, a nail biting road up the end of the valley we stayed in was truly awe inspiring (as was our bus drivers ability to navigate it...). It was a wee bit overcast, but I think that added to the drama.
The fjords brought more tears to my eyes and my cheeks ached from smiling so much. The full hour of our cruise was a symphony of "oh my gosh", "wow", "this is incredible" and "there are no words...".
Oh, and on the way here we went bobsledding! (Ok, wheeliebobing, because it's summer and there's no snow...)
It was awesome! 12 seconds (ok, about a minute, but it felt like much less) of basically a rollercoaster, 110km/h, and pulling 3g around corners.
This kind of travel always makes me pause every few moments to process how outrageously privileged I am.
On that note, here's my update!
My itinerary has been tweaked! The joys of traveling with friends and making up your plans as you go is that they are very adaptable to whatever is cheaper and most awesome when we get to 'we should book now' distance from the time.
Here it is folks -
July
9-23: Topdeck tour from Oslo. Up through Norway and down through Finland to Tallinn, Estonia
23-3: Reykjavik, Iceland. Mostly spent at World Moot (#Scoutlife)
August
3-6: UK with Grampa
7-18: Azerbaijan for the World Scout Youth Forum and Conference
19-21: Istanbul, Turkey
21-27: Athens, Greece
27-1: New York and Washington D.C, USA. Couple days in each most likely
September
1-2: Edmonton, Canada
3-9: Road trip from Calgary to Vancouver via Drumheller, Jasper and Banff
10-11: Seattle, USA
11-23: Road trip from San Francisco to LA via Yosemite, Death Valley, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Phoenix
25: Home to Wellington!
We decided to take out the Egypt section when conflicts between them and Qatar (the airline we were supposed to be flying with) flared up, which is pretty sad, but I'm sure I'll get back there one day!
Now, I'd love to show you all more pictures, but the coach has windows that need staring out of, and there are mountain waterfalls and cute grassy roofed houses to coo at.
See you somewhere!
xo Cait
Labels: budget, budget travel, holiday, Norway, travel, travel Norway, travel photography
