Post-Easter blues

Easter is over and life has returned to normal again. During Easter my Swedish friend Suzanna was visiting, and we had rented a car in order to be able to drive around and see as much as possible. We spent a few days with my parents at the cabin (further north), but also took time out for one-day expeditions in my neighbourhood. It was fabulous, and fortunately the weather was nice most of the time, so we could spend hours and hours in the outdoors. Oh joy.

Suzanna and my dog Emre resting at a beach rock about 30 mins south of where I live. We spent the day outside and at the hiking club's cabin, which is situated literally on the shore. Suzanna enjoyed the place so much that virtually one of the first things she did was to find a nice spot on a rock and curl up to nap a little... And Emre decided to keep watch :) Later on we explored the shores and made dinner at the cabin, together with two other friends and their dog. Some times life is so good that there's nothing more to say. This was one of those days, I think.

Suzanna at a beach in Lødingen, near our cabin. This beach is next to the road, however, there were hardly any people and so we could let the dogs run freely around for a while. (My friend Annelin and her dog Mia were there too, they're just not on the photo.) There were three reindeer on the one side of the beach when we got there, but fortunately they ran off before the dogs could detect them. Emre had chased one reindeer just a few days earlier, with both himself and the reindeer falling through the fjord ice, so I was nervous to let him loose. But it worked out relly well, thank God! And Suzanna had a great time watching the two furry ones chase each other around, both on the beach and in the sea!

On Easter Sunday I just had to try the water. Did not have a swimsuit with me so could not swim properly, but wading along the shore was just fine. The water wasn't ... well, let's say this: it was a very refreshing experience! But I didn't catch a cold or anything afterwards, not as much as a caugh or a sneeze. Though it would totally have been worth it if I did.

England revisited

After the Femund Race was over I took a few days out to go back to England to visit, for the first time since I left last September. It was with very mixed feelings I went, but for the most part the days turned out really great. I met with dear friends and got to catch up in person rather than via fb or skype, which was great. Also, I really enjoyed being back in London again! I also took a Sunday to go to Canterbury and visit my church and see some friends for lunch afterwards; absolutely worth the while!

Having tea with a friend somewhere in Central London. While I had just left 20 sub-zero degrees and heaps of snow, it was nearly spring in London when I got there. Quite a change. Also the contrast between the Norwegian wilderness and the global urban metropolis was quite large, though I must say I love both.

Not quite the selection to chose from in the town where I now live, but seeing it all again in London was lovely. This is from a place where I and my friend S had a long-lasting lunch together; both 'proper food' and cake dessert and then another cup of tea were enjoyed before we split again... It was one of those days you just want to last forever; both the company and the surroundings were excellent! We saw lots of people looking in through the shop windows and dream of what to have; we prided ourselves in actually going in to enjoy it, for a change! Last year we used to meet in the area every week and often walked past here, so it was time to do something about that longing ;-)

S and I also went to see a van Gogh exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts. Getting in was a strenuous experience! However, the design of the exhibition was ... well, not to my liking, so I left it quickly and sought shelter in the RAA cafe instead, after telling S where I was going. She joined me after a while and completely shared my experience of the exhibition. We agreed it's probably better to see most of it at the van Gogh museum in Amsterdam anyways. That said; the cafe and its food selection was amazing and surprisingly good, so we enjoyed spending time here too! Not a complete waste of money, in other words, although in hindsight I'd have rather not bougth the ticket in the first place.

Having a break in St. James' Park. Yup, definitely spring coming. It was nice, but I was happy to know that when I returned to Norway it'd probably be winter for another while yet.

While in Canterbury I had abot two hours to spare between two dates, so I took the bus to Whitstable and stayed at the beach for a while. When living in the UK this was a source of comfort for me once in a while; now it was still pretty but all I could think was "I'm SO glad that I live by the coast now, and an even prettier seaside than this!" Guess that means that I'm happy to be back in the Arctic again, which wasn't really a surprise. That said; the hours spent in Whitstable were great, tranquil and beautiful. Too bad I had to leave so soon, really.

Eventually I went all the way home to Norway, in fact.

February: The Femund Race @ Røros, Norway

This is Røros, Norway. The town is on the UNESCO World Heritage List due to its having large parts of the town preserved in its original form from back when Røros was a bustling mining industry town. It is particularly famous for its old wooden houses, which the entire town is full of including the town centre and the houses along the two main streets.

In the winter the temperature in Røros drops to 20 and even 30 below zero (centigrades) for long periods of time, and there is always lots of snow. No wonder, perhaps, that it's the home of the start and finish line of the Femund Race? The FR is a sleddog race that takes place every year in February, and this year about 150 mushers and nearly 2,000 dogs were signed up to participate! Unfortunately quite a few had to withdraw before even starting as they caught the kennel caugh (sick/caughing dogs, very contagious) so the numbers were a bit lower in the end. But nevertheless; it's an absolutely amazing experience to be able to follow the race here!

This is 'my guy' in the race, Per Mjærum of Jeppedalen Husky Trail. He started as #17 and finished #12. The race was also this year's Norwegian Championship in long distance sleddog racing, and due to two foreigners being above him on the list, he and the team made top 10 in the NC! Great job, Per! The race starts on a Thursday at noon and the winner - Sigrid Ekran - arrived at the finishing line Sunday afternoon. Per arrived late that night, three hours after midnight. I was there to greet him then, as were many of his friends and some other people. He was tired, of course, but also immensely proud of the dogs and their performance!

This is Tom Waes from Belgium. He is a TV star there, both as an actor and as his own show host. He had only two weeks of experience with mushing before starting the shorter Femund Race (there's one long race of 600 km and a shorter one of 400 km) and hardly anyone thought he'd actually be able to finish it - but he did! Tom did this as part of a challenge that is the foundation for his Belgian TV series 'Tomtesterom', where he takes on physical/mental challenges to test whether he can complete them or not. Makes me wish I could be in Belgium to see the show on TV! His 2nd season starts on the 6th of April and I believe the F400 Race was the second challenge (and programme?) of the series...but we'll see.

After the race I spend two days at a friend's nearby, just to chill and enjoy time with the dogs after the race. One of the days I took a dog for a walk, as my friend's house is located literally next door to one of Norway's largest national parks, the Femundsmarka wildlife area. There is also the Femund Lake, Norway's third largest lake I think. I and the dog ran into a Saami man (native Norwegian) who told us there were a few reindeer nearby, so we went to have a look up close. This one is being kept apart from the herd as it is to be tamed. Quite an impressive sight.

New Year's: Snow, sun and LOTS of dogs

I spent New Year's in the mountains of Valdres in southern Norway, together with some old and many new friends who are into sleddog racing (a.k.a. 'mushing'). The picture above is Marit Kasin of Kennel Vinterdans, who is out training her team. We were some 20+ people and about ten times as many dogs, I think. I took hundreds of photos. A friend also brought along a sled I got to borrow so I could try sleddog riding for the first time in life. Great fun! I definitely need more experience to be able to do it better, but I had fun going along a fairly easy trail. And fortunately my 'guide' was very patient with rookies! I had 6 dogs in front of the sled. Some people had 18 when they went out training - THAT was an impressive sight, I tell you. No wonder the lady on the sled was the reigning Norwegian champion...

One of my favourite huskies in the world, if not THE favourite at present: Amigo. He comes from Ketil Reitan, but is now owned and trained by Jeppedalen Husky Trail. He is an excellent lead dog and amazingly beautiful, I think, with one blue and one brown eye. I've met Amigo a couple of times before and we got on well enough. But this time he was off training for a few days due to an injury, and I took him for a walk twice. That was as if cracking a code - we totally connected and all of a sudden he was a different dog; very cosy and loving and ... I completely melted!

Old flatcoat retrievers look cute in 25 below zero degrees... Whiskers and eye brows turn white, just like my hair did, because of humidity freezing. I love his looks! He is one out of two flats who live with Jeppedalen Husky Trail and their 20+ Alaskan Huskies. And the flats are the only ones who formally live inside the house rather than out in the dog yard... ;-)

Cuba and Sunniva. The latter is a six-year-old girl who is crazy about dogs and dog sports. She had borrowed a kid's sled from one person, and Cuba + another dog from another, and got to race her own two-dog team around the kid's trail in the snow. Great fun! Here she's thanking Cuba for the ride. Later Sunniva got to be co-pilot on a 14-dog-team. No need to say she was high on adrenalin after that :-D Great girl, who will one day make a fine musher methinks.

Early afternoon in the mountains. The colours were absolutely amazing regardless of what time of the day it was, and with lots of clear sky we got to experience all kinds of colours both on the sky and in the landscape around us. No wonder we spent the larger part of the day outside...

Sunniva and BentO share a sled behind 14 dogs, all of which belong to the latter! It was an amazing sight, both for the joy in her face, for the beauty of a long team winding its way through the snow - and for the sun and the shade effects caused by snow clouds and near-sunset. Magic!

Winter magic! This is what a regular birch looks like around midnight when it's more than 20 below zero degrees... It's not a black-and-white photo; just a regular colour photo taken in the dark using standard flash. No wonder, perhaps, that I had to go out at night for a walk and for taking photos :)