Same procedure as every year: together with the colleagues from our Oslo office we took a weekend and to go on a summer trip. This year's destination: well, no one really knew in advance (except for the members of the organizing committee, of course).
Friday 01/07:
So on Friday 1st of July we left the office at noon by minibus and headed off to "somewhere". Well, north-east-wards to start with, but with
unknown final destination.
We had several guesses during the bus ride about where we'd be going: Gol, Flåm, Geilo, Bergen...
On the way we stopped in
Flå (the village with the bear park)...
...we passed the
Hardangervidda mountain plateau...
...stopped at one of Norway's most famous waterfalls,
Vøringsfossen (with a major drop of 163 metres)...
...before heading down to the area of the
Hardangerfjord.
But nearly no one guessed our final destination for that day:
Osa, a small village at the end of the Osafjord, about 8 km northeast of the village of Ulvik where we were the guests of
Hardanger Basecamp.
We were welcomed by Robert, a total outdoor freak from Belgium who fell in love with this corner of Norway and immigrated there with his whole family to start up his own business of a nature basecamp offering accommodation as well as activities out in the nature.
He showed us around and explained about the accommodation in a traditional Mongolian "yurt", a round tent with skin or felt used as a dwelling by nomads in the steppes of Central Asia - thus not a very locally common/typical Norwegian type of housing.
Overnight stay right by the
fjord!
The basecamp reception,
restaurant, bar and minishop for local products...
...and maybe even little museum for various artefacts from living/surviving out in the nature.
After dinner: time for fun, games and music around the camp fire!
Saturday 02/07:
Good morning
breakfast with freshly made pancakes with a variety of
home made jams.
After breakfast we were split into two groups.
My group was first driven all the way up to the mountains to a snowy plateau erecting high at the end of the Osafjord.
Afterwards we swapped with the other group and visited a small part of an enormous
tunnel complex in the area and a nearby
waterfall.
Later on we were taken on a walk into the forests surrounding the fjord area.
Team Terra Nova :-) Franck, Stéephanie, Suzon, Maité, me, Coraline, Sylvain, Aurélie and Emmanuel (just missing Caroline).
In the late afternoon we left Osa and the basecamp and headed off to the nearby village of
Ulvik, situated at the border of the
Hardangerfjord. This fjord area is also nicknamed the
fruit garden of Norway, due to it's rich fruit cultivation. It's especially famous for its cultivation of apples and the production of apple juices and ciders. Thus not surprising that we were invited for an
apple juice tasting upon arrival at our hotel for that night.
The
Strand Fjordhotel is located right at the banks of the fjord...
...ideal for
kayaking and also many other activities offered in and around Ulvik.
Sporty Terra Nova!
After dinner we gathered for THE match of the
Euro 2016: the
quarter final match Germany vs. Italy (damn, I couldn't watch it together with Marco - would have been too cool!). Actually I was that unsocial and impolite to leave the table during the course of the dinner (well, we were just at the end of the main course) and rushed with the dessert grabbed from the buffet to the TV room where I was later joined by some others.
According to the Norwegian TV channel, at one point, though, it was Italy playing against Ireland and Italy in white (which was actually Germany's dress colour) instead of blue. A little bit confused there at NRK :-)
After the match: despite my love for and bonds with Italy, a big relief! That was a tough one! 18 penalty shots after extra time to endure until Germany could finally be declared the winner moving on to the semi finals of the championship :-) Mi dispiace, Italia!
Sunday 03/07:
Departure from Ulvik through the
Stalheim valley and further on to
Gudvangen.
In Gudvangen we boarded a boat for a two hours
cruise on one of Norway's most famous fjords: the
Sognefjord. Or more precisely on its two arms
Nærøyfjord (listed as UNESCO World Heritage) and
Aurlandsfjord.
From Flåm we started our way back home to Oslo, stopping by one of the largest remaining stave churches in Borgund.
A few more hours to drive...
...until we were back in
Oslo in the early evening. Just on time for the French bunch of colleagues to watch the next important match: France-Iceland - whose winner was going to meet Germany in the semi finals some days later.
Thanks everybody, colleagues and organizing committee, for yet another great summer trip :-) Maybe not with the best weather, but certainly with good moments and memories!
(Thanks to my colleagues, especially Suzon and Peter, for letting me use some of their pictures for this post!)
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