Our Country Cottage, Devon

Hello again! We've been a bit slack with the blogging, and we've got a bit of catching up to do. Here are some photos from 'Watermill Cottage' where we spent some time in January. I remember it was really cold, and it was snowing in London at the time. Luckily it wasn't snowing too heavily in Devon, which enabled us to drive down to the cottage for the weekend and snuggle up in front of the fire with a nice bottle of Bordeaux


The boys, heading out for a winter walk in the countryside..


Henry, enjoying the winter sun...
We had a lovely quiet weekend, no t.v, just the crackling of the fireplace, the bubbling of the stream in front of the cottage and the quacking of the resident ducks

Henry, enjoying his snowball...

Henry really seemed to enjoy the snow, so much that he refused to get back in the car when it was time to go, in preference of running around and burying his nose in the snow...

Goodwood Revival, 2009

A brilliant day a few months ago was had at the 2009 Goodwood Revival, the motorsport and classic car enthusiasts nirvana. We met up with Uncle Ken, who very generously handed over some paddock passes, which allowed us to stroll within touching distance of some the most beautiful, and expensive, cars in the world. You can see all the photos from the day on our Goodwood flickr page.

The McLaren that Uncle Ken was helping to prepare...what a beast.

The action out on the track...

The mini drivers were complete nutcases...

The end of a fantastic day...

Norway Part 3 - North to Geirangerfjord

Despite being a little bit leg-sore from the previous day's adventures, we enthusiastically jumped into the car for our road trip up to Geiranger, situated in perhaps the most famous (and visited) fjord in Norway, the Geirangerfjord.

We'd decided to break-up the journey into two halves. The first day would see us take the Sognefjellsvegen, a road winding its way through a beautifully harsh landscape that would continue to amaze us with every crest and turn. Apparently, it is the highest mountain pass in Northern Europe! On the second, we would drive from our quaint little hotel near Lom, along the remainder of the Sognefjellsvegen, all the way to Geiranger, some 3 or 4 hours drive away.

As you can see from our photos (Our Norway Flickr page), the landscape and the weather changed constantly. The drive up to the Elveseter hotel was quite a short one, although entirely spectacular, and thoroughly enjoyable from a driving perspetive (If only we had the Datto!). I don't think there was a single piece of straight road for the entire time, and whenever we thought we'd seen the end of the gorgeous scenery, another bend would unwind to reveal another captivating vista. We arrived at the hotel mid-afternoon, and decided to take the short hike up to the summit of the hill behind the Elveseter. Turned out to be rather hard work actually! Having said that, the views across the plateau to the surrounding mountains and ice caps were probably worth it, and salved our conscious before the hearty Norwegian dinner that we tucked into one we got back!

The thing I enjoyed most about the walk was the really interesting contrast to the vast, rugged landscapes we had previously driven through. Delicate mushrooms and toad stolls dotted the track, along with wild strawberries and rasberries that Fiona gobbled up with glee. The only sounds came from the bells, and occasional bleats, from the local goats.

We left the rushing river outside our room and continued the next morning. It was another 2 - 3 hours in the car, so we settled in. The beautiful landscapes continued unabated, and twisting roads and passes kept driving more than interesting. On the approach to Geiranger we found the Dalsnibbavegan, which had been recommended to us by our friends on the glacier walk. The Dalsnibbavegan is essentially a single lane dirt road up a mountain......without barriers. Needless to say when the fog rolled in half-way up and we couldn't see the end of the bonnet, we took it fairly cautiously. We finally reached the top, and when the clouds parted, we were greeted not only by freezing cold gales, but an expansive view of the mountain valley right down Geirangerfjord itself.

Arrving in Geiranger, we hit the supermarkets, and found the little camping ground on the outskirts of town. Settling nicely onto the deck of our bungalow, we enjoyed a barbecue chook and beer while we watched the enormous cruise ships drifting off to their next destination.

The following day was spent primarily on the water, cruising up the fjord in our little 10HP outboard dinghy that we hired from the campsite. The cliffs surrounded us on all sides, the water was inky black and we were by ourselves, free to meandre at our own pace, and linger before the many waterfalls that tumbled down from above. We had a beautiful clear day, although as we returned to Geiranger around five hours later, the breeze had picked up, and the resulting choppy water led to Fee (our able captain at the time) getting a drenching. I was sympathetic of course - as much as I could be doubled over.

We dried off and had another nice Norwegian meal at a quiet little restaurant in town (the crowds disappear with the cruise ships). Afterwards, we sat on the jetty, admiring the local jellyfish, and the crystalline waters of the fjord. We were happy.

Our final day in Norway was pretty much entirely spent in the car save for a brief sojourn to the briksdalbreen glacier, which you can see below.

Norway Part 2 - Nigardsbreen

This day was almost certainly the clear highlight of our trip. We made the five minute drive to the edge of the lake immediately in front of the glacier. In days passed, we would've been buried under the snow, however like most of the glaciers in Norway, the Nigardsbreen has retreated up its valley. The interesting thing about this particular glacier however, is that it seems to be bucking the 'climate change' trend of most other glaciers in Europe, and is actually advancing rather than retreating.

We were introduced to Andres, a Swedish guide, and were kitted up with ice axe, helmet and crampons (metal spikes that are strapped on to your boots) before hopping into a little motorboat to the face of Nigardsbreen.

There were two other couples joining us on the climb, a German Couple, and a Dutch couple, who between them spoke about eight different languages, putting us to shame! Anyway, we strapped ourselves into our spikes, 'roped up' into a line, and under Andres' guidance climbed up onto the ice. I'm not sure what we were expecting, but I felt much more secure on the crampons than I thought we would be; I don't think we slipped once all day!

We'd done a little walking before then, and each time felt absolutely knackered, but striding up the steep slope of the massive slab of blue ice, we felt energised rather than tired. I think it was because it was such a strange, exciting landscape, and with that slight trepidation about doing something relatively adventurous we weren't able to worry about our legs.

After a couple of hours of hiking, we were guided down through a spectacular, jagged crevass-filled region of the glacier. These typically occur in steeper sections of the valley where the ice is moving faster than in others. It was here that we found our 'wall': a ten-metre vertical (and in slightly vertical in some spots) slab of ice that we were going to climb.

We were given a quick 'how-to', handed a pair of specialised ice-climbing axes, and clipped into a rope set up by Andres. We then had to work out how to get up the bloody thing! See the results below:

It was a little scary, awkward at times, and just plain hard work! By the time I got close to the top, my arms literally stopped working, and my hands had been fused into claws...I could barely press the shutter to take photos of Fee when she went up!

After we'd all finished our ice-climbing (and a little lunch) we continued on up to the upper third of the glacier, which was completely covered in crevasses. Without Andres, we wouldn't have stood a chance of navigating our way through that mess. At the top of the climb, we were able to glimpse the fringes of the massive ice cap lurking above the valley.

Perhaps the best, and scariest bit, came on the way down. Andres gave us the impression that it was a quick, straight-forward route back. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiggggggggggghhhhhhtt. We soon found ourselves in the midst of a crevass field, on an ever-narrowing plate of ice. Soon, we were faced with apparently bottomless crevasses on either side, and at one point, a strip of 'land' no more than a foot wide. Andres flattened the path for us, and with little choice in the matter, and more than a little trepidation, we forded the crossing and continued on.

The last section of the hike, whilst not so scary, was still a lot of fun. We made our way through 'The Labyrinth' - a series of troughs, tunnels and walls that formed a complex maze leading back down to the front of the glacier. It was in this section that the ice was the oldest, and subsequently the bluest too. We could hear running water everywhere, and see it underneath our feet, and as we reach the end of the trek, it was obvious where it was all going: straight into the torrent that was bursting forth from underneath the front wall of Nigardsbreen.

We were tired, but thoroughly satisfied with our day. We'd done something new, challenged a few fears, and experienced a most remarkable environment. After a drink with our fellow hikers, we enjoyed a quiet night of beer and pizza in the sitting room of our guesthouse.

Norway Part 1 - Bergen

Our latest adventure has been to the beautiful fjord region of Norway. While we could definitely have used a few more days to really soak it all, it was nonetheless another fantastic week in an unforgettably dramatic landscape.

You can see the many photos on our Norway flickr page.

We began by flying into Bergen late on the Wednesday night, where we crashed at the airport hotel (which was surprisingly good - ask Fee about the super-comf!). We were up early-ish the next morning, picking up our trusty (if not slightly buzzy) hire car before heading into Bergen proper.

Setting off, we meandred through town, not really knowing what to expect from our visit here. We soon came to the water, which is certainly in no shortage here, and more importantly the fish markets. To call it a fish market is probably a disservice, because there were all sorts of exotic delicacies on display. We got chatting to one man behind one of the stalls, who told us all about his wares and fed us with equally plentiful samples, including some of the best smoked salmon, prawns and even whale meat. (not entirely politically correct, but when in Norway...) Needless to say that he'd sold us - we'd return later in the day before we moved on!

Crossing through the extended marketplace, with fruit, vegetables, clothes and the odd stall selling wolf, deer and seal pelts, we came to the area known as Bryggen.

Bryggen is a kind of district in itself, made up of an eclectic mix of warmly coloured timber buildings that were originally used as warehouses, wharf offices and stables, dating back to the early 1700s. Looking at the photos its a miracle its all still standing!

After negotiating the maze that was Bryggen, we set on up the hill to find the funicular to take us up to the top of the hill above Bergen. A short ride up the hill and we were soon looking down on the city. We took in the views, brought Henry a souvenir (see Supermoose) and took the slow way down.

We still had a drive ahead of us, so we picked up some seafood from the market for dinner, and headed off towards Eidfjord.

Eidfjord is a little town at the end of the Eidfjord (funnily enough). If we had more time we probably would've based ourselves here for a few days, and done some walking on the Hardangervidda, Europe's largest mountain plateau. As we were only staying one night, we stuck to the car and drove up to the Voringfossen,a beautiful valley into which up to seven waterfalls cascade.

The beauty of Norway is that half the fun is in getting to your destination. We weren't really prepared for the sheer extent of the spectacular landscape of this country. From voringfossen, we spent nearly five hours in the car, and every new corner (and there were plenty) brought with it another amazing vista; vertiginous cliffs, inky black fjords, snow-capped mountains, and more waterfalls than you could ever imagine. There is certainly no water shortage here!

After a long drive, we eventually arrived in Jotunheimen, in the Jotunheimen national park, which basically consists of an enormous ice cap that feeds the many glaciers that creep slowly into the valleys below. Our ultimate destination was the Nigardsbreen glacier, which we were to traverse the next day. We checked into the Nigardsbreen guesthouse, and ducked out to another local hotel for some hearty local fare, including a dessert we had to fight a gang of hungry bingo grannies for. Into bed early, we were ready for a big day.