First Post

Sorry about the size but this is it

Diary (If you would like to call it that)

For the sake of deconfusing and simply being more precise for the time spent between leaving oz til landing in Trondheim I shall disregard the “time” and define the hours that pass in event form. If one desired on could have changed their watches back 9hrs sequentially and then forward 1. And that should tell you how far behind the times I am.

Leaving Aus.

After the usual so-longs that are inevitable and the photos I rushed down stairs and began my first custom fleecing. I then passed through “border patrol” with ease and quickly rushed down to the gate where I was meant to board, as there was no-one there I ran back to jump in the line to claim my tax back from my camera (some new “tourist refund scheme” or TRS for travelling folks). I was two people from the front when I read the sign that said “if you are meant to depart in less than 30mins we will not serve you”. Of course this was my case and I once again rushed down to the gate, this time the running was justified. The brilliant thing about being one of the last is that there is no hustle-bustle-cramming-to-get-my-bag-in-first hullabaloo so I easily found my stump and was placed.

Brunei

As I was flying Royal Brunei I had to stopover in Bandar airport (about the size of rocky airport). Touching down some 7hours givetake on this beautiful warm tropical island, was a relief from the icy days in Toowoomba. I had a small wait in Brunei hour or so and during this time I got to know this british ex-pat who is now an aussie of 5years and has a family in the sunny coast, apparently part of his residency application required him to buy a business in the sunny coast area (Mower shop in Coomera). After getting to know this fellow he then introduced himself as most would know names elude me! All I know is that he was going home to his mum’s birthday and numbers are occasionally elusive too. So we boarded the next (same) plane and then continued onto Dubai.

Dubai AP

We step out of the steel tube once more and into a shopping mall the size of a small town and then through another screening. And almost instantly line up once more to board the same plane. During this brief break one of the English ex-pats, a rather alarming looking paranoid authority hating one, had managed to get himself some whisky and was wondering if he could put it in my bag to get back on. I said that he shouldn’t have a problem getting it on which is another way of saying “no”. We then waited for all the upper class passengers to get on firstly those who have been sent and paid for then those who are less mobile not kidding they rank 2^nd. Then all the people silly enough to have kids on a plane which was a few then premium economy and then last and obviously least standard economy childless able bodied minions yea me and my whisky friend and the greater majority of passengers. I must note that I had no such aggressive feelings towards the rank system but I was reflecting the feelings of the whisky bearing authority challenged pom.

Londontown, Heathrowshire

So another 7hr joyride in a steel tube and I arrive in Heathrow which is no small airport either and I have to collect my bags and go through Home Office border security to change terminals. Pop on a free shuttle train and then check-in and go and have some non-asian breakfast at an English café, bacon eggs and chips is the fare and A$20 is what I have to swallow. Quite nice though. And the terminal is really nice, once again surrendering something else this time my deodorant because it’s too big and once you get inside you can buy theirs. Another duty free mall I have a 3hr wait this time so I sit amongst other wearied travellers and wait for my gate to be announced. 3hrs sitting watching historic fifa games and then another queue this time I may be the only non-esl (English second language) person aboard the SAS flight, a bit of a change. This time it’s a smaller plane with all the usual your-going-to-die briefing, in Norsk mind you. Then a condensed English speaking version.

Oslo

2hrs later I arrive in Oslo a beautiful 18degrees and into smaller but very nice and professional airport. Check-in again, bomb/gun check again and then wait around for a couple of hours and board another plane, apparently I walked through the wrong rfid section and the authorities probably think my passport is going international from Oslo??? Board the plane again (by this time I’m starting to feel like an aeroplane cassette) another flight this time with a window seat and some awesome views of Oslo’s sunny landscape with water intertwined into the green silk. Soar above the clouds for the last time for now.

Trondheim

So we’re descending into Trondheim airport and the landscape is very much the same as Oslo lots of green with water about and specks of red, yellow and blue that are houses, some with grass growing on the roof. So all seems great, except all these big puffy grey things leaking little wet objects onto the ground below. Then the pilot announces that the ground temp is 6degrees and now I’m wondering why they still call it Summer up here. I leave the plane and then the gate get to the baggage claim and I see a familiar face which is a relief. Mari, my friend of whom I have come to visit. After the well anticipated meeting we hop on a bus and cruise into Trondheim city. I am in what could be a called a confused sleep deprived curiosity infused frenzy, eagerly looking about and not being able to hold my head up. Yes this is a paradox of will and condition. We arrive at Maris place of residence with the 4 other girls absent due to holidays to my relief. And I crash for about 14hrs and then it is (oddly) the next day.

Day one – Trondheim city

After bacon and eggs for breakfast, Mari and I walk into the city. I am armed with my Pentax and keen to shoot everything that looks interesting. We head down through Mari’s uni and down the most expensive street in T. on to the older part of town and then across a bridge past the cathedral and into the town centre (Sentrum). Mari departs me to do her duty at the bakery (godt brod) and I continue my wander around town visiting the tourism centre first. Trondheim sentrum is a combination of little shops adjoining each other and some larger commercial office buildings the streets are either cobblestone or bitumen. It’s not crowded but there are people milling between the colourful buildings everywhere you look. Some tourists admiring the old cathedral and arch bishops palace. All the people I have met are friendly and all have a good grasp of English, often using words that are not heard much even in oz. The one thing I may have left out so far is that it is drizzling all the time not enough to make you pull out the brolly but enough to justify wearing rainproof jackets all the time. This is something I must mention, when its 7 or so degrees with a bit of a breeze and rain then you step inside and in about 1min your sweating because the a/c is set on 28degrees, this is the only annoying thing. Well there is the price of things here too, it costs 30 kroner (A$6) to get the bus to the town bout 3k’s away and a burger from burger king is 110kr with bacon that’s about A$20!! And it didn’t even come with gold plating? So yea everything is expensive but that levels out when a low wage is A$25/hr so its comparable. At a fashion store doing retail one can earn $30/hr. After a walk around snapping up what I can in this rain, I must say my first impression is one of familiarity and curiosity. The colours are the most obvious and the amount of crystal clear water, as you will see in the photos there is so much green and the buildings are painted as if there is a colour code and there is limited brash advertising nothing like the abusive informative attack I am used to in Brisbane. So I wander some more and then Mari finishes work and we walk home in the drizzle. Transportation here is a little different to Aus, passing through the uni I saw a quad parked next to the all the other bikes, station wagons are king here everyone has one. Occasionally you will see a chev pickup or wagon and some 4wds a lot of scooters and pushbikes with no helmets. Only the more expensive houses have fences and most have uncut lawn due to being to wet to mow most the time. The gardens are unkept and weeds are everywhere but somehow this seems fitting and the houses are mostly made of wood and somehow well insulated. It can be 7 degrees outside and still 20 inside with no heating. Its hard to keep this concise as there are so many things to mention but I shall upload photos on my blog which is yet to be named but I will send a link with this email. So excuse the choppy nature of this writing. I will try to mention events but not necessarily in chronological order.

Day Two – Sleeping In

Ok I’m on holiday so arrest me for sleeping in but I’m here for a while and I think I may be beginning to believe in jetlag, there is that and the fact that here at 11pm as I’m writing this it is just as if the sun is just going down and some of my best photos were taken at 9pm because the sun came out!!. While on the topic of photos you may notice a fair apprentice sort of touch to the photos as this is my first real camera and each day requires some fiddling with settings. Overall I am really happy about the pentax though. So I did some more snapping after going for a run in the rain in shorts it was 6deg. And after this Mari and I went to the office managing the apartment that we will be in August. Signed our lives away, well not mine but you get the gist. It’s a nice two bed apartment in the old part of town. Then we did some more purchase-free shopping, not the other way around. Some shooting ensued then back home for some Swedish meatballs.

Day 3 – More wandering and snapping

Breakky consisted of liver pâté on grain bread, actually getting a taste for this stuff. Then another wander over to the local motorbike clothing shop which I thought was a bicycle shop. And then to a computer store to check price differences, onto the soccer field to watch little kids splash around on a wet artificial pitch, brolly in hand. Went home feeling a little sorry for the kids and a getting a bit annoyed with the grey sky and constant drizzle turning into light rain. To sit inside and just be glad that I’m there. Then Mari headed back into town, on the bus due to something I’m not sure what it was but it was wet. We were heading in to watch FIFA Australia v Ghana at the Three lions an English pub where I might be able to meet some normal English speaking people. Well you all know what happened in the game and I’m not here to talk about how ridiculous the refs are or how awesome the Holman goal was. But then we went to a café to meet two of mari’s uni friends Elisabeth and Emil both really nice people and Emil who says he hasn’t used English for a while speaks more in detail than most Aussies (no offence) then he checks how my norsk is going, stumping me on simple things but I think I will learn enough in due time. On the way back an amazing things happens. It’s 8pm and the sun comes out and I go mad, so as soon as I get home I grab the k-x and run outside taking photos with my new found light source.

Day 4 – Sunday is Sunday

Sightseeing was the agenda of today, first port of call is the borg or fort, it’s the white one in the photos and being a half clear day with the sun bursting through occasionally, temp a lovely 12degrees and getting up 14, for once I could see the mountains around and the bay which did not appear to exist in the other small little fogball Trondheim I knew days before. After admiring these view we walked further up the hill to the tv tower which has an awesome 360 degree view of all the beautiful surrounds that I had not seen yet. Once again the photos will tell the story. Sunday being a family day in Norway, all the people are out in the parks and mountain bike riding, playing soccer and suchlike, basking in the rare sunlight. So today was photo haven and after getting some groceries we headed home. And after a beautiful nap in the sun we ate then I began this entry. We are up to date. If you did endure, thanks for reading. I hope to be more concise and regular in the future on my blog. And remember nothing compares with actually being where you want to be! I’m only just starting to believe I’m here, after what felt like sitting in a small room for 35 hours with strangers and suddenly appearing on the other side of the world. Til the next time I kill the procrastination creature inside, goodbye and have fun!!

Nick the Wolff