Christmasconcert!

A cozy/crazy autumn!

Its autumn time in Norway, which means cabin trips, a trip to the beautiful city Bergen and off course - moose hunting. Thanks to my dad the crazy hunter, Simon got to go to the forests of Østfold, in Rakkestad. A few days earlier my dad shot the biggest moose the hunting team had seen for its entire hunting history of 30 years. Not only did it have an enormous head and horns, but also the biggest moose EYE i have ever seen. The king of the forest is watching us, mohaha...

Thank you and good bye, forest - hello dinner table!

Gotta do what you gotta do..

And that was the last trip the moose had through the forest...

Last weekend it was time to hit the forest again, for a real Norwegian cabin trip. The Norwegian Tourist Organization has 450 cabins all over Norway you can rent. We went and got ourselves a membership and now have one single key for all 450 cabins. Great!! We got in the car late friday night and drove an hour outside of Oslo. I got out the little flash light i normally put on my bike and started our walk into the dark forest towards "Hovinkoia".

We walked past a small little black lake in the foggy forest. I said it was good only one of us had seen the movie "Villmark", where young people on a cabin trips find dead bodies in a lake.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0356176/

It reminded me of the time we were driving up the coast of Australia. Simon told me about a movie about three friends who were killed by a lunatic exactly on that same trip along Western Australia. Only this time it was I who had seen that scary movie. I had to erase it from my mind. And I had to forget all those scary things Norwegians believe exist in the forest. Trolls, Nøkken (a troll that lives in the lakes and drags you down into the deep, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neck_(water_spirit)) and those other weird creatures you just dont want to meet in the middle of nowhere.

After some time walking back and fourth we finally found all the right blue marks on the trees with my flashlight. It led us to Hovinkoia:

There was no electricity so we had to light up the oven and get all "koselig". The cabin was from 1870, and had two little rooms. The view was a silver lake, shining in the moonlight.

The next day we went on a trip around the area, and paddled around the whole lake in a canoe that belonged to the cabin. On the way back, I saw someone getting closer to the cabin...

There where two people, with plastic bags. We paddled harder, trying to see who they were. On the quiet lake, I could hear them say "There is someone in the cabin!". We paddled even harder and got back to the cabin. Inside, there were two guys, making food and hot chocolate on the oven. "Ehm, are you staying here tonight?" i asked looking at one of the guys who was chewing on a big sandwich. "Yeah, that´s the plan", he replied.

The tourist office told us no one ever went to that cabin. But they also said people didnt have to sign up to use it. In the middle of no where, the only thing we could do was to get cozy together.

The romantic weekend had another little twist. We figured the two buddies werent just fishing friends, but a couple.

We all went out in the wilderness to get away for a weekend, and ended up with each other. Luckily they were nice guys, both teachers. They gave us a little recap of Norwegian history, about the making of our national day and how we got our king.

Handy for the aussie to know, though i don´t think he expected to meet two gay teachers in the middle of nowhere for a history lesson :)

After a cozy weekend we left Hovinkoia, with a lesson learned - do not expect to be alone if you go on a cabin with the tourist organization :) And thanks to our new teacher friend with a new camera, we got ourselves a picture from the memorable weekend:

Now some photos from Bergen, where we went a few weeks ago:

Have a great fall/winter everyone:)

Thank you, mister ambassador!

This was the fourth year i was invited to ambassador Barry B. White and his wife´s 4th of July celebration. And this time I was in Norway and could go! It is celebrated with around 2000 people in Villa Otium in Frogner in Oslo every year. Time to take my friend Ingeborg out for a day with the celebs! I think she deserves that after finishing her masters degree just a few days ago :) Free wine and beer, national anthems and burgermania. And free Oreo cookies on every table, a little mac donald´s stand and ben and jerry´s icecream. Thats what I call a true american party!

Later that night I was live after a fire in a 7,3 km long tunnel near Oslo. 34 people was evacuated from the smoke and flames. My life is full of contrasts!

Thanks for a wonderful birthday!

I woke up to a beautiful breakfast consisting of blueberries, raspberries, apples, yoghurt, smoothie, tea, marzipan and my all time favorite that Simon thinks smells like cat food (dont think he has even tried it) makrell i tomat. And beautiful roses in lots of colors.. AND an envelope with tickets to Biarritz in France! Rental car included :) Crazy! We are going suuuuurfing! And then - all around the apartment - lots of notes sticked to the mirror in the bathroom, a door handle and the kitchen table, wishing me an awesome day. How could it not be? :)
No wonder i had my birthday smile on :)

When i was sitting by myself trying to treat my sick throat with a cup of tea, a little girl came over to me and asked how old i was. I said "its my birthday today!" and it turned out her mother knew the lady that owned the bakery, and they came over with the best little chocolates! Anyone who works at NRK and knows what Kristine´s cakes taste like would know what i am talking about :) Here i am with my new little friend - she wanted me to call her Miu Miu. She is half vietnamese and half Moroccan. I said i had been in both countries and she loved me even more haha.. Her mum works at Oslo Plaza and said I can come there and get a hotel room 50 % off, and same with breakfast. Pretty good birthday presents from strangers I think!!

Here is a big birthday kiss for ya´ll!!! And thanks for making my birthday amazing from the minute i woke up to my aussie man :)

THE COLORS OF SPRING AT HVALER

Australia meets Norway, Herføl meets Harvey. Simon and I went to my summer place, where little Ida came her very first summer and has been every summer since. Isnt it beautiful? :) When the sun is shining, it is one of the best places I know. And Simon seemed to like it too:

I love the evening shades of BLUE...




The swedish border seen from the island.

And crazy GREEN colors where you didnt expect it to be:

And the warmth from the sun, reflecting YELLOW colors on the water...

The aussie sailor knows how to enjoy it all.