If you're going through Hell, keep going. No really, keep going

Thursday, 19 July / Friday, 20 July

Nothing really new to report from the last two days, we've just been winding our way north from Åndalsnes to Korgan, via Trondheim, Hell and Steinkjer.

The scenery is still amazing and it's interesting just to sit and watch the landscape go by and change from dense no one forests to barren grassland to snowy capped mountains to immense lakes. The only problem is that Norway doesn't seem to think two lane roads are necessary or desirable, which combined with already twisting roads makes for interesting driving. Ever tried doing a 3-point turn in a bus on a single lane road, flanked by marsh on both sides? No? I wish I could say the same.

Trondheim was our first major stop. The city used to be the capital city of Norway when it was situated on a major Viking trade route. Even now, the kings and queens of Norway come to Trondheim for their coronation ceremonies. Now, the city is mostly a university town, but it still is the home to the largest, northern-most, gothic-style cathedral in Europe. Because of that, it remains an important religious location in Norway.

We went for a bit of a wander around the town after lunch. One of the girls is a keen knitter, so we found a Norwegian wool shop and went for a wander inside. It's actually really interesting learning about the types of wool, needles, knots and patterns involved in knitting, so that was a fun side expedition. We also found an old tower which was built around 1739. After a stroll, we ended up at the harbour, which we were a bit disappointed in, to be honest, as it was just a mooring for boats, no cute cafés or other touristy niceties. Turns out,  we were actually at the town's industrial harbour, and they do have a prettier harbour which is meant for tourists prying eyes.

These shoes felt so so so so so so so beautifully warm. 

Kitten mohair - (1) please tell me there is a herd of naked cats somewhere, and (2) shaving a cat must be the worst job in the world :p

An op-shop we stumbled upon

Temperatures down to -30. Shudder. 

Misc old building that we found in our wanderings. 

The cathedral was beautiful. From the sides it just seems like an ordinary run-of-the-mill cathedral, but then you round the corner and the front of the cathedral is awe-inspiring. There are intricate sculptures/carvings of biblical figures covering the front wall, and gargoyles leering down onto the square. Although how a sheep is meant to ward of evil spirits I'm not sure. He's probably the Barnaby of the gargoyles.

Gingerbread Cathedral? Guys, I've got this. 

We then made a quick stop in Hell, a not-quite town. It's not even a not-quite town, more of a train station and a post box, but it's endless potential for puns makes it seem much bigger, I suppose. Hell actually means "luck" in Norwegian, and "Gods Expedition" actually means "freight train (or something like that)" , so it's just super good luck that they have both phrases on the signs at the station. Also, Hell freezes over on a semi-regular basis, so we'll all have to rethink our use of that cliche.

Standing outside Hell's door. 

Me + the railway to Hell. 

We slept the night in Steinkjer and it was all fairly uneventful, apart from it being approximately 10degrees and damp. We actually cranked up the heater before we went to bed and ended up waking up sweating at 3am (which, incidentally, is as bright as midday) and hastily turned it off.

Today we just drove. All. Day. Long. We had a really brief stop at some ancient rock paintings (6000yrs). The reindeer carving was really well done, and amazingly preserved, particularly considering  how often the stone is frozen and thawed over the centuries. Allegedly there was also a bear carved into the rock, but I think whoever saw it was probably being a bit liberal with their interpretation of natural grooves in the rockface.

Apparently, there is a bear in there. If you find it, let me know. I'm not entirely convinced that it actually exists. 

The ancient reindeer carving. See? This one is perfectly visible - why isn't the bear???

So that's all I've been doing the last few days. Tomorrow we're hiking out to the Svartisen Glacier, which should be exciting. Then the day after we are doing the "polar plunge", where we jump into the icy water of the Arctic. I'm absolutely dreading the plunge, but I also know that I can't come this far north and not take a dip. Brrrrrrr.

-Lucy

ps. Maximum temperature for tomorrow = 7 degrees. Welcome to summer in Norway! Someone tell me how cold Brisbane is in the middle of winter again???