Our Travels and Blog beginnings.

We woke to a gorgeous and hot morning. Totally surrounded by tree's there was no breeze at our nights camping spot so the temperature in the van soon rose to a point where you are forced out of bed which is no bad thing. We had breakfast and soon our neighbours were starting to emerge from their vans also. A German family who had been climbing and hiking their way around Norway got up, the dad and eldest son were in one of those cool we tents that fit on the roof rack of a car or van with a ladder to get up. The mum and youngest son were in the van. The others were from near Zurich in Switzerland and were also very friendly, one of the couple's have a little daughter who was 11 months old and was happily walking about in the sand with only a little bit of help from her Mum or Dad. It really takes us back a few years, you forget those early days once your children have moved on a bit. Email addresses were swapped and we can keep in touch and have an invite to visit next time we ...

The rain was off this morning when we woke and everything was soon drying out in the warm sunshine including then trampoline and slide, so by the time Callum and Logan had finished breakfast they were soon out having some more fun in the play area. This was good and it let Joyce and myself get the van tidied up. We used the facilities and it has to be said this is probably the best campsite we have been in this holiday, particularly in regard to the amenities. A huge investment has been made in the Moen campsite. The showering, toilet and washing facilities would not be out of place in a pretty decent hotel. A lovely big clean and fresh building with underfloor heating, beautifully tiled shower areas and full washing and drying facilities, if your camping in this valley then it has to be recommended. It cost 350NOK all in, so no more expensive than some other much less salubrious places we have had the fortune to find. It was 10:30 by the time we drove back into Hemsedal centre and ...

The alarm went off at 6am and I hopped out of bed and after getting dressed had a first attempt to wake Callum, which only resulted in a murmur and the sleeping bag getting pulled up over his head, I got our food out the fridge and then had another go and surprisingly he woke up and wriggled forward to come out his warm cocoon. Mission 1 accomplished. We quietly got sorted and went outside into the cold to eat our breakfast, it was sunny but hats and gloves were needed, I try hard not to wake Joyce too much so eating breakfast outside causes the least disturbance, Logan was dead to the world. After breakfast which Callum managed no problem, some find it difficult to eat this early, we packed the rucksack and said goodbye to Mum. We were walking at exactly 6.30am.....a good racing Alpine start for a 4 year old. Mission 2 accomplished. I like to be up and away early so we could enjoy the rest of the day as a family so an early start is needed, and also I don't like leaving Joyce fo...

The rain battered down all night long at the campsite in the Jotunheim, probably one of the more persistent periods of rain we have had, and it was still driech in the morning, still raining but not so hard. There was no rush to get out of bed today. After breakfast Callum did a little of his schooling under duress and we lazed some more but this is not good for the boys, they get bored and start to annoy each other which annoys us, and they get a row and wee fall out, lol. So before this could happen I chose to take them for a wee walk to stretch the legs after yesterdays walk and also see what was round about, and there is a lot. This is one of the main access points into the Jotunheim National park with lots of hiking routes starting from around here. Today however the hills had cloud on them so the tops couldn't be seen, but once we had our waterproofs and boots on the weather was fine for walking. The rain always sounds worse in the van and it was quite pleasant once we were o...

We woke to a pretty decent morning, however the forecast had changed and it now looked like it would rain today but not until after midday, so we decided to forge ahead with our plan to climb hill somewhere. There is a good looking hill (well actually there are hundreds) quite a bit south of us called Bitihorn (1609m) that would probably offer superb views but I was unsure of the terrain and how the boys might cope, also it was Saturday and being so far south I though perhaps the parking may be an issue by the time we got there, so we chose something a bit closer and also the write up suggested easier and varied terrain. Stuttgongkampen at 1418m sounded good for Callum and Logan. 650 meter's ascent and 10.9k was hopefully within their remit so it was all systems go getting lunch sorted and rucksacks packed with food and clothing......it was full waterproof 's in the bag day as the clouds looked very threatening and I did wonder if this walk was a mistake today. The boys pla...