Day One : Brighton - Durham (Frazer's Party), Saturday 23rd
May
Well, a pretty cool start to the trip. Collected the car,
Garf, and Ressot without much hassle, but then we didn't have
Bateson!!! PS. Fraz's party was cool. - Lee
Minimal faff today (no Mike!). Got bike on and were under
5 metres - bonus! Arrived at Frazers and got pissed. That
rules.... - Gareth
Being shit faced is cool. Frazer was pissed at 7pm and I
was soon afterwards. Ran out of gin too early. Lots of breakages
- TV, banister, washing machine, table. Smart!! - Mike
Day Two : Durham, Sunday
24th May
Went Karting today. Cool!!! We had a cool curry as well.
I like the word cool. Pam wanted to come to Norway, shame
she couldn't!! Paul also wanted to come! Whey hey!! - Lee
I was dead nervous about Karting but it was excellent. Bit
disappointed that I didn't get the fastest lap in that I knew
I had in me. Bloody Sunday driver got in my way. Went to Teeside
and watched Frazer get pasted then went for a curry. Cool....
- Gareth
I'm shit at Karting (shouldn't that be 'I'm shit.' Ed.).
Curry was best though. Teeside entertaining. Lots of trashing.
Ha Ha. - Mike
Day Three : Durham - North
Shields - North Sea, Monday 25th May 
Teeside is cool. I got a good trashing in the stopper (2nd
one), but got out eventually. We're on the ferry and pissed.
Cool. - Lee
Emptied my body of the curry at 7.00 am. My stomach still
hurts now (10.00am)! Teeside was fun. Me and Lee had fun in
the 2nd drop. Did a nice hand roll on the 3rd drop (which
I couldn't do on the Spean!). We're now on the ferry and we're
a bit drunk and Lee is checking out the chicks as I speak.
- Gareth
Few beers and staring at moderate birds. 4 beers + cabaret
+ cards as well. A good evening. Lots of canoeing talk, bed
soon. Looking forward to breakfast. - Mike
Day Four : North Sea -
Bergen - Morkri, Tuesday 26th May
Driven into the 6th petrol station today looking for camping
gas. Looking for gas sucks! - Mark
Ferry trip went quite fast. Then a bit of a drive before
dossing at the Morkri. Scenery unbelievable. Massive cliffs,
500 ft high. Great dump site, secluded and great views. 10
out of 10. - Mike
Good ferry trip! Played cards and got slowly pissed on the
Monday night, then woke up and threw up on the Tuesday morning
(sea-sick honest!). Mark was ill as well. Had a nice breakfast
(don't eat the bacon) and played more cards. Ferry journey
ended 4 hours earlier than expected, which was nice. Arrived
at Bergen and it was pissing it down. Deja vu! Drove for hours
and eventually got to the Morkri doss site. Gauge reads 0.8m.
- Gareth
I felt a bit ill on the ferry, and so couldn't do justice
to the breakfast (eat as much as you like for £5.10. Bargain).
Drove for miles, which included a 15 minute ferry crossing
to Hella. Why can't Sealink load and unload a ferry that quick?
The landscape is cool! We're dossing in a massive canyon with
the 'Morkandmindy' through the middle. Do I sound like 'Terry
Storrey' or what? OK, not really! All in all we seemed to
get here very easily. Perhaps we should have got some gas
before we left England!!! - Lee
Just remembered Garf and Mark both vommed on the Ferry. They
blame it on sea sickness, I reckon they can't handle four
pints of ferry strength lager. Ha Ha. - Mike
Day started - woke up, threw up, went for a walk on deck
- threw up some more - went back to sleep feeling shit - I
hate 24 hours on a ferry. - Mark
Day Five : Morkridaselva,
Wednesday 27th May 
Paddled the Morkri today. Grade II/III with a big IV on it
(that was a monstrous V last time Mark and Garf were here.)
I was all for portaging but first Mark and then Lee and Garf
shot it, so I felt obliged. Hashed it a bit, but was lucky.
PHEW! Weather is tops. Wish we hadn't had to stop 2000 times
to look for gas. Doss site and food soon. Cool. PS. Driving
over snowy passes at 1400m was very impressive. PPS. Spotted
a blonde Norwegian Babe today (Had a kid though). - Mike
Didn't rain last night! - Gareth
The 'Morkandmindy' was an ace warm up. Only grade II/III,
but pretty fast. The corner (IV+) was good, but not as hard
as it looked. The scenery and weather are cool. Hasn't rained
since we left Bergen. - Lee
Bit disappointed when I saw the gauge for the Morkri (0.8m)
but it turned out to be OK. Not as fun as last time perhaps,
but the corner went when Mark had found (and run) the line.
Drove to Otta and found a good doss (picnic) site on the way
to Dombas. The Lagen looks fun!!! - Gareth
Norway. A land of water!! - Mike
Day Six : Jori, Thursday
28th May
Cool!! What more can I say. The Jori was ace, apart from
a 12 mile cycle by Garf up a steep windy track. The river
started as a very continuous (but quite small) grade IV. I
was enjoying this. About 5 or 6 KM down a large tributary
joined the river, doubling the volume. This increased the
grade to a chunky IV+. This was still very continuous and
now quite hard. We shot the first of the star marked rapids
(actually the 2nd) without inspection, followed by the portage
which didn't seem to exist, and the next star rapid which
reminded me of 'Chateau Queyras' with a steep wall on one
side. The last rapid (by the get out) consisted of a large
stopper (shot left) followed by a huge slide into a massive
haystack. Smart! Took 3.5 hours to shoot despite Garfs quick
leading. PS. Mark swam. - Lee
Good day despite a horrendous ferry with the bike - Mark's
bike needs 2 lower gears! The river was fun especially when
the tributary joined. The gauge reads 1.15m (»
20 cumecs). We've given up looking for gas now (for a couple
of days at least) after spending an hour in a shop in Otta.
The moral of the story is: "Bring gas with you, Norwegians
don't recognise Gaz". PS. Mark swam. - Gareth
Got up and went to look for gas (again), decided not to bother
coz very expensive and bought some meths instead for the trangia.
Then off to the Jori. Garf cycled a difficult ferry and then
we set off. Description as per Lee's entry. I paddled OK,
except for trying to get a couple of difficult breakouts in
the middle of rapids, missing them and doing the remainder
backwards. Garf led and did a top job. They don't call him
Garf 'fast-lead' Ambler for nothing. He won the prize for
fewest breakouts in 10km of grade IV with ease. Very, very
continuous today and mainly in a very impressive gorge. Wouldn't
have fancied walking out. An excellent day. We've cooked curry
and changed a wheel on the car this evening. Oh and I've lost
my fleece. Left it on top of the car when we drove off. Oh
well what's £60 of polartec fleece. ARSEBURGER!! Great weather
still. PS. Mark swam. - Mike
A few essays so there's not much more to say. Had a swim
after the tributary joined and the volume increased. Large
rock in the middle of the river and I decided to pin my boat,
deck instantly popped due to water pressure. Got all kit back
within 150 yards. Good rescue guys. Thanks. PS. I swam - Mark
Day Seven : Folla (Upper
and Lower Sections, Friday 29th May 
Paddled the upper and lower sections of the Folla today.
The upper was a scrape in places, especially the paddle-out.
The bit left of the island was cool. The lower section was
excellent. Couldn't find the gauge but we reckon there was
about 30 cumecs in there. Note that the get on is opposite
a "Mr Man" house (Marks description) with a metal
gate. On the gate are the words 'Moan Nedre'. PS. We are currently
dossing at the get-out. - Gareth
Slept late again, up at 9.30am. Did some shopping after a
leisurely breakfast and then on to the Folla. First half of
the upper was good, second half scrapey shite. Good photo
opportunity halfway down. Lower Folla was smart, I led, first
time for everything, found a couple of good play spots. Everyone
on good form. Having dinner and a beer at get out. Setninga
tomorrow. - Mike
Another excellent day. Started slow and the top Folla was
a bit scrapey, bent the top 2 inches of my paddles 90°
as they snagged between rocks on a grade II. Now gluing them
together with areldite resin, so I hope that works. However
section was cool, bouncy but not scary at all. Cool day, weather
has been excellent, dossing outside for 3rd night running.
- Mark
Good day. The upper section was OK. I led it so that increased
the interest. There was a good rapid on the left of the island,
which I shot first. Mark was taking pictures. The lower section
was good, big bouncy but not too scary. - Lee
Day Eight : Setninga, Saturday
30th May
Another excellent day. Drove from Alvdal to the (Setninga)
get off and checked out the final rapid at Mogrenda. Seemed
to be running OK, so Mark ran a bitch of a ferry - he tried
to hitch but only 2 cars passed in quarter of an hour. Ran
the river in 4 hours with a nice lunch break below the grade
V (which we ran). We were all knackered by the get off and
a variety of lines were shot on the final rapid! PS. Tried
to phone the girlies but they were all out. - Gareth
Cool day. The Setninga is an ace river, but could do with
having 4km less of the grade III at the end. The gorge (V)
was good fun, but hard to inspect. A breakout to breakout
river, smart, with some big holes you didn't want to be in.
The last rapid was cool. I shot it fine, after seeing the
nose of Garf's avenger (sorry, hurricane) in the air. Everyone
is paddling very well. Cool. - Lee
The Setninga, still the coolest river I've ever paddled.....probably.
Lots of continuous GIV with 3 inspection rapids, all went
still no portages. Weather has been excellent and dossing
out ideal with no dew. Weather a bit hot when cycling the
Setninga ferry. First 3.5 miles up a big, bastard hill. Top
tip for the day: If you look at a rapid at 11am and run it
blind at 5.30, the water level might have increased!! - Mark
Yes, as everyone has already said the Setninga rules. Very,
very tiring though. The grade V had some big stoppers in.
I got a lovely line (first time for everything - Ed) though,
it felt very good. Eating half way down was best, combining
my two biggest loves: food and paddling. Paddle out was a
bastard. It's a good job there was a last rapid to entertain
us. Particularly Gareth who got completely vertical. Rather
more water than when we looked at it 7 hours earlier. - Mike
Day Nine : Sjoa (Lower
Gorge and Slalom Site), Sunday 31st May 
The lower gorge was entertaining, a little harder than I
expected. Lee led and found a big stopper on the first rapid,
but managed to punch it. Very powerful, some big holes. Saw
some fit girlies in rafts. Cool! Since it was our quiet day,
Garf decided after the lower gorge we should run the slalom
site. 3km of grade IV/V. Scary. Massively powerful, probably
the biggest holes I've ever seen. Garf led well, I paddled
like a spack. Surfed a couple of relatively small stoppers
and had two rolls. C**T. Grade VI get out, but better than
the stopper beneath the bridge which Mark assures me "goes
no problem on the right". The mighty Sjoa Canyon tomorrow.
Oh shit. PS. Got quite pissed last night on beer and Tequila.
PPS. Went to Otta this morning. It was deathly quiet. Very
weird. - Mike
Lee offered to lead the first section today, because he thought
it would be easy - he quickly wished he hadn't. Big volume
with lots of waves/stoppers to surf/avoid. Great fun. The
female rafters were quite pleasant too (I'm told). The second
section was a grade harder and fairly committing. Had to inspect
3 rapids, but still no portages. Currently dossing near Brurusti.
PS. I've just run over Mike's pants. - Gareth
Garf alleged that this would be a rest day: Lower Sjoa gorge
was cool with much playing and some excellent surf waves.
The view wasn't bad either as we passed several rafts full
of blonde Norwegians. The slalom site followed after lunch,
an interesting section with a few stoppers comparable to the
size of a small bungalow. Star rapid took ages to run as the
breakout is 400m upstream of the corner we put safety on.
Getting out by the bridge involved taking the last eddy on
the left above a large hole, then a grade V climb out up a
cliff. Dossed at the 'official' camp site at Brurustes. The
GV/VI section along the campsite has a clear line down it,
may come back and paddle it later on the trip. - Mark
Not much more to say really. An excellent day, perhaps we
shouldn't have left it until 5.30 pm to shoot the slalom site.
The Grade V/VI upstream definitely goes at this level. Cool.
- Lee
Day Ten : The 'Mighty'
Sjoa Canyon, Monday 1st June
Had a bit of a shock when we woke up today - the sun had
gone. Bugger! As a result it was a bit of a cold run down
the (mighty) Sjoa Canyon. The 'star' rapid soon warmed us
up though - a good bit of leading from Mark saw us through
with minimal inspection. Still no portages! Excellent section
overall followed by a 100 mile drive to a grade VI doss site
by the Driva. Still no sun though.... - Gareth
Cycled another tough ferry today, why do Norwegian wave at
you when you are trying to ride up a big bastard hill? River
was cool though, no major incidents although the star rapid
has the excellent feature of the eddy required to inspect
the rapid is on the opposite side (left) to the line (right).
Ferry glide involved a surf of a conveniently placed stopper.
Also had fun in my low volume boat on a huge boil on a left
hand bend, several 360° spins but
stayed upright - excellent section, impressive gorge. I'm
glad I didn't know I was leading it last night. - Mark
The 'Mighty' Sjoa Canyon was cool, with no major epics. The
water was very big volume, with some holes you didn't want
to be in. - Lee
Day Eleven : Grovu, Tuesday
2nd June 
Well, where can I start! Mike woke me up at 7am by choking
on his phlegm. On trying to rouse him, I realised he was having
a bad hypo. I woke Garf and we fed him sugar, but after half
hour with little improvement, we decided to go to the hospital.
A nurse came out and tried to persuade Mike that the hospital
was better than the car, and also to measure his glucose level.
Mike wasn't moving!! After a couple of hours and various sugar
drinks supplied by the hospital (and doctors fees of 200Nok)
Mike was a bit better. We then went to look at the gauge for
the Driva and Grovu. Driva was reading 2.50 m and the Grovu
1.90m. The Grovu looked excellent (and short). I led this
section. It turned out to be extremely steep and continuous.
The section graded V in the book, wasn't (at this level),
but not too far off. Not a straightforward IV!! Cool. Took
35 minutes to shoot 4km. - Lee
Woke up at 4 am to the pitter patter of rain, bastard, but
I guess it had to happen sometime after 7 nights dossing.
Put tent up and then slept till 10am when Lee, Garf and Mike
returned from Hospital. The Grovu was an excellent short section,
steeper than a steep thing on a steep day. Lots of paddling
into stoppers to slow down a bit and very small breakouts.
Shopped in a big store in Oppdal to get food and stuff. Everyone
now falling asleep at 6pm. Still raining. We'll have to put
some tents up. - Mark
Interesting day today. Got woken up at 4am by the rain (Mark
kindly put his tent up) then got woken up at 7 am by Lee saying
that Mike was having a funny turn. Four hours later Mike was
nearly back to 'normal' so we checked out some gauges. The
Driva gorge is a good level, but who knows whether we will
have time to shoot it. The Grovu seemed like good fun so,
after persuading Mike not to shoot it or drive the ferry,
we quickly ran it. The river was very steep, although not
too difficult at the current level. The grade V bit was running
at IV (IV+) and was very entertaining. The grade III bit was
rocky in places and seemed determined to destroy my boat.
We are now back at the doss site, feeling very tired. - Gareth
Mike has just poured milk into the Trangia stove, for future
trips please note this is not a very effective fuel. - Mark
Well for me the day is to be honest a bit of a blur, until
mid afternoon or so. Cheers guys for getting me to hospital
and sorry for any embarrassment caused when I decided to piss
in the hospital flower bed. Thanks also for not letting me
do the Grovu or run the ferry as I insisted I could (I was
not all there. No change some might say!). Evening meal was
best yet. We bought some 'mincemeat' and the expense wasn't
horrific. This together with a bolognese sauce, some veg.
and pasta was top quality. The evening ended as usual with
some cards (in Garf's tent coz it was raining) at the doss
site at the get-off for the Upper Driva. PS. Found some great
toilets at the get-off for the Grovu. Picnic tables too. Highly
recommended. - Mike
Mike forgot to mention that the toilets had HOT WATER. Amazing!
- Gareth
Day Twelve : Upper Driva,
Wednesday 3rd June
While waiting for Garf to do the ferry, I went for a yogi
and it was great. Nice views of the river. Set off downstream
in high spirits after yesterdays problems, I thought I'd lead.
Ooops bad mistake. A km or two down, I came to a drop with
several routes and made the last breakout on the left. Unfortunately
it became clear the best line was down the middle. I ballsed
the ferryglide and went down the left hand undercut channel
upside down. Here come the excuses! Couldn't roll cos in the
undercut, so sat it out , felt like I might have some room
so rolled (crappy reverse screw) but just pulled myself clean
out of my boat. Double Arseburger with cheese!! Swam myself
to the side and Garf rescued my kit. Ta chaps! Garf took over
the lead. Various other entertainment on the river including
shooting the portage. I had a roll on that too (Donkey!).
A good III/IV section with some flat bits. Very boily at this
level, 40 cumecs? Only 2 hours for the 10km. Cool. - Mike
Had my first (non-playing) roll today. Took an interesting
line down one rapid which involved skirting several large
stoppers. Unfortunately, I dropped into the last which flipped
me. Upon rolling I indicated that the rest of the group should
take the more straightforward (boring) line, on the other
side of the river. Other firsts today include my first shave
since Sutton (11 days ago), and don't include our first portage
- that is still to come. - Gareth
Addition: The rest of the group surmised through Gareth's
upsidedownness that his line was not the best option. - Mark
Another good day. The river was fairly straightforward, but
enjoyable (except for the supposed portage, which we shot
left through a big hole IV+). Well, maybe the gorge tomorrow
then!?! - Lee
I expected this section to be a bit boring after recent rivers,
but was pleasantly surprised. Lots of steep rapids with flat
bits in between. A bit like the river Spean, but better and
more volume. Enjoyed running another supposed portage - this
is getting a bit of a habit, hope our luck doesn't run out.
Still raining, staying at the get-out doss site for the third
day running - hope the doss police don't get too upset. Just
fixed the first bike puncture of the trip, cycling ferries
has not been too much hassle to date. - Mark
All my kit is falling apart at the seams, my paddles have
a hole somewhere and so fill up with water, my wetsuit has
a tear a foot long in the backside, my deck has two holes
in it, one about the size and shape of South America. Additionally,
my wet suit boots keep sliding round on my feet, so I can't
walk and my red shorts are so smelly as to be nearly unbearable.
My cag leaks like a sieve, but hey ho, both my lid and buoyancy
seem to be working. They were both tested thoroughly today,
so that's lucky. Roll on tomorrow. PS. I've had too much time
to write in the log book today. PPS. Dinner by me and Lee
was cool again. Off to win some money off the others at poker
and brag. Ha. - Mike
Day Thirteen : Lora, Thursday
4th June 
It's 10 am and were about to leave the Driva valley without
paddling the canyon. It's been raining for 2 days and the
levels have risen. The gauge which was at 2.50m (35 cumecs)
is now at 2.65m (50 cumecs) and rising. Discretion being the
better part of valour, we decided to bin it after three of
us expressed reservations. Lee is keen to paddle it as long
as he is nowhere near the lead. Me and Mike aren't feeling
too good and Mark is not convinced about the wisdom of shooting
a 14km IV/V gorge section when the levels are rising and we're
not feeling on form. Off to the Lora then..... - Gareth
C**T!! - Mike
Mike, Lee and myself got on to do the Lora. Lee wasn't feeling
like it, and didn't enjoy his ride down Lora (no change there
then). Lora started cold, but was wet and once warmed up,
went like a train. Some parts were quite narrow and tight,
so thorough inspection was needed before accurate placement
of your equipment. While Garf was videoing the proceedings,
there was anxiety of when to pull out as staying in too long
could cause an accident. Precautions were taken, finishing
with Lora giving a long, hard and continuously good ride from
top to bottom. - Mark
A bit of a f**ker today. After psyching myself up for the
Driva gorge, I was disappointed not to get on, as it looks
an excellent paddle. After this I wasn't feeling much like
paddling, but was tempted by the video camera. We started
with a 3m drop, which I had my first roll of the trip on,
just for the camera of course. The section was actually pretty
fruity for the 4km from the bridge down (IV+ ish). The last
3km or so was a bit of a shitty scrape, but then I had had
enough by then. Found a crap doss-site, Ressot moaned a lot.
Maybe the Visa tomorrow. - Lee
As above, a bit of a f**ker, but with the gauge 5 cm off
recommended maximum for the Driva gorge and rising fast, discretion
was the better part of valour (does this sound familiar -
Ed). So very grumpy, we went off to the Lora. I showed the
others how the 3m ledge should be shot i.e. not upside down!
Lots of other entertainment including one rapid where both
Lee and myself ended up in an undercut. Ouch! Weather miserable
and doss site shit. Everyone very grumpy until after dinner,
then cheered up a bit. Who knows what for tomorrow. - Mike
I hurt my shoulder in the undercut. - Lee
Day Fourteen : No Paddling
Today, Friday 5th June
While playing cards last night the doss police arrived and
asked for 50 Nok for the road toll and informed us that we
weren't meant to camp by the road, but we could stay for one
night only - well I would have liked to doss on his sloped,
bumpy cow shit filled field for the rest of the trip. - Mark
Today is our first non-paddling day! Hurrah. All our kit
is wet and despite looking at several sections nothing is
tempting enough to get changed. Visa was low, had interesting
bits and probably a good giggle in higher water, but not today.
The Bovra was at 1.10m which is about 10 cumecs, the portages
looked fairly straightforward and the star rapids were grade
III. However the waterfall at Lom did look interesting. A
definite line down the right but no one fancied it today.
Usually it must be death on a stick. Very impressive. The
Skjoli was also very low. Looked at the grade IV bit and it
was a rockscrape. NO WATER IN THIS VALLEY. We also road checked
the Leira, surprise, surprise, very low. So it's off to Hella
for the ferry across the fjord. Hopefully a good doss site
with kit drying capabilities and a couple of beers. Driving
back over the mountains very impressive. I'm suffering with
my tongue which I chewed when I had my hypo a couple of days
ago. It's AGONY. I seem to have taken some lumps out of it
and they're a bit infected. Elbow and shoulder a bit sore
from undercut yesterday too. Oh well, at last the sun is shining,
so it's Okay. - Mike
No one was that keen to paddle today. My shoulder hurts,
otherwise I might have got on the III/V section on the Bovra
which was at least a grade easier today (including some of
the portages). - Lee
I wanted to paddle today, but not some grade I/III scrape.
The Bovra was at its winter level and I guess the Leira, Visa
and Skjoli were the same. Spent the day driving back to Bergen
via the Strondaelva. Managed to doss in an amazing U-shaped
valley midway between Vangres and Voss. The sun seems to have
re-appeared now that we are down south. - Gareth
Dossed in an incredible valley, climbed about 1/2 way up
the steep rocky slope of the valley side. Very peaceful with
an excellent view. Dossed out again but was very cold. Sleeping
bag was warm but breath was condensing around the top of the
sleeping bag. - Mark
Day Fifteen : Strondaelva,
Saturday 6th June 
Had my first cold(ish) night of the trip. Should have predicted
it from the snow line which was at the same level as our car.
- Gareth
Gareth is happy today. Finally all our kit has packed neatly
into the boxes and he has packed the boot so that the driver
can see out of the rear view mirror. His mission is complete!
- Mike
Well, seeing that Paul and Bri aren't on this trip, I figured
that someone had to organise and tidy up after the kids. -
Gareth
Well, the Strondaelva turned out to be a pretty fruity section.
We got on at a picnic site at the side of a lake. From here
it was about 2 km to the gorge, which the last trip portaged.
The first drop is IV+. We then got out by the bridge and did
our first portage of the trip, as the 2nd drop in the gorge
didn't go. A seal launch below this into a fast flowing diagonal
stopper was required. The following two drops are grade V,
at this level. The first goes right and shoots you left just
below a huge hole, the 2nd needs shooting middle to hard right.
Big hole at the end, which nearly backlooped Mark. The section
eased here for 1km or so. The next gorge had 3 rapids. The
first was easy (III). The second was a tall shoot into a big
stopper (IV+), shot left into middle. Mark was upside down
here. The third drop was fairly tricky (V). A line down the
middle, just left of the central rocks, seemed best. Mark
hit this and was spun out right, Garf was spun out left and
sucked back into the large hole. He got a good trashing and
swam. Shitting myself, I decided to have a go anyway. Going
for the full speed approach, I was about a foot left of the
line into the hole, fortunately I punched it OK, as I was
paddling flat out. Cool section, not the easy wind down I
anticipated. - Lee
Excellent section with a nice swim as a bonus! Thanks to
the lower water levels most of the section went and was probably
a IV+/V. Surprisingly enough, I enjoyed my swim as I now know
that Buffalo salopettes float. Cool. PS. Mike is best at rescuing!
- Gareth
Great description by Lee, very accurate. Due to falling over
and hurting my leg I did a bit of portaging today (also due
to being scared obviously!) but good fun. Not the wind down
I anticipated though (whoops Lee said that too!). Garf very
unlucky swimming on literally the last drop of the trip. Dossing
in a supermarket car-park in a town 20 miles outside Bergen.
No toilets and I need a shit. Arse. Garf got ferry times wrong,
it's not till 4 pm tomorrow. Oh well. - Mike
Strondaelva - cool pool drop section with lots of fun and
drama. I never said or even thought I was leading this section
until the entrance rapid to the gorge. I ran this to find
myself in a psycho eddy, only managing to escape on my 4th
attempt accepting being pushed along the wall. The others
avoided this by taking the more central line off a large cushion.
Seal launch into the gorge was OK. Portage looked even worse
from below at water level. A good time to walk our first rapid
of the trip. I backlooped on the last of the gorge drops and
again on the first of the two big rapids after the bridge.
Not the quiet warm down I expected, but hope to get some good
photos from it. - Mark
Day Sixteen : Bergen -
North Sea, Sunday 7th June
It's 2.30 pm and were waiting to board the ferry. The info
in Frazer's log, about having to book on before you start
to queue saved us an extra wait. Looking forward to a shave
and a shower, oh and a beer!! - Mike
The public toilets were charging 5 kronas for a piss, so
me and Lee climbed into some bushes (not together) and went
there. We're best at pissing anywhere. - Gareth
We're on the ferry now sailing down the Norwegian coast.
All in all it's been an excellent trip. My best ever paddling
trip, I think. We've done some great sections, with some more
still to do (Driva gorge, the rest of the sections on the
Sjoa, Visa +++). Hopefully be back in a couple of years. Norway
rules. Cool. PS. Looking forward to my 'eat as much as you
can' breakfast!! PPS. First shower and shave for over 2 weeks
tonight!!! - Lee
It rains all the time in Bergen!! As soon as we approached
the city (?) centre it started pissing it down. Spent an hour
or two looking for gifts to fob off on our girlies, then joined
the ferry queue. Had a good time on the outward part of the
journey enjoying some Norwegian stew, a few beers and some
dodgy Cabaret. - Gareth
Shaving after over two weeks not doing so was entertaining.
Only took two big slices out of my face. Not a bad effort.
Showering was also like a new experience only took half an
hour to get down to my skin and 3 hair washes to get a lather.
Smart. I drank lots of beer. Some guy played the piano and
was quite cool. He was very cool until he refused to play
'American Pie' for us. MISERABLE BASTARD!! Finally crashed
at about 2 am. PS. Forgot to mention the presence of army
types with 3 women, 'Mad', 'Red' and 'Tit', horrible selection.
Lee rated 'Mad' at about 8, everyone else knew she only scored
2. - Mike
Juggling on ferries is cool - although the floor keeps moving.
- Mark
Day Seventeen : North
Sea - Newcastle - Brighton, Monday 8th June 
The only eventful thing that's happened today is Mike falling
asleep on the toilet. Nice, calm crossing though. - Gareth
I fell asleep on the bog. COOL! PS. Breakfast was large.
BACK IN ENGLAND!! Although the customs people seemed to be
stopping everyone they took one look at us and waved us through.
Surprise, surprise!! - Mike
Calm crossing this time - no chundering and a pig out on
lard at the buffet. - Mark
Since leaving the ferry it has rained and we have been in
a traffic jam for half hour and seen more cars than the last
two weeks - ENGLAND SUCKS - Wales of course is best, closely
followed by Norway. - Mark
Traffic sucks! Only estates carrying 4 canoes should be allowed
on the roads during the hours of 14.30 - 23.30 on rainy days.
- Gareth
A good crossing, we all made the most of our breakfast, with
most of us making sandwiches (for lunch) and putting them
in our pockets. A good effort, a breakfast from 8.15 - 10.30
is cool!! Here's to the next trip. - Lee
So the story draws to a close, we're on the M4 10 minutes
short of dropping Mark home, then it's off to London for Garf
and myself before Lee completes the final leg to Brighton.
17 days and 2400 miles a trip of epic proportions (fortunately
fairly epic free!!). A great trip, certainly something new
for me an excellent experience. Norway is a country with seemingly
almost endless possibilities and when the sun is shining,
with 24 hours daylight and outstanding countryside it's hard
to imagine anywhere better. Certainly there is plenty left
for another trip, not least the 'Graura' (Driva gorge). Thanks
guys and here's to the next one. Signing off. - Mike
Excellent trip - thanks dudes. - Mark |
