The days are impossibly long. I don’t think I’ve seen night time in a week. The Bleie family met us with open arms from the moment we arrived. A dinner of local sausage, potatoes and a fascinating rutabaga/celery mix was already on the table. We were a part of the community from moment one.

The stories of local lore here in Odda abound. Olav regaled us with stories like the great avalanche of 1994 where entire houses were displaced off their foundations. We especially enjoyed the folk story of a single lane bridge that caused a queue so long people decided to establish a hamlet there. What takes the cake is the farmer who got so upset with bouldering climbers creating a festival on his farm without permission. He came out two days before hand, drilled holes, planted dynamite and blew up every single rock they were going to use. Don’t mess with the Norwegian farmers!

Our hosts have shown us the wonders of norwegian cuisine. I am hooked on crackers, butter, tubed kaviar (they also have tubed bacon) and fish liver. The picture was an everyday sight shortly followed up by a feeding frenzy of hungry hikers and climbers. The Norwegians swear by the kaviar, it may as well be a national food. I’ll bring back a half dozen tubes for folks who are brave enough to try.

For our daily kaviar spread we pay our dues with a little cherry picking on the side. It was serenely peaceful way to spend time. This is a small sample of the 900 kilos (1 ton!) we snagged on Monday.

All the best to folks back home!