2geonomads

Sunday 15th June 2014.

After encountering some fairly ordinary weather during our stay in Europe, Scandinavia is really coming up trumps and we awake to a glorious day. To make the most of this opportunity Erik has kindly arranged for us all to go out on his boat for the day. Apparently, Norway has the highest per capita boat ownership in the world so we don’t expect to be on our own out in the Oslo Fjord.

Erik  has a lovely Nordkapp boat moored a short drive away from their home and our party of six ( Erik, Torill,  Bobben, Annie, Gail and myself ) sets off mid- morning with the temperature in the mid-20 ‘s.

Spots where we can anchor the boat and clamber onto one of the many rocky islands in the fjord are not surprisingly in short supply but we do eventually manage to disembark and set ourselves up for an afternoon picnic. Erik heads off to pick up their eldest son Henrik, who had previously studied at university in Perth ( film and media studies ) while we just lounge around enjoying the sun and this idyllic location. On his return Erik donned a wetsuit and collected a an impressive quantity of mussels from the shallow waters off the rocks.

As we returned to the marina  a veritable armada of boats, of all shapes and sizes, was making its way through the many channels and clearly for many boaties it was more important to be seen rather than merely enjoy this pristine environment. We did come across Erik and Torill’s younger son, Niklas, on a boat with a group of mates and they certainly didn’t fit into the ‘ be seen ‘ category!

After a fairly tiring afternoon for Bobben and Annie they returned to Bobben’s house for some rest before once more gathering at E and T’s house for yet another superb BBQ on the outdoors deck. Niklas also arrived with his girlfriend Silje whom he had met when they were both studying in Edinburgh.

The Hansen family Toril, Annie,Bobbin,David, Eric

Previously collected mussels, cooked in wine, garlic and herbs, went down a treat, as a entree to the sumptuous feast.

Needless to say a good time was had by all and it capped off a memorable day with the Hansens.

Erik and I  don’t  talk as far into the night on this occasion as he has to go to work the next day while we layabouts continue to live a life of leisure.

Cheers

The Obese Ferret.