EE & S Adventures

When you think of veterans sports, forget Golf and Lawn Bowls.  Orienteering is where it's at.  Every year thousands of people from 35 to 95 gather for the jamboree that is the World Masters Orienteering Championships.  This year, Riga in Latvia was the venue.  About 30 Aussies made the trek.  Including us.  While I (Eric) tackled the Masters competition, racing against more than 200 other competitors in the 50s class, Elise and Sam enjoyed the public races that ensure Masters is also a family friendly event. First up was the Sprint.  The qualification races were held around a suburb of Riga, in and around some apartment blocks and a local park.  With navigation being very straightforward, it was fairly cut-throat to make A finals in many of the popular classes with few seconds separating many competitors.   Eric in the Sprint Qualifier: credit Janis Ligats official event photographer The final was raced around the centre of ...

No, not a character from Dr Seuss (that's Horton), just a town in Norway with an odd name.  We spent our last two days in Norway in Horten, just southwest of Oslo.  Horten is famous as the location of a large Viking burial site and we spent a fair amount of time at the visitors centre which had a whole range of things to see and do. First stop was the arena of Viking games and sports where we competed against each other and ourselves in ancient Viking tests of strength and skill. First the child friendly sport of axe throwing Archery was an important skill in warfare and probably for competition in peacetime Then the most bloodthirsty of all Viking sports... pillow fighting.   Eric had some prior Kubb experience  Next stop was the recreated Viking Hall where feasts would have been held in Viking times.  Inside alongside the display of carts, furs and other Viking goods we could take a turn at milling wheat to make flour which then bec...

Gaustatoppen is not the highest mountain in Norway (that's Galdhøpiggen which Eric has also climbed many years ago).  However it is perhaps the most spectacular given the way it dominates its surrounding hills.  From the top on a clear day (which we had), you can see one sixth of all of Norway. The day may have been clear but it was windy and cold when we set out to hike to the top.  In fact the wind was so strong in the first kilometre we strongly considered turning back given we were probably carrying one less layer of clothes than we should have.  At least this kept us moving!  The scenery was fabulous which helped keep us motivated. Gaustatoppen is a very popular hike and there was a lot of people (and dogs) enjoying the good weather.  For Norwegians it was probably one of the best (and warmest) days of summer so everyone was taking the opportunity to enjoy the great outdoors. The summit was very crowded.  A tiny train runs ...

After Orienteering in Larvik we decided to head to the Norwegian mountains for a few days.  We managed to find a very rustic cabin near the little town of Atra.  It was kind of Norway's version of the outback.  The loo was a thunderbox out in a shed in the back yard, there was a attic as the second bedroom reached by ladder and even a hunting rifle just lying around in the front room (a bit of a surprise to be sure). The cabin may have been rustic but the local scenery made it a worthwhile place to visit.  We didn't need to travel far to see some amazing views.

This is going to be one of the less exciting blog posts of the trip.  So how about I keep it short and concise with dotpoints: We went to Larvik for one of Norway's biggest Orienteering events, O-Festival. We stayed on a school classroom floor near the event, which still cost us $100 per night (all accommodation in the town was sold out or crazily expensive). We ate sandwiches for dinner most nights (we couldn't cook and didn't want to pay $25 for a dodgy kebab). The forest was very interesting. Eric ran really badly. err that's all. Lest any of the event organisers read this we actually had a really good time.  The orienteering was amazing except it's always more fun when you do well and sleep in a 5 star hotel.  And Eric caught up with a few friends from different corners of the globe as you do at major competitions. O Festival even had it's own playground Luxury accommodation - at least we got breakfast Eric in the finish showing by the...

Stavanger’s premier natural tourist attraction would have to be Pulpit Rock. Standing 604 metres above the fjord below (Lysefjord), the tall flat granite rock affords a fantastic view point for the surrounding fjords. It is a short 4km hike from Preikestolen fjellstue which we reached by taking a ferry from Stavanger then a bus.  As Europe was suffering under a notable heat wave on the day we decided to do it, one would have expected the view to look like this.  However Norway, and more specifically, Stavanger escaped the heat and we experienced this.  The walk itself was nice enough, however we couldn’t help but be disappointed with the view.   Returning on the ferry, the clouds began to lift.  This would be a great place to return to for a second look on a better day, however we travel to Oslo tomorrow and will not be back this trip. Next time...…

Stavanger in the south western corner of Norway is probably a moderately distant second to Bergen as a tourist city in these parts.  It's more noted as a city supporting fishing and the North Sea oil industry.  However it's a very pretty town in it's own right and also provides a gateway to the southernmost of Norway's fjords which attracts a fairly large tourist intake. Within the city it's interesting to walk around and see some of the older parts of town.  The streets have a significant charm whether the houses are done up in the traditional white Norwegian style or (in one part of town) something much brighter. Then there's a few odd things that seem a bit out of place... And some local art... Stavanger has it's share of museums.  We went to two of them.  Our main stop was the Norwegian Children's Museum where the exhibits were focussed both for and about children.  The museum had some interesting exhibits that looked at the...