Northern Sights

Although this is our fourth visit to the fair city of Oslo, it’s been nearly twenty years since we last visited. I am honestly staggered by that. How did that happen?

Our first visit was way back in 2001 when a friend in work recommended it as a holiday location and gave us contact details of a travel company that specialises in Scandinavian travel. Saw it, booked it and…..you know the rest.

It was a big trip, or so it seemed at the time, and for the first time we felt like adventurous travellers - heading off to unknown lands across the North Sea. Crazy really to think that a future escapade would take us to the southern hemisphere. Admittedly we didn’t stray to far from the capital city. After catching up with a friend who lived there, we caught the train to Flåm and spent a gorgeous week at the side of a fjord. It was idyllic. As well as the fantastic scenery, boat trips and hiking, I got the chance to buzz the QEII in a little boat. 

Setting out to buzz the QEII

The aforementioned QEII

It was all over far too quickly and after visit to Bergen by catamaran we were back in the airport to fly

back home.

We were back in Oslo just a year later for the same friend’s 30th birthday and then a couple of years later for his wedding. It did seem like Oslo was becoming our second home.

Yet then there was a gap. A large one by anyone’s standards. So when the opportunity arose - more on that in a minute - to return, how could we pass up such an opportunity? 

Airlines’ pricing algorithms are a mystery to me, and I suspect a lot of others. We were looking for the most cost effective way to get back to New Zealand from Switzerland when it became apparent that it was cheaper to first travel to Scandinavia and then depart a few days later, rather than a direct route. Odd but true. So with that in mind, a weekend in Oslo seemed like the perfect end to our summer sojourn around Europe.

As well as seeing the beautiful city 20 years later, it also gave us a chance to catch up with some friends from the UK and of course our whānau resident! 

As usual when we visit Oslo, the weather was glorious with warm and sunny days and long light nights. The beer, wine and conversation flowed with ease. It was good to spend time with friends we haven’t seen for a while and soon the intervening years dissolved away in tears of laughter. As well as revisiting old haunts we found some new favourites and generally had a relaxing and enjoyable time.

I’d forgotten just how friendly and helpful Norwegians are and I reckon that they would give Kiwis some stiff competition as the most accommodating hosts. No offence New Zealand, just saying!

As I leave Oslo again, I am determined that it won’t be such a gap to my next visit and I look forward to exploring more of this fantastic country. There’s so much more to see and I know we’ve only scratched the surface.