had to remove some serious rocks and boulders from the ground before we could put up the tents, but it ended up being another truly beautiful campsite, with more beautiful views. From here on we were going to be walking in our group of seven without immediate guidance. However Miss Lynn would of course be watching us while hiding in the hills. Mr Evans came to wish us luck before we left and he gave us some advice which sounded so stupid at the time that we just laughed. He said, “If you’re lost and fed up girls, don’t worry, just put up a tent”. there were huge angular stones which would jerk your tyres about and send you flinging around in random directions, and there were plenty of falls. We biked 50k in that day, and we were rewarded with a REAL CAMPSITE with REAL TOILETS!
Crossing rivers and snowfields was a nightmare, and at times really scary. Everyone’s feet got wet and cold but there was no alternative route. It was true wilderness and there was no sign of this trail being a real path except for red painted Ts on every other boulder.
The first day of kayaking ended as soon as it began due to torrential rain, but after that, kayaking through the Fjords was a wonderful way to experience such interesting landscapes. Our guides were so friendly and knowledgeable about the history of the fjord and it was so nice to get to know such passionate people who loved the country so much. The second campsite on the fjord had the best views and a waterfall that stretched up to the top of the fjord under which some of us showered.
On the third day we ended up in Gudvangen where we had a lot to do in preparation for the Duke of Edinburgh section of our trip. We said goodbye to our guides to get on a public bus and then embark on a steep uphill trek in the rain to find a suitable campsite for the night. The campsite on that day was so far from looking like a campsite when we found it. We
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The DofE trek was four days long and on the second day the weather turned. We had headed into the mountains and remained high. It completely clouded over and got to the point where we couldn’t see the next red T in front of us. It was freezing and slippery underfoot. We were getting tired and confused about where the path was taking us, the more we climbed the colder and cloudier it was getting and we had no idea where the summit was. To our pleasant surprise, the leaders appeared behind us and caught up to give us a much needed pep talk. We were over the moon that we’d found them, but we had no clue where the other group was. We walked on into the icy cloud trusting the path shown to us, and sure enough as we walked further, we heard a faint whistle. As we got closer, we couldn’t believe what we saw. The group had become so lost that they had actually stopped and put up a tent!