Nature, sheep and fish: Content in Norway
Deep in my ancestry are blood lines from the Vikings. At least that was the myth I was told, and perhaps reality. My grandfather studied our genealogy and I remember conversations with him as we looked over his detailed family tree. It went back over five generations to Scotland and Norway. I like to believe that my soul searched out Norway to awaken that blood line in me.
There are some things I learned before we went. That Norway is dark and cold, and the summer is about as warm as my home town's winter. The people identify themselves around the concept of being close to nature, and this is at the core of their national identity. People come from and many choose to live in small pockets of villages. They like to be remote. I also learned that the country is filthy wealthy, due to oil. And some say lazy because of it.
This theory was quickly visible in an Airbnb search where hundreds of nature cabins emerge. Many of them very rustic. Places are expensive and very dispersed. The headline for the Norway tourist website goes, "Norway: powered by nature." I decided to break the trip up into a small stint in a city, a week on an isolated island, and a week in the rural fjords.
We started in Bergen for four days. It's the smaller city, picturesque and walkable even with babies. I spent most of that time staring at the mountains and trees around the city, wanting my nature fix. It's why I came. But the city itself has a nice vibe and loads of excellent shopping, though we did not partake. Norway is expensive. That gossip is true. Food in particular seemed expensive, and I wasn't impressed with it. Food is quite bland, the cheese is bad and fresh stuff has to be flown in, so it's not that fresh. Fish, berries and the yoghurt were very good and we filled up on that. We ate at the fish market but it's gone touristic and lost authenticity. The Fløibanen is a train a few minutes walk from the fish market, that offers a quick ten minute ride up the mountain. It's well worth it for the view, the playground on the top and the walks from there. That was my highlight of the city visit.
Getting to our first nature spot was an experience. The ferry was the fanciest I have seen. The level of facility included couches, a child play area and beer on tap. When we got on we named our destination but were not clearly inform of where to disembark off the boat, which was from the back. The boat stopped, for a minute or two and we stood loaded with baggage waiting. We ended up having to get off further from our stop and were told we had to catch another boat, only getting to the island at 9pm. Emrah, with his huge determination went into the little port to find a solution. My man is resourceful. He found a couple with a small speedboat who took us to Møkster island. This encounter made me love Norway. The couple had a family house on one of the islands. They took us to our island and refused to take our money. They offered us sweet cakes and were in general completely giving of their hearts. This is rare generosity in the world and I had tears when we said goodbye.
Møkster is home to 64 year round residents, outnumbered by wild sheep. Our house looked over the ocean and a gorgeous grassy patch. It was sublime. Cars were almost non existent. I loved my daily ten minute walk to the dock where the shop is, passing a little beach, sheep, flowers and the expanse of ocean. Emrah fished off the rocks below us and on our first day caught four. He fed us for the rest of our stay. Which was good because there was only one grocery store and it was limited. I got to hike alone, the eery expanse so quiet, open. Clouds, rocks, grass an icy ocean. I felt like I could breathe again. We left wanting to come back. It's easy to do that too. There is a ferry close to the airport all the way there.
Our next house was an hour north from Bergen in the fjords. The farm house didn't give us the magic wild nature, but did provide rustic farm living. Every morning I took the children to feed bread to the big goats and baby goats, ducks and chickens. R Lilly found chicken and duck eggs, which the host family let us eat. My little girl is a natural farmer. Pure joy shone in her as she fed the animals, open hand filled with bread, gum boots on and a naked bum. Aziz Elan sucked on a crust eyes wide open.
Nearby the farm house we found a beach with a natural sea pool that R Lilly could wade far into. People were swimming and pulling oysters up easily. On the other verge I caught my first fish, a cod. It was a day of sun, a very rare moment in Norway. Summer is rainy, almost every day, but when the sun comes out it is something to behold. Worth all the travel. I sat on the rocks, holding my boy who was examining a shell, watching my man swing R Lilly through the water, and I felt content.
Norway gave me spaciousness. Nature filled the rest. I could never live there year round, I need to be outdoors more. But it made me want to return to this immaculate part of the world. We are thinking about Finland next time.
