High altitude picture...

Just back out from our day trip to Geirangerfjorden, etc...
The day took a little longer than we thought because Honey the Honda eventually let me down, with a burst radiator pipe. She's fixed and happy again, thanks to a very friendly Viking.

Loads of lovely pictures to come, but thought I'd just post a quickie of our guests on top of Dalsnibba, with Geirangerfjorden in the background.

This picture is taken at 1500 metres above sea level.
A few metres short of the 'Mile High Club', but I think they enjoyed it.

More to come, but,

Yun's aa fir enoo.

Willie Nelson 2K10 - Paul English

Paul, Willie's long time friend and drummer, suffered a minor stroke in April, but I'm happy to report that he's back 'on the road' with Willie Nelson and Family, for their European tour this year.
Here's a pic of Paul.

And, yes it's my hand on his shoulder. He's one of the gentlest people I've ever met. Every word he speaks is in a soft, gentle, and friendly manner, that leads me to the obvious conclusion that to live as long as these guys, you have to adapt a bit, learn to behave, and live a cleaner lifestyle.
Let's face it, in the early days Paul was a bit of a renegade. And what else could he be. Life on the road with Willie Nelson must have been 'some' experience.

Paul first worked with Willie in 1956, and since then they've been through everything together. I think I could write for hours about what Willie and Paul mean to each other, but why should I bother when Willie made it easy by writing a song called "Me and Paul".

I think it's fair to say that Paul never planned a career as a drummer, until he met Willie Nelson. But I don't think he regrets a minute of the time they have spent together on the road.
He has been quoted as saying that, "I played my first job with Willie, and I will play my last job with Willie". That's friendship, and all that Willie Nelson and Family is about.

I'll make absolutely no apologies for excessive Willie Nelson posts over the next week or two. Hero worship has to have a place on every blog, and Willie is 'way up there', along with all his family.

Yun's aa fir enoo (That's all for now)

For further up to date info on Willie Nelson and Family, visit:
http://stillisstillmoving.com/

Willie Nelson 2K10 - Trigger

With just one week to go before we see Willie Nelson and Family in London, I thought it was worth posting a little bit of my excitement here.
Trigger, Willie's famous guitar, has a sound which I can recognise just the same as most folk will recognise the current ringtone on their cellphone. But, compared to a ringtone, it's just out of this world.

Battered, bruised, worn through, and showing the miles it has travelled, Willie's old friend Trigger has to be the ultimate guitar in country music.

Trigger is a Martin N-20 which Willie bought in 1969.
He'd 'somehow' damaged the guitar he had at the time, and sent it to Shot Jackson in Nashville to get fixed. But Willie was told that it was beyond repair.
I think at this point the phone call went something along the lines of, "Have you got something else?" And Shot said, "I've got a Martin on the shelf for $750". Willie asked, "Can I have it with the same Baldwin pick-up as my old one?" And Trigger was born.

Willie knew from the first time he laid a pick near a string that he was into something special, and it's a relationship which has lasted ever since.

I just have to hear one string picked on Trigger to recognise it, and next Friday night I'm going to enjoy at least one and a half hours of that sound.
PURE MAGIC !!!!''

For all the latest on Willie Nelson and Family, check out this fantastic site:
http://stillisstillmoving.com/
If it's about Willie, Linda Lee is the first to post it.

Atlantic Road

Our visitors got a tour out to the Atlantic Road today.
The Atlantic Road is just southwest of Kristiansund, so to get there there from Vestnes, the journey starts with crossing Romsdalsfjorden to the town of Molde. Then the scenic route is around the coast through the village of Bud (pronounced Boo).
We'll get the 'bum shot' out of the way first. For some reason this 'Golden Oldie' got his butt in a few pictures, but that's what happens when you let women take the pictures....

This is the harbour at Bud, and here's a nice grass roofed house there.

For some strange reason they think that visitors to the area want to see seagulls, so on this rock face they've actually created artificial ledges, near the left of the picture, for the birds to s*it on.

The hill behind that picture gives a lovely view over the open sea, and if it wasn't for the curve of the Earth, about 300 miles in this direction you'd see Shetland.

The hill where the picture was taken from was the site of a German defence installation during their occupation of Norway during WW2. Some relics of the occupation still remain, including this gun.

The harbour at Bud is beautiful.

Heading north, here's a odd looking group of small hills at Hustad.

Then comes the Atlantic Road. This is undoubtedly the best view on the road. It looks like it's just disappearing into space.

But this angle shows that it's just because the bridge has a sideways twist in it.

And here's a reverse angle.

The Atlantic Road  (Atlanterhavsveien) links a number of small skerries with causeways and bridges. Construction was started in August 1983, and the road was opened in July 1989.
The bridge in the picture above is called "Storseisundbrua", which in Shetland dialect means "The Muckle Saithe Soond Brig", and the nearest I can come in English would be "The Large Coalfish Channel Bridge"

On the way home, here's a nice shot of Batnfjorden. Everything is looking very green now, although it's still a tad cold.

Tomorrow we're heading inland towards Geiranger, so watch out for the next post. Should be some nice pics.

Yun's aa fir enoo.

Holiday Cabins

Many folk think that Norway is an expensive place to visit, and it can be if you want to stay in a hotel, but the most common form of holiday accommodation here is a cabin like this one.

500 Kroner per night, at peak season that rises to 700 Kroner, but it has 3 twin bedrooms so can sleep 6, and has all the things you'd find in your own house, such as digital TV, cooker, freezer, fridge, microwave, etc. etc.. This one even has a fish smoker to smoke any fish which you catch with the boat which, in the case of this cabin, is included in the cabin hire.
There are cabins available in almost every community, and they're always signposted, and even at peak season it's not too hard to find an available one. My personal dream would be to drive the length of Norway, just staying a night here and a night there in cabins like this.
I'll post some internal pics when I remember to take them to give you an idea how nice it is.
Now, must go and entertain our visitors who are staying in this particular cabin.

Nice weather for ducks, and umbrellas..

Norway has a fascinating ability to come with either long spells of nice weather, interspersed with crappy days,. Or long spells of crappy weather, interspersed with nice days. But this year we've managed to get long spells of crappy weather, interspersed with very crappy days.
A walk to the end of the house involves one of these weird gadgets, called an umbrella.

I knew what it was before I came to Norway, but as a Shetlander I never thought that there could be wind conditions in which such a gadget could be used.

I still remember my first rainy day here, when I had to walk to work. 'She who understands rain, but knows bugger all about wind', said, "Take an umbrella". I think my first comment was, "How do I drive it?" I'd never opened one in my life. Let's face it, if you open one of those things in Shetland it ends up in Norway,,,, Ahhhh!, now I know where all the Norwegian umbrellas come from..

But, believe me, in this area of Norway, it is possible to use an umbrella.
And, Lord knows, this year it's needed.

Yun's aa fir enoo,
Da Auld Een

Lemsip

My Saviour.
Thanks to this stuff I manage to work today, but here's what niggles me. This stuff, or anything like it is banned from sale in Norway, so I rely on imported stock from our last UK holiday.

Why is it banned?
Simple.
If this stuff was allowed there would be far less excuses for taking sick leave, and that just wouldn't fit very well into the local work ethic. ;)

Although when I first arrived here 3 years ago and got a bad flu, I found that Jack Daniels worked miracles, so maybe banning the likes of Lemsip is very sensible, when you consider the alcohol based alternative. LOL

Yun's aa fir enoo,,
Da Auld Een