Sunny Norway

 Alright. So the last couple of weeks have been fairly action packed. After our stint at rural Swiss living/illegal alien work, Soph, B and myself went our respective ways to the next step of the adventure. My part involved getting myself, my gear and my kayak on a train from Switzerland, (moderately accommodating with regards to kayaks) to Germany (absolutely not accommodating for kayaks.) Having said that, I soon discovered if you are persistant (pushy and belligerent) and have the strongest kiwi accent you can manage ("na bro she'll definitely fit in that little gap no worries sweet as bro na na it's all good....") that the unbending German mentality will give way under this unopposable/unitelligible onslaught.

 The amazing government gardens in the Swiss capitol of Bern where we were definitely not working as illegal migrant workers....

 

 The last adventure in Switzerland - some cool tunnels from when the Russians had a war with the French. In Switzerland. Ages ago. Aah Europe.

  

Scouting a rapid from the Via Ferrata (random handholds put all through the mountains so the army (Swiss) could get around more easily for when they were fighting?? in all the wars they have..)

So anyway I made it to Deutschland and got picked up by the brothers Sutton in Kaufbeuren where Jamie and I proceeded to get far to carried away watching the Germans play football and ensured that the 24 hour drive we were about to embark on the next day was as terrible as possible. 

We made said drive - the less said the better in some sort of state and got to Voss to meet up with everyone who has come here for the biggest extreme sports week in Europe?? Needless to say it has been a triumph of lifestyling and the boys firing crazy stuff up constantly.

 

Straight viking - Anton Immler filming at the big Etsingdal drop (probably spelled that wrong - Norwegian words are tough) The boys did a bunch of laps of this big guy with everyone having nice lines. 

Someone - possibly EG a little black dot in the middle about to go richter

  

We did some racing - Me doing some not so good racing, the boys however had good showings in the teams race, the downhill and the boatercross which was sweet.

  

Freakish dinner at the lakefront of Voss for one of the two (or was that three?) sunny days we've had here so far - The 20 Euro gumboots are proving to be one of the better purchases for Voss 2012. (The next best purchase is about to be a fishing rod for the fiords next week.) The worst purchase I hear you ask? Definitely the cheap, imitation pop up tent I brought as a stroke of genius. Had a snapped pole when I got it out of the bag 2000km from the shop I brought it from, dream scenario....

 

Ladies and Gentlemen. Mr Jens Klatt. Kayak photographer extraordinaire and Voss 2012 phone conversation pose award winner.

 

Sanga and Neilson having an intimate date. Found some bike taxi drivers to take us up a hill we couldn't be bothered with. Found out halfway that our taxi driver was a staunch Christian. Obviously extreme winding up of the religious chap ensued....  Whoops.

Thus far Norway has been pretty cool - it's cold and rains lots but when the sun does make an appearance it is out of control! The kayaking is sick, I exploded my boat on the second day here which was a bit of a downer but it's fine. When you are a professional lifestyler like myself you just sit back, pour the next rum you brought across the border incredibly illegally even though you don't really like it and shift focus to the next activity. Like fishing. Or Snus.  

Until my next erratic update. Ciao.