Never have I found a place on my travels that has made me homesick. I have been to other temperate rainforests on the south island of New Zealand, but nothing come as exact as Norway does to BC, Canada.

The textures of the moss on the rocks, the colours of the dirt, the evergreen trees, the cool crisp air, the dramatic mountains. And yet, even with all this resemblance I still feel like a foreigner. Towns are not where they should be, valleys and mountain ranges are different, and Sounds are replaced by Fjords.  It’s a strange sensation to be in an environment so familiar yet so foreign at the same time. This is how I felt about Norway and our first few stops through Lillehammer and the Geiranger Fjord.

Vlog #2: Contiki Scandinavia: Lillehammer, Norway

httpvh://youtu.be/–d_Z5viup0

Geiranger Fjord

Bobsledding in Lillehammer

You know those safety disclaimers you have to sign before partaking in any sort of dangerous activity? Well here is my words of warning, when it comes to bobsledding you should really listen to them.

Now I have had back troubles all my teenage and young adult life. Disks and ribs out of place, chiropractor and physiotherapy visits, you name it. However, it has never really been an issue with any of the sports or high risk activities I have done, like skydiving. Bobsledding is a completely different story. 3Gs of force compressing your spine is quite possibly one of the most painful things my back and neck has undertaken. Although the ride last less than 60 seconds in total, it felt like an eternity and all I wanted to do was get off. When you ride a bobsled it’s not the feeling of your head bashing around the cage at each turn, it’s the immobilizing, pinned down feeling that you experience when zipping through the track that frightens and hurts you.

Now I am making this sound rather unpleasant, but in reality for a lot of people they very much enjoyed it. In the end thought, I am very glad I did it, regardless of the pain.

The 94′ Olympic track we sled on.

Team Sweden! Our bobsled team.

Pss. Wanna see what these tracks look like in the winter? Check out my blog from the Vancouver 2010 Olympic games!