This is just a brief note to say that I have submitted the initial documents required for a work visa here in Norway. While Norway’s not a member of the EU (damn oil snobs), it’s still fairly easy for me to get a job here.

And once I have a job… it’s time to settle. I have a little money saved up, which I have used to place a deposit on a nice 1-room flat (property prices are similar to London), but as I make friends and connections I will get somewhere bigger!

Here I am, pointing at my new house (well, on the other side of the mountain):

I know this is a fairly dramatic announcement — and yes, I’ll probably have to sell a kidney to pay for food until my work visa goes through –but it’s blatantly the right thing to do! It is, after all, the only way I’m going to catch a clear sky without coming back every few weeks for the next year.

Mum: sorry, I should’ve emailed you first.

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If you made it this far, here’s a bonus photo, also from the top of Floibanen (above Bergen) — note how I actually look quite small and dare I say… cute.

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Dolphins & Passport control

Seb: I’m only just back from Norway. I’ve been up since 4:30am and, try as I might, I didn’t manage to get any sleep the night before. Throw in the party the night before that, and I guess I’ve been up for almost three days…

It’s views like this that make all the pain and suffering and drinking and debauchering tolerable though. I sat by the harbour for two hours, watching the sun slowly set. From bright blue and gold, to purple and orange, and eventually to the darker sapphire and pink.

This is a few minutes after the peak, as the ambient light starts to fade, but as you know, I love my muted beauties.

Lots more stories and photos to share, but after I’ve had a little sleep…
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Abi: Here it is. Several pages, a photograph and a microchip of hassel. I’ve not come out and announced this here yet, but I am flying to Australia in a day or two to see my sister, who lives in Perth. The whole thing was a bit of a last minute thing so I have not wanted to talk about it much here. I have also had the additional hassel of trying to renew my passport. The cost to renew the average UK passport by the usual 2 week method costs in the region of £80. You can opt for one week service which costs about £130 or one day turnround which I didnt even look into! The latter methods require you to actually be present at a passport office- something which my job would not allow me to do so I did what no sane person should do. I risked it. For the last 14 days I have been fearing that this important document would never appear, that my time off work would be wasted and that I wouldn’t get to see my Sister. Further panic was added to the mix when it dawned on me that it was Easter and thus a bank holiday, something which could potentially delay the post by a further three days!

And then, Saturday. It arrived. I’m just waiting for my flight details.

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Click either fine image to see it on Flickr, and any comments it may have garnered!

This is what I call a missed opportunity.

Standing at the highest point around, stuck behind trees. No way out, no clear view of the fjord. A soft, tangerine glow reflecting off the water and filling the air. Stuck behind trees. Evening birds tweeting, my friend gently tugging at my arm, leading us towards our destination. ‘But the fjord’s over theeere!’ I swear, I can stick out my bottom lip like a frackin’ petulant heroine when necessary.

To put this gold and crystalline, clear sunset into perspective: out of 18 days in Norway, only one of them was fully clear — my last. That’s when this photo was taken.

Actually, I tell a lie. As I sat on the bus, heading towards the airport at 5 in the morning, the most beautiful dawn I’ve ever seen greeted me. But of course my camera was in damn my bag, in the hold of the bus… another missed opportunity. Blah!

I may have to invest in a high-quality compact camera that I can keep in my trouser pocket…

Recuperate & Bay of Kotor

Abi: Ah! another 52 Weeks in which Abi and Sebastian are thrown off kilter because one of them is travelling. When I think about this project and all its similarities and contrasts, I am always amazed we managed to keep it going the way we do. Every Sunday, we upload our respective images in readiness for the following day, regardless of where we happen to be. It’s part of my week and it’s pretty weird to think it’s almost over. I think I’ll miss it.

I am not the best at convalescing. It’s not so much that I am unused to downtime, more that even during those periods of rest I am quite often occupied. When events force you back to bed and you are quite unable to stay awake it is pretty frustrating. All you can do is just lie there, re read as many novels as you can and watch crap TV until the whole sorry episode is over.

I’m not even kidding, whilst Seb is away taking spectacular photos I haven’t really ventured much further than this.

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Seb: It’s not hard to see why the Bay of Kotor (it’s a fjord really! or ‘submerged river canyon’, apparently) is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The last week has been unrelentingly hot, with temperatures reaching over 40C and humidity stubbornly sitting at around 100%. Even at night it’s about 25C. To say that my stay here has been merely ‘sticky’ would be a vast understatement.

Still, where there is tropical heat, there is ultimately a tropical storm — and that’s what you can see here. The rain front is on the right (the dark grey fog by the mountain), and about 30 seconds later the heavens opened and soaked both me and the camera.

But I got the shot!

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Click either photo to see a smaller version on Flickr!