I often felt imprisoned in my own city of Melbourne during the ongoing lockdowns and with the restrictions on personal freedoms. When I had the chance to take a month-long trip overseas once the Australian borders opened, the sense of freedom and adventure was so empowering. Travel was just a little sweeter! Having flown into Oslo, I spent a few days acclimating to the Northern Hemisphere timezone and weather. Well, the weather was rather not remarkable, having left Winter in Melbourne, the early Summer days of Norway weren’t that different.

Oslo was a great small European city, yes it is expensive, but I tried to live as a local by visiting the local supermarket and riding the trams and trains to get around. I purchased 48 hr Oslo Pass that afforded me entry to many more museums than I could ever visit and the pass also included all the transport. So I was set. With my runners on, I spent 3 days and nights exploring the Oslo Opera building, so many museums, with my favourites being The National Museum and Munch. Edvard Munch’s 1893, The Scream, was expectantly a favourite. I thoroughly enjoyed my exploration of Vigeland Park walking through the gardens and admiring the 200 or so bronze sculptures of humanity. What was so very striking about the sculptures was how Vigeland captured the range of human emotions.

The zip line on the Holmenkollen was a unique experience. It was my first zip line and though I was scared I wanted to give it a try. It was so fast that it was more the thrill of the ride than being able to enjoy the views! The Holmenkollen is the famous ski jump and also houses the ski museum.

Oslo was so quiet, clean and just a delight to explore. But the adventure was just at the beginning… I caught the train from Sentral to Myrdal and hopped onto the Flamsbana, one of the world’s most beautiful train journeys. The scenery was stunning, and the changing landscapes with the old-world train made the trip much better than I could ever expect. Arriving in Flam, a little town on the edge of the Sognefjord, Norway’s deepest, I took a 6-hour ferry trip to Bergen. It was such a long day travelling but one of the best days of my life. With so much beauty, I realised that my attempts at photography and video would pale to being here and feeling the cool breeze across my body and trying to capture all that I’m seeing.