Enjoying Nature in Hovik

On my last day in Oslo I decided to explore the area around David's apartment before my flight back to London.

I left the apartment at about 12.30pm and walked down this road:

There was a school there and kids were playing in the park; must have been their recess time.

Soon I reached this clearing

and saw a body of water behind the trees.

David had earlier explained that I need to walk through the trees to get to the hiking trail. So I thought this must be it.

There was a signboard but I didn't understand a word as everything was in Norge.

Behind the trees was a small marina with lovely boats.

The surroundings were quiet and peaceful. Whenever I find a nice peaceful spot, I love to sit still for hours listening to my breathing and just enjoy the gift of 'being'.

But this time I had a plane to catch so I had to continue my hike.

Soon I reached this path

and sat on one of the bench to admire the scenery.

A lady with her dog came walking along the path. Her dog that was not on a leash took a liking to me and came bounding up to me seeking a pat on its head.

The lady rushed to pull her dog away from me and quickly tied it to a leash. She didn't even apologise that her dog made my clothes dirty, but I didn't mind cause the dog was a cute fella.

I didn't get a chance to snap a pic of the dog, but here's a pic of the lady dragging her dog away. Poor thing, it was just being friendly.

Later when I related the story to David, he said that Norwegians are so stuck up that they won't apologise when something like that happens.

Anyway, I continued my hike along the edge of the water.

I noticed that the sand was black, which reminded me of the black sand in Langkawi. The water was equally black.

Then I walked back into the woods. I was not afraid of getting lost because I just needed to follow any of the paths that have already been paved, and I would eventually reach the main road.

In my last post about Oslo, I mentioned that the Norwegians are great boating people. They are also great lovers of the outdoor. That's why you can find many opportunities in Norway to do outdoor activities like hiking, cycling and boating.

In fact during this hike, I met a few people from all ages and walks of life who were hiking in the area. Some of them were bringing their pet dogs for a walk, couples were jogging in the woods and some were just hiking as if it were their daily routine.

The Norwegian lifestyle is very different compared to the sedentary lifestyle of the Malaysians. While they love the outdoors and have an active lifestyle, Malaysians just refuse to walk anywhere. Even when it comes to parking also must park right in front of our destination. No wonder obesity is rising in the country!

When I was in Oslo, almost all the Norwegian men and women I saw were slim, fit and gorgeous! This is what having an active lifestyle does to you.

Now back to my hiking story ...

I saw houses and more sceneries like these:

After spending much time exploring the area, I realised I need to get back to the apartment to get ready to go to the airport.

I saw this opening along one of the path which led to the main road.

The path opened up to a futsal court. I had to snap a pic of it cause the sky was so blue!

When I reached the apartment, I told David that his apartment is surrounded by lovely landscapes and that he should spend more time outdoors. But he said he don't have the time as he is busy with work. By the time he reaches home, he's so tired and stressed he just wants to sleep.

Well, I thought spending time outdoors is one way of releasing stress. But what to do, as the Malay saying goes,

"Kalau hendak, seribu daya; kalau tak nak, seribu dalih"

If I were living there, I would make frequent trips to drink in the sights of the lovely natural surroundings of Hovik.

And then I'll be slim, fit and gorgeous as the Norwegians! Lead an active lifestlye is what I wanna do!

Boat Ride in Oslo

David was supposed to take me bike riding to Bergen. But he hurt his back a couple of days before I got to Oslo. So in the end we decided to cancel the trip as the 489 km journey on a bike to Bergen through bumpy and winding roads would make his back worst.

Instead we went boat riding in the fjords near Hovik.

We left the apartment towards the later part of the morning. I put on my riding gear,


hopped onto the Honda Goldwing


and zoomed off. Of course I didn't ride the bike myself cause I don't have a motorbike license. I just hung onto David's tummy and pretended to look like a hot biker chick.

Soon we reached the marina where there were rows of different types of pleasure boats.


Luckily there's a special name where you dock lovely boats like these. Otherwise it would be sacrilege to call a place like this a 'jetty' because to me, the word 'jetty' conjures images of dirty ships and sampans floating on equally dirty water.

We met up with Richard who was the one who invited us to ride in his super cool speed boat.

Soon we were on our way.

As we headed out towards the fjords, the boat ride was so bumpy that I had to hang on for dear life.

I remember the last time I had a similar bumpy boat ride was a couple of years back when I was in Sabah. I was travelling in a small boat from Manukan Island to Kota Kinabalu during the monsoon season. It was drizzling and the weather was dark and stormy.

The waves were strong and huge and were banging onto the boat in a head on collision. Even the scariest rollercoaster ride is nothing compared to being in the middle of nature's fury.

By the time I reached Kota Kinabalu jetty my body felt like someone had taken my organs out, kicked them around a bit and put them back into my body again. I was completely drenched and my cellphone was wet and spoiled.

Anyway, enough about my boat ride story in Kota Kinabalu. Let's continue about boat riding in Scandinavian Norway.

The Norwegians are great boating people. Many people own a boat here - wheather it's a sampan, a kayak, a speed boat, a catamaran, a yacht or even a luxury cruise liner.

Their great passion for boating is probably due to their viking heritage; think Hagar the Horrible cartoon strip.

Because of the fine weather and being a Saturday, many Norwegians were hanging out with family and friends on their boat.

Some took the opportunity to go kayaking:

I like this yacht cause it reminds me of the movie Mamma Mia!:

I also saw many beautiful houses like this one:

There were also pretty houses on the hills overlooking the fjords:

I saw this sign (guess why it intrigued me) and asked Richard what it meant. It means to go slowly. I couldn't help chuckling to myself.

After almost 2 hours riding in the boat, we reached Aker Brygge where we had a late lunch before heading back to where we started.

I didn't take any photos at Aker Brygge cause I left my camera in the boat. What to do ... by the time we reached Aker Brygge it was already 4.00pm and we were starving. So the only thing on my mind at that time was food.

Nevertheless, I'll leave you with a picture of me camwhoring on Richard's lovely speed boat.