approaching bodø harbour

beautiful day out here

almost mid-way between northern norway and iceland
it's hard to believe the wind was blowing at 50knots (about 57mph or 92kmph) just 24hours ago

aarhus

this is a great pal of ours, chris, on a trip we had to aarhus denmark in september 2007, good times!

fun at the zoo

here's an old picture of 2 of our monkeys on the loose at the zoo...

bodø

so this is a new city for me, in northern norway, just inside the artic circle, in fact, arrived last night for fuel (and milk) it's neat and tidy and surrounded by mountains. I like it.
best of all, coming here gave me my first glimpse of the lofoten islands

big sky

crazy moose

another one is this statue of a moose on a rocky outcrop above the road

art installations

the local government has set up a number of art installations like this funny 'wind house' at the picnic area near the bridge

seven sisters

this is a mountain ridge called the seven sisters

helgelandsbrua

went for a run out to this big bridge the other day, there are fantastic views over leirfjord and the surrounding mountains

new norwegian satellite

so it looks like norway is tracking shipping (ok, me!) in their waters from space

world cup

back into port, the sun's shining, the grill is hot and almost it's footie time!

lovund

there's some awesome scenery just lying around here, like this island, which has just about all you need, a mountain, rock climbing, beaches and a hotel

man overboard

ok, so it's just a drill...
but hey, any excuse to race around the harbour in the sunshine will do nicely!

flying north

new rig

and got to wave at thomas, whose on board just now

sleepymeg

shopping therapy

we have a lot of fun in the supermarket - can you see why?

fan club

siesta

while the ladies painted, the kiddies slumbered

the mural

yeah, cool isn't it? it's got butterflies too

a big pink tree

so auntie mim has come to help paint a mural in skye's room

pen-y-fan

got in a cheeky trip up pen-y-fan in the brecon beacons, it's a proper mountain but only took an hour and a half (sorry andy...)

sweetie

foggy sunrise

I woke up early this morning to a beautiful foggy sunrise, took this picture, fixed some coffee and then read this:
"I have swept away your offenses like a cloud,
your sins like the morning mist.
Return to me,
for I have redeemed you." Isaiah 44v22

real norwegian food

raspeballe (potato dumplings) and salted pork is the classsic thursday evening meal across norway (and the north sea!)

beautiful day at sea

a very happy man

so øystein is a very happy man, not just because he's about to celebrate his 24th birthday...

impuls meeting

crashed in on the team planning their summer bbq, ahem, I mean, err, deciding on very important strategy

sightseeing flight

on the flight out from stavanger on saturday the pilot took a low-level diversion and gave us all a close-up view of the famous priekestolen, or pulpit rock, which overhangs the beautiful lysefjord by 600 breathtaking metres, and is supposedly the birthplace of the crazy norwegian sport of base-jumping

unpacking

there are few things the kids love more than unpacking daddy's bags when he gets home from a trip...
especially when there's surprises inside!

tananger dagener

and visit the tananger dagener - literally the tananger days - which is the local community summer festival, at the edge of the water at the inner harbour in warm sunshine

nydellig!

got to catch up with the lovely atle and anette and their beautiful little girl sarah this evening

brotherly love

as you can see jojo is very affectionate to his baby sister

mal's world

just a glimpse!

having fun on the trampoline

skye's ballet class

summer project

so my summer project will be re-roofing this cute little play house for the kids

skye's swimming

skye is getting into swimming

crocodile rock

legend has it that a very nasty crocodile was tormenting the good people of yorkshire until one day when, fed up with all the gnashing and snapping, uncle laurence roared at the crocodile so loudly that it was literally petrified and now we can enjoy crocodile rock without any fear

cool girls on the road

old skool

church

the old church in brønnøysund

beautiful day in brønnøysund

had some spare time before check-in so had a little walk into the (clean and tidy) town of brønnøysund in northern norway, as you can see there's a dramatic backdrop of mountains and fabulous fjords in the foreground

new departures area

got to use the new departures area at bristol airport today, built into the walkway area it removes the need for buses which used to drive passengers out to waiting planes

underway

dropping the boys and their bikes off at temple meads

crazy-packing-fest

as usual before any major undertaking, someone stays up all night packing...

the adventurers arrive

miriam and richard arrive bristol parkway ahead of geoff and rich's lands end to john o'groat's cycling adventure

seven league boots

new arrivals walkway

used the new arrivals walkway at bristol airport today, very swanky

oslo

had my first proper visit into oslo tonight, albeit briefly, for dinner with christian
and managed to successfully negotiate the oslo subway system