Ski and Paddle Norway 2009

The preparation for this trip has caused a fair amount of stress. Given the
definite timescale and the seemingly endless list of tasks to complete
caused some angst. That list now seems under control and I have bought the
ticket to fly to Norway on the 28th December.

However the kayaking side is all being taken care of by Dave at Knoydart
systems who will ship my paddling gear to Finland and put it in the
customized boat which is getting made in Finland. The kayak and the gear
will then get shipped up to Kirkenes in north Norway where they will be
stored in Kimek shipyard until I arrive on skis in late April

The skiing gear is awaiting me in Sjur Mordre’s outfitting shop in Oslo
called Sportsnett. This specialist shop is used to supplying far bigger
trips. The general outdoor wear and equipment I need is now packed into my
worryingly heavy rucksack. The tent, sleeping bag, stove, pans, mattresses,
communications gear and clothes come to about 21 kilos. To this I have to
add another 3 kilos of supplies and a week’s worth of food. This will take
my maximum weight up to 28 kilos. It doesn’t sound much now but I will be
cursing it soon.

Finally I had to put all the pieces in place to make sure the letting
business would run smoothly and if any of the 30 tenants had any problems I
could have the people on standby to deal with it. Luckily I have found some
very dependable people to take on these eventualities and things should
hopefully run on remote control. I am sure the garden will need weeding when
I return in the autumn though

Finally a quick jaunt round the UK to visit family and friends before I set
off and a redrafting of my will, and all seems set.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 22nd, 2008 at 10:26 pm and is filed under Update. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.