Offshore

Hello all,

I am offshore at the moment in teh North Sea and all is well. The weather is very good, about 16 - 20 knots which does not bother us for our work, we are hanging around a platform doing some prep work for a flexible lay a rigid lay and an umbillical. All other vessels arrived last night so there are now 4 subsea 7 vessel operating close by. I am on nightshift so just starting now 6pm (on my Birthday) and finish at 6 am tommorrow morning. If all goes well the campaign should be finished by the time I wake up for next shift........... but things dont normally go to plan.

Will see how it goes, all in all having a great time. I have never eaten so much, slept so much or been paid as much as I am at the moment so all is very well.

Cheers,

Ryan.

Dalsnuten Hike

Hey all,

Just a quick update this week with a couple of photos from the weekend, This is from a little spot on the other side of the Fjord from Stavanger called Dalsnuten (not 100% sure on the spelling). It was a graet day to get out in the sun and was almost 20 degrees, I even got a swim in.

Sopia (left) and Kirsti (right) taking a look over Stavanger.

Barbeque Master Jørn on a disposable grill that you buy from the supermarket called an engangsgrill.

Proof of swimming in Norway, I was the only one to get in the water but was not too cold. A guy from work Jørn on the background not brave enough to swim.

A typical coastline in Norway, not a straight line to be seen.

Looks like I could be offshore next week so there may not be an update for a little while.

Cheers,

Ryan

A Weekend in Stryn.

Well it was another long weekend last weekend in Norway and I got the oppurtunity to hop in the car with a guy from work Kjetil and his roommate Lars for a drive to the mountains in a place called Stryn. We Left just after work on Friday afternoon for a LONG trek north not arriving at camp until 4 am the next morning, it was quite a drive but the scenery was something else. The team in the car stuck together and we did not have our first beer until arriving at the campsite at 4 am while setting up camp. Most of the people at the campsite were still awake and partying.

Anyway we were to go skiing at the resort which was to open this weekend however due to the risk of avalanches the road to the resort was closed but as you will see from the photos below we had an absolutely amazing weekend any way. To hike to the top of a mountain and ski down making your own tracks is one of the most amazing things in the wotrld. Cant wait till next season. I will let the photos tell the rest of the story.




I guess this is why the roads are closed... A small avalanche as seen from the campisite.











Kjetil preparing dinner, We didnt exactly do it tough with a BBQ and a espresso machine.

















Just a lazy 6-8m of snow on the side of the road as we approch summer.....











Kjetil on the way up the Mountain
































A spot to rest halfway
































The view from the top
























A Good spot for lunch at the top









A short drive to a place called Geiranger Fjord












The Norwegians will find any mountain and scramble up it and ski down, here you can see all the tracks.








I could bore you with another 100 photos just like these but I will leave it at this for now. Had an absolutely amazing weekend and the photos dont even begin to explain how good it is to climb up these mountains and ski down again, and the landscape over here is very impressive.

Dont forget to click on the photos for a better look.

You can now post comments on the blog without being a member as well so it would be great to hear from you. (I just found the setting for this and how to get the blog updater out of Norwegian which makes updating the site alot easier)

Cheers, Ryan

House Pictures

Here are some photos of where I live. Kitchen, Bathroom, Bedroom, Entrance etc. I am sure you know which is which. We are on the second floor of a little house, a pretty cool spot a little way out of town.

17th of May

Norway’s national day and quite a contrast to Australian January 26th celebrations. We were treated to Norwegian pride at its finest. The day consisted of three parades in Town, The morning being the young kids, Midday was the school leavers and the end of the day was the sporting groups and companies etc. The national costume the Bunad is seen in the photos below. We were luckily invited to start the day at some friends Marietta and Åsmunds for breakfast then headed into town for the celebrations. It was great to see everyone from the community involved and an amazing number of Norwegian flags.

Weekend Away

Off to a company cabin for the weekend with joel and Em to meet up with a work friend Mari and her Aussie boyfriend Kev. An amazing spot on a fjord, I will let the photos tell the rest.

May 1st

May 1st,

Norway’s labour day and a public holiday were we hoped on the bikes with our BBQ equipment and down to the water front at the fjord and had a great BBQ and played a Swedish throwing blocks at other blocks game. Kind of like Bocce. A great day and great weather.

The Vågen

An afternoon relaxing down at the Vågen (harbor) on one of the few weekends when I have stayed in Stavanger. Once again Great weather and just relaxed with a few beers.

Preikestolen 2

Preikestolen Number two. I have ventured to prekestolen again and it is still an amazing spot. Despite family members advice I was still drawn to the edge to get another photo with legs dangling over. But if you look down at the pictures there are stupider people around, Yes that man is doing a hand stand on the edge of a 600m cliff…… CRAZY… Some people refused to look.

Sauda Adventures

Hello All,

Well I just wrote a long entry for this blog which was some how swallowed up by the internet. I will endevour to write an entry to go with the photos soon. In brief we headed with two mate from work, Anders and Åsmund to Åsmunds families cabin in Sauda, day one included skiing at the skisenter in Sauda which provided some much needed time on the slopes for your truely to get some more practice. Day two was a trip into the mountainsbehind the cabin and included an 800 m climb and about a 7 hour adventure. Great Fun

For more pics please visit this site

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nodland/sets/72157600091744060/

Anders took some photos on the day and has posted them on his site.

Looks like some more sking this weeekend at a place called Røldal, so will have some more pics for you next week.

Ha det bra,

Ryan

P.S. Feel free to post comments and send me an email.