NORWAY Day 1 - Oslo to Eidford

An early (3.00am!) start from our Travelodge got us to the airport for 4.00am - plenty of time to check-in despite accidentally having parked at the wrong terminal.. We also managed to squeeze in a big Mexican breakfast, which we were definitely ready for, despite it being 4.30am.

Once up in the air on our Norwegian Air flight (we were quite impressed by the plane fit out and service given this is their easyjet...) we were treated to a clear morning and gorgeous sunrise. We could easily pick out The Shard whilst crossing over London, and coming into Oslo was a great mix of water and greenery.

Having landed, we waited a while to pick up our hire car (my triathlon book got a good read) which turned out to be a newer, silver version of our very own Gregory. Thankfully, the new C1 is slightly bigger enabling us to fit our big bags into the boot. Also handy were the tinted windows in the back - not because of sunlight (there wasn't too much of that) but because Norway driving rules dictate headlights should be on at all times. Personally I think this is a bit silly, it makes it seem like it is dusk when you're driving around, but admittedly it does eliminate the issue of forgetting to switch headlights on or off when entering one of the many, many road tunnels.

Our destination for the day was Eidford, an ambitious five hours drive away. This turned out to be a little bit of a mission - we started off with 80 minute stints each but these were 30 minute stints by the end of the day, and a tub of Skittles (bought as part of a Boots meal deal at the airport - who knew they do Skittles in tubs now?) disappeared gradually over the drive.

The scenery varied from main roads lined with trees to mountainous climbs and at the end a long tunnel with a roundabout in it! This wowed me as a civil/structural engineer.

Eidford was a nice little town, much better than the transitional place I had predicted it to be. I do think we were lucky to catch it without a cruise ship, which would have dominated the pretty shoreline and quaint hotel we were staying in. A short walk around and bed were called for at this point, after a very long day!