My Diary - Norway
A friend and I were on a working holiday in Norway. The
farm was quite remote amongst the forests, lakes and mountains. Our farm jobs were varied and although the farmer didn’t speak English having farming experience meant that we knew what to do without being told. We were given 4 amazing meals a day and supper was as big as dinner. We were having a fantastic time working, swimming and rowing a row boat in the lake next to the house, climbing mountains, walking in the forests and socialising. With another guy working at the farm Julian,
we had a great 6 weeks working and having fun.
June 23rd 1971
It was mid-summer and the summer solstice and in Norway they really do celebrate it with
parties on the night and on the weekend closest to the date. Einar the farmers son and some of his friends were going to a local party, so we couldn’t miss out. We tied our tents on the back of our bicycles and we were off. As we were peddling down the road with no worries under the sun, Mick quietly said, look over there. There on a patch of grassland 600 metres from the house was a huge elk prowling about like a hackney horse. It was such a beautiful sight.
The party was about 4kms away and there were tents and cars splattered all over the place. Einar and his friends carried bottles I assume with whisky in and other people were staggering passed with bottles stuffed in their pockets. They were pretty drunk and they were yet to
get to the party. As we walked down to the party Einar gave us a swig of whisky which was pretty potent. It was 10krona ($1.50) to get in, but it turned out being well worth it.
There was a tin shack where the band played, a wooden dance floor
opposite and a couple more shacks that were coffee bars. The woods were surrounding the venue with a bonfire fronting a lake. It would have been such a picturesque scene if it wasn’t for all the people.
The first thing that caught my eye was a 13 year old boy walking as if he had no legs, a cigarette in the side of his mouth and carrying a plate full of
hot dogs. The plate was full until he fell over. He wasn’t the only person to be drunk, I think 99% of people were.
Soon after I was offered a bit more whisky so I started feeling the effect. It came to the time for us to mix so Julian and I approached the dance floor. It wasn’t long before getting a dance but the girl that I was chatting up happened to be engaged, so I had to start again when I found out her partner was around. Julian still had his girl. For some reason a few of the girls were wearing rubber boots!
Anyway I soon picked up another girl called Nina from Neslandsvatn. After a little bit of dancing we sneaked off into the woods for a little smooching. On our return we met a lot of young people who asked me if I was English. If you speak English here you are made. Everyone wants to know you. English is their second language so most young people want to try out their English. That night I met so many people who wanted to talk to me.
We had another session of dancing before talking to some other people and then Nina and I heading into the woods again. Back at the party I lost Nina, so I went on the hunt for someone else as I thought she may have dumped me. I moved over to the bonfire and people were going wild, many being pushed into the fire and coming out wearing hot pants. They were
crazy.
Behind the fire there were people walking into the lake and other couples sneaking into the woods. By now the whole place was like a battle field with drunk people falling to the ground or just doing crazy things.
Back at the dance floor I chatted to another girl and then Nina came back. We flitted back into the woods for a while and by the time of our return there were so many people lying on the ground zonked out that the party virtually came to an end and what a party it was.
It was about 2.00am and the mist was hovering
over the lake, the bonfire was now just a pile of hot coals with wisps of smoke lifting in circles. The morning light was just starting to filter through the trees. The landscape was quiet and stunning only disturbed by the odd groan of a partygoer feeling the effects of the alcohol and the cold that was creeping in.
It was time to leave so I started walking out with Nina and a couple of her friends, I picked up my bike along the way and headed towards home. I then saw Mick for the first time since arriving at the party so I’m not sure where he had got to all night. A couple of kilometres down the road some of Nina’s friends drove up, stopped and gave her a lift, so our romance suddenly came to an end and I was alone again. I met
other people briefly along the road, but they came and went.
The amazing party night suddenly turned into a scenic wonderland. As I cycled down a hill the early light was filtering through the trees and before me I could see a waterfall with
spray rising, a bridge, a lake with mist skimming all over it and in the way distance a train heading south.
About 600 metres from home on the same meadow the elk was still grazing. It heard me coming as I was so happy I was singing my heart out
nevertheless with pricked up ears it stood there looking at me without a worry in the world. The mist was rising from the damp grass and what an amazing scene it was. It was like being in a dream. I have always wanted to see an elk and here I was standing on the side of the road watching one graze. The night couldn’t have been more perfect.
Once back home I walked down to the lake and I just felt like going out in the row boat. It was one of those perfect nights that I could just do anything and not get tired.
Mick said, he saw lots of fights at the party and Julian said he landed up with the
same girl at the end of the night. It was 3.15am by the time I hit the sack.
