The Nordic Tour Continues
It’s hard to believe that we’re over a month into this year’s Rebel Kayaks supported Nordic Tour. Time definitely flies when you’re having fun! Since my last BLOG we’ve been on the west coast of Norway, running classes and playing.
Our time on the west coast started in Fitjar, where we ran a BCU 3 Star Sea training and assessment, Simplifying the Roll and did an evening presentation titled, “South Greenland Expedition & The Greenland National Kayaking Championship.”
Mark chats with 3 Star candidates.
Part of the 3 Star award deals with navigation.
Strong winds and offshore rocks created some nice play spots.
Timing is key.
Participants were given scenarios to find solutions to.
Happy candidates.
We also ran a day of rolling, and participants worked on everything from first rolls to sculling rolls.
A roll is born.
Success!
After leaving Fitjar, we headed to Bergen. It was great to catch up with Ronny at God-Tur. If you’re in Norway, his store is well worth checking out.
Ronny.
We also visited the fish market for a tasty seafood fix.
In Bergen we ran “The Art of Teaching Rolling.”
A happy group of instructors.
Then we made our way to Glesvaer for two days of rolling classes.
Participants chat on land before heading out into the water.
Glesvaer is a beautiful place to learn to roll.
Happy rollers.
Next we made our way to Austevoll for Simplifying the Stroke and Simplifying the Roll.
Sunday started with Yoga for Paddlers.
Mark works with participants on strokes.
Sigrun works on her forward stroke.
Happy paddlers.
We also ran Simplifying the Roll.
The location was absolutely stunning.
While we were on Austevoll we met up with our friend Ingeborg and walked out to view the Marstein Lighthouse.
Ingeborg let me play with her excavator and a big pile of gravel.
We had a couple of days off before our next teaching day, so we made the spontaneous decision to head to the mountain town of Odda.
The sleepy town of Odda.
We decided to hike the trail toward Trolltunga. Thick, melting snow prevented us from completing the 22 kilometer hike, but we still had a wonderful day in the mountains.
Bright snow and clear blue skies created a nice contrast.
The melting snow made crossing snow bridges tricky.
Fresh drinking water wasn’t hard to come by. No filtration needed.
On our way out of Odda, we stopped to enjoy several roadside waterfalls.
Next we made our way to the charming town Skudeneshavn for an evening Simplifying the Roll class.
We started the class with a little Yoga for Paddlers.
Then we headed into the water for some rolling instruction.
Body position is key.
More happy rollers.
The following day we explored the town. We enjoyed coffee and pancakes at Verdens Minste Kafe, which translates to “The World’s Smallest Cafe.”
We also browsed in some of the shops. Mark tried on some hats.
Next we headed to Stavanger, our last teaching venue on the west coast of Norway.
Participants worked on the Balance Brace before moving on to other rolls.
Another Balance Brace is born.
Torstein was stoked on learning to roll his surf kayak.
Another happy roller.
Rore grabs a quick bite between his rolling class and a surf ski race.
Erik tried out a surf ski.
More happy rollers.
And still more.
Special thanks to Geir Ingolf, Trond, Lillian, Dirk and Kalle for taking such good care of us!
