Norwegian Odyssey Day 6, Tuesday 31 December: Ski hire, remembering how to ski, and new years' party

So today was the day to actually do stuff! Thankfully, it had snowed overnight, and the world was looking much more wintry.

We got up - lateish again, as it only got light about 9.30 - had breakfast, and got ready to go out. Alex and Meelis went out early for a big ski adventure. We only left the cabin after midday. Ali went off for a long walk.

We walked into Savalen (which I hadn't seen yet), and met up with Andy, Ginny and Anna to hire skis. The hut was at the bottom of a nice-looking (but small) downhill slope with t-bar lifts, and the village itself was a non-descript collection of accommodation buildings and houses. There was some confusion about whether we were with 'the group' or not, but turned out we were, and therefore we'd had skis/boots set aside for us. Phew.

We were fitted with boots in a flurry of activity in the tiny hut, and went out to the loype next to the road, and faced out of the village. I got my boots in my skis and promptly fell on my backside. I'd totally forgotten how to ski. I also didn't know it at the time, but I didn't have the 'scaly' skis I'd had in Austria. I had the carpet ones.

It didn't take long to remember how to stay upright, and we were soon shuffling along in the tracks towards the 'riverside cabin'. Andy et al invited us in for lunch, and we met David, Rebecca, and Nikolaj and said hi to Jen and Charlie. Christian made sure to have some pickled herring.

Christian and I headed out again, with the intention of doing a bit of a loop around the small lake, but the map wasn't very clear, and the direction we planned to go hadn't been pisted. So we pretty much went back the way we'd come.

At this point, we met Alex, and made our way back together to the cabin, taking some photos on the way back to direct the intrepid party-goers, to get ready for the new year's party.

Christian and I had agreed to do the cooking, and because we had already departed from Andy's detailed meal plan, we decided to make a big lasagne with what we had in the fridge.

The party-goers made us panic somewhat by saying they were arriving at 6, so we put Alex's bubbly outside in the cold, and set to work. Andy and Jen decided to stay in the other cabin for some quiet time.

We had no oven trays to create a lasagne, and so we decided on a big ratatouille with rice instead. When we went to put the bread in the oven to bake, it turned out not to work anyway. So we put the bread on the fire. It baked surprisingly well.

We really weren't ready when everyone arrived. It didn't matter too much, as drinks happened in between.

The table was set and the food was served - it was quite yummy. David insisted on going around the table to give gratitude, which was surprisingly therapeutic. After we'd eaten, we set to the games. Rebecca's crazy game with the blue bath, red blanket and white ghost etc won the evening. It taxed everyone's brain and led to some excellent competitive spirit. (I didn't play because it was hard.)

More games and drinking took place, and we just made it to midnight. A plan had been hatched, which turned out to be what I think is a Scottish tradition, called 'first-footing' where we had to run out one door of the house and back in another, led by a dark-haired man, and throwing salt around. It was actually quite fun in the snow - very silly.

The other cabin departed soon after, and we (with a bonus Rebecca) wound down and went to bed.

Norwegian Odyssey Day 5, Monday 30 December: Savalen - fire and ice

We woke in a leisurely fashion, not having anywhere to be, and lit a fire and had breakfast.

Christian had to pick up Andy, Jen and Charlie from the station, and so we got ready to go out. Meelis, Ali, Alex and I were going to walk into the village to try and find out about ski hire and about buses to get to Tynset.

A few steps out onto the road told us that the ice was pretty much impossible to walk on. We tried to set off all the same, and Christian followed very flowly behind in the car. Alex spotted that he'd stopped. He'd slid off into the ditch.

We made our way gingerly back up the hill, and helped him get the odd rubber chains onto the wheels. Our lovely neighbours went past, noting that the conditions were pretty terrible, and that the woman's father had recently ended up in the ditch on the opposite side of the road. She gave us the number for roadside recovery. At this point, Meelis had the presence of mind to ring the ski hire place and find out if they were open. They weren't. It was all a bit chaotic, so I went back to the cabin to get the shovel in an attempt to break up the ice.

When I got back, I discovered that the chains hadn't really helped, and the car was more stuck than before. Credit to Christian, he knew he was beaten, and sought help by calling the roadside assistance number. It would cost us, so he then checked our travel insurance to see if we could claim the recovery. Turns out we couldn't.

Ali and Alex decided to continue into the village, but I opted to stay and help Christian. To add insult to injury, the gritter came up the hill at this point, but couldn't get past the Tesla. Christian let Jen and Andy know that he might be a bit late picking them up.

After a number of phone calls, the recovery people were coming, at horrendous cost, and he went to wait for them. I went back to the house, sticking my head out the front window to check on progress every now and then. I had a wrap for lunch, and made one for Christian.

The recovery man came, and had brought the wrong vehicle, because he hadn't bothered to listen to Christian's directions. He went back to get the other vehicle, at even more cost. In the end, in consultation with the recovery guy, the gritter pulled the car out backwards with his tractor, after having got him to drive further into the ditch in order to get past him. Christian asked me to give the gritter a bottle of wine for his troubles. He was a sweetie.

So, at this point, Christian could actually go to Tynset on the gritted road to collect Jen and Andy. They stayed in town to get the additional shopping, which took quite some time.

Ali and Alex got back, having had a nice lunch in the hotel. Someone pointed out as it got dark that there were amazing things happening in the sky. We all went to take photos.

Meelis went back to bed, Ali went upstairs, and Alex fell asleep on the sofa. Christian arrived back with the shopping, and so I walked down the now passable road to meet him at the gate (for which we realised there was a pass card) to help carry it up.

When we got back, there was still no one in evidence to help bring it in and unpack it. Alex appeared, and offered to cook an eggs and spinach dinner in recompense.

Christian relaxed for the first time that day, and we sat on the sofa until bed time.

So it turned out I hadn't actually achieved much that day, but it was certainly action-packed.

Norwegian Odyssey Day 4, Sunday 29 December: Oslo to Savalen

The next morning, we got up around 7.45, and had a lavish breakfast downstairs. They had everything imaginable, but I focused on the porridge and the boiled eggs. A good breakfast, and proper tea in a pot. :-)

We packed up and went downstairs, checked out, and the fully-charged car was waiting for us outside. The roads were thankfully quiet on a Sunday, and we had an easy journey out of the city. We stopped at a service station on the way to the airport to rearrange the car slightly.

Meelis had landed earlier than expected, and was waiting for us when we arrived. We parked in the short-stay car park of the small but shiny airport, and I got out to find him and meet him at arrivals. He had hardly any luggage, and so he fitted in the very full car quite well (apart from his great height). We set off for Savalen.

The clear, major road soon changed to snowy, minor road, and we spotted our first cross-country skiier on a path beside the road. We had our first charging stop at Elverum at 11am. We skated on the icy snow to the shop, and Christian and I got snacks while Meelis got something more substantial to eat.

Another two and a quarter hours, on straight, unchanging roads (with the odd set of moose horns in the trees to keep us amused), and we had our second charging stop at Alvdal. This was little more than a takeaway shop, and as it was about 1.30, we had burgers and fries for lunch.

It was only another 40 or so minutes to Savalen. We turned off the cleared road, and headed vaguely uphill on snowy but safe roads. It was starting to get dark at this point. The village of Savalen was unremarkable, and we headed through it to find our cabin. But we were stopped by a barrier - we had no choice but to pay (around £7) to go through into the national park. We managed to find the cabin, though, and it had room to park.

We found the key safe, got inside, and started warming it up as best we could. We put a heater upstairs, but this tripped the fuse, so we brought it back down and lit a fire. I did my best to pack away all the food, but didn't make any assumptions about rooms until Ali arrived.

Christian drove to Tynset to collect both Ali (6pm) and Alex (8pm) in two trips, and we settled in for the evening, making pesto pasta for dinner. Ali had decided on the upstairs bedroom, so we took the double room off the kitchen, and I unpacked all our things and made the bed. Alex took the sofa upstairs rather than share with Meelis in the bunkroom next to the bathroom. We weren't sure whether all the others would fit in the other cabin, so these were only temporary arrangements as far as we were concerned.

We turned in for the night after big days, all of us.

Norwegian Odyssey Day 3, Saturday 28 December: Hirtshals to Langesund to Oslo

The alarm woke us at 6.30, and we packed up swiftly. Christian went to get the car while I finished up, and we drove through the dark, deserted streets to the port.

The gates opened just as we arrived, and we were directed to the front of a queue to wait for the ferry. We amused ourselves watching Netflix as we waited for the ferry to arrive, and then when it did, to disgorge so many trucks from multiple levels that it didn't seem possible they'd fit (though the ferry was huge).

When it was time to load, all the trucks behind us went on first, driving in on the right side, and then round the back to face outwards on the left side. It was our turn before long, and we did the same big sweep around the bow end of the ferry, and parked up facing outwards.

We joined the long procession of people trooping up the stairs, and emerged onto a deck of shops, restaurants and cafes. We headed to the bow end and found a nice bar, but we'd booked breakfast, so we went looking for that, which was in the stern. We were shown to a table out on the deck, but which was enclosed and cosy.

Being in the stern meant that we could watch all the other vehicles coming onto the ferry, and they just kept coming, for probably another half hour. By now, the sunrise was pretty spectacular, and we ate our rather nice breakfast as the ferry left Denmark, for Norway. The only disappointment was the tea, but this wasn't a surprise.

Having eaten all the breakfast we could, and properly woken up, we went to explore the ferry. The shops were not terribly inspiring, and most of the restaurants were not open. The deck was spacious, but cold and breezy. We found ourselves back in the bar we'd visited in the bow, and found stools near the bar, looking out the windows towards our destination.

It was full of families and children, and we only realised why when the bingo was announced, and the prizes were brought out to a large table. Apparently bingo is a family thing in this part of the world - a lot of people enthusiastically took part, and the presenter was good-natured and fun. We tired of the bingo after a while, and went back to the stern, which was much quieter. We stayed there until the ferry approached its dock, and we took our places in a queue to go below decks.

Once moving, we got into the car quickly, and the process of unloaded was quick too. The first thing that we noticed was that it was snowing gently. This is what we came for! We followed a large truck up the snowy exit towards the road, giving it plenty of space, and were soon going past picturesque houses, and then over a number of bridges onto a major road, with a lot of tunnels through mountains.

From there, it was a short and unmemorable drive into Oslo - we arrived around 5pm, after it was dark. We pulled up in the turning circle in front of the Radisson, and Christian went in to check in and sort out the valet parking. While he was gone, I learnt not to put my Tesla key next to my phone. I was reaching for the overhead light, after the console had gone black, when a strange pulsing pink light appeared, and suddenly I was deafened by the loudest music inside a car I'd ever heard.

My first thought was that it was some jokey feature, but try as I might, I couldn't make it stop, and I was worried about what people would think. Christian came back to unlock the car, found me shaken, and told me that it had just been the alarm. Really? The alarm was loud music? Anyway, I now know how to turn it off, and definitely won't make that mistake again.

We took our luggage in to the rather grand foyer/reception area, and got the key to our room. The woman we spoke to was very friendly, and spoke excellent English. We took the lift up, and settled in to our large, upgraded room, and I sat for a bit trying to calm down.

We got dressed for the cold, and set off for a wander around the city. I had the idea of going up onto the roof of the opera house, and it wasn't far from the hotel, though we weren't sure what to do for dinner. The streets were snowy, but there was nothing coming from the sky, so it was a bit slippery underfoot in places.

We went through the station/shopping centre complex, and came out near the harbour. A short walk to the road nearest revealed the opera house very close by. To get onto the roof, we needed to negotiate a slippery slope, but it wasn't too bad, and the view across the city was worth it. The water of the harbour was frozen close to the shore, and the sky felt very dark and close.

Coming back down some icy steps was harder, but at least there was a handrail here. We briefly went inside the building, and it was modern and interesting. It looked like there was a show on that evening, so we didn't stay.

We wandered in the direction of the exciting looking lights, and found ourselves on a long avenue with a palace at the end of it. There were shiny lights to the left of it, and we followed them to a Christmas market. It was very nice, and we had a short wander past the stalls and skating rink to a fun avenue of lights, but we were hungry, and decided to head back to the hotel for a meal there.

After seeing a few sights on the way back, and Christian getting us slightly lost, we got changed again at the hotel and went up to the 33rd floor to the restaurant. It was super posh, and we were very lucky to get a table without a reservation. Our table was not beside the window, but that didn't matter, because the view was still amazing, and the decor very pleasing. Our server was also lovely, and fun, and Swedish. We chatted to her quite a bit.

We had a three course meanu for 645 NOK each, and ordered a bottle of chablis. They gave us an amazing foamy appetizer, and I think I had scallops as a starter (accompanied by three types of celery, which I ate and mostly enjoyed) and cod loin as a main. I think Christian had trout as his main, and an exciting cheese platter of Danish, Norwegian and Swedish cheeses for dessert. I had chocolate sorbet (I think), which I couldn't finish.

We admired the view one more time, and went back to our room. Bed shortly after.

Norwegian Odyssey Day 2, Friday 27 December: Bremen to Hirtshals

We hadn't booked breakfast and were due to meet Tomoyo at about 8.15, so we were packed and waiting in good time. She'd chosen the Kaffeehaus of Hotel Classico on the market square, so having met up at the hotel, she took us on a short tour of the beautiful city and explained the Grimm's fairy tale of the four (animal) town musicians - a donkey, dog, cat and chicken who set out for a new life in Bremen.

Breakfast was OK (much too much pepper on my omelette), but the location and the company more than made up for it. It was great to catch up with Tomoyo, and we decided to try and see one of her theatre productions in Bremerhaven another time.

We set off in the car about 10.30, and headed for the Rewe supermarket half an hour away in Ottersberg. It took some time, but we finally found almost all the items we needed to buy. And it only cost about €150. Fitting them in the front of the car took some doing.

Then back on the road. We went past Hamburg, seeing all the cranes and containers of the port, and then just kept going north. Our next charge was at Busdorf, which was an ordinary services. I was feeling really rough and crampy at this point, so I stayed in the car, but Christian had a wander (and a Burger King, I think). I think I must have just eaten something out of the car rations.

We crossed the Danish border, which was an annoying traffic bottleneck, shortly after that, and then drove for some time in Danish countryside that somehow immediately felt different to Germany. The skies cleared for the first time in days, and we were treated to a nice sunset.

We had another charging stop in Hedensted about 4.30, but it was almost completely dark by then so it felt much later. This place was in the middle of nowhere, with a 'Sunset Boulevard' restaurant attached. It was very odd. We made no attempt to speak the local language from this point on, sadly. I just had a milkshake at this point because I was still feeling bad.

And then on through the dark Danish roads to our final charging stop, at Nørager at 6pm. This one was on a hill next to a construction site.

Hirtshals was only another hour's drive, and as we entered the town, it all felt very dark and empty. We found the motel (Motel Nordsøen) at the end of a dark street, and parked in the frosty car park, almost empty too. There was no reception open at 7.30, but our key had been left for us.

We carried all the shopping in, to stop the perishables from freezing, and I sorted it properly into refrigerated, vulnerable to freezing (fruit/veg), and dry stuff. Christian took out the refrigerated stuff to the car, and drove to a nearby destination charger in a (closed) hotel. He brought back dinner with him, bought at a service station, which was a tasty warm pizza, a sandwich, and Danish traestammers! Win. We ate the pizzas and the traestammers, but saved the sandwiches for the next day.

The room itself was very basic, and somehow not very welcoming. It was warm by now, though, so I had a shower and we went to bed, really for an early one the next morning.

Norwegian Odyssey Day 1, Thursday 26 December: Folkestone to Bremen

We'd decided to leave straight from Horsham after Christmas and so stayed in a hotel in Folkestone on the night of the 25th.

On boxing day morning, we were up at 7, had breakfast, and after picking up the poor abandoned toucan-on-a-stick on the ground in the car park, were on the road by 7.40. It took all of ten minutes to get to the Eurotunnel terminal (yes, we'll definitely be doing that again), and because it was fairly empty, we checked in quickly, and stopped to charge, get some shopping, and Christian had second breakfast.

We had a short wait to get on the train, and followed a Model 3 into our high carriage. We watched some Netflix on the journey (because we could), and then we were in France. But heading north for a change.

After a very brief stop at services for a coffee and comfort stop, we had our first charge at Lokeren (Belgium). We had lunch in 'Frituur 't Frietje' - I had a fish burger, and Christian had mozzarella sticks and the biggest mountain of fries either of us had ever seen. The smily Flemish-speaking staff may or may not have misunderstood how many fries he wanted. Never mind. They were very good, but we couldn't finish them. After that we went to the Lidl across the road for a few things (but failed to find marmite, which was on our shopping list for Andy).

Back on the road, we attempted to take a detour through the centre of Antwerp, but Christian took a wrong turn, so we decided to abort before we got into the city proper. I still got a flavour of it, and would like to go back.

Our next charge was at the 'Toucan' Van der Valk hotel in Moers (Germany) around 4pm. Why were the toucans following us?! It was a very posh-looking hotel, containing a lot of people over 65 (we think it was a party). Outside the toilets was the devastation following what looked like a wedding - lots of white tablecloths, fairy lights and evidence of a chocolate fountain.

After another two hours driving, we reached our final charging point at Lohne. It was the only time we saw the superchargers ICEd on the whole trip. It was an odd sort of services with a Burger King and an Asian buffet. We went for the Asian buffet for dinner. It was OK - the staff were very sweet. We had a slight wobble about being able to drive in the Bremen congestion zone, but Jen sorted it out for us - all we'd need was a written hotel confirmation.

And then it was only another hour to Bremen, which we reached at 8.30pm. The hotel had its own Tesla destination charger, which was brilliant. Christian checked in and got the letter for the car, and we went in. The room was very colourful and modern, and mostly functional. We finalised the shopping list for the next day, and went to bed.