South Africa 2010

Team Alta’s Journey started around 17:00 today, getting ready for departure from Finnmark.  At least thats what we thought. I think the weather would classify as a mild storm, but we’ll refer to it as a “class 5 blizzard” for dramatic effect

. We didn’t think much of it, and focused more on the plus thirty something degrees awaiting us in the coming week than on the knee-deep snow surrounding us. After being dropped off on the airport by N’Forsberg, we went through the normal routine with baggage, fingerprints and both un- and re -dressing  in the security point before being able to relax with a cup of coffee in the departure hall. As the time went by, and delay upon delay kept ticking in along with more and more snow outside, we started to get worried-ish. Sure enough, 45 minutes after the original take-off time, the nice speaker system lady informed us that the pilot was about to give up on trying to land the plane in Alta. “Wohoo” Sveta replied. They were going to try landing one last time, so we should keep our fingers crossed, and they would come back to us within 15 minutes with more information. This is where “The Journey to the metropolis known as Lakselv” begins.

Seeing that the plane couldn’t cope with the immense amounts of snow that Alta has to offer, the pilot gave up and headed for Lakselv. With the alternative being not going to Oslo until the next morning, we didn’t have much choice but to board the bus and keep our mood positive! 20 minutes later the bus started driving. 5 minutes after that we were back at the airport. Another 20 minutes and we  started driving again, this time for real! At some point we were worried that even the bus would get lost in the snow somehow, but half-sleeping made the whole trip seem less scary and confusing. Around 22:45 we arrived at Lakselv International Airport (LA-X), using only 15-20 minutes on getting through security and getting on board. They bribed us with free soda and nuts, and it worked. One fourth of a sleep-cycle later we got welcomed to Gardermoen at 01:30.

Now we are just relaxing on Gardermoen, waiting for the yellow team team Oslo. The plane leaves for Amsterdam at 06:35, so we still have some time to kill
. Blog-updates are always plentiful in the beginning of a project like this, and then slowly declining in both quality and post-rate. In other words, we guarantee a interesting read in the weeks to come.