We spent the night on the boat Nordlys that runs the regular traffic line Hurtigrutten. The weather wasn’t the best possible and five meters high waves made the boat swing a lot in the open sea. It was impossible to get any sleep at first, but luckily we soon went on our journey along the fjords so the rest of the night we slept like a log.
We woke up at 6 o’clock, packed our things and had some bread and juice for breakfast in our cabins. The boat arrived in Trondheim at 6.30, luckily in time so we caught the 7 o’clock bus to the airport.
The Icelandic group had no problems with check-in or security control, but the Finnish group didn’t even get that far.
The Finnish group tried first self-service check-in, but it failed. On the service desk the officials couldn’t find their names on the passenger list. It was a catastrophe! How could that be possible, because everything had been booked and paid via the travel agency half a year ago. And we also had got the tickets online. After many many phone calls and talks it was found out that something had happened when the whole group was rerouted on the way from Oslo to Trondheim. The official of the airline had forgotten to activate the return tickets of the Finnish group. The travel agency tried to do their best and one very friendly official was of great help. There were no seats left from Trondheim to any bigger cities at the weekend so the only possibility was to order a charter bus from Trondheim to Vaala, Finland. The Finns never give up and decided to survive 1 200 kilometers and about 16 hours on the bus to get back home during the weekend.
The bus trip through Sweden via Åre and Haparanda went surprisingly fast with a few stops. We had a late lunch buffet at Krokoms Wärdshus and some shorter breaks. On the way we could admire the scenery and just try to kill time by hanging on the net and listening to music. Nearly all the service stations were closed at night so it was difficult to find any place for toilet stops, but we survived. We arrived in Vaala at about six o’clock in the morning, tired but happy and grateful for the unforgettable Nordplus Junior-week in Norway.
Everything went according to plan for the Icelandic team. Now there were no delays and all schedules were met. It was a tired but extremely happy group that came back to Höfn around 22:30. The group appreciates the days together in Norway and looks forward to the next meeting in April in Vaala next year.
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- Ready to leave Norlys and drive to the airport.
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- This bus took us to the airport in Throndheim.
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- The Icelandic students could check in but not the Finnish.
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- Fanney and Aron went back to Oslo with Flyr and got even seats on Saga class with Icelandair.
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- The Finnish students tried to pass the time while waiting for a bus.
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- Riitta and Marjaana – always in good mood – even though they needed to drive back home.
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- The bus for Finland.
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- On the Way to Finland.
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- The Finnish students saw this windmill.
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- Here the Finnish group got something to eat.
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- The food in Sweden was good.
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- The food in Sweden was good.
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- Dinner in Sweden.
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- The Icelandic groups saw their luggage arrive at the airport in Oslo.
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- The Icelandic group at Keflavík airport – waiting for the bus home.
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- A rainbow followed the Icelandic group for a while.