Typical Family Day

We began the day with a hike in the forest behind the University of Agder. It started off on a well trodden track passing lakes and small waterfalls along the way. We then began to head upwards on a ever increasingly steep path which followed a stream. The path was well trodden due to another group of students making the hike the day before, this may of made it easier to see where is best to place your feet and which route to take to avoid the worst of the ice. However the ice could not always be avoided which lead to a series of people slipping and falling over. From this I learnt to be more adventurous and follow my own route to avoid the slipping and tripping, as often the well trodden path had exposed larger sections of ice that were at one point under the snow. When reaching the top of the hill I also discovered that the fresh powder snow was not always best to step on either as it all crumbled beneath my feet causing me to slide down the hillside. I discovered that it takes time to be able to judge and pick out the best path to take, which is something which the Norwegians have much practice in. When at the top of the hike the Norwegians quickly made a fire so we than had the task of making a second fire. Wood had to be collected much of which was sourced from the trees rather than the ground as it was much drier.

To make the fire:

Begin with a large piece of wood (which was brought on the trip purposely) and using a knife scrap the bark until it makes flakes or very thin pieces this will form the tinder.

Very small twigs are used to makethe base of the fire, the flakes of bark are then placed on top of the base. The flakes can be pressed together to form a ‘ball’ shape making it easier for the spark to ignite more than one piece of bark.

We used a flint and a knife to create the sparks needed to ignite the tinder. When using a knife you should use the back or blunt side of the knife to strike against the flint. this stage took us a while to get right with multiple people having a go. we found that it worked successfully when the flint was struck in quick succession.

When the spark has fallen onto the tinder and lit it, blow gently onto the spark to ignite the tinder further. This took us a few attempts to keep the spark alight.

When the fire has taken, more wood should be added with twigs increasing in size to branches and so on. They should not all be pilled on at once as this can put the fire out.

Cooking

Many people had different approaches to lunch some bringing sandwiches others sausages, potatoes or pasta sauce that needed heating or even corn on the cob. Most food was cooked on the end of a stick which was a skill in itself. You had to find the best way to put the food on the stick without it falling off and losing it in the embers at the bottom of the fire. I learnt through observation that food is best put on long ways and not in the middle of a sausage.

We also we given some bread dough by the Norwegians and left to our own devices to work out how best to cook it. Here much bread ended up burnt with people not paying attention to the colour of their ‘fire bread’ but the best way to attach the dough to a stick was to spread it out and then wrap the thin strips around a stick. This meant that is cooked quickly and as it was thin you weren’t left eating raw dough, it also seemed to be the best way to keep the dough attached to the stick. However even if your bread was slightly charred I learnt that it can all be saved by the addition of some ‘brown cheese’ (also called Brunost) wrapped over the top to hide the black colour.

In future I will experiment with cooking different types of food on an open fire using sticks or simply heating food wrapped in tin foil, rather than sticking to my sandwiches.

Games

After lunch we played some games that a family or group or Norwegian children may play together such as ‘stuck in the mud’ or ‘tag’. This was a great way to get to know some of the other students as well as being able to share different games from different countries and increase our repertoire of these time filling games which come in  useful when working with young children in an outdoor education setting.

The hike down the hill was just as eventful as the climb with people still slipping having not quite realised that the ice is mostly best avoided, including myself.

This was a completely new experience for me having never hiked in the snow before but was highly enjoyable. I have taken away some very basic lessons in hiking in a snowy and frozen environment that most Norwegian learn when they are very small. I think that it is wonderful that families get together once a week and go on hikes and build fires to cook their lunch. This is a completely different approach to quality family time compared what I have seen in the UK and I think it is a great part of the Norwegian culture that should be transferred to other nations. I think this type of family trip helps towards a healthy lifestyle as well as providing a variety of learning opportunities for children and adults.