The trip was a combination of open canoeing and cycling with an afternoon climbing thrown in. Len was leading the trip although we would take turns to navigate on the canoe section. The trip was intended to be an introduction to canoeing and rigging top ropes outside. The plan was as follows.

Day 1- Travel to Bygland by bus, organise crews, practice basic canoe technique, set off downstream to island where we would overnight under tarps.

Day 2- Break camp, canoe to dam at Evje, walk to Troll Aktiv where those who wanted could go white water rafting, stay in huts at Troll Aktiv.

Day 3- Cycle to climbing crag ’45.5’, pitch tarps, instruction on setting up top rope single pitches and abseils on bolted anchors.

Day 4- Cycle to Kristiansand.

Once we arrived at Bygland we carried the canoes down to the beach and decided who would paddle with who. I paired up with Sven as we both have a large amount of experience canoeing both C1 and C2, we were also boat buddies for the canoe module in Worcester so have lots of experience paddling together.

Because of our experience we were asked to lead the rest of the group in some basic canoe instruction, we briefly explained forwards paddling and a few methods of turning the canoes. The group had various levels of experience ranging from never being in a canoe before to having a basic understanding. Everyone in the group had at least one thing that they needed to change in order to attain a more efficient stroke however they were just messing around and Sven and I did not feel like they were taking us seriously, I think Len could see this too and he called the group into the shore where we loaded up and set off downstream.

The weather rapidly changed for the worst and we were subjected to heavy rain and hail accompanied by a very strong headwind. This meant that the less experienced members of the group were struggling. Because of this I swapped boats with Kirby meaning that she was with Sven and I was with Jolinda. Unfortunately this was the end of my nice relaxing paddle and instead, due to the fact that Jolinda is very good at making it look like she’s paddling whilst not actually propelling the canoe at all turned into me effectively solo paddling a very heavy, loaded canoe.

During one break we decided to hug the shore line in order to remain safe and to try and gain some protection from some prominent headlands, we also made the decision not to push on to the intended overnight area but instead to head for a beach that we could see was sheltered from the wind.

We reached the beach without incident and set about rigging the tarps. Team Germany and Jolinda set up in the woods somewhere and the rest of us camped on the beach. I had borrowed a hammock for the trip so set up just inside the tree line next to the others. We went scavenging along the beach and found various bits of rubbish to help make things more homely and to give protection from the wind, we lit the fire and everyone spent the evening sat around the fire. Sven and I took out two canoes and went fishing for a while but did not catch anything.

The next morning Sven and I again went fishing and again caught only water, we were in high spirits however as the weather had greatly improved. We broke camp and set of on the final day of canoeing. As Jolinda was still not pulling her weight and Kirby was also struggling Sven and I rafted together midway through the day, this made things easier for us and allowed Sven and me to have a break every now and then without losing all forward momentum.

Once we entered the river we broke the raft up as we knew that there were some stretches of moving water approaching. Len instructed the group on breaking in and out of eddies however the majority of the group was not experienced enough to employ these strokes effectively as all of their concentration was focused on staying in the canoes.  For most of the eddies Jolinda and I just drifted in and out rather than making sharp, clean entries or exits. I was disappointed as I had been looking forward to completing this section with Sven and being able to throw the canoe around whilst knowing and trusting in your partner’s abilities.

We arrived at Troll Aktiv later in the afternoon and whilst the rafting was going on I had my tea and read my book.

The next day we collected the hire bikes from troll active and set off on the number 3 cycle route. After being told off for people racing off at the front the group stayed together and the journey passed in good spirits.

After setting up the tarps Len explained to us how to rig bolted top ropes and the group began climbing. I did not do any of the top rope routes as Len Had advised us that if we packed out trad racks that he could show us some good routes. Sven led first and I seconded him, the route was called Hesitation and is graded VS 4c. Whilst I was seconding the route I wasn’t sure if I could complete it on the lead as I hadn’t done any trad leading since November and VS was about my limit then. I went for it and didn’t know what I had been worried about. Jochen seconded me to introduce him to trad climbing as he had not done it before.  The other route that I climbed was called Southend Shuffle Direct and is graded VS 4b. The grade is mainly given for the overhang at the start but I had a solid jam in so it was no problem. With the light fading we packed away the ropes and again spent the night around the fire.

The next morning we, rather sorely mounted our bikes again and headed towards Kristiansand and home. Once we reached Vennesla the majority of us wanted to stop for a coffee, however Jochen just wanted to push on and get home. He carried on whilst we stopped and had coffee and cake. With this much needed energy and moral boost we set of renewed and arrived in Kristiansand mid-afternoon.

Other than it being physically arduous I do not feel like I gained anything from the trip as the canoeing was well within my abilities and I could already competently rig top ropes. The only thing that was of benefit was that I was able to get back into practice climbing on leader placed protection.