As I was unable to attend the organized overnight trip to Jegersberg due to a back injury, I undertook an overnight trip to Odderoya on the 17th April with Kevin Bar and Austin Tredrea. On the evening of the 17th, we did some climbing on the west side of the island, and once night time approached us, we moved to the east side and set up camp on a small cliff overlooking the ocean.
- Overnight Camp site -
The Camp site
The Camp site was a flat area without much vegetation where I was able to set up my bivouac bag overlooking the ocean view with plenty of room for Kevin and Austin to set up their tarp. The area was protected from the wind with a south easterly facing hill behind us and large trees surrounding our camp site. This provided a very comfortable camp area. There was a table an chairs situated by the ocean for us to cook and prepare our dinner for the evening and enjoy the sunset over Kristiansand
Clothing
When living in the outdoors, whether it be overnight or for a week, it is essential that the correct materials are worn to protect from the cold. Heading into the outdoors with items made from such materials as cotton or synthetic materials are going to provide little to now warmth. To stay appropriately warm, wool, fleece, down and even polyester will all keep substantially warmer than the aforementioned materials. Fortunately, it was a relatively warm and clear night for Norwegian standards, however, it was still necessary to take precautions in order to stay warm. Unfortunately, fire ban season had fell upon us, so lighting a fire was forbidden, so appropriate clothing had to be worn. As night fell, I wore a top and bottom wool thermal layer, a warm fleece jumper with a down outer shell, accompanied by some warm track pants. I brought with me my warmest sleeping bag, comfort zone -10, to ensure that I would have a warm, comfortable night’s sleep.
Nutrition
It is still very important to eat nutritionally appropriate food whilst in the outdoors. Nutrition is highly important for both providing
- Sweet and Sour Rice Dish -
energy for the coming days of outdoor life and for replenishing depleted stores from a day’s work. It is therefore essential that a good dinner is full of carbohydrates and proteins, with plenty of liquid, preferably water, consumed during, pre and post meal. As an entree, I had toasted jam and butter rolls. I toasted the rolls to the point where the outside was crispy but the inside still relatively fluffy, so that the jam and butter melted into the bun. For main, I had a sweet and sour rice dish with sausages and mixed vegetables. This addresses both carbohydrate and protein needs and also filled me up substantially. Finally, for desert, I melted some chocolate on the Trangia and dipped strawberries into the melted chocolate, which was absolutely delicious. A sweet end to a nutritious meal is always a good way to keep spirits on a high.