2004 - Oslo - Norway

June: I meet up with Kelvin in Heathrow and fly out to join my past: Norway. I've not been back since 1989 when I came over with Chris "Tonka" - I was 18, and into wearing Acid House smiley face T-shirts, pale blue jeans w/a leg patch of red paisely and a white shirt. Hmm. 80's boy. Very much into Depeche Mode 101 tour - only a year out of A'levels, and several months away from even knowing Grassy exists - although maybe by now I've met her mum and seen those photographs and sent out the 'wish'.

We're met at Olso airport by my mum's sister and husband, Uncle Edle and Erling. Fab reunion. I'm no longer a man-child - the generation gap between us has melted away and we can all talk and interact like adults. It's a significant moment for me, allows me to escape the boundaries of my own nostalgic memories of these people (my family).

Kelvin is a perfect travelling companion - he proved that in Budapest - and got on with everybody he met. Just as my own mother makes him feel like a part of my family, so did all my aunts, uncles and cousins.

. Oslo saw us cocooned in Edle & Erlings fab new apartment - vista like view of rolling hills and endless woodland, the sharp smell of pine needles in the crisp air - a day out with Oystein, some delish Sushi, and lots of home cooked waffles and cake and cream, and coffee. I'd bought a litre bottle of whiskey in Duty Free, and Erling and I enjoyed our nightly medicine.

2004 - Oslo/ Norway - Oystein

June: I've known Oystein all my life (I have those ubiquitous photos of us together as babies sharing a bath), more potent memories are of Summer 1980 (me in my C&A Sherrifs short sleeved shirt, getting into space lego and playing roulette down in the basement play area), then Winter 1980 and again in '81, (getting into KISS and Alan Parsons Project, more space lego, falling asleep in a snow drift in sub-zero temperatures, cross-country skiing... being frightened of a wooded clearing w/memories of a horror film where something bit off a woman's head thru window of a hut in the snow.... being really really sad coming back home to UK); then summer of '88 and '89 with my mammoth trips that I did then. As of 2004 he's with a great woman, got a child and responsibility - some heart-felt conversations we had over coffee in the street cafe that day.

2004 - Oslo / Norway - Aunt Edle, Uncle Erling

June: Great food, great cakes, great conversation; Erling telling me of his memories as a small boy up in the Arctic, recalling watching British ships pounding Nazi positions - a vast series of explosions - frightening yet impressive.

2004 - Norway - 19 hour train journey North

June: Kelvin and I climbed aboard the sleeper car around 10pm, with Edle and Erling to see us off - a bunk bed cabin and a gut full of excitement and anticipation. I had my bottle of whiskey and Kelvin has vivid recollection of hearing the metallic sound of the bottle top being twisted-off at regular intervals throughout the night.

2004 - Norway - 19 hour train journey North

June: The morning came and the day rolled by - fantastic scenery reminding me of Canada in many places although the vibe was totally different. After about 16 hours the lush green valleys recede as we climb above the snow and tree line: the landscape becomes bleak, savage and inspiring - I picture my ancestors, picking thier way through this inhospitable land towards the coast - and from there - across a medieval world.

2004 - Norway - 19 hour train journey North

June: Once across the Arctic Circle, the train descends and swings East towards the coast and the warm - life bringing Gulf Stream; the landscape becomes more imposing, majestic, and delightful to observe.

2004 - Norway - 19 hour train journey North - Kelvin

June: Being in the arctic has a strange effect on my travelling companion....

2004 - Fauske / Norway - Arve

June: Finally we arrive - the journey has been fantastic and thought provoking as I review everything I have done, and what I have become, since last being here.

We're met by cousin Ogre, a solid mass of wirey muscle pressure poured into a compact frame; denim jacket and jeans, tatoo's on his knuckles, and the Devil's smile on his lips... it's good to see him again. Kelvin and I are whisked from the station down to the house of Aunt Marie and Uncle Ole; Arve appears - bristling with energy - and no less nutty than before - chanting "fooootball".... it's the World Cup at the moment.... food appears, we eat then relocate to Arve's house just across from Marie and Ole's place... beer, whisky, and the film version of JACKASS. Fab memory of spending 2 hour laughing my ass off. It was well past midnight before Kelvin realised the sun was still shining up in the sky - welcome to the land of the Midnight Sun - we would not see the Night until we got back to Oslo, several days away.

Arve is a bear of a man-child; platinum blonde hair and cherubic face gives him an eternal youth quality, but with stocky, barrel chested build, and multiple Eagle tattoos - he was happy to let Kelvin and I stay at his place until the crazy hours - supping beer and watching his DVD's.

2004 - Fauske / Norway - Djr

June: Fauske is the birth-place of my mother and the majority of my historical family in Norway; with a population of around 10,000 it has recently been reclassified as a city; it's jumped from having one to two main roads since I was last there... but as you can see from the photo, it is still surrounded by a plethora of staggering natural beauty - I'm standing in the centre of the city here, on the edge of the Fjord.

2004 - Fauske / Norway

June: This old church is where my parents got married - out on the fringes of the city it's a nice walk to get there; a sad thing to have happened since '89 is the death of my Grandmother, so I found her headstone to pay my respects .

2004 - Fauske / Norway - Aunt Marie, Uncle Ole

June: My mother's other sister (Marie) and her husband - down to earth good people - barely a word of English to match my barely a word of Norweigan but we were still able to communicate - mainly in smiles as we shared some lovely times.

2004 - Salstrum /Norway - Kelvin Sharky, Djr

June: Another way to say Salstrum is Malestrom... the whole inlet becomes one vast whirlpool at certain times of the day as several cross-tides collide and create vast currents, powerful enough to suck a ship below the surface: Ogre recounted a tale of recently seeing a wooden fishing boat packed with Sweedish fishing enthusiats... when the warning alarm came saying "you've got a few minutes to get clear of the area" thier engine failed, people stood around helplessly watching the rear end of the boat being dragged down beneath the surface as a whirlpool formed below it... and were relieved when the Swedes got thier engine working at the last moment.

2004 - Salstrum / Norway

June: And here's an underwater shot of the Salstrum forming - wide enough to gobble up a ship and suck it down about a mile.

2004 - Shore of Nord Fjord - Uncle Ole, Kelvin

June: It was mid-summer Eve - time for everyone to get to the shore of a fjord, build a bonfire, cook food and drink - pure tradition.

2004 - Shore of Nord Fjord - Ogre, Djr

June: Here's the man himself - Ogre; many of the meals we ate in Fauske were of fish/meat Ogre had caught and killed himself: he's an excellent shot - something I found out myself when I was spraying Arve's doorway with a fully-automatic BB rifle - Kelvin and Arve cowering behind cover, and then Ogre grabs a Desert Eagle BB pistol steps out, drops to one knee and - pop - pop - pop - I take a head shot. Spent two days with a curious bump in the middle of my forehead. :o)

2004 - Shore of Nord Fjord - Kelvin, Kure

June: It took a while for Kelvin to realise you had to turn the food on the BBQ to stop it from burning, and to cook properly. Kure is the brother of Ogre, Arve and even Kenn Ole who I was sadly unable to see this trip. You can see the colour of the light deepening - it's almost midnight.

2004 - Shore of Nord Fjord - Djr

June: My everlasting bottle of whisky took it's final hit this night; great memory of lying on the wooden jetty in the background, for ages, with Kelvin sitting on the metal gangway, the whole structure gently rocking and jingling with the movement of the water, the sunlight just the most dreamy colour and a sensation of being totally connected with nature, and with my blood - my family.

2004 - Shore of Nord Fjord - Sharky Kelvin

I don't think I've ever seen Kelvin looking so happy, chilled and content as he was at this moment in time, midnight, on a summer evening in the Arctic.

2004 - Shore of Nord Fjord - Kelvin Sharky, Ogre

Another bottle of hooch arrived courtesy of my cousin. The man is a cool dude.

2004 - Shore of Nord Fjord - Djr, Kelvin

June: This is it - the sun at Midnight.

2004 - Shore of Nord Fjord - my shadow in the midnight sun

2004 - Shore of Nord Fjord - Eric

June: I can't believe this is Eric! The last time I saw him he was about 6 and a right little monster - I've got him on video, snarling at me and shouting :o) Here is now - a pro boarder (saw a video of him hitting air on his board in Colorado - jumping higher than the ski-lift pylons! - just sort of gliding through the air in a perfect arc, landing like he'd been designed to fly and burning a red line straight on down) - and trying to get into Norway's version of Special Forces. Yup, that's all cake and cream on his plate.

2004 - Fauske - Djr

June: 1A.M. in the morning here and total daylight....

2004 - Fauske - Uncle Rune, Trudi

June: Rune is going through a very difficult period of his life right now - so it meant a lot to me that he could spare some time out to sit and drink coffee with me. This is my mother's brother and I've vivid memories of being on a yatcht with him as a child, sitting on his lap, tugging at his beard which was dark and rich in colour. Trudi, his daughter, come and stayed with my family when I was 12 - memories of travelling around the far reaches of Scotland with her - one night snuggled up in a hotel room bed watching a scary movie .... she thought she'd get me frightened but in the end it was her who screamed and jumped...hehehee.

2004 - Fauske - Mus-brum-lafvse

June: It was hard enough remembering how to say the word - never mind spelling it correctly - apologies for the gross-mispelling but this is the phoenetic way. This stuff is just divine - a local speciality... thin soft flour bread wrapped around a hearty mix of goats cheese, butter and cream - you either love it or hate it.

2004 - Fauske

June: This is the view from the house my uncle Ole built. Life is so simple here... I really adore visiting the place.

2004 - return train journey South

June: Kelvin and I said our goodbye's then climbed aboard another sleeper - we sat in the cafe car for a while, chatting about Game his new character for Masks of N - then he went to bed and I board three cans of Carlsberg.... £18!!! Holy Fek!!! £6 each - for a can of Carlsberg - anyway - they went down a treat. I sat by a window getting slowly steamed - watching ghostly scenery hurtle by - it didn't getting wholly dark but the further South we went the more the presence of Night could be felt. I got chatting to a top bloke called Bjorn and we talked right through to about 1 or 2am when had to leave cos the cafe car was closing for the night.

2004 - return train journey South

June: There were miles and miles of utterly deserted forest with this light mist drifting out from the trees....

2004 - Norway - Jess

Jess (from Canada) was over from Toronto with Mikkel - and did her own tour of the fjords