I'm baa'aack

Finally, after a 6 month hiatus I am back in the air. And not just any air, but the freezing air of Southern Sweden. After much mucking around and trying to figure out how to go flying in Scandanavia, I settled on Sweden and the Sturup Aero Club outside of Malmö, just across the Øresund from Copenhagen. Although I don't have a European pilot license, I am able to validate my Australian license (for private, daytime flying, for up to 12 months) in Sweden at no cost. Sweden also has the bonus of having cheaper aircraft hire than Denmark, even if it means a slightly more complicated and expensive trip to the airport. If I end up staying here longer and decide to actually convert my license to a European one (as opposed to say, simply get another 12 month validation by changing my flying location to Denmark instead and going through the Danish authorities and Danish planes), it looks like I will only have to do a couple of written exams and a flight test, nothing too serious.

View Larger Map ('A' is where Malmo-Sturup Airport is)

Fire and Ice

Near Vik on the south coast

First I should say, I have never before planned a holiday around a single attraction so much, missed out on the particular attraction, yet had one of the best holidays ever. When I decided to go to Iceland for a week, one of my main aims was to see the Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights. The concept of particles from the sun streaming into the atmosphere and putting on a light show seems so magical and I really wanted to see it for myself. I ditched Northern Norway in favour of Iceland figuring there were so many other things to do there I would probably have a better time, so off I went. All the while I knew that in addition to solar activity, one of the major factors for seeing the Aurora is cloud cover. Unfortunately, the weather for the 9 nights I was in Iceland could not really have been much worse. Cloud cover was 8/8 almost constantly, with only the occasional break for some moon-rays. Oh well, I may have to make a trip to Northern Norway after all...

The days in Iceland are extremely short this time of year. Sunrise was around 10:30-11:00 and sunset around 16:00 (it's very hard to really know when the sun is up when it is totally overcast and twilight seems to last forever). Similarly, the cities (or rather, 1 town and multiple villages) seem to operate based on daylight hours too. It is very hard to get up in the mornings when it's pitch black outside, but even worse when you step into the main street in the capital city and most the shops are still closed and there is barely a soul around. It seems like the only time there is congestion (both pedestrian and vehicular) is between around midnight and 2am on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Party time really is the only time Reykjavik gets busy, and the locals come out in force. And there is definitely no shortage of drinking establishments in town.

Happy 2011

Although I am not normally one to join in the pagan new year celebrations on a large scale, this year I got invited to a traditional Danish New Year celebration hosted by a pom. How could I say 'no'? It was going to be a small dinner party with myself, the pom, and 7 Danes. It turned out to be us to English speakers, and 16 Danes! All squished into his 1 bedroom apartment - we managed to just fit in!

A traditional Danish New Year's party is rather different to what I am used to in Australia (a BBQ and/or some drinks with friends). Here, the New Year's party is possibly the most important meal you have with your friends throughout the whole year (Christmas is something you celebrate with your family, and I think that meal may be more important). The whole affair is typically a sit down formal dinner with no holding back. Lots of candles on the table (required for any good hygge get-together in winter), streamers, party hats, poppers, and various explosives which in some countries are possibly only legal if used out-doors!

 

Fireworks in the streets! Unfortunately I can't rotate the video without losing the audio track - so just tilt your head!

Frostbite

Why it's dangerous to walk on the footpaths here in winter

I'm guessing the doctors probably wouldn't classify it as frostbite, but after my experience of riding a bike today (the weather app on my phone said the windchill was -17'C!), frostbite is something I wouldn't wish on anyone! Last night when riding out to my Irish Pub Christmas dinner, I wore my ski gloves, thinking that's the way to keep warm. I was sorely mistaken. So thinking that my ski gloves simply do not stop wind like my other ones, I wore my other gloves today. Boy, big mistake. They were even worse. After a 15 minute ride I could not feel any of my fingers. It was a struggle trying to get my hand into my pocket in order to pull out my phone (with a map on it), not to mention a struggle trying to work the lock on my bike and then trying to grip the zipper on my jacket to take it off when I reached my destination. It took a good 15 minutes of indoor heat before I could feel my fingers again, and 2 hours later I still had pains in the extermities. Wow! Talk about an incentive to find better gloves!

On the bright side, here are some more pretty photos of this icy weather...

I've received the all clear!

Almost 5 months since the accident.
Almost 3 months since surgery.
Around 6 weeks since I've started physio.

And the good news is: my scaphoid is healing well and both the physio and doctor have given me the all-clear to go snowboarding this winter! Not something I was expecting, and not something I will be doing immediately, but good to hear the news!

Winter Wonderland

Just a few random photos from the last couple of weeks...

NOW I am integrating

Finally, I have joined the elite echelon of Danish society. I own a bike. But not just any bike, a dorky bike with a brand name that I had never heard of before, relatively simply, yet unnervingly expensive (for what it is). Two weeks after receiving the all-clear from my physio, I managed to select the most snowed in day since I have been here to get myself a bicycle. This also meant I had my first experience of riding on ice, through snow and slush, and having the pleasure (very unlike back home) of cars giving way to me!

For a country where it seems there are more bikes than people, it is crazy to think that bikes cost an obscene amount of money here. If you want a new bike, you will probably not find one under DKR 2,000. And that's for something simple (not a racer, not a mountain bike, and probably only a single gear - though in a country without hills that's not as bad as it sounds). If you want something fancy you'll pay upwards of DKR 4,000, and like any other country, you can really spend as much as you want. But the crazy thing is the cost of second hand bikes - from a shop, you'll unlikely find one for under DKR 600 or DKR 700. Not much less for a private sale. And to think that the sort of bike that I had to give away in Canberra before I left (because there was no chance of anyone paying money for it) would cost probably around DKR 800 here - that's crazy!

Anyway, I went for the cheapo option since my apartment building doesn't have underground bike parking - so a bit of rust, gears that are literally frozen in place and a slightly torn seat will just add to the character.