Bacon and Pancakes

Sunday mornings are absolutely my favourite time of the week these days. Just a chance to wake up slow, and roll out of one bed into another. Except the second bed is made out of pancakes.

The sun is shining in the sky, there ain't a cloud in sight. I've given my garden a little water, because London has been hot enough to dry the soil very quickly. I'm just in from munching on some breakfast with my Kiwi flatmate Jamie, feeling very leafy and awash with the scent of basil, parsley, rosemary, lemon thyme and lavender come from the plants. Aaaah yeah.

Never come to me if you want your food to look pretty.

Whilst it hasn't been a hugely eventful week, I've had a bit of luck with some pretty important things to me. When talking with one of the other PhD students during a game of tennis last month, she told me a little bit about the way she and her fiancee had travelled when they were a bit younger. They used a site called help X (http://www.helpx.net/) to get in contact with hosts who were looking to take in travellers who were willing to work for their upkeep. She had nothing but positive things to say about it, as she had met nice people, done some fantastic jobs (building a dry stone wall in New Zealand, for instance), and travelled cheaply. Sounded good to me! I've had itchy feel ever since I got used to being in London and realised I was much more prepared to travel. There aren't going to be many places more intimidating than this big galuf of a city.

So, I got in touch with a couple of hosts living around Trondheim. It seemed a sensible choice of location, as i am familiar with the city so wouldn't feel totally screwed if it turned out to be horrible. Plus, I want to go back to Norway in my own right, since I love it so much there. It would be a tragedy to lose such a wonderful place because of some hard feelings over a person. Travelling there will be a pleasure, and a way to ensure I make it special on my own. I have a really good feeling about it.

I got a reply from one of the hosts, a friendly couple with two kids living about 5km from Trondheim centre. I vaguely remember having been driven on that road by Torun last year, so I might actually recognise the place, who knows. It looks like a very beautiful location, and they say the world will mainly invovle painting, picking berries and mushrooms, looking after their animals, general household chores and perhaps learning how to restore 150 year old windows. I'd be keen to pick up a skill whilst I was there!

They say there are lots of opportunities for hiking and fishing (not that I can do the latter, but I could definitely learn!) It's right on Trondheimsfjord, and if the weather is anything like it was in Ånn last year, that will be a blessing. Apparantly I will be working 5 hours a day, with the rest of the time free. Though I would really like to spend a lot of time with my hosts. I hope I will be able to cycle in to Trondheim and see my friends there. I understand they have busy summers too though.

For the rest of today, I'm going on a wee cycle somewhere. Yet to decide where, but I'm sure I'll work it out as I go. Pictures to follow! I'm planning on this route: http://www.cycle-route.com/routes/Southfields_To_Richmond-Cycle-Route-1389.html