5 days, 5 hours, and 5 minutes!

That is how long it's left until I arrive back in Brisbane! The wait is finally coming to an end, all my things are packed and I even managed to bring along a treasure or two reminding me of my childhood home and beautiful Norway! <3

Bergen during early spring

Isn't it weird though - I've been in Norway for 3 months and it's only now that I'm about to leave I suddenly get an extreme craving for everything Norwegian! Brown cheese, komler, rømmegrøt, Norwegian rice porridge, waffles and smoked sausage that are all prepared and cooked just a bit different to everywhere else! Not to mention paprika flavoured chips (why does this not exist in Australia?) and delicious milk chocolate that melts on your tongue (with a complimentary fairy tale inside the wrapping!) :) I've been drinking ice cold water from the tap like there was no tomorrow and am suddenly finding trolls and fjords SO much more exciting than before. And the milk. Delicious, cold Norwegian milk that makes you strong and healthy, like our very own Mr. Melk!

It must be the realization that I actually don't know exactly when I'll be back. When I look out through my window onto great mountains, the still fresh water lake marking an end to one of the best salmon rivers in Norway, and the forest where I must have built a gazillion huts when I was a child, I know that I will miss it. I will miss my friends here and I will miss my family. And it's sort of ironic, because all the time I've been back I've been missing Australia, my partner and my friends there - and just counting the days to my return.

I guess I still feel like I have so much left to do, see and experience in Australia, and it might very well be that I'll end up living there permanently. It's just now that I'm about to leave and go do all that, that I'm also filled with sorrow, because I truly love Norway and everyone I will be leaving behind. But then I remind myself that it's not like I'll never be back! And that it's worth it! I would regret it forever if I did not take the leap to see where it takes me. And, of course, being back in the arms of the love of my life, where I know life will always be just a bit brighter! <3

Did you see the album I posted on my Norway page? You should! :)