Pierats - exploring the world while eating pie

Beerlympics 2010!

2010-08-31T17:36:00.000+02:00

Last weekend up at the cabin was...epic! We laughed so hard, our jaws almost fell off!

Trine, me and Sunniva

Yeah Jim...you fit

Ronny and I have for a long time (since autumn 09, actually) played with the word OL, short for Olympics. In norwegain, the word "beer" is "øl". So, why don't we arrange the Ølympics (Beerlympics) and Parølympics with all our friends, and make a lot of drinking games? With costumes and everything? Oh yeshhh, too funny to resist!

Ronny with his hothothot moves!

Most of the times, our friends are busy bees. But this time, everyone showed up! 15 people! AND two dogs, consisting of Buddha tha Puppy-Terrorist and Oluf the Menace (^.^)

I'm ready to shoot!

The games consisted of

Friday - Ølympics
- Dask høna i det brune hølet - Slap the chicken in the brown hole
- Beer Pong
- CP-rally - Racing with a wheel chair
- Alias

Saturday - Parølympics
- Pils og Bue : Pun not working in english, but it was bow and arrow-shooting while standing on one leg
- A re-run of CP-rally
- Rocka Rockering - Hula Hoop'ing
- Luftbæsjeskyting - Shooting with air gun from a wheel chair
- A re-run of alias

Ronny did well!

Steady, Sunniva1

Oh lordy, all the fun! The two winning games was definitely the CP-rally and the Hula Hoop. We had no idea that our gang consisted of that many talents! Especially Ronny, claiming to have never tried the hula hoop before. Well, he rocked. Seriously. With slow, lambada-moves to Inner Circle - Hot Hot Hot.
You THINK we laughed? Gaaah, too many jokes, too effin great!

I'm going for the entertainment!

Jim and Terje; man-action

Ida Marie is working it

Trine on one leg

While almost being accused for rigging the game (heheee, you poor losers!), Ronny ended up winning BOTh ØL and PØL! Way to go, bebe! And by that, I mean yaaaay, we got to take the medals home! The medals which I made out of Fimo, teehee (^.^)

For us, dressing up in silly hats, being childish, laidback and laughing, is the best cure to any bad days and make constant bliss. Never stop playing!

Thank you all friends, for being so freaking cool and joining us! There will definitely be WinterØLympics after this!

Disclaimer
We do not in any form, make fun of people with disabilities. We have family members with disabilities, and would never make them feel bad on purpose. With all respect, doing stunts like this is just about goofing around with no intention of being mean at all. We do not use disorders to crack jokes.

Working with two dogs

2010-08-20T10:09:00.002+02:00

What do you do when you are working with different dogs simultaneously?

Arranging the Beerlympics (Ølympiaden) at the cabin this weekend (oh yesss, there will be pictures), the last days have been more than stressful. Reason? Buddha the Terrorist and Oluf the Annoyed!

Working with one dog can be task enough by itself. Working with two dogs, can be overwhelming!
We now have two completely different dogs to train. One is a 7 year old relocated crossover dog who has special needs when it comes to training, the other is a puppy who needs constant attention and has to learn everything, because the whole world is new an exciting.
Both share a similar behavior though: lack of patience! (^.^)

I get the best training when I separate them and work with one at the time. Of course, because you can pay full attention to one individual. But back to the reality check. Buddha has not yet learned to be alone by himself for a long time, and because of this we often have to work with both dogs simultaneously.

So, how to do this? When I use the clicker, "click" means a treat will follow, and both dogs knows the drill. But if I click Buddha for a "sit", Oluf expects to get something too, because he heard the click as well!

Purrrfect, boys!

I have solved the problem this way: Oluf needs to have more patience- training. So I ask him to lay down and relax. Then I work with Buddha - at this point, I can reinforce tons of behaviors I want from him. When Buddha give me the wanted behavior and I click, Buddha is rewarded for his whatever action we work on, and Oluf is rewarded for managing to stay calm and not interfer in Buddhas training. For Luff, this is a pretty huge task, but is equally fun to manage! He is SO proud of himself everytime he stays clear of stealing Buddhas toys or treats!

In the movie below, we're working on the paw targeting. Of course, Luff knows the drill and is amazingly quick. But I can't click his action right away, because Buddha is slower! Solution? I click Buddha for putting his paw on the target. Oluf is being reinforced for holding his paw at the target over time. By doing this, the timing with both dogs is perfect, because I click when Buddha hit the target, and by then, Luff has already had his paw there for a while.

Oluf is already on the target, and Buddha has a paw in action! Beautiful!

Another trick is practicing calling in the dogs. A good thing with an older dog, is that HE knows to come when I call (well...most of the time), and since Buddha is such a tag-along, he is most likely to follow his older brother and suupah hero. By doing this, you'll have the puppy both following you and understand to come when you call. And you can reward both dogs simultaneously!

The task is not always easy. These two weeks have indeed been a challenge, both in patience and creativity. But since I am the biggest behavior-nerd ever, I really enjoy to figure things out!

And is nothing works, just try out a nice, relaxing session of Doga! (^_^)

I'll be happy to recieve more tips from those of you who works with double-dogs!

Barking madly, Silje

Why clicker training makes your dog happy, and why methods by Cecar Millan doesn't

2010-08-13T09:58:00.008+02:00

Happy 9 weeks, little furball!

As you can probably tell by now, our days are pretty much about the dogs. But for us, dogs (and all other animals too) are a huge part of our everyday joy in life.

Silje and Oluf

I am an educated instructor and clickertrainer, and used to work as a dog trainer and riding instructor when I studied. I still take horses and student into training on top of my main job, and it gives the days a little extra zazz! Ronny and his whole family are hardcore dog lovers, and together we shared the excitement over every little bug and bird on the Pierats- trip.

Being outdoor-people, having Oluf with us have always been great. And with Buddha, we hope to get an even more easy-to-bring dog. Since oluf is a relocated crossover-dog, he has a few kinks to his behavior, that can be related to a stressful time before he came to us. Some things are hard to handle for Oluf. Like, watching us do "freaky weird stuff", like slacklining, fishing and so on. We hope the presence of Buddha will make him calmer (and not the other way around, we will certainly not let Luff teach Buddha to react on "weirdness"), and he will also from now on have a buddy when he is home without us.

I am a true behavior-nerd, and I love the positive dogs you get from clicker training. Instead of correcting the dog to do the wanted behavior, you just reinforce the behavior you want. It is easy to teach the dogs that "click" means YESSS, you got it right, and here comes the reward. And by training this way, you set the criterias so that your dog will only succeed and never have to fail (of course, dogs never fails.We fail as trainers). By training this way, you get creative, secure and happy dogs.

Fanny Gott with 15 months old Squid

You can work with dogs in many ways, but the result in the behavior will be differents regarding your methods. I prefer to have my dog working with me to achieve a reward rather than working with me to avvoid something unpleasant.
That's why I hope that someday, people will understand that the methods of the dominance-redneck Cecar Millan is creating insecure, aggressive dogs, with more behavior problems than to begin with.
Lots of behavior trainers in Norway are working against Millans' methods, and for you norwegians out there, these are two good articles about the case:

Press Notice against Millan

Ethologist Randi Helene Tillung answers the Millan-fans

Me and Oluf having some fun

Say yes to happy dogs and positive training! I love working in a team with my dogs, and with Buddha, bonding is so important. Everything has to be taught, and teaching him in a playful way makes him love our training sessions more than anything. Just like Oluf. When he see the clicker, he knows he's up for some funtime, and goes craaaazy happy!

To get a grip on how you can have some fun while working with your dogs, watch these of my hero dog trainer, Fanny Gott:

Fanny Gott training Pi

Fanny Gott puppy training Squid, 11 months

Fanny Gott - stand, sit and distant control

Happy dog-hugs from Silje

Buddha in tha house!

2010-08-09T08:48:00.002+02:00

I'm sitting in a semi-coma at work, with a ticking migraine and heavy eyelids. But I'm the happiest girl ever!
My deprivation of sleep was due to our new family member Buddha, he arrived yesterday!

Buddha with his breeder Guri

We drove off to pick him up at Guris' in the afternoon, and when we arrived, the puppies were everywhere, playing with the cat, the chickens and all the other animals on the farm. Talk about being socialized from the very beginning!

Buddha was in great shape, and after watching him play for a while we decided it was time to bring him home. It's always sad to take the puppy away from it's familiar surroundings, but since Guri is keeping two of his siblings, Fjell and Vidde, we'll be hanging around a lot. The plan is to start training them to pull sleds together when they're old enough. Ooooh, the future fun!

Petter the cat and Buddhas brother

The drive home was less fun, Buddha became sick and threw up before we got home. Scott did exactly the same thing when I picked him up as a pup, poor thing. No good for a confused little furball, but when we got home and let him play at the lawn, it looked like he'd been living there forever!

We were amused to see that he was not afraid to do his business out in the open. For a little puppy, peeing outside is almost like hanging up a big sign saying "Hey all predators, I'm super-tiny and edible, you can all come and find me HERE!". That's why most puppies prefers to pee inside. On your carpet.
But thanks to good training from Guri, he didn't worry at all. So no accidents inside the first day!

Ronny with Fjell, one of the other brothers. How can a girl resist a sight like this?

Oluf was big time confused when we came inside with a little bundle of energy. He was more like "hey, that toy of yours...is it squeeky? Can I have it?!", and paid no attention to the newcomer at all. He is used to be with puppies from when I was working as a dog trainer, so for most of the time he doesn't care about them. But this one was a stayer...

Buddha (right) taking a nap with his brother

After sleeeping, playing, sleeeping, playing, peeing and playing some more, it was time to go to sleep. We wanted him to be able to sleep in a cage, and he was used to it from his breeder. But the first night alone is always frightening for a little one.

We found out that if he was already asleep, closing the door to the cage and go to bed was no problem. But if he was awake, seeing us leave was too much. We were just three metres away, but for a puppy, out of sight means abandoning.
But he slept as a student during morning class, until it was time to wake him up at 03:00 am to take him outside. It is better to set your alarm clock and plan to take them out, than waiting until the puppy is yelling because he REALLY have to go. If you respond to whining and yelling, the puppy has already trained you to react on his command. And that means you'll have a whiny dog for the rest of your life.
Instead, schedule a trip outside in the middle of the night, just in the beginning to make him houseclean.

Two of the cubs napping

Taking him outside at 03:00 was a good idea, he did his business right away. But making him sleep afterwards was not the easiest thing. We had to sit by the crate and just be calm with him, talking in a sleeepy voice and cuddle until he fell asleep. When we got to bed, he slept for about an hour before he woke up again. Same procedure, being careful not to show up when he was whining, but rather as a reward when he kept silent. After that, he slept as a baby again, until it was time for me to go to work. Yaaay! We're VERY proud of him, handling his first night so incredibly well!
Oluf was very worried when he didn't sleep, he is already taking part in the raising! (^.^)

Fjell, one of the brothers

This morning, he didn't eat much because he was sooo tired, but as soon as he came outside, he was super awake and started playing with Oluf. Kyooot!
Ronny is watching him righ now, and I just got this adorable pic:

Aaaaaw! How cute can you be? I bet these guys will be best friends by the time I get back home. Ronny was set up on conditioning the clicker and starting the sit- training while I am at work, so I'm eager to see the

training in progress when I get back home.

...This will be the slowest workday everrrrrr!

Buddha - our new dog!

2010-08-04T10:19:00.000+02:00

Look at this adorable raccon-face!
Buddha, our new puppy!

Every once in a while, life does not take exactly the turns you've planned for. And this is a very sweet example.

Ronny and I are a bit over-enthusiastic when it comes to dogs. We just lov'em!

I am an educated dog trainer and clickertrainer, and used to have courses in puppy-training and everyday obedience in Trondheim when I was a student.

Our Labrador-German Sheperd-Border Collie-mix Oluf is a 7 year old superdog, who was relocated to me when he was three years old.

Booouuuunce

He had tons of stress-related behaviour to deal with, but today he is a very sweet, goofy and well-functioning dog. When he got used to clickertraining, all his energy came to show, and he is amazingly eager to learn new tricks. A thing with Oluf though, is that he has obviously not had enough training on being calm as a pup'.

He has a very low patience, and he also handles "weird" activities badly. For example, watching us fishing or slacklining while being calm? Not an option in Luff's world. With lots of training he has gotten better, but the behavior patterns from his earliest years have become stayers.

Oluf doing his fav' activity

Because of this, we have fantasized about having a dog from the beginning of its "puppyhood", and raise it to handle every situation like being in a boat, camping outside the tent, being able to stay calm while we are doing other things and so on. A husky would have been a nice breed, when it comes to norwegian winters, also since we're fan of drag skiing. But there are pro's and cons with every breed. Huskies tend to have a bit harsh temper, and they're known for not being easy to make sheep-clean (= not attacking sheep).

So, we just put all dog-plans on hold.

But this Saturday, I met Eldri, a friend I haven't seen in a while. Mulla was there too, and of course we started to talk about dogs. We always do (^.^) Eldri now has four Irish Red Setters'; Aero, Mille. Ilva and Jazz!

I told her the thing about us wanting a true wildland-dog, and she replies "But Guri has a litter right now, a mix between Alaskan Husky and Irish Setter!". I was like ..... well I don't know, the plan for us was not to have a dog right now. But these were PERFECT! The gentle Setter would calm the Husky temper, and the Husky fur and body would be perfect for sled pulling, drag skiing and all the winter fun!

We agreed to meet up at Guri's the next day. Just to watch, nothing more. But there they came tumbling, eleven puppies! Amagaaaad! Kyoot overdose!

They were total cuteness! Especially one, with his racoon face and naughty behaviour. Gah!

Buddha, 6 weeks. It looks like someone used a paint-roller down his nose!

Another thing that is VERY important, is how the puppies are socialized. Some Huskies grow up in a cage outside, with almost no contact with other than their litter and mother. Not a good start if you wanna drag your dog everywhere in the world later on. What the puppy experience at early age, will manifest in later behaviour.

At Guri's, the puppies are used to other people, different dog breeds, sheep, goats, horses, cats, rabbit, doves and a peacock! Can it be any better? Also, Guri trains with positive reinforcement, and not by the principles of dominance (that's why I hate Cecar Millan and his dog abuse!). My kind of breeder!

So many good things! But still... It came a little sudden. Ronny and I thought of it that night, and came to the conclusion we were not ready for another dog yet. Our appartment is tiny, and Oluf is a handful.

But in the morning, Ronny texted me : "Errr.....I'm looking at pictures of him right now. Seriously, he's so fine! Is Buddha going to be our dog?". And then we had to visit Guri a second time to have a closer look at the rascal. He is pure perfection. A dog we can clickertrain into freestyle, agility, pulling sleds, drag skiing, hiking, carry a pack, and everything a best friend can be involved in.

So yesterday we decided. Buddha is going to be ours!

We're picking him up next Sunday, squeeeee!

Now we have to work on making the appartment puppy-safe, watch all the great films by Fanny Gott, and prepare how to work with two dogs - of course Oluf will not be left out! He is still numero uno!

Why Buddha? To us, the name represents our hippie-style and happy laidback way of living. A perfect dog for us!

Slacklining - fun for everyone!

2010-07-30T09:57:00.000+02:00

Slacklining in Maria la Gorda, Cuba

A really typical thing for the Pierats, is that things often get a bit boring without play. Just hanging around with friends is great, but if you add some action and fun into it - WHAM, you have the best time ever!
Slacklining is one of the activities we really love! The line is easy to carry around, and you can find two trees or poles almost everywhere.

Whip it up, and start walking! In the beginning, it feels super-wobbly; like you'll never going to be able to find your balance. But suddenly, your body understands how to go with the flow! And then, the curve of managing the whole thing shoots like a rocket! As soon as you handle the walking forward- thing, try a few steps backwards. Or try turning. Or try a yoga pose. Or or or...the possibilities are endless!

Doing this with your friends is amazing. You help each other balance, pepping each other up while grilling and just being blissfully happy. And hey, this is not just an activity for the summertime! Slacklining during winter has a huge bonus: landing on snow is soft!

Visit the original Slackline-site to order a line, the amazing Hyggepiece or just to find inspiration by reading the story of the slackline-crew.
Get ready to enjoy the ultimate bliss!

Maria la Gorda, Cuba

Montego Bay, Jamaica

Caye Caulker, Belize

Heyyy, we found another couple slacklining! What are the odds on a small island like this? They were from Sweden, and had a line from slackline.no. Go Scandinavia!

Isla de Ometepe, Nicaragua

We got to share our passion with backpackers from all over the world:

Ljøsheim, Norway

Fishing in Møre - with a dramatic start!

2010-07-23T08:58:00.002+02:00

Could we beat last years superCod?

To be honest; I understand that we kinda exceeded our vacation limit with the Pierats of the Caribbean-trip. All my colleagues is nicely reminding me of this when I as much as start on complaining over no happy-go-holiday-time for this summer. Ok ok, I agree (^.^)
But Ronny and I still got to have one week off in the beginning of June, and we spent it in Møre. Being there means fishing, fishing and tons of fishing. Purrrfect for us!
Either by boat in salt water, or in fresh water in the mountains.

Holy mackerel! Mwwwahhh!

Like I've said before, the littlest things in life often provides the greatest bliss. Listening to lapping waves, having my purple franch brew coffe-cup filled with fresssssh Java Mocca, the great conversations between me and Ronny, and of course, the excitement of getting a big (or small) tug on the line!

Lars Monsen-books, French brewed java mocca and
mocca-beans. Life is gooood!

Møre is extremely beautiful, and this is the view from our little cabin:

There's so much to love about this little place near Ertvågøya. The locals are so friendly, and the simplicity rules. When we arrived, everyone was gathered by the shore, struggling with something. We came down to take a look, and they happily shouted: "Ronny! Come over here, we're lifting a rock!".
So the first thing we do, is helping out pulling a huuuge rock over a stone pillar fence. Gotta love it!

Project going on

Taaa-daaah!

As always, we managed to get hurt also on this trip. We were launching the boat, and Ronny was inside the boat house to free it from the jack straps. Suddenly I heard a SMACK, and it became verrryyy silent.
Oh snap! The jack strap had snapped off, and came like a projectile straight in his face. I saw the bleeding, and the first thing that came across my mind was
"An injury. While we're stuck on an isolated island. On a Sunday. Oooooh mighty SNAP!".

OUCH!!!!

Luckily, no teeth was broken, neither was his nose. But the cut in the lip and chin had to be sewed, so we called the casualty ward.
No problem, the doctor would arrive within an hour...by boat! We had to drive to the harbour where the ferry passage to Smøla is, and wait for the boat. For the first time in Ronnys life, he got patched up by sea!

The evil jack strap. Disguised in kawaii rainbow colours!

Uhhuuuhhuhhhh! (T_T)

Yaaay! The medic-boat arrives!

Nice work, considering the rocking boat!

Ronny was feeling fit for fight again, and we could start our vacation. Of course, Oluf was with us. Milkypaws loves to watch the red deer jumping around, and crawling up in our beds at night (that's strictly forbidden back home) to make some snore-action.

Oluf got his fair share of snuggle-time!

The trout-fishing were better this year than last year. We got sooo many, which made us able to eat freshly caught mountain-trout every day. Nothing beats it!

n0m n0m n0m

Wandrering around silently, taking a few throws here and there...pure naturegasm!
The fishing we did by boat didn't get us as many as last year, but still...more than we cared to go filleting! We had good luck with the weather too, only a few days of rain.

A pretty cute pollack. The vegetarian shows her barbaric side yet another time!

Popeye in action

Looook at the fish finder! There are FISHIES lurking under here!

One of the really sunny and peaceful days we had out in the boat, I said that the only thing I missed now was to see porpoises. They are not uncommon in the area, but shy and not always eager to show themselves.
About five minutes after, I heard a strange noise. Like a stressed horse blowing through its nose. I turned, and there, right by the boat... came TWO porpoises, arching perfectly synchronized through the waves. Amagaaad, BIG naturegasm! We watched the peaceful creatures continue their journey while we were absolutely content. Happy.

Guess who won the biggest-fish-contest?!?!?!

Slimy hugs from Silje

Kayaking in Trysil - a great day for practice!

2010-07-26T10:41:00.002+02:00

Two exhausted and happyyyyyy kayakers!

Last Friday, Ronny and I decided to find us some foamy withewater to go river kayaking!

I had been itching to play in the water for a long time now, but since we always have something going on every day, there was never time for it.
But now we could finally go!

I was more than excited, because I was going to try out the Dagger Kingpin for the first time! Ronny is an experienced kayaker and is used to the "funboat, but until now, I had only used steadier boats with much more volume. Great for beginners, and the boys agreed I would find myself some trouble trying the funboat. But hey, I gotta learn someday, right? (^_^)

Thank you Stein Olav, for putting your boxer among the equipment I borrowed. I will now use it as a helmet

Testeing a playboat for the first time!

My handsome kayaker, ready to hit the waves

When we got to Trysil, the river had pretty much water. That means some parts were rather flat (equals boring), but more than two parts had some preehhttyyy big waves!
Usually the whole gang is playing, and then we have an experienced person to paddle in front and pick out the best lines, to avvoid trouble for the newbies. Since it was only Ronny and me this time, he decided I should go first, so that he could pick me up if I went under water- which he was pretty sure was going to happen with that boat. I should also try to stay clear of the two biggest waves.

Well....That didn't happen. When the first big wave came up, I was a little skewed. I figured trying to paddle around the wave would cause me to go sideways into the next one, and that would definitely flip me over. So I went right through it. TONS of fun! I got a little caught up in the middle of it, and Ronny was right behind me. Trying to avvoid hitting me, HE was flipped upside down! But Ronny does the eskimo roll perfectly, so it was no problem for him. He just laughed because I managed through it.

Confident as "#¤%&/, we approached the last and huge wave. The only thing was, I didn't realize it was the huge one...I thought it would be further down the river. So of course, I didn't stay clear of this one either. But what a rush!
I was on top of a little foamy mountain, and in front of me I could see another foamy one. But to get there, I had to dive down in the middle of it before I could get back up. I heard Ronny shouting "Paddle! Paddle! Paddle!", and went for it. I got swallowed, and the wave spit me right out again. Ronny shook his head and roared with laughter, because he was so focused on helping me if I messed up, that he went under again! When he got up he expected to see me without the kayak, swimming, but I was fine! And boy, was I bragging about it!
...Of course, I always brag when I manage something. But seriously, the feeling of managing the waves is tremendous!

Ronny took the time to surf in the big wave. I was sooo jealous watching him play in the middle of the sparkling water, it looked so fun! But I also realized what the guys mean when they say these boats are easier to mess up with. They are so round and light, that in an instant, the waves will flip you over. No problem for Ronny though, he just rolled back up like it was the easiest thing in the world!

A nice and cozy place to practice boofing

Niiice weather!

The picture doesn't give much credit showing how big that wave actually was.

Afterwards we practiced on boofing, buddy roll and to paddle across the river without getting knocked out. Ronny is a former rafting instructor in Sjoa, so he has tons of good tips for a rookie like me.
The buddy roll is an easy way to roll if you don't master the eskimo roll. Here's the steps on how to do it:

1.Stay clear of rocks.
When you are under water (that means you are upside down), lean forward and tuck close to the deck of the boat. This is to prevent getting your head smashed in rocks. And that, you do not want!

2.Arms up
Now, this is the tricky part, at least for me. You have to reach both arms up and out of the water. Sounds easy, but being upside down under water can make you pretty disorientated. The first time i tried this, I had both arms on the same side of the boat, and I didn't even realize!
Well, when you do this properly, your buddy should paddle close to you to let you do the roll.

3.The buddy roll
Wave your hands until you feel your friend's boat. Your friend should give your boat a little bump with his, so you know where he is. Grab your friend's boat and begin to pull yourself up, use your hips to help flip your boat around.

And taaa-daaah, the air is yours to breathe!

Finishing the day by drying up by the fireplace is the best thing two Pierats can do!

Note:
I'm seeking GIRLS who wants to go kayaking in Hedmark! Be sure to send me an email if you are interested in some whitewater!

Foamy hugs from Silje

Volcom Jacket from Helenapus!

2010-07-19T13:25:00.000+02:00

Ok, it's not winter YET, but I have been dreaming of snowboarding since January. I miss it so much!
Well, this upcoming winter, I will focus on getting better at the jumps. Yay, more BigJumps! Ahem, that means, getting better at the smaller ones first, to make sure i don't land on my neck AGAIN! (^^)
Anyway, cutie Helenapus is having this übercool Volcom jacket out for a giveaway, and I sure hope I'll get one!

Camping-bliss at Næra

2010-07-15T12:22:00.001+02:00

A fireplace makes you wilderness-senses tickle

Two weekends ago, Ronny and I took a camping trip to Næra, a small place not far from where we live. For a long time, we've wanted to take an excursion were we slept in a tent, and finally we got our little bums into it and was on our way.

Our casa

Since we were only staying from Friday to Sunday, we could pack all the stuff we needed without considering the weight issue. Yay, more food for us!

We wanted to stay on one of the few small islands nearby, and rowed merrily across the lake. The first island was taken by a family with kids. Err, don't wanna hang out there, or what? Sorry, but we just wanted to be by ourselves (^.^)

You and me bebe, you and me

A bit bummed by not having our first choice, we got to the next place. And when we entered, we got a surprise:
A beautiful little fireplace was already built near the water, ready to be used. We instantly fell in love with the place, and quickly raised the tent.
It took Ronny about five minutes to rig the fishing gear and start hunting the great Pike, Hårek. I catched his wife Gyda last year, and this time we wanted her hussssssbannnd! Mwahahah (sorry, bad ~~vege~~ pescetarian I am)!!!

Me man, me hunt and make fire *grunt*

It's the simplest things in life that makes true bliss. Sitting in front of a crackling fire for hours, just watching the sunset and listening to the soft sounds of calm water... truly our cup of tea!
Both have been reading books written by our hero Lars Monsen lately; Walking thorugh Alaska and 101 tips from the Wilderness. Nothing makes you wanna explore nature like Lars!

Ronny having cozy time in the tent

Ronny and I love to make small contests.Like, competing about making the best fireplace, catching the first pike, and so on. And for the record, I got the first pike! It wasn't Hårek, it was his daughter Møyfrid. But we didn't care, 'cuz we wanted to flay her and grill her on the fire. Note to self: bring spices next time! Makes more of a kick to it, than just eating it by it self.
Also, the pike has kindof a double spine with Y-bones, that can be frustrating to pluck from the fillet.
You slip the edge of the knife underneath the ribs on the inside of each fillet and separate them from the meat like you normally do. When you discard the ribs, with practice you'll be able to cut the Y-bone out without separating the other meat from the fillet. Nothing beats freshhhh fishhhhhhh!

n0m n0m n0m

WIN!

Trying the old "make the fish look bigger"-trick

The weekend was great, you can really relax together as a couple on excursions like this. Getting away from the everyday stress and material needs is healthy peeps; get out and play!

Snuggling early in the morning. You sleep on rocks and the tent is HOT, but you'll be the happiest beings ever!

Moods of Norway

Having an open front-tent gives you fresh air through the night, but remember to close the openening between the main and the fron-tent! Or else, you will for sure be eaten alive by every blood thirsty bug alive!

Why oh WHY do we ALWAYS find abandoned underwear when we're hiking and camping?!?

Uno - always with us, always a competition

The concept and the adventures

2009-09-11T12:01:00.014+02:00

Adventure 1
Pierats of the Caribbean 2010

And the game is on!
Now we're finally finished with the layout, and the very first blog entry will be dedicated to tell you about the concept of Pierats.

We are an adventurous couple, always looking for fun and the next kick. The 20. of january 2010 we're going on a two months- trip, to all these exciting countries:
Miami, Jamaica, Cuba, Mexico, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. We're SO stoked!

One lovely day when we were hiking at Ljøsheim with our superdog Oluf, we started playing with words, as we always do. I said I always wanted to write a book about expeditions, extreme sports and fun fun fun, and that it would have been a blast to have a theme for our upcoming trip.
We agreed that we should at least have a blog, and started trying out different theme names. Travel bugs, global travellers, and so on. But nothing really catched our "YES"- factor.

Until Ronny suddenly said: "What about us being the Pierats of the caribbean?! Instead of being real pirates (but we are, though..arrr!), we're PIErats, and we have to try out different pies from every city we travel to!"
YES! This was it! And I went on: "Oh-oh-oh, and of course it must be extreme pie-eating: eating pie while doing sick stuff, like sky diving, bungee jumping, kayaking and such!"
And then our imagination exploded again, like it always does:
"And of course, the book wil be a mix of stories from our travels, tips on where to find lokal adventures, pictures of extreme pie-eating and pie recipies (reciPIES...pun oh so intended!!)!"
"And we need stickers with a super-cool logo to put on every pie-place we try out!"
"Oh-oh-oh, yeah! We can open a store to support our travelling!"
"We need a facebook-group!"
"And a Twitter-account!"

...As you can tell, we both got SO worked up, and here we are, starting with our first blog entry.
We want everyone to join us and be Pierats too!

A Pierat is forever young, seeking adventures behind every stone! Never grow old and always have time to play!

Adventure 2

Hooked on Kiwi 2012

What's with the topic, you say?
Well, like I said earlier, we already started making plans for a new adventure while we were on the Pierats of the Caribbean-trip. We had two main destinations we wanted to check out, and while we had a lovely walk with Oluf the other day, we decided in about two minutes where to go:

During january-february 2012, we will travel through New Zealand!

The decision was mainly made on behalf of our friend Sean DeLacy. He is a sheep shearer with a big farm in NZ, and half the year he is shearing here in Norway. He has asked us to come visiting him many times, and now it is time to explore this amazzzzzing country!

We will have our base on Sean's farm, and take it from there. His farm is located in Owhango, a fresh little town between Taupo National Park and Taumarunui. And here my friends, is where these scenes from Lord of the Rings was taken: Hobbiton and The Shire, Mount Doom, Mordor and Emyn Muil! You can actually recreate the climb up Mt. Doom from Return of the King, and see some left Hobbit holes in the Waikato region. Left? Did I say left? Of course, Frodo will be there! (^_^) Happy, much? YES INDEED!

The farm is also 15 km from the three volcanos, and 2hrs away is the best surfing on the west coast! We can hardly wait to get a second try on the surf-fun we had a taste of in Nicaragua! We will also help Sean with different tasks on his farm (remember our NZ-style shearing from last autumn?), like cutting the horns of all his red deer! Gah! Not an everyday doing, that's for sure!

And zorbing! We have to try the oh-so-amazingly-funny-looking zorbing!

While Pierats of the Caribbean was based on scuba diving, Hooked on Kiwi will circle around fishing. Trout fishing is supposed to be simply breathtaking down there, and the absolutely stunning nature will suit Ronny and me perfectly. We love just walking around and beautiful landscapes, and fishing itself is one of our fav' activities! And hey, Lake Taupo is concidered one of the world's premier fishing destinations!
A new travel-account is already put in action, and we are saving money like real Ebenezer Scrooges'! Wanna know how we save money? I'll post a blog about it later!

We will of course be documenting the whole adventure like last time, and hope you guys will follow us!

These NZ-pics are borrowed from GettyImages:

Kiwi-land! We wanna see 'em!

There will be sheep!

Happy camping is a must!

Surfs up! We can hardly wait to try more surfing!

LOTR!

Fishing. Fishiiies! There will be a LOT!

Reggae and Rainbows!

Kiwi-hugs from us!

What not to do when adventuring...

2009-09-13T13:20:00.003+02:00

Holy smoke!
Last night at the cabin ended, as usual, with the gang being sliiightly drunk. After a day loaded with activities like archery and shooting with the air gun, we had to play pi(e)rats and run outside ~~stealing stuff~~ in the forest by night. What? We need to to stuff, or else we get bored. Easily.

Well, the mountain terrain at the cabin does not exactly invite to hiking when it's pitch dark. There are roots and holes everywhere in the hills, and running like crazy because we were kind of being...chased, made me trip and strain my ankle. Oh noooooes, bad happening! It seriously hurts like bloody something something, and I don't have time to lay down at this moment. I hope it heals really fast, because we've been planning on practicing the kayaking and mabe go sky diving this upcoming week. At least I can not do the landing with this foot at the moment, that would be a disaster.

Hopefully, injuries like this will not happen right before or under our big trip. I really wanna practice on the big jump this snowboard-season, but Ronny won't let me. Heeheee, maybe it's for the best, I tend to get injured every time I do stuff.

Besides beating myself up, we have'nt laughed this much in ages! The whole gang are probably the worst pretend-thieves ever, everyone hurting themselves by tumbling down the hills and getting lost several times. Life is goood, and people, you crack me up! Lets do it again!

Ronny and I will stay a few more days, just chilling with our ever lasting chess games and walking on slackline. No wait, scratch that. I CAAAAN'T DOOO IT NOW (^_^)

Big rat-hugs from Silje

The happy ankle

The ankle from hell

Planning the trip

2009-09-14T19:39:00.004+02:00

Can't wait to go adventuring with you, sugarpie!

Since my ankle's still injured, it's suits us to spend time at the cabin planning the big trip. We've piled up with Lonely Planet - books, reading and of course marking the good stuff - with colour codes!
We're especially looking up the facts on scuba diving and surfing. None of us have tried surfing before, so it'll be a blast! I don't have the divers licence, but Ronny have the advanced grade. We're so stoked, both hoping to be so lucky that we get to swim with a whale shark. It seems like Cancùn can give us this experience, even though we're more likely to get a glimpse of them in June than in January - March. But it would have been amaazing! We both have a deep love for animals and nature, and the animal life in all the countries we're going to are told to be rich and full of surprices.

Another task is booking a spanish class here in Norway before we go. Everyone we've been talking to have adviced us to do so, since spanish are more common than english in most of the places we're going. We were a bit unlucky with the timing, because the same day Ronny e-mailed a local school about upcoming courses, a new one just started. So we have to wait until next class begins. That being said, we HAVE actually tried to learn spanish on our own. It resulted in a broad knowledge of colours, body parts and swearing, so we may have to broaden those phrases (^.^)

I also discovered good news about the food in Jamaica. Me being a vegetarian can sometimes cause trouble at certain places, but Jamaica is know for their own diet called Ital (as in "vital"). It origins from the vegan rastafaries all over the country, abandoning meat and all artificial components. Good news for me, and Ronny can still get his meaty stuff, prepared in delicious ways. In Nicaragua, I have to prepare to live on beans and lentils to get my proteins, besides from fish. But hey, a little gassy-fun just brightens our mood, or what? (^_^)

Lifesavers - Oluf wonders if he can come along

Ravin Rabbidz!

Rat-hugs from Silje

Plastic Pies?

2009-09-17T10:36:00.004+02:00

Back to work after being sick, and man, it feels good! I'm getting way too stressed out by being ill and having to get rest - so boring!
The ankle is getting more normal-sized again, but it still hurts like hell. That's not what I've planned, because Ronny and I really wanted to go sky diving this weekend! But landing on this messed up foot would be a disaster, so we have to find something else to do.
Luckily, Jim called yesterday and told us we could borrow the pool at his workplace this Sunday. That means we can practice our kayaking, especially me on the eskimo-roll! One goal for next year is kayaking in Sjoa , and by then I need to be more skilled in rolling. Ronny have been kayaking for years and is an excellent teacher, so I bet I'll be doing a decent roll by the end of Sunday (^.^)

We have picked up another Lonely Planet-book, about Costa Rica. It seems like possibilities for diving and surfing is great almost every place we're going, so I guess we'll look like raisins when we get back home.

Also, we're thinking about looking for sponsors. It's a bit late, but the whole Pierats-project came up a month ago, so it's worth a try. The media-covering can be good, especially if the book-planning is going well, so sponsoring the expedition is not a bad thing (>_^)

Concerning the pie-eating, we're looking for a pie made of plastic or something similar. We realized that we may not ALWAYS have a real pie in hand if something cool happens, and a fake pie will do the trick in those sudden kodak-moments. But where to find such a thing? It turned out to be harder than I expected, so a little help would be appreciated!

Piehugs from Silje

Sources of inspiration

2009-09-18T08:31:00.007+02:00

Inspiration and creativity seems to overwhelm Ronny and me when we're brainstorming, and it's hard to snap out of it. Take for instance, our Pierat-shop. By now we have idea for an endless amount of designs, and I can hardly wait to sit down with my pen tablet and draw it all. Skulls, poo, rainbows, you name it! (^.^)

Talking about inspiration, nothing is better than following other travelling blogs, reading articles about expeditions and browsing for adventure-sites. It makes you wanna travel right away, and you can pick up many great tips and tricks for your trips. Like how to travel light, cheap, where, when and how.
One of our friends, Saskia, crossed Greenland by kite with two other girls. How cool is that? Last time she was home she showed us a movie from their expedition, and it got us all so excited we're near booking tickets for a Greenland-adventure (well...if we had the money, that is)!
Another gang of supercool Scandinavian girls are the Baffin Babes, spending 80 days in the arctic crossing Baffin Island. Sounds amazing! Cecilie Skog is also one of the norwegian pioneers when it comes to female adrenalinjunkies.
Personally, I love to read about strong, adventure-seeking girls doing expeditions and coming up with good concepts. The media tend to focus on girls being pretty and up to date in the newest fashion trends, and to be honest, that's really narrowing a person down to nothing.
It's so refreshing to see energy-popping girls exploring the world!

Of course, there tons of cool adventuring guys out there too. We have our own Lars Monsen, having an endless count of exciting expeditions on his rep. You gotta love pictures like this!

Now it's only a few ours at work, and then the weekend starts! I'm going to get the ankle x-rayed today, just to be sure I'm not limping around with a fracture or something worse. If it's only a strain, Ronny and I will be fooling around in the pool with kayaks this Sunday. Yayz!

Pie-eating Silje

Pooltraining with kayak

2009-09-23T19:11:00.001+02:00

WAHEY, I DID THE EKSIMO ROLL!
I'm so happy I can hardly sit still! This sunday, Jim was so kind letting us use the pool at his workplace for some serious kayak-practicing. I've just tried it once before, but the water in the mountains was so dark and cold, it was was hard getting a grip on what was going on. Being upside-down in the water can really make you lose your sense of up, down, front and back, and though I was on to something, I did the arm-movements wrong.

In the pool, Ronny could stay under water to see what I did wrong, and I could also orientate better. The mistake I made turned out to be with my arms, I did'nt stretch out in the movement.Ronny adviced me to look at the paddle blade, and be sure to get the paddle OVER my head while rotating backwards. I tried it, and...whaaaaaat? I was on top of the water! I did it, I did it! I was smiling, laughing and shouting, and of course I got the "you-made-it-kiss" from Ronny.

Now I just had to do it a hundred more times, or at least it felt like it. Suddenly it was the easiset thing in the world, and I felt like the Queen of kayaking! But after a while, I started getting mentally tired, and then again, I screwed up. Luckily Ronny guided me through this mental blockage, by telling me what I did wrong, and what to do to make it right. And now it worked again, I was rolling like a happy happy seal out there (^.^)

It would be great if we're able to borrow the pool throughout the winter. Then I can become really steady in the eskimo roll, sculling, low and high brace and other defensive and offensive techniques to stay safe in the water. Gotta live through Sjoa next year, you know (>_^)

I could'nt have done it without Ronny's guidance. He is an experienced kayaker, and an incredible good teacher. Both having backgrounds as instructors, we know the importance of being patient when you teach, and to listen when you're taught. Thank you Ronny, and thanks to Jim for lending us the pool!

For more pictures, look at our photo gallery!

Jump-a-doodle-doo from Silje

Pie gone gooey!

2009-09-24T08:52:00.004+02:00

Oh lordy, I just have to show you this: our first pie made for Pierats photoshoots!
When we were going to play with the kayak in the pool, we just had to have a pie with us. Both Ronny and I suffer from the "lets do boring stuff really quick, so we can go out and play"-syndrome. Making a small blueberry pie in no time, that should be easy, huh?
Well, I spread out som butter dough, filled it with blueberries and blueberry jelly, and voila! The most gooey pie ever made in history! We just looked at it, and was like "Na-ah! Jim would not be very happy if we took this with us into the pool!"
So, first pie-making: Baaaad action!
Next time, we need less fillings! (^.^)

Kayaking in Trysil

2009-09-25T08:41:00.007+02:00

Yesterday, Ronnys brother Roar came over to share a bunch of pics he took when we were kayaking in Trysil a couple of weeks ago. He captured so many supercool moments!

Ronny and I surfing the waves

Booouunce! Ronny, you're so supercool!

I am always smiling

The gang having fun

Ronny is always looking after his girl

SPLASH! bouncing off the slide from the forest!

Sometimes resquing is needed

YAYZ! Still smiling!

Huge pie-hugs from Silje

Oluf on tour

2009-09-30T09:17:00.005+02:00

Being away for two months is'nt just easy, when you have a big dog who needs a place to stay. Oluf is our beloved fairytalemix of Labrador, German Sheperd and Border Collie. The best buff buddy in the world!

When I worked as a dog trainer, a got Luff from a dog shelter in Trondheim when he was three years old. Having a relocated dog can be a blessing and a curse, and with Oluf, I found out he had a few behavioral problems. One of them was that his brain just went all syntax error if he was stressed out, and then he would go biting his leash, or even worse, take å hold at my arm. For a breed like the Lab', holding something when their stressed out is a natural response. But Luff is so big, that it's too much to handle. So we worked on this for about a year, and finally the behavioral seemed to have been almost extincted.
Now, Oluf is a superhappy, clickertrained dog, doing anything for food and play!

Still, he will always be a huge, whimsical bear, and we are always concerned when others are babysitting him. So the question was; who can take care of him for two months, when the Pierats are travelling? We could'nt ask any of our friends to have ham that long, and placing a relocated dog in a shelter can cause severe stress. After a couple of brainstormings, I looked up an old friend of mine, Hanne. I rode her horses long a go, when she was breeding the Lipizzan. Now, she breeds Borzoi and Norwegian Forest cats at her lovely home in Furnes. She also manages a dog shelter, and I know shes good regarding dog behavior. Yesterday we went there with Luff, to see if he liked it there and if he cooperated with her Borzoi. The wonderful two Borzoi girls, Harita and Bashira, became best buddies with Luff at once. Of course, he loves the ladies too, and the only drawback is, they're running WAY too much and HILARIOUSLY fast!He was so exhausted when we came home, he was snoring before his head reached the floor :)

Hannes place was really nice! The only things we have to work on in advance, is to train Oluf to lie in a cage at night. He's using a cage in the car, but I'm not sure if he's comfortable sleeping in it. So that we have to check out. Another thing is that Hanne don't want the dogs to bark or be noisy. That CAN be a problem with Luff, he has a lot of guardian instinct, and he can also complain if he thinks you're making food in another room. The solution we came up with was to let him have a sleepover a couple nights before the trip, so we can see if he adapts nicely. He usually does, but if it does'nt work out, we'll be too far away to fix it :)
I'm really happy that Hanne is following these rules, because that means she's taking care of the dogs in a good way. I bet Luff will be really happy to be able to play with the girls all day anyway ;)

Paw-pie from Silje

Hiking at Snørvillen

2009-09-30T20:12:00.003+02:00

We had a great trip to Snørvillen this Sunday! We went with Ronnys' brother Roar and his girl Thora. And with Oluf, of course. It's really beautiful up there when the autumn has painted its colours all over, and the air is fresh and clean.
The whole trip took about five hours, so we were really ready for dinner when we came back! (^_^) Oluf was so exhausted he fell asleep instantly. Good times!

This evening there's a documentary running about one of my favorite outdoor-girls, Cecilie Skog. She lost her husband Rolf Bae when they climbed K2, and now she's out with a book about the life they lived together as an outdoor- and extreme sport-loving couple, and how it was to lose her loved one to the mountains. I'm really looking forward to see the documentary, so I think I'll snuggle up with Ronny and a cup of tea pretty soon.

Last kayaking for the season - with both snow, summer tires and an accident!

2009-10-04T17:23:00.002+02:00

What? SNOW?

This morning, six happy kayakers got up really early (really early concidering the amount of alcohol consumed last night, that is!) to end the kayaking season with a trip to Trysil. Ronny, me, Mari, Stein Olav, Kjersti and Terje were all good to go and excited about having another fight against everyday boredom this Sunday.

Ronny and I were driving the big white van, and when we came to Trysil, we were in for a surprise. It was lots of snow, and summer tires on the van aka Bambi on ice could be interesting. Luckily, the roads were'nt that icy, so we all survived the trip.

Man, do you know how freaking freezing it is to change into our dry suits, standing in the snow when it's minus degrees outside? The funniest part was Terje. His kayak is too small (or his feet are to big) for him to wear shoes in, so he does'nt wear shoes. But when we drove the cars to the end point, he forgot to bring his regular shoes with him. Watching Terje running barefoot in the snow like a crazy Jack Sparrow to the car = priceless. Also, his footprints looked like Bigfoot had been stomping around the place (^.^)

Seriously?

Finally all gear was set, and we were ready to hit the water. I mean, to literally hit the water. We have a tradition to launch from a slide in the forest and bouuunce into the water. The only thing is, this time the water level was really low. The problem (except form the waves being missing) was, there were lots of rocks sticking up from the water close to the shore. Normally, the kayaks will slide down, bounce off the edge and splash into the water. Not today.

The first fail was made by my dear Mari. She landed on a pointy rock, and boy was she lucky to get it under her legs and not under her bum. That could have caused a severe back pain, that's for sure!
The next bummer was more serious. Ronny took off, and for a while it seemed like he was going to make a clean line all the way down. But right before the edge, he was pulled sideways, and had a bad rotation before he landed upside down in the shallow water. And he did'nt come right back up, like we expected. Suddenly he pulled himself out, and came gasping for air. His back had gotten a harsh hit, he smacked his head and the air was beaten out of him. I could see he was in great pain, but he still wanted to go down the river with us. Tough guy, as always.

The famous slide, now with snow at the top and rocks at the bottom!

The water was rather flat and not especially exciting, but none of us were really up for it either after the accident. Just a few hundred meters down, Ronny had to throw in the towel, his back was hurting to much. I went to the shores with him, and the rest of the team finished the kayaking without any other failures.
Since the water levels was too low for the fun action and Ronny was in so much pain, we decided to go back home.
A bit of a downer to end the season like this, but we're going to have indoor practice all winter to be superhappy and ready when spring is arriving!

We are not amused with flat water and back pain

The skydiving got cancelled yesterday too because of lousy weather, so the weekend did'nt actually go as planned. But that's how the game is when you're doing outdoor, risky sports. You can't have everything planned down to the tiniest detail, because nature and karma will always have its way (>.^)

And sometimes, you get injured. Both Ronny and I have had a lot of injuries lately, so I hope we've had our fair share by now. I will use the rest of the weekend to be a good nurse and take care of my boy, he deserves a huge amount of snuggling now!

Seems WEIRD to kayak surrounded by powder!

Mari, you look like the Hulk!

Never go on adventures without TP!

This is how a regular bathroom belonging to kayakers should look like!

View the whole album here.

Pain-pie needed! Hugs from Silje

Eager and anxious to skydive again!

2009-10-15T17:06:00.003+02:00

Here we go, the first Pierat-skydiving!

Ronny gave me the coolest present ever for my birthday this year. A skydiving-course for both of us, at our local skydiverclub HAGL. Can a gift for a Pierat be any cooler than that?

The course lasted for three days, and the first two was pretty intense. We practiced the X-pose and emergency-procedure until our backs almost snapped in half (I do yoga...and even my back was aching!). Both actually dreamt of it the same night, so our heads was clearly filled to the limit with procedures and excitement.

And Sunday morning we were in place at Østre Æra, to get our first jump! Alone. Oh, so alone. We were so eager to get started, but obviously the rest of the experienced skydivers did not have the same amount of butterflies in their stomachs as we did. So we had to wait a couple of hours until the easy living instructors came along.

We were so stoked! In the beginning, we thought the first jump would be a tandem. Oh, so wrong! When you're in the air after the course, you're on your own. The first 6 jumps are line-jumps, so we did'nt have to pull the parachute by ourselves. But still, there's tons of things to ~~worry~~ be aware of!
Ronny was the heaviest (mwahaha),so he went first. We both had a pretty unstable exit, and both our lines got tangled up around our arms. I also managed to get a twin so deep that it pushed my head down. I was like; hmmm, my head's stuck. And I can't see if I'm flying or not. Oh snap!
But I had to do something, so I lifted my arms above my head and grabbed the thingie that pulled it down (I did'nt realize it was the ropes) and suddenly the twin was gone. And I could see EVERYTHING under me. It was the sickest, craziest and most beautiful sight I've ever seen, and I bet Ronny agrees with me. We were actually flying!

Before you're getting up in the air, you're given different landmarks to navigate after. You have to make a turn at 900-, 600 and 300 feet, before you prepare for the landing. You also have to take the wind direction into concidering. Well, lets say we were NOT exactly thinking about measuring the wind when the ground was approaching. We both went faaar away from the landing point. Ronny did well, he landed nicely even though he fell after a few steps on the solid ground.

Ronny getting cheers from our instructor Tor Marius. Well done, love!

Yes. The ground is solid. I can confirm that for sure. My sense of hight and depth is really, really poor. We were supposed to flare at 6, 56 feet. I flared at 22,96 feet...
Luckily I held the flare down, that made the fall a bit slower. But still, waaay to fast of my liking. My vision of myself landing light as a feather on the landing spot, waving happily to everyone, bursted like a bubble. I landed on my knees in a pile of rocks. Jeez...
When I finally made it to the rest of the crew, I was exhausted. The parachute was so damn heavy! Then I heard a "THUD" when I put it down. WTF? Guess what? I've scooped up two heavy rocks in the 'chute, and carried it all the way! I even made a hole in the parachute! The guys were laughing their bums off.
That is, until they saw my knees. It was no doubt, they needed stitches. So I had to go to the Hospital, while Ronny got another two jumps. Jeeealoous!

Here I have already pulled the flare...FAIL :D

Oh snap...I'm trying to convince the others that I don't need stitches

Ronny is nursing his broken Pierat

I made it back to watch his third jump. He had gotten a lot of cred for his second exit, because he was rock steady. Way to go, super-Pierat!
When I saw him going for the landing this time, I got really anxious. He was heading right for the swamp at the right side, with lots of trees and stuff a skydiver don't wanna crash into! And there he catched a young birch between his legs (OUCH!!!) before he went flomph into the swamp. I was like "Is he okay?!Is he okay?!Is he okay?!" about 30 times before he came walking with a huge grin. No worries, Ronny is now declared the Iron Man :D

The whole experience was totally amazing for the both of us. The feeling when we were letting go of the plane...it's insane! Insane and incredibly amazing!

And then came summer. With vacation, activities and injuries from the activities :D So many happenings prevented us from getting our second day in the air. Like Saturday two weeks ago. We were up early, and had gotten each other so stoked about jumping, we could hardly wait. But it was litterally pouring down! And they cancel all skydiving when it's raining. No flying that weekend either.

This weekend we'll have another try. We both agree that we have to skydive pretty soon, or else it will turn out scary instead of fun. It's the magical boarder between newly repeated procedures that makes you confident, and waiting too long. Then it suddenly begins to get scary in your mind.
We really wanna keep it up, so if Ronnys back is okay after the kayaking-accident (it's not healed at all by this moment, and today it's Thursday!), we'll have another try Saturday.

The best thing about doing this as a couple, is that we're able to back each other up, getting each other excited, stoked, eager to fly. And best of all, we get to share the moment together. Talk about it afterwards while celebrating with a cold beer. Nothing beats the feeling of sharing such a wild experience like this!

Stay tuned for updates during the weekend!

Fly-Pie from Silje

Practicing with fake gear

Ronny incomiiiing!

AMAZING skydiving! Pierats had tons of fun!

2009-10-19T08:03:00.006+02:00

We woke up Saturday morning, to see sparkling sun outside. YAYZ! This definitely meant skydiving!

As I mentioned in last post, it started to be a long time since our last jumps, so we were pretty stoked when we arrived at HAGL. It seemed like everyone was there to jump this day; just love it when the club is filled with adrenalin-kicking skydivers!

Since we had'nt jumped since June, we had to repeat the procedures for emergency and the exit. How quickly you forget things! I knew the drill mentally; look-look-grab-pull-look-grab-pull (these steps involves cutting your main parachute and pulling out the extra one). But when I had to do it practically again, I really messed up the first time. Luckily, Tor Marius is patient (or well, maybe he just don't want us dead on his lift :D), and after a few reps, both me and Ronny was ready to fly!

Because of all the skydivers this day, we had to wait a couple of hours before it was our turn. Waiting can cause severe stress when you're anxious to go, so it was not the best part this day. But Sunniva came to take some photos and watch the diving, and after a few pep talks with the others, we were mentally prepared to jump.

Finally, it was our turn! The flight were really pleasant, even though you're stuffed inside the small plane like tuna in a can. Due to the sunny weather and clear sky, we could see everything, and even orientate in order to find the landing spot.

Since Ronny is the heaviest, he went first. His exit looked awsome, and I could even hear him count when he got off; 1000,2000,3000....
Afterwards, he said the parachute did'nt unfold until he'd counted to 7. It's supposed to unfold at five seconds, so he got a bit worried. But then it said "FLOOOOF", and he was flying!

Then it was my turn. I hung on to the wing as much as I could. This time, my exit WOULD be rock steady! When I got the "go" sign, I concentrated on wathing the wing. If you don't, you'll start rotating, and your jump will not get approved. Also, you're more likely to get a twin.

When I looked over my right shoulder, I had both twin (the parachute lines are twirled up together) and high slider. I had to solve it before 1200', or else I had to cut the whole thingie off. But it was really easy to fix, and seconds later I was flying!
I was shouting of joy, they could probably hear me down at the ground! NOTHING beats this feeling, nothing!

Then I experienced some difficulties with the wind. At my 900' mark, I was still on 2000'! I had to slow my parachute down by making small turns, otherwise I would fly far away from the field.
I finally reached my 900', and I took the right turn. I could see Ronny down there, he hit his 600' mark perfectly. But suddenly, I had the opposite problem: I dropped too fast! When I was at 600', my 600' mark was waaaay over there! I realized I had to turn now, because I was at 500' and was a bit in a hurry. I was'nt half way through to reach my marks, but I was getting close to the ground and had to get busy.
When I was taking my last right turn, the wind was so strond towards me, the turn took forever. And when I finally made it, I had to flare right away! Last time, everything went so slow, I flared way too early. This time, I almost flared too late!
But it went perfectly well, and I landed on my feet! And then I felt a sharp pain in the strained ancle, it did'nt manage the landing. So I fell on my bum, hehe. But the feeling of not having any NEW injuries, was great!

Sunniva came to check if everything was okay, and I checked on Ronny. That great grin on his face gave it all away. He had just the awsome experience I had. And he landed on his feet! I'm so extremely proud of him; him and me both!

The dive-master approved both me and Ronny! My first approved jump! He said both our exits went really well! Yay to us!

See all pictures here!

Bubblefun!

2009-10-22T08:51:00.002+02:00

Underwater Love

In just 3 months, our great trip is up! We're sooo stoked! On thing is for sure, we'll spend most of the time in the water; scuba diving, surfing and just fooling around.
Pierats love to be under water, so this should be no problem. But still, it's always a good thing practicing holding your breath. And that makes a perfect opportunity for us to get a fun-fun playtime with Jim and Sunniva!

Ohm, sweet ohm

Dirty Dancing, go home! Ronny & Silje RULE!

I'm going to manage this outside water too :D

We tried out the Spiderman kiss ;)

...And a regular kiss!

Jim is showing us how to walk on your hands really fast!

One of my fav' elements!

BubbleRonny

Honey; you're so strooong :D

BubbleRonny again

Can you see Sunniva in the bubble?

Just had to grab Sunniva a bit :D

I'll catch you, love

Yeah, good thing you're being humble!

1 year anniversary for the Pierats! Looove baby!

2009-11-01T11:02:00.001+01:00

And by that I do not mean 1 year for Pierats the concept, but for Pierats aka Ronny and Silje (^.^)
I can't believe it's been a year already, and what an amazing year!

We've experienced so much together, so many adventures. Our love for nature and action has evolved into skydiving, kayaking, hiking, slackline, biking, swimming, dog training, horseback riding and now this winter we'll add kiting as well. Next year we're going scubadiving and surfing. The telly is the enemy, and we're trying to make the most out of every single day.

As a couple, I think it's a blessing to be so much alike as Ronny and I. Both of us lovelovelove to bounce around, trying new stuff, exploring the world, testing ourselves and having tons of fun. Being able to share these interests is a total bliss. It gives us plenty of experiences to discuss at the end of the day, and routine is not in our vocabulary. We love to teach and inspire each other to reach a little longer in every task we set our minds on.

I met Ronny at Stein Olavs' birthday party extactly a year ago. I was the sober driver, and he was...wasted. I mean really wasted. And he had the ~~worst~~ best pickup-lines ever (no, I'm not telling!).
Somehow, we were the ones that ended up kissing. And since that day, we've never stopped (^.^)

We're celebrating up at the cabin this weekend, with lots of snow, love and beer! I'm spoiled rotten by my sweetheart; he got me a purple winter jacket from Bergans! It's the best jacket I've ever tried on, perfect to use when I play in the snow with Oluf! Looove it!
I wrote him a book. What's in it, is a secret ;)

Cheers to many, many adventuring years to come!!!