The train conductor looked at us with equal parts amusement and genuine concern when we told him where we wanted to get off. "Oor-na-berr-get Station? Is there a stop there?" we asked in our atrocious attempt at pronouncing the Norse name.

"Ørneberget, yes. But it's very steep to get down and there's lots of snow..."

"We're booked in to the hostel near there. How else could we get there?"

I glanced at Sjane; her facial expression said she knew there was an adventure coming. It's a look I'm getting used to seeing, right before something ridiculous happens.

"There's the station at Mjølfjell, but that's another 6 kilometres away..."

That settles it. We were loaded up with all our usual bags, plus shopping bags full of food supplies to sustain us in this remote location. There was no way I was carrying all that 6km if I could avoid it. Looks like we're going down the snowy hill!

"See there" he said, pointing down the hill as we approached our stop. "That's where you need to go." Sjane and I just laughed. There wasn't much else we could do.

And so began one of the most entertaining walks we've done so far. The slope was indeed steep, and the deep drifts of snow occasionally gave way unexpectedly to streams and small creeks running underneath the slushy snow. I suppose we were genuinely at risk of injury (considering the ungainly weight we were carrying and the uneven footing), but oddly enough: the more Sjane fell over, the happier she seemed to be. Women, right?

More than half an hour later we trudged into the hostel to find that we were the only inhabitants, and would likely have the place to ourselves the entire time. So we did what any weary traveller would do: settle in for some hibernation and binge viewing on Popcorn Time. The Wifi connection was strong and we hadn't seen Arrow in ages, ok!

P.S. In the interests of honesty, we did also go for some pretty scenic walks through the valley (see pics), and spent a full day researching and planning the next leg of our travels (not exactly riveting reading).