Surf's up!

Italy was amazing. There´s no end to all the beauty, but my home town on the Jæren coast is my paradise. It´s where my heart is, and I miss living there so much it´s almost painful to visit. Not to mention leaving it again...

I took my kids surfing a few days ago. There are 70 kilometres of gorgeous, wide, white sandy beaches in an almost continuous belt. The rough North sea sends waves crashing into shore, which makes the area a mecca for surfers year around. There´s also a lot of kiting and windsurfing going on. Notice sunbathers on the beach? That´s right, there aren´t many! It wasn't cold, but very windy. Those who ventured out that day, stayed behind the dunes where the local microclimate is sheltered and warm. I actually enjoy this climate. I wouldn´t mind if it was a little bit warmer in the summer, but the winters are mild (and often wet), not like the freezing cold, snowy ones that´s more common in Norway. When most of the country gets snow, Jæren gets rain. The landscape outside Stavanger and Sandnes is flat and very fertile farmland, and due to the mild climate, the very first potatoes in the spring comes from this area. 

The beaches are not only used in the summer, but year around. Walks here in the winter is great, that´s when the biggest waves roll in. During Easter there´s the traditional boiling of Easter eggs typical for this area, where people bring firewood and and find a nice spot between the dunes to boil the eggs with some onions to make them nice and yellow. The rest of the country goes skiing...

The two dudes flanking the group are mine. The one on the left is the little thrifter:-)

Carrying the boards across the steep dunes after we're done is not the most popular task of the day.... I can't believe I didn't get any pics of them actually standing on the boards, but then again, I'd have to be real quick:-)