For us, the most important part of slow adventuring is our mindset. By truly believing that we can have a wild experience anywhere at any time, we are able to leave our home and go into the wilderness - even if only for a few hours. Our second most important tool is somewhat more tangible: a beautiful wooden, canvas canoe! If you - like us, have busy days and your adventures are limited by the hours of the day, a canoe (or a kayak) can enable you to go deeper into the wilderness; creating more distance between you and the fast life without the use of an engine. In this post we are going to tell you about our latest canoeing adventure and if you continue to the end of the article you can find information about where to rent a canoe in the Oslo area.

Slow adventure mindset

Our day started as a normal working day, in front of our computers. Like so many other people, we spend the majority of our day bent over a desk. Editing photos or videos, planning campaigns, working on the blog and doing technical work. This is why the slow adventure mentality is so very, very important. We need to decide to go, before we finish work. Otherwise it's much more convenient to just stay at home and forget all about the beautiful wilderness. 

Having a canoe makes it possible to reach the wilderness in an afternoon

Using a canoe will take you further and deeper into an area than if you did a normal hike. You can skip all the uphills, bends and detours of a path and simply create your own on water. Paddle around a whole lake in just a few hours, which would have taken a day to finish by foot. Our point with this is not to focus on the distance you can go, but what the distance can help you achieve. By traveling further away from our hectic lives, with less effort, we are able to arrive in the wilderness and spend more quality time. Because paddling is not only a means of transportation, it's also our definition of quality time outdoors. 

Slow adventure to the lake Gjerdingen, 1 hour from Oslo by car

Our latest adventure took us to Gjerdingen. It is a lovely lake in Nord Marka (forest north of Oslo). It is easily accessible by car and it is an interesting day-tour lake with multiple small islands that you can explore. Find the exact location on our map. Since we started the adventure in the late afternoon (after four) we decided (as always) to bring food and have our dinner outside. We stopped by a local shop and bought vegetables, frozen fish (cod) and a dry Mexican soup-mix where you add water. 

Making dinner is a nice focus when you are outside and it gave our paddling a goal. We needed to find a nice campfire location, close to the water and because of the wind directions we ended up crossing the whole lake. During our crossing we paddled past lots of nice islands. Some large, with dense trees, others tiny - with only one or two trees. Looking more like thin lines on the horizon than islands. One of these was inhabited by an angry seagull. We are not sure what type it was because we had more than enough focusing on a quick escape, as it had a nest and wanted us to leave. 

A unique perspective can change your wilderness experience

One of the most fascinating things about paddling is the perspective. You see everything only half a meter above the water, giving a very different view. You also move very quietly and this makes it ideal for animal and bird watching (or bird escaping). We often see Herron and it is very exciting to drift closer and be able to see these big birds without scaring or disturbing them.

Campfire, dinner and a rest

After our lake crossing we finally found a perfect campfire spot. There was already a campfire pit, which was close to the water and it was an ideal shoreline for getting in and out of the canoe. We spent some time gathering small wood and made a fire with dry wood we brought with us. That is actually another good thing about traveling in a canoe, you can bring as much stuff as you like, since you do not have to carry it (unless you are doing a portage, but that would be on a longer tour). Our improvised Mexican fish soup was as good as any outdoor meal and we felt satisfied with our mid-week afternoon adventure.

Make your own slow adventure canoe trip in the same area!

There are several canoe rental places in and around Oslo. A lot of the places only have online information in Norwegian, but if you use the links provided you should be able to plan your trip directly. Most Norwegians are fluent in english and you will not have a problem ordering canoes. 

Bjørnholt gård Can provide you with a canoe rental for their surrounding area.
They have a 24 hour rate: 350 NOK and a Day rate: 300 NOK.
View them on a Map
Contact information: +47 22 49 90 88, email: grete.klever@bjornholt.no . 

Mariholtet sportsstue is another option on the east side of the city. 
Mariholtet sportsstue has three different prices: 1 Hour: 150 NOK, 3 Hours: 350 NOK and 24 Hours: 500 NOK.
View them on a Map.
Contact information: +47 22 32 16 00, email: jan.erik@mariholtet.no.

Kikutstua is a traditional Norwegian forest cabin in Nordmarka where you can both eat and sleep.
Price for canoe rental is 350kr per day.
View them on a Map.
Contact information: +47 22 42 01 73 or +47 91 19 88 19, email: kikutstua@gmail.com.