From 31 May to 2 June, we invited people to be among the first to experience our new camp site in the lake Tokke in Drangedal Telemark.
Once an old homestead, this living treasure is nestled deep in the Norwegian woods. Our super friendly and knowledgeable hosts guided the guests through a whole range of hands-on experiences from cooking on fire in the outdoors and baking bread in our traditional oven, canoeing in the lake and sharing stories around the fire. A deep immersion in nature to find focus by learning practical ways that we can give something back to the land. All of this is set by the tranquil waters of Tokke Lake just 3 hours south of Oslo via a rejuvenating train journey through the countryside.
Program:
Every day had a rhythm of a slow start, optional morning practice, breakfast outdoor on the fire, workshops, warm lunch at noon, open time to do what you like and a light evening supper.
Through the weekend we explored different workshops on practice related to:
– Food (philosophy, nutrition, growing, fishing, foraging, cooking)
– Mind (Ayurveda, meditation)
– Spa (massage, mud, sauna)
– Movement (yoga, walks, forest bathing, paddeling)
– Craft (wood fire, baking)
The hosts of the weekend:
Cecilie Dawes, Founder Food Studio – Oslo Norway
Cecilie spent her early years between pine forest and the mountains of Norway where she grew a deep connection to the Scandinavian outdoors. In 2011 she founded Food Studio as a collective of game-changers rethinking the idea of sustainable modern lifestyle, and is currently a central force in the sustainability movement in Oslo, continuing the cross pollination of ideas and practices. During the Get Away, she shared her love for food empathy with the guests by picking up herbs, foraging and cooking with them.
Matt Sykes, Nature guide – Gippsland Australia
Matt comes from the rolling hills of Gippsland, a region just outside of Melbourne with an emerging organic food culture. Matt manages the wellness experience program at Peninsula Hot Springs which includes practices like forest bathing, meditation and hot springs yoga. He was super excited to collaborate on this beautiful Get Away event by taking guests into forest bathing, which is part of a bigger research project looking at Nordic nature-based tourism.
Thea Nordby, Nutrition therapist – Bergen, Norway
It was first when Thea lived in Bali she experienced a healthy lifestyle trough yoga and ayurveda and how this impacted quality of life. Back in Norway 1,5 years later she pursued a Bachelor degree in Nutrition. She gave nutritional advises to each of the Get Away’s participants to help them keeping the healthy habits in a society that runs on a high speed.
Emmanuel Rang, Baker and massage therapist – Lyon, France
Emmanuel grew up in France where he was schooled as a professional baker. After a year as a paratrooper and uninspired to bake, he rediscovered his excitement for baking in his old teachers sourdough bread. He found passion where science meets human interaction, and in 1998 he founded Åpent Bakeri. He has a massage therapist education from Axelson Body Work School of and is currently finishing his education in Rosen therapy. He offered relaxing massage to the Get Away’s guests during the week-end.
We want to thank Magnus Morveto who prepared delicious meals for us during the Get Away. Magnus is a swedish chef who works closely with the Fokhol biodynamic farm to get local and seasonal ingredients for cooking. Fokhol is situated 120 km north of Oslo on the sunny side of the lake Mjøsa: an area with very good conditions for farming. With 110 hectar arable land is Fokhol one of the largest biodynamic/organic farms in Norway.
A special thank also for our neighbor, Rett fra Jorda, who gave us some of the herbs she’s growing in her farm and to Holte farm for their ecological ducks. Holte Gård is a family farm located in Drangedal that produces meat and eggs from chicken, duck and goose. They operate the farm with a simple philosophy: all animals must come from their own farm and exploitation must be based on ecological principles and good animal welfare.
And thanks to Bøgedal Brewery for supporting the event by giving us some home-made beer and bottles of wine. Bøgedal is the only commercial brewery in the world that maintains the Old Danish tradition of brewing Godtoel or “the good beer” which predates the industrial age. This traditional beer is strong and very rich with many of the natural sugars still intact. And thank you again to Arctic Lavvowho once again made it possible for us to comfortably camp outside in the most mind-blowing environment. Their lavvoes, or tipies, are descendants of the lavvos the Sami have used for generations and are still crafted following the traditions.
Words by Cecilie Dawes and Charlotte Lescieux
Photography by Alexander Benjaminsen
