We’d spent the day driving back from Røros and were nearly home, just a couple of minutes from the centre of Gol. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a large moving object on the left hand side of the road. It was elk sized and moving quickly towards us.

I managed to blurt out an incoherent “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa” which Damae correctly interpreted as “Stop the car right now!!”. She hit the brakes and the hire car slowed, its anti-lock brakes clicking away merrily. The car stopped just in time and the elk trotted nonchalantly across our path, to the other side of the road, as if we were not there.

With the car stopped, we paused for a moment. It had been quite a surprise for the both of us. I was so surprised that it didn’t occur to me to take a picture of the large herbivore standing just two metres from the car, even when Damae suggested I did so. The biggest surprise was that our first close encounter with an elk had been so close to home.