20th
Aug 2015
Ferries, Ferries
and Sunshine.
We are starting
to get concerned as to how long this perfect weather can last – One guy told us
6 days, but that was 3 days ago. And
today someone told us it is supposed to continue for another 2 weeks ! We hope it does, because it is absolutely
unbelievable, but if it doesn’t …..well, we have had a good run ! But tonight we are camped beside a fjord at
latitude N66.31962, and the Arctic Circle is at 66.30 So we are maybe 15 kms south of the article
circle, it is 7 pm, there is not a cloud in the sky, the sun is still shining,
and we are wearing shorts ! This is just
unbelievable – I mean we are not exactly virgins when it comes to crossing the
Arctic Circle, having done it 4 times in Alaska and Canada, and each time we
KNEW we were in the Arctic. This time it
is more like an English summers day – Warm in the day, a light breeze, and then
as the evening draws on it gets quite chilly – So you rug up in a warm sleeping
bag and get a good nights sleep, waking in the morning ready for another day of
endless sunshine, incredible scenery, and fun exploring new places that you
didn’t even know existed 24 hours ago !!
Tough life, but I guess someone has to do it !!
We had a
frustrating night last night computer wise – A fairly expensive campsite
(aren’t they all in Norway ?!), but it had wifi that seemed to work OK. But after some time we gave up – Impossible
to load up pics into Picasa. So if you wonder
why you are getting just the writing, that is why – The pics are so S-L-O-W at
loading, I just haven’t got enough hours in the day, or patience, to upload
them. I will catch up eventually, and
you need to see these pics of Norway in the sunshine – They are absolutely
unbelievable.
Anyway, filled up
the water tank this morning and set off down the road towards Bronnoysund. Olav, the camp site manager, had told us last
night that we needed to make a 25 km detour off the main road to Torghatten – A
mountain that has a hole in it !!
Entering Bronnoysund we had to cross yet another amazing bridge – You
have to hand it to these Norwegians – They really do build some incredible bridges
and tunnels !! Wound our way through
the village, spotted diesel for 11.98 per litre (about $2 Aus) and planned to
get some on the way back, and then headed out down the country roads,
eventually finding the car park requiring a 1 km walk to Torghatten. So off we set, only to find that it was no
“stroll”, but rather a I km hike up a steep rocky trail ! Oh well, guess we need the exercise !
Eventually
reached the top, and sure enough there was a hole in the mountain ! Looking down to the other side you could see
the rocks and ocean – There was a walk down to the other side, as indeed there
was a 6 km walk round the entire mountain, but our plans today were to try and
get north towards Bodo – A long walk in the country wasn’t on the agenda
!!
So after spying
the hole, we descended, meeting some people from Barcelona en route which
enable me to lapse back into Spanish momentarily, and then we headed back to
the main road. Unfortunately in the
intervening hour the gas station had put its price up to 12.06 per litre, but
as this is way cheaper than elsewhere, we took the opportunity to top off the
tanks before heading north.
Back over the
amazing bridge, and then it was only 30 mins before we reached Holm and our
first ferry crossing for the day. This
island route we are following has some 9 or 10 ferry crossings, as we wander up
the coast, and it is a bot expensive, but we decided that following the central
main road north would be just a tad too boring !! When we arrived at the ferry it was lunch
time, and before the ferry arrived we had time to make our lunch – Just
finishing it as the ferry came into view – Perfect timing. Just a short ferry ride across to
Anndalsvagen, and then a short run up to Folvik where we caught our 2nd
(and longer (50 minutes)) ferry up to Tjotta.
From there it was a longer drive this time up to the next ferry, but
equally scenic with mountains, fjords, and forests all around. And the blue skies and sunshine just made the
views spectacular – On the ferries all the Norwegians kept saying to us “You
are so lucky” or “It is not normally like this” !! Funnily enough we met some Italians on a
motorcycle who have been here 3 times before, and they said they have had
perfect weather every time they come !!
When we got off
the third ferry in Nesna at about 4.30. we had to climb through a small pass
between fjords, and when we got to the top, the views in the afternoon sunshine
were just superb. We then wove our way round the edges of more jfjords for a
while, and then suddenly came upon this car park with car bays all laid out and
hardly a soul there. PERFECT. So in the late afternoon sunshine, we set up
camp, had some Norwegian salmon for dinner, and made our way on through another
3 litre flagon of Chilean red wine (the cheapest way to drink in Norway !!
Pics here :- https://picasaweb.google.com/110185357936043625130/0333BronnoysundToStokkvagen?authkey=Gv1sRgCPa1laSY78DGKA
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