Mel & Trinity

A week ago I was stopped in Ashford, too tired to make it to Folkestone. I didn’t fare much better the next day making it to just outside Amsterdam.

By Sunday I was gaining my strength back and making better progress. I missed the turnoff I should have taken to the west of Hamburg and ended up east of Hamburg in a little town called Malente; a peaceful little town set around a tranquil lake. It was lovely!

I had booked the ferry from Hirtshalls, Denmark to Kristiansand, Norway for 18:00 the next day, so I wasn’t going to see much of Denmark outside of the motorway. The ride was wet and the wind was howling! I strangely love the challenge but I was glad it wasn’t one of my sightseeing days. Below are a couple of photos taken at the port in Hirtshalls.

I hadn’t given much thought to the crossing itself as my thoughts were on arriving into Kristiansand at 20:30 and then having to find somewhere to sleep for the night.

I had a French style hotdog on the ferry before we left the port, thinking that it would save me having to find dinner when I arrived in Norway.

Of course, strong winds equals rough seas. That hotdog came back to haunt me over the now 3 hour ferry crossing due to rough waters. I was so sick and so sorry I ate that bloody hotdog.

When I arrived in Kristiansand all I wanted was a bed and a shower. I headed into the town but after 10 minutes decided I wasn’t leaving Trinity on the street, so I started heading north on route 9 towards Bergen. I had seen cabins advertised on-line in Evje so I was hoping to book into one of those. Worst case scenario I had my tent and would find a spot to sleep or just ride through the night – it’s only dark for about 3 hours after all.

I arrived at Evje at 22:20. There was nobody at the reception of the campsite but there was a sign saying (in essence) grab a set of keys, put your money in an envelope (£350 Norwegian Knone), pop it through the mailbox and enjoy your stay. Awesome! The last time I’d seen this was in Canada.

The little cabin was great value for roughly £30/$35. It had a bunk bed, a little kitchen (including a fridge, stove, kettle, coffee machine and all the cookery and crockery that you need) and a kitchen table with waterside view. Perfect! Below was my view.

Tuesday’s mission was to get to Stalheim and I rocked it, completely inspired by the incredible scenery around me. It was also an amazing 18 degrees Celsius when I left Evje, which I was not expecting, so that made me very happy. The warm weather was short lived though as the temperature dropped to as low as 8 degrees riding over the snow covered mountain passes. The change in topography was great though and also brought back great memories of my ride through the Alps last summer.

No day of mine would however be complete without at least one wrong turn. This one led me to the most incredible waterfall I had even seen on the side of a road. Due to the spray I took this video in my full bike gear (helmet included).

Once back on the right road, and two toll payments later, I made good progress and arrived at the Stalheim Hotel around 17:00. Yippee, I could have a beer and enjoy a stunning view and what a view it was.

I was starting to get a feel for the next few days to come. Hello Norway!