15th June 2023 (sunny and hot!) 43km

Our view as we walked across to the toilet block at 4am

Before 4am this morning on our beautiful lakeside pitch, we were bombarded with a cacophony of birdsong, loud enough to wake the dead, but apparently, not enough to wake Julia.

It began with one bird who was obviously the conductor. His bird song was  hard to describe, but it was loud and the call to arms, for the others to join in.

There were little birds with tiny whistling sounds, others with harsh rattling machine gun noises and as in my previous European adventures, the coo coo of the pigeon.

But this was like the birds rendition of "Last night at the proms".
Suddenly there were screeching sounds, not birdlike at all, then the caw caw of the ravens. I'm sure there was a chimpanzee in there somewhere, possibly Cheetah, the one from the television series Daktari, who, I'm guessing, had escaped from the local zoo's rest home care and just happened to be sitting in a nearby tree, when the conductor began to bring everything together. So, so loud....and yet....Julia slept on.

The view a few steps from our tent when the sun was well and truly up.....about 8am

After our morning cuppa we tidied around the tent and then sat at a bench overlooking our latest view to eat breakfast.  The Dutchies that had arrived last night took off and at 9.15am we were gone too. Heading for Kristiansand today, the Norwegian Riviera.

Being English of course I'll  be able to strut it on the beach with the other Alpha males.
While they're poncing around in their skimpy speedos, I'll  be playing the usual British holidaymaker.
Socks 'n sandals.....knotted hanky on the head....vest and braces. It's 35 degrees in the shade  and I'll be carrying my overcoat.
I'll  have a pint o' lager in one hand and a map in the other, trying to find a place that sells the full English breakfast.

A secret little cove we passed.

Time for ice-cream - I had to try the triple licorice!

And it was delicious!  The perfect combination of licorice and chocolate on the outside and vanilla ice-cream on the inside.

Another favourite is pistachio....also delicious!

 

A nice spot to enjoy our ice-creams.

Riding this morning was undulating, preparation for some bigger hills to come.  Late morning we stopped in Hovag, for a much needed swim. We pedalled down a grassy drive to emerge by a small sandy beach surrounded by big slabs of rock.  There was a boat shed there with a couple of chairs outside but no car and no boat so we didn't think anybody would mind if we jumped in there.   As we swam around we noticed the boat shed was bigger than we thought and had windows.  We started to suspect we were swimming at somebody's private beach so we got out pronto, quickly changed and pedalled out of there. 

 

By now it was hot and we were feeling every little hill.  Lillesand to Kristiansand on the E18 is only 26kms, but on our cycle tourist route, it was nearer 40kms, however it was very scenic,  and that's what we're here for after all.

The bridge into Kristiansand 

The remainder of the ride was all undulating and with the heat, very draining on the legs. On the outer suburbs of  Kristiansand, we grabbed some stuff for lunch, then found Oddernes church, where we sat on a bench in a tiny lane, just outside the church grounds.

Lunch with all the other old folk.

Julia had already checked out a campground, so it was here that we headed. Upon first inspection, it was very nice. We booked for one night, but if all is well, we may well stay another.  We selected our own spot, showers and toilet and kitchen facilities are first class and this is one of the cheaper sites we've stayed at.  Temperature at 3.30pm was a very hot 26C.

Walked down to the beach area connected with the camp. What a fantastic location. They have utilized the natural rock and sea areas and put in one, four and ten metre diving platforms.  The place was buzzing with people, but it didn't seem overcrowded. Went for two swims before heading back to the camp to take the bikes a km up the road to buy dinner and breakfast at one of the four supermarkets in the area.

Shopping all complete, back to camp with a cooked burger pattie, cooked chicken leg and some Norwegian potato called Kompel, a delicacy apparently? It was alright but I'd rather just have a jacket potato or roasted spud.

We ate on the deck on outdoor furniture in the shade, sipping on a beer, and felt decadent. From our position we could keep an eye on the charging block that we were charging in the kitchen.

We met another Dutch cyclist when he came to eat his dinner on the deck. Other than two Germans we met in Oslo, every other bikepacker we have met has been Dutch!  

Jan was the second one we've met from Leiden and we spent some time chatting about his trip and ours. He'd been up to North Cape and had terrible weather in the Lofoten Islands.

Enjoyed some cashews and milk and did some writing, then had a coffee with some chocolate before going for a wander around the shoreline.  What a beautiful night so.....sorry, but here's a photo bombardment from just one small part of  Kristiansand we have discovered. 

 

It's so lovely here, we have decided to have a rest day tomorrow  and stay another day here, before pushing northwards and into the mountains.