20th June 2023 (cloudy, drizzly, rain, sun in afternoon) 28km

Had a great sleep last night and woke at 6am this morning after constant rain all night. Vango had kept us dry again,  but is showing tell tale signs of wear and tear.

We have three seam leaks, none of which caused an issue last night, even though the rain was steady. However, if we had a heavy constant  downpour, we will be in trouble.

Currently we are situated right at the back of the facilities, two blocks over. With this being a winter resort, there are only a few people staying here.

When we woke and saw the beginnings of a problem, we waited until the rain was very light and transferred all our gear onto the covered deck of one of the suites.  Took the tent inner out and ground sheet and placed the tent outer on the deck to dry. If it keeps raining, we will hopefully keep the tent on the deck for the added protection and hope they have no need to check or use that suite.

Our view from the deck. Grass roof houses are the norm, but all these belong to the hotel......and they're all empty at the moment. 

It was only 7.15am by the time we wandered across to the kitchen facility and with the two rooms directly off it occupied, we just sat quietly and caught up with blogging and messages.

Julia, being the stealthy person she is, tried to create as much noise as she could with straps hitting tables, spoons falling on floors. I'm thinking of sending her to Russia as a spy under deep cover.
She'll be fine as long as she spends all day sleeping.

Breakfast done. Pitch sorted. Bottles filled.
All we had to have now was some decent weather. That wasn't going to happen.
So....next best thing, a lull in the rain.
Spoke briefly to Brody on Face time. He's just got himself a job photographing at the surf school, so he's as happy as a pig in muck. He's also got an apartment for six hundred quid a month. Hey...he's happy and that's what we want for him.

What at first glance looked like a great place to have a rest day if needed, especially at only 175 NOK per night, now looked like the most boring place on earth and we were keen to get going if given the merest chance.  So packed everything up, just in case, and with a break in the weather, we were gone.

Because the forecast wasn't great, we were only looking to cover 28kms this morning before setting up in Haukeli, for probably today and tomorrow, as the weather will be shite and our next leg has to be 60kms, over some very hilly terrain.  It appears there are no shops, camps or garages in that 60km, so we need to be capable of completing it in one hit.  And we don't want to be doing that in the rain.

I had one eye on the scenery, one on the clock. When we left the sanctuary of the Hovden hotel/hostel, it was overcast but not actually raining.  So we set off with rain jackets on, with rain pants and shoe covers at the ready if needed.

The weather is not looking too hopeful. 

As we climbed higher into the clouds, the moisture sat in the air and as we rode into it, drips were left on our clothes.  So we were more riding through the rain than having it rain on us. 

The last two days as we've been high up in the mountains,  we've been given lots of waves, smiles and thumbs up from the campervan drivers, which helps lighten the load.

We were doing well, feeling strong and only had 12km to go and then.....it hit. Constant and wet....the way rain should be....except when we are cycling.  We'd been so lucky with the weather so far, but now it was taking its toll on our clothing, which we had no chance of protecting with rain pants and shoe covers as there were no handy shelters throughout this entire stretch of road where we could lean our bikes and grab our waterproofs.  So we just plodded on as fast as we could.....at least we weren't cold.

 

If you peer through the mist you can just make out the valley below.  It's a shame we couldn't make this out as it would have been quite the view in nice weather.  This photo was taken about halfway down the 5km hill to Haukeli with many hairpin bends.

The final 5kms was down a huge hill into the town of Haukeli.  The locals pronounce this Hocally, not HowKeely as we thought. The ride downhill was not to be enjoyed however as we had to fully concentrate on the wet twisting roads.

At the bottom of said hill, was a campsite, without any campers, or people staying in their cabins. We asked how much for a cabin and were told 400kr or nearly $70, but we've paid more than that for a campsite.  Yes it is basic, but it was out of the rain and somewhere to dry off. Bonus was the plugs so we could get everything fully charged, and a fridge!  That meant we could buy yoghurt, milk, cheese and beer and keep it cold!  It also had a little hot plate so we could save our camping gas. Down side was no wifi and showers $8 a piece. Only that it looks like we'll be here for two nights, did I pay it.

The weather forecast for tomorrow, both here and Roldal, where we are headed, is garbage.  So we may well be staying here for two nights.  Still at least we have shelter and a supermarket just down the road.

So changed into some fresh, dry clothes and straight across the road to the mini market which was very conveniently located. But first we had to have a burger bun each with liver paste and a cup of coffee followed by chocolate, to build Pete's strength up for the walk over the road to get lunch.

Back to our little sanctuary where we turned on the heater and arranged various articles of clothing to dry.  The rain had now stopped so we thought we would explore this little town....but wished we hadn't.

The thing is....Haukeli is straight out of the American movie "Deliverance". If you've never seen it, it's a must watch.
However, living it, is not much fun.
It's a one horse town, with no personality, inflated prices and 60kms over mountains to get out. Where's those bloody e bikes?
Wash your mouth out Pete.

If you lose track of us however and this was our final stopover, when you come looking for us, you know you're on the right track if one of the locals says "squeal pig"

Our cabin was quite cute.

It ended up getting so hot this afternoon we had to grab an ice cream and we're really hoping the bad weather that is forecast for all of tomorrow does not eventuate, cos, we want out of this place.
The longer we are here, the more this feels like the Norwegian Waihola.  Our sanctuary has turned into a prison.  There is just nothing to do or see here, so everything we did, we started doing at snail's pace, just so we wouldn't be left twiddling our thumbs.  Of course,  if you moved too slowly, the mosquitoes would get you.

Did we mention there's no wifi either?  So no hours relaxing doing wordle or quordle or catching up with Liverpool FC gossip.

The eight hours that stretched before us until bedtime seemed endless.  We had showers, washed our clothes and had lunch.  We cycled to the petrol station for an ice cream.  We went to both supermarkets and searched fruitlessly for wifi.  Pete cleaned his bike again while I wondered why.

We used some of our precious data to check the weather forecast for a fifth time.....it was still forecasting rain all day tomorrow.   Surely we wouldn't have to stay here all day tomorrow as well....

Finally 9pm rolled around and we decided it was late enough to jump into bed.