24th June 2023 (sunny and hot) 78km

Woke at 4.45am and wandered to the toilet block to do some stretching, as the camp was filled to capacity and I'm sure they wouldn't have wanted me exercising outside their tent or camper at such an early time.

 

Our view from camp

 

When I returned Julia was awake and we began a slow but very quiet pack up. Eventually, we were riding by 6.30am after a coffee and our apples from the German family,  (very nice too!), to give us a kickstart.

The early morning mist clears from the mountain tops.

Riding the Hardanger Fjord this morning, heading for the ferry from Utne to Kvanndal.  The riding was great as we had the road all to ourselves practically and the conditions were perfect.  A bit different from last night when the road was very busy.  It was about 20km to the ferry and we hummed along nicely.   Saw two pods of dolphins frolicking in the fjord. They were only small dolphins, not sure what type they'd be, but a lovely sight to behold, as we cruised along in the morning sunshine.

Arrived ten minutes after the ferry had departed, but they left every hour and we needed to have breakfast anyway, so found a nice bench in the shade and enjoyed our food.

Ferry bang on schedule. Electric one as well. Very smart and quiet. Slid through the water nicely.  At one stage it was that smooth and quiet, we thought it had stopped.

Apparently a lot of ferries are free for pedestrians snd cyclists. 

This was our first free ride, hence the smile from Pete. 

On the other side we rode an easy10kms to Granvin where we met Augustine, a French cyclist, who is also on his way to Tromso.

A lovely ride to Granvin

As you would expect, we all met at the supermarket.  We had a bit of a chat before Augustine headed inside for his lunch supplies and we sat outside, eating ice cream and using the free wifi on a shady bench.

Pete sat there, eating his ice cream, barely an hour after eating breakfast, fantasising about all the things he could buy in the supermarket for his lunch.  The look of concern that passed over Pete's face when he saw Augustine come out and start making his lunch with buns and a can of mackerel.  I could tell he was worried that Augustine may have snaffled the last can of mackerel and he couldn't wait to get in there himself to make sure there was enough food for our lunch. 

So after chatting to Augustine for a good half hour, Pete whipped into the supermarket to make sure all was well with the Norwegian supply of mackerel.  As it was, he emerged ten minutes later, reporting there was plenty of mackerel so he decided we could make do with some ham, tomato and buns, as well as our "treats".

We got some unexpected entertainment while sitting there from a guy backing his small car up, getting closer and closer to the van behind him. Surely he's not going to hit it, there's only three cars in the whole parking lot, but yes, despite a warning shout from us, straight into the van.  Made quite a bang, but luckily no damage.

I finally got all our photos from yesterday loaded on the blog and we set off in the direction of Voss.  Back to Pete. 

Julia found an off road path which took us around the next fjord. We think again from the dimensions this must be an old railway line.

At present we are settled at a bench eating lunch. It's 1.02pm and 21C. Great trail so far. Long may it last.

Stupid boy Pete...the kiss of death....!!
Our beautiful fjord flat ride had only just got started in the afternoon, when suddenly, here comes a massive climb up to Skjervsfossen waterfall. We had lulled ourselves into thinking that today might be an easier one.  Wake up..   you're in Norway, not the bloody Netherlands.

So, up we went. Switchback after switchback. To be honest, we can both tell just how strong we've become in the thighs, because as testing as it was, we just did it.

The view from the top was stunning, but the highlight for us were the FREE toilets, yes that is definitely a rarity.  However, not only were they free, these toilets had a huge window overlooking the river which fed the falls, plus a glass floor, where you could also view the river.

No one could access the river, but I did wonder if for effect, they could, after a person had assumed the seated position, maybe bring up the face of a person in a holograph form. That I believe, would literally scare the shit out of them.

The top of the waterfall was pretty much the start of our downhill run into the town of Voss.  We had a 12 km enjoyable cruise into a fairly large sized place.  Located the camp ground only to find it full.  Apparently, there's an extreme sport weekend going on in town, so everything was booked out.  Did nobody tell them we were coming...?

That threw a spanner in the works.  We'd already cycled 71kms for the day.  It was stinking hot and we wanted showers and food.  Located another camp 7kms out of town, in the direction we were going, so headed for that.  The time now was 5pm and if this site was full, we were on the lookout for a freecamp.  After that climb to end the afternoon, neither of us wanted that.

Because it's Saturday, we also needed to do our "big shop".
Yes I know... it's always a big shop when I'm let loose in the supermarket.  But Sunday is a no show day for the supermarkets, so we're left hauling a truck load of food around for a day and a bit, depending what time Saturday we shop.

Found a Rema 1000, one of the bigger names over here and bought up large.  Then the remainder of the ride to the camp, where thankfully, probably because they were further from town, they had spaces available.

After setting up tent, Julia dived in the shower (coin operated), this one showed you how long you had for the money you put in and enjoyed a 6min freshen up for 10kr.
Ju returned, I put my money in...nothing!!  I don't bloody well believe it.
Having no other money with me, I grabbed my towel, slung it around me and waltzed back to the tent, where Julia found me some more money.
Second attempt, different shower.
You've got to be kidding me................
Just kidding...all good.
Then into the laundry to wash some smalls......well in my case...not small at all.
As soon as I had washed my gear and hung them up to dry, the sun sinks over the mountain top.

After a lovely meal of chorizo sausages and rice, with buns (it's buns with most everything), we had coffee and a muffin to finish the day.  Did spend some time charging the powerbank in the kitchen area...well dishwashing area.  They're not big on kitchens in a lot of Norwegian camps.

We were both ready for bed at 9pm.