8 June 2023 (sunny and hot) 62km

Woke this morning at 4am. Struggling to get enough sleep, which could be a problem down the track. Body still out of whack.

Wrote yesterday's blog and packed gear whilst the household slept.  Downstairs by 7.45am, said goodbye to Hokken, who was on his way to work and greeted Jonathon, who had enjoyed a good night's rest.

Sat and chatted about touring and had some of the most delicious bread for breakfast that we've ever had, made, we found out later by Petter.  Ivan popped in to say goodbye, before he too, took off for work.

With all the gear ready, we loaded the bikes, said a fond farewell to both Jonathan and Petter and headed off.

Petter on the left holding Pete's bike, Pete holding Jonathan's 

Petter, Julia and Jonathan 

Petter had given us a route he thought we'd enjoy and he was bang on. The riding was nice, the scenery lovely, just once again reminding us some of the reasons we do this. All in all a very enjoyable mornings ride.

We wondered what kind of food we would be eating here in Norway and how much it would cost.  Today's lunch was a complete triumph. Not only did we find a supermarket at the civilised time of 11.15, but we actually decided to go into it and buy some lunch ingredients so we would then be able to have a relaxed lunch when we came across a handy bench in the shade.

Our usual habit is of course to think, no it's too early for lunch, we'll go onto the next supermarket, which wouldn't be found until 2.30pm and would mean a detour up a steep hill to get to it!. 

This was a beautifully kept, well stocked and clean supermarket in the village of Spikkestad and again, we had learned from previous trips to only get what we needed, not buy everything that looked delicious.

So we walked out ten mins later with two perfectly ripened bananas, a punnet of blueberries, a pot of vanilla yogurt and some cashews which cost 90 kroner or $15.  To this we would add some millet cereal, and prunes when a lunch spot was found. We stashed our shopping in the bags and cycled up a suburban street to a cycleway indicated on MapsMe that went straight through some rural land in the direction we wanted.

As we approached this rural land, turns out it was a forest with a lovely wide, smooth compacted trail running through it, providing us with some handy shade now the day was heating up.  Could this day get any better we asked ourselves as we felt the tail wind on our backs and wondered,  are we dreaming?

The only thing that could make this day even better would be to find ourselves a nice little shady picnic spot to eat our lunch.  And two minutes later that's exactly what we found!  We couldn't believe our luck!

Our lunch was thoroughly delicious and we busted out our little gas cooker for the first time this trip, which with the help of Nescafe Cappucino, delivered us a delicious coffee in the middle of a Norwegian forest.


The only blight on this idyllic stop was noticing when we went for a wee in the forest that some people had done more than this in the surrounding area with no effort to cover it up.  Very disappointing.


Packed up and continued west on what we figured must be an old railway line.  Then we came upon a tunnel which pretty much confirmed this. Talk about a festival of lights. As you moved along the tunnel, different coloured lights lit the walls as you went. It was quite spectacular, but only what we have come to expect in Norway.  It is providing us with eye opening experiences every day.

We would have loved to carry on with this path but it was heading in the wrong direction, so we diverted onto a small road which took us downhill to a gas station.  We filled our water bottles and then cycled along a quiet cycle path to Drammen.

We had no need to go into Drammen itself so stuck to the cycle way.  It was lovely quiet riding and the direction was easy to follow.....until we came to the roadworks, which had closed one particular section of cycleway we wanted.

A short detour and we were back on track alongside busy roads only to turn off too early at one stage where we found ourselves on the road in a quiet industrial area.  We knew immediately of course that we had gone the wrong way.  After all, this was Norway, where cyclepaths are carefully considered, and if the path has to pass by a port area, it was going to be the best part. With boats of varying sizes parked up neatly in a row and well maintained houses looking over them and a smoothly surfaced, two toned cycle/walking path running between the two.

We had thoroughly enjoyed the huge variety of riding we had experienced so far, but there was more in store.  After cycling on a cycleway alongside a main road which wasn't very busy and had beautiful vistas of farmland all around, we turned off onto a side road to Sande where we got to cycle on the actual road.   It was nice though as it was very quiet and cycling on the road felt like we were at last on tour.

Once again it was very hot so at Sande we stopped for an ice-cream at another immaculate supermarket,  sitting on a bench outside in the shade.

Then we followed the 313 road to Holmstrand, again with a cycle path, at first by the main road and then along the front of the fjord with some lovely houses enjoying a spectacular view. All very idyllic.

At this point we made a wrong turn and missed the cycle path and ended up on the quiet road but again this seemed to have been for the best as we trucked along on a good surface at a steady speed.

We rejoined the cycle path when it next met the road and were straight away into the second tunnel of the day, emerging onto the side of the fjord with no main road to be seen.  This also appeared to be an old railway line and we pretty much had it to ourselves.   Again we couldn't believe our luck with this route we had more or less stumbled upon all day.  It wasn't at all what I had planned last night. 

Cruised into Holmstrand with yet another marina and new multi- storey apartments being built on the front.  Found an Xtra supermarket, stocked up with supplies for dinner and breakfast, for tonight we are wild camping, with some possibilities not far away.

Five minutes out of town, down by the fjord, we found a park. It was at least 150 metres from any homeowners and obscured from view to all except those 400 metres away. This park had a small stage and amphitheater. Decided to pitch our tent under the cover of the stage in the hope that the locals won't be looking for a show, first thing in the morning.

Cooked our dinner of mackerel, tomatoes and two minute Mexican flavoured rice, having previously enjoyed a pre meal Carlsberg.

As I write, three older ladies are pruning some of the bushes in the area, but so far no one has made a fuss, hopefully all will be well. Inspired by this, Julia got out the mini dustpan and brush we use for sweeping out the tent and swept up all the broken glass that was scattered on the stage.  When I questioned her, she said Norway had already given her three fantastic days and she wanted to say thank you.

When she'd finished sweeping the stage of all rubbish,  Julia contacted Petter to accept his invitation for us to join him at his summer cabin tomorrow night, which is situated on an island about 50 kms away.

We had a coffee and a muffin and had just finished that when we got talking to a couple of locals,  a man with his 12 year old, both of whom spoke exceptionally good English.  Had a really nice chat with them and were relieved when they said it would be perfectly fine to camp here.  We couldn't have found a better spot as the stage provided a perfectly flat surface and protection from the breeze of the lake and a shadow from the early rising sun.  But best of all was the first free public toilet we have come across in Norway,  just 50 metres away.

We set up the tent and retired to the sleeping mats at 10.15pm