9th June 2023 (sunny, warm, breezy) 50km

Woke in our Vango tent, on stage in the tiny amphitheater, down on the fjord.

It was 4.46am and another beautiful day, only confirming that we made the correct decision in riding from south to north, rather than suffer the temperatures that Tromso has had lately.
After a few hips rolls and a couple of pelvic thrusts, I felt I'd satisfied my audience with my Elvis impression and earned my night on the stage.  The two magpie/crow type birds on the grass in front seemed unimpressed with my efforts.

Had a cup of Irena's tea (very nice!), packed our gear, and rode back into town to try to find a free wifi place that a guy and his son told us about last night. They also gave us some valuable info on wild camping. We enjoyed a very nice chat with both of them.
Couldn't find the wifi, so picked up some breakfast and sat on the promenade in the morning sun and a gentle breeze.

The riding this morning was undulating and mostly farmland and trees and it was beautiful. We were clicking along at a good rate, whilst still taking time to smell the manure.

As we turned off onto one of the quieter country roads, we noticed the tarmac sparkling in the early morning sun and wondered if they perhaps use recycled glass in their bitumen. Although seeing the way Norwegians like to do things properly with no expense spared, it's probably crushed diamonds.

On the way we passed some cross country skiers out training.  I didn't get the shot of the first group of eight, as they were upon us before we knew it.  But I was able to grab a shot of these two as we were going the same way.

Cruised into Tonsberg about 11am and picked up some lunch, which we sat and ate up by the museum. Headed to the library to connect with wifi to upload the blog and photos. Going to spend the day looking around before heading to Veierland, the island upon which Petter has a holiday home where we will stay tonight, before moving further south tomorrow.

Visited the library for a while (because we are so well read)!  There purely for the internet to upload photos and write. Gives us a break, not just from cycling, but the elements. At present that is all day sunshine, but we know that isn't going to last for three months. There will be a mixture, good and bad.

Classic Norwegian boats with the bridge going up in the distance to allow an approaching yacht access to the Harbour.

Cycled out of Tonberg on a lovely marina pathway to Tangen where we were to catch a ferry to the island where Peter has his summer cabin. One of the beauties of this place is that it's car free.

Getting off the ferry it seems all the locals have their own wheelbarrow for groceries and luggage, or anything else for that matter. I can imagine it's been used as an ambulance over the years too. Or a taxi home from a big night out.

We cycled over cute little tracks and the odd little hill until we reached the cabin, managing to see half the island in the process as there were two docks and we got off at the first one but had taken our bearings off the second one.

Petter wasn't arriving until later, but had told us where the key was. But as we approached the cabin, a young lady, Henrietta, Petter's niece was there. She had been there all week studying for exams, physics no less, for her third year. Talk about a great place to get away. 

Petter turned up about 5.30ish. He had ridden 100kms on his Kona Sutra, the one he's going to ride through Africa starting Sept/Oct. Julia was dying for a swim (there's a surprise) so off we went to the most gorgeous location. Julia thought the temperature was about 19, but I thought it was more like 17.  We didn't stay in long as with no waves to catch, what do you do? But a beautiful spot to wash the sweat off and then we relaxed on the warm rocks for a bit.

Petter suggested we take his boat across to the mainland to the supermarket. So off we go under full sun. By now it must be 7pm and the ride to the supermarket would have been about an hour there and back. It was a new experience climbing off a boat and walking from the dock into a supermarket. As we had what we needed, it was interesting to just compare prices.  Julia, poor thing was freezing her butt off as she still had wet togs on under her clothes.

This country has one of the highest standards of living in the world. Everything from their buildings, both residential and commercial, are very well constructed. The quality of the items they use daily and the quality of the cars they drive. Their public transport system is amazing and their trains are well kept and up to date.

However, they pay their workforce decent money and people are quite happy to spend the time at work, because they are rewarded. The amount of electric vehicles on the road here is staggering and high end Audis, Porche, Mercedes etc are not uncommon. Tesla are everywhere as are other brands, and we found out the Norwegian govt subsidises these electric vehicles. 

In a country with a high rating on the happiness scale, people to us seem to be generally happy, welcoming and ready to work for the future. There is crime, but not the violent crime we are currently seeing in New Zealand, with ram raids and gang issues.

Julia cooked a lovely meal from supplies we grabbed at the supermarket before coming to the island. A pretty amazing feat really in that we couldn't read exactly what we were buyjng and how to cook them but using Petter's stove top and frypan, she managed to make a tasty meal from sausage balls, seasoned potatoes and a bag of stir fry vegetables and enough for all of us.

After dinner we had a coffee and turned in at 10pm, relishing the feel of real pillows!