25th July 2023 (sunny and warm) 50km

Look what was hiding under the mist.

Woke at 6am this morning.  Bit nervous to move as waiting for pain to kick in, but for the most part, it seems to be more of a dull ache.  Hope things are coming right.

Down to the waterfront where we discovered a whole new mountain which had been hidden completely for two days.  It looks awesome.  Just shows that our decision to stay was the right one.  Weather is fantastic today.

Usual routine with breakfast, but don't have a tent to pack up today.  Had a face time with Keren and Greg and not long after another one with Georgina.  She is getting better, which is the main thing and on her last visit to the doctor, she got a very thorough female doctor who ticked all the boxes.

Headed out of a very nice camp at 10.30am.  The weather was perfect for riding and we had approx 50kms to ride today with undulating terrain.

It didn't take long once we headed away from camp for the scenery to show itself, unlike the other day when rain, mist and cloud were the order of the day.

And what fantastic views we had.  Ran into three German bikepackers at the first signposted viewpoint and after a quick chat and several photographs, we took off, with me leaving my gloves behind.

 

Fortunately, one of the guys had hung behind to get some shots and found them, caught us up and returned them to me.  Shortly after, we found a banana that he'd had strapped to his bike, on the side of the road.  As we knew that we would see them at the ferry, we grabbed it for him.

It was a case of stopping more than frequently because the views were outstanding. The riding, in comparison to other days was good.  Flat to undulating.  In Engenden, we found a Co op and a nice bench outside in a small garden-like area, to eat our lunch.

Then it was onward toward the ferry, about 7kms away.
The scenario was the same, but the views were constantly changing.

Arrived at the ferry with 20mins to spare and returned the banana to the German guy. There were other German cyclists there and a Frenchman, from Grenoble.  Usual story, he was off to Nordkapp, as were the German contingent.  Hopefully, they don't just set that as their only goal.  You would like to think that they would look at the passing scenery, rather than just adopting a head down, tail up mentality.  While we were chatting, we spied another porpoise out in the fjord.  Pretty sure the German contingent missed it.

The ferry ride to Ornes was scenery at its finest and the best bit about it was this scenic boat tour was totally free.

The rest of the afternoon was in the same vein...one image after another.  The mind found it hard to comprehend.  But I think I speak for Julia as well, when I say these scenes were outstanding.

After arriving in Ornes, we grabbed an ice cream from the service station and then headed toward our final destination today, Storvik.

Only 5 gas pumps, all empty.

8 charging stations,  3 being used.

Now we had a head wind and I had once again hurt myself by turning to look over my left shoulder.  Part of the initial injury.  It's really pissing me off.  I had to have Julia telling me when it was safe to cross to the other side of the road, otherwise, stabbing pain.

We came around a bend onto an ocean road and OMG....what a view.  Then we came to an awesome rest stop which we had to pull into so we could take in the fantastic views.  

We cycled with our mouths open for the remaining distance to the campground.

Over to the showers, then back for pre dinner snacks and drink.  Not too long after we ate dinner, washed the dishes and went for a lovely walk on the beach.  If we hadn't already had showers, we'd have gone in. The air temperature was 18C at 9pm and expected to hit 20C at midnight.  Lying in the tent at 9.45pm, we can well believe it.  Swim is on for tomorrow morning.