6th August 2023 (cool, cloudy morning, bit of drizzle, sunny, mild arvo) 32km

It was cold when we woke at 6am and we debated whether or not to get up now to beat the traffic on the E10, or savour the warmth of the sleeping bags and try get a bit more sleep.   Just as we were dropping off about 10pm last night, the neighbours began having a full volume discussion/argument in German I think.  Very, very annoying and kept us both awake with all their talking, door slamming etc til 11pm....well past our bedtime.

But if there's two things life has taught us, it's this.  You never regret a swim and you never regret getting up early.  So off to the kitchen for an early breakfast and coffee and see if the wifi was any better while nobody else was using it....it wasn't.  It just wouldn't load the photos so we gave up and went and packed up the tent.

Met the camp cat as we were filling up our water bottles, a big Mainecoon.  He was a lovely cat and very affectionate.

Although it was overcast, it was a lot warmer than yesterday morning and it wasn't long after taking off, that we were shedding a layer.  Undulating ride for the 7kms into Svolvaer and big queues for the ferry at the terminal as we rode past to the Shell garage, where we had a coffee and a couple of buns, primarily to be able to use their fast wifi and post the blog.

This however meant we had now lost the advantage of hitting the road early and the E10 was now very busy.  Not far out, we could see the rain mist creeping ever closer as we headed into the hills.  Before it caught us, we spied a bus shelter, which up until recently have been scarce.
This morning it was our saviour and we took shelter as the rain came across followed by an increasing wind.

This delay led to our famed photographic collection "scenes from a bus stop"

We waited there for about half an hour.  As we did, we saw a number of bikepackers go by, all wet, heads down and probably cursing us for nicking the only shelter available.  As soon as the weather moved through, we carried on. It had turned a little bit cooler, but as we continued and the blue sky pushed the rainclouds away, we began to strip away the layers again.

The traffic by now was even busier.  Every one of them in a hurry to get where they wanted to be.
We came to a viewpoint overlooking a couple of mountain ranges and a big lake.  The carpark was full to overflowing with coaches, campers, motorbikes and cars.  Dutch, Italian, German...you name it.  We didn't really need to stop, as unlike all these vehicles, we'd been able to stop and take shots for the past few kms, but we grabbed a couple more from different angles.

Just down the road was a turnoff, taking us away from the E10 and the giant headache that went with it, to the scenic route for cyclists.

It was so much more relaxed and enjoyable and we had a great 10kms to Sandsletta Campground where we called it quits for the day, as the next campground was 70km and a ferry ride away.  It was only 2pm and first thing on the agenda was lunch. We chose a pitch with a picnic table and had lunch in the full sun.  Whenever the sun went behind a cloud, you could feel the cold wind and wanted to add a layer, but in full sun you wanted to take a layer off.

After a delicious lunch of liver paste and tomato buns, we had our usual coffee and treats before getting the tent up.  Then it was time to test out the 4 min showers. Ju scored the jackpot today with her hot water not turning off at the alloted time.  I however, was not so fortunate, but still enjoyed the four minutes I had, before doing some washing and seeing if the afternoon sun would dry it, before the temperature dropped.

Bought an ice cream and took a wander through the camp to the lake.  Found the hot tubs that they hire out at $200 a pop.  They take four hours to prepare.  It was a shame because we had four hours to spare, but not the required $200.

We walked along the road looking for a track out around the lake, but on two occasions, we were thwarted as they were private property.  Still enjoyed the walk though and for the final three weeks we'll be doing more walking/hiking.

Back at camp we spent some time watching the sunlight move across the mountains, ate some cashews and generally chilled.

All the while, the dog from the neighbouring tent would be yapping for no apparent reason.  They took it out for a long walk but they failed to take the short rope that the dog really needed (around it's neck.....and generally we love dogs!).  Brought it back just as we were tucking into our traditional Sunday dinner (mackerel and rice) which we prefer to savour in serene surroundings.  But instead we had yapping mutt one side and squealing kids the other. More freecamping is on the agenda.