A month gone

As the computer access facilities are getter more and more sparse as we are heading up North and into the mountains just a quick overview of our activities recently since our last update from Bergen. We are in Aurland at the moment just north of Flåm.

We have spent a week walking from hut to hut in the Hadrangervida which was hard work as there was still loads of snow on the ground , we walked in the snow for about three days and got very wet on the first day wading through a river trying to reach (and we did) one of the huts. We then cycled on from Kinsarvik towards Haugastol which is the start of the famous Rallarvegen cycle path that follow part of the mountain section of the Oslo to Bergen railway. Again snow made things quite difficult we ended up pushing the bikes through the snow for about 5 kilometers but finally after 28 km (18 miles) reached the station of Finse at 1222 meter, due to the conditions i.e. snow and freezing fog we decided to skip the next section cycling and take the train to Myrdal. From Myrdal we very steeply descended towards Flåm through a wonderful lush mountain valley beside a rushing stream flanked by waterfalls on both sides. We are now heading up again towards the Jotunheimenmountains.

Bergen

Just a quick update as we are both frustrated in our attempts of updating the blog being twarted by the very strictlyy 30 minute chuck you off policy of the local library. Once we find a more lenient compter spot we will give a full update. Since our last update from Egersund we have cycled up the west coast broadly following the Northsea cycle route. We both enjoyed our too short break from the cycling in bergen and are very glad that the tropical weather has changed to a more temperate and normal state.

We are heading North east now and plan to do a few days walking in the Hardranvida mountain range.

Days 10 - 16

day 10
We cycled back into Egersund this morning to do some shopping etc. we went to G-sport Sykkel shop to get daans bike gears looked at as they were still not working properly. We weere helped by a fanastic bloke who took one look said ah yes i know exactly the problem they haven't been set right since you first got it, 2 minutes later and hey presto they were working great, he then has a look at my bike as I feel the handelbars are a bit low, however it turns out I have no more room for adjustment as they are set at there highest and I would need to get a new stem only they didnt have the right ones in stock. He then sent us on our way refusing to take any payment as he siad he liked to help out mad tourist...what a cool bloke!
We also went to the other part of G-sport where a very nice man gave us a demonstration on how to use the fishing reel, I think we have an idea now but i am still not totally confidant. We staid in ergsund until well into the afternoon waiting for the temperature to cool of. Once we set off we scycled along the old railway track which beacuase of it being narrow gauge was lots of ups and downs, I had expected a nice easy flat cycle. We then joined the old highway to Ogna which was also extremly steep at places, in fact today both Daan and I had to get off an push the bikes as the hills were so steep adn covered in this really loose fine gravel which meant that as soon as your speed dropped then your wheels just spun around and you didnt go forward. In some parts the hills were so steep that I couldnt even push my bike up them and Daan had to come help me. We set up camp in the middle of a pine forest on a large clearing, we had cycled 31.5 miles and were both fairly tired.

Day 11 We had planned to be up early today however we didnt quite make it and were woken up when about 40 small children walked over around and through the tent, they were out on a nature walk with school and it appeared we had set up camp right in the middle of the walk way. When we emerged they all sort of stood around stairing at us like the latest exotic animals in a zoo, it was rather bizarre. Once we got on our way we realised it was going to be a hard day as it was reallly windy, we stopped briefly at Obrestad lighthousew then went a little further to the Old parsonage in Hå, whwich is a community museum like place with exhibits about teh pearl industry and jewellery makeing that used to happen there. They also had a n exhibit of Russian posters from 1945-65 which were fabulous and a rather scary exhibit of female artists in the area. we staid for about 3 hours as we couldn't face the wind and it was nice and warm there. We then headed off along long flat roads whcich should have been easy cycling only the wind was so strong I didnt really see very much as I just tucked in tight behind daans bike and tried to stay in his slipstream so miles went by and all I saw was daans rear mud gaurd and bottom, which I guess for a honeymoon isnt such a hardship.

week 1 part 2

Day 4

today was off to a bad start as the stove would not light so no breakfast, we decided to pack up and head on for a bit then stop and attempt to fix the stove. We found a nice marina with picnic benches where we could sit and get the stove woprking again. It was justa bit of grim in the fuel line but it took a joint effort to get it apart and cleared we then enjoyed a nice cup of tea and some breakfast. We then headed for Jørpeland where we found the public library and updataed the blog etc. It is again a very hot day, it has become almost impossible to cycle between 12 and 3 as the heat is just to much, this has come as a bit of a shock to us as we had planned on a pretty cold wet holiday and as such have not brought a lot of summer stuff. My sleeping bag comfort rating is around -5 so i am sweltering at night. We had a major climb out of Jørpeland and I hit my low point of the trip and got of the bike about a quarter of the way up the hill and sat at the side and cried. It was just so hot and so steep. Daan was great and talked me back on to the bike, once we got to the top we stopped for some extra banan and peanut power. this seem to help me on a bit and the cycling got a bit easier. We were cycling along the RV13 which was a wee bit busy so we had to cycle in file rather than next to each other. We then had a bit of a decent along this very small road which was covered in very fine loose gravel and the bends on it were so steep,ly cambered it resembled one ofthese speed cycling racinging circuits, it was absolutely terrifying, but at least it was down hill. we were aiming for Songsand but we eventually gave up near woodstock as the uphills just got to much and were both fit to drop. we later realised that one of the problems is probably that we are not eating enough for the amount of work we are doing. we only mangaed 18 miles today but i think 17.5 of them were up mountains. we got atop speed of 33.8miles which I was very impressed as most of the down hills have to many bends to get up to any speed withought risking dropping over the edge into the nearby fjords!

Day 5
I am so glad we stopped where we did yesterday as this morning we walked a few metres up the road and had the most amazing outdoor was. there were these huge waterfalls and great big expanses of smoothed rocks it really was like the bathroom of the Gods, I washed my hair and it was totally dry in under 15mins which may give you and idea ofthe heat already. We had a little more uphill to do today until we got to Lyngsvatten then it was down hill all the way to Songsand. The road just stops at the pier so you have to be a bit careful to use your brakes early, Songsand is a really fabulous little village with a little school that looked just like the one in the Waltons. On the pier is a little waiting room \building, which we decided we would make our room for the night to save putting up at the tent as the ferry that we were to catch the next day left at 6:50 and we didnt fancy trying to pack up that early in the morning. The waiting room had a sign on the door sayinmg please keep closed or else the goats will come in, and they were right there were about 15 goats who seem to sit about on the pier and around the waiting room until some secret signal when the all troop of back up the hill. We decided to take a walk ato the DNT hut at Bakken so we could see hwat it looked like, it was about an hours walk along the coast which involved some preety serious scrambeling over rocks and along chained pathways, but it was well worth it just for the stunning views of the fjord. Once we got there we dicovered that next to the hut is an old farm which is owned by the community after the previous owner got up and walked out. there is no services to this area and there were two mebers of teh community who where there to bring in the seasons supplies of gas bottles, loo roll etc they had got the ferry in that afternoon and had a litle lift which they use to bring the things up to teh farm, so after helping them with some chores ...Daan got the worst job of helping empty 2 cells of teh composting toilet and I got teh job of helping a rather cak handed It guy fix a loose drain pipe, they invited to stay for dinner whic turned out to be a graet feast of shrimps , mayonnaise salad and braed along with vast quantities of alcohol. we then sta outs ide in around a bonfire and had a jolly evening. We headed back down to the pier at around 10ish which was a little scary as daan was rather merry and this was no stroll in the park however we made it down with realatively few misshaps. Id id however have to persuade Daan it was not a good idea to scarmbel down the ricks into the fjord top harvest mussels as 1. he would likely fall in 2. there was no way I was letting him near a petrol stove with a match in his current state of merry ment and 3. if we kept them till tomorrow we would probably get shellfish poisining and die! he eventually accepted my arguments and we headed back to our beds. Just as we settled down Daan pinted out this rather annoying noise of a generator and said "do you think that will be running all night as it is really loud and I wont get any sleep" as I tried to respond to him he started to snore extremly loudly, needless to sya I got no sleep that night and Daan got plenty. only cycled a total of 14 miles but we ran out of road so not much we could do about that.


Day 6
Very early start to the day to catch the super fast ferry which litteraly throws itself into the harbour you jump on beforet he gangway is fully down and it speeds of. Daan loved it he took some graet pictures it really was like being on a sppedboat ferry. I currled up inside and tried to catch up on some sleep. Only to soon we arrived at Lysebottom and started our climb and oh my what a limb...remeber we hada super early start and as such had no breakfast but as it was so hot we decided it was best to ush on and eat in the shade latter. Well this climb which includes 27 switch backs and a 1.1km tunnel which is uphill. We made it to the cafe whcih is called the eagles nest this is about 640km above sea level, and I had realised we were going high when buses of base jumpers went passed. most people going up really cheered me on as I struggled up. We were erewarded to find that the oublic toilets had showeres so we werwe stright in, I quite quicky realised I was recovering as well as I should and very soon had my head down the toilet trying to be sick only there was absolutely nothing inside me to bring up. Daan was great he got me tcuked up in teh shade and made me some mash potatoes which he ended up having to spoon feed to me, and a cup of peppermint tea. I don't remeber feelins so bad before. I think it was a combination of lack of sleep, lack of food adn mild sun stroke. we basicallys ata about for the rest of teh afternoon, the restraunt opened up as there was some big bust trips coming in so we went in and had suasage and fries whchw as delicious. We had planned to walk to teh Kjeragbolten that day but I really wasn't in any condition for a 5 hour round walks. So as soon as I felt up to it we cycled further on which was still up hill for a long way we eventually got to the top which was 932m...that would count as a munro...and I cycled up it!! We meet some guys who were on a works team building exercise which involved cycling up the hill, althought the had a the lates gear adn super lightweight bikes they seemed to walk up the hills and free wheel down, I think they got a bit disheartened when Daan very casually cyclwed becide them for a while chatting whilst not looking like he was putting in any effort even with the bikes fully loaded then Daan just cycled ofgfa dn they all got off and walked. It helped me a lot as I keep comapring myself to Daan and getting frustrated and how hard I am finding it, but tos ee these guys give up made me realise that Daan really is extremly fit adn at least I haevn't had to walk up any of the hills yet I just keep taking my braeks and pushing on. We eventually got to the sign post for the DNT hut Børsteinen. And we new we had at least a 10 minute walk in, so we decided to walk to the huta dn see if it was open before we trekked allteh kkit in. Unfortunately when were about half way there we have to cros sthe water whcih has large lumps pf floating ice, and the bridge has been swept away in the winter. Daan showed his mountain goat skills by leaping across the water, i decide to stay on this side until he has checked out the hut, after a few minutes he comes back saying it is perfect, so we decide to head back out and get the bags, unfortunatley on his return leap of the water he misjudges domewaht and plunges in up to his waist! he turns blue rather quickly, so I run back to the bikes for dry clothes and the stuff we will need for the night. whilst Daan strips out of the wet clothese and huddles ina small dip in the ground. Once we get him into some dry clothes, we then both succesfully cross the water however I do accidently drop his trainers in and have to splash in after them, so we are both now wet a cold. Howevere when we get to the hut we realise it was so worth it. It is jsut fabulous, we get the log burning stove going to dry out the clothes and then set about preparing an fabulous 3 course meal, it was fantastic, latter on Marcus arives he is from Switzerland and is walking from hut to hut, he had come in from the other direction from us and had also taken a cold plunge traying to cross a different part of the water. We fed him some wedding cake and coffee and he soon warmed up.

Day 7
We decided that we would walk/hitch back down to the eagles nest and do the walk to the Kjeragboltena s we could face the cycle back up ( I say we but it was mostly me and daan was kind enough not to push me) We were in some wasys a bit unlucky with getting a lift as we had to walk for about 2 hours but yo really cant complain about walking when teh scenery is just so stunning. Eventually a German couple in a camper van gave us a lift the rest of the was and Daan had a nice chat with them in German. We then walked up to the Kjeragbolten this is a great big bolder which has dropped and is wedged between to cliff faces you can walk out on it and are standing hundreds of feet above the fjord. Daan wasnt to keen on the cliff edges at first and got a bit queesy when I went to close...it was truly spectacular. the actual bolder bit was okay but here were other view points that would take your braeth away. I watched some base jumpers for a ehile, whilst Daan wondered off. Once we got back we took advantage of the showers again, then we got a lift from two very burned norwegian girls back to teh turn off for the hut. Once we got back to the hut Marcus had left us a little note and a prsent of some powdered rum punch for the cold nights and a eyes mask for daan in the light nights as he is finding theis constant day light aa bit of a problem. So 0 miles sycled toaday but a fantastic walk.

Day 8
We weer both a bit sad to leave the lovely hut but time came to press on we had a huge braekfast of porridge then rice inorder to try and prevent any more reccurances of the previous days. The good news is that we were mostly descending for the rest of the day with only a few minor uphill bits. We stopped in Sinnes to buy some essential supplies as we had eaten pretty much everything we had. We made a discovery of banana goo whcih is banana, oil and sugar so super banana turbo power , it is pretty nice when added to milk in the drinks bottle shaken for a few minutes nad you have a fab milk shake. We stopped at Dogrefossen for lunch, This is meant to be a really impressive waterfall but it only a meer trickle at the minute due to teh hydropowere system adn the lack of rain. We had decided to hold of buying extra food until Tonstad as this si s alrger town and would be cheaper...big mistake, it turns out that on Staurdays the supermarkets shut by 3pm, so we were very low on food. We then had a climb out of tonstad having raelised thatwe were down to our last packet of risoto and then had just resurfaced the road so it was like cycling on toffee. I was really strauggelinga nd when we go to a picnic stop part way up the hill I had to stop luckily Daan was waiting for me a took my bike as I would have jsut fallen off otherwise. We found som shade by the stream and decdide to sit out of the sun for a while. Once we finally got to the top I was feeling pretty feeble and was just commenting on how Is eem to finding the hills harder rather than easier and I didnt understand why my fitness was not improving, when Daan told me to turn around and there was a warning sigh explaing that it was 10% gradient so that made me feel a bit better. We set up camp at eth junction of Moi, and iw as mightly gald to be back in the tent. We cycled 46.17 miles today with a new max speed of 34.9

Day 9

It is os hot today we had to get out of the tent at 7am as we were boiling. We had agreat cycle all down hill to Egersund, it was nice as it wasnt really steep downhills so you still had to pedal but you felt really good about it. When we arrived we used the public toilets to freshen up and I got to put on my clean blouse and look like a girl for the first time this holiday, it felt lovely. We then went to the nearest cafe for some food, I oculd tell daan was exhausted as he was jsut right this will do, wheras normallyw e have to look around for ages to find the prefect palce to eat. We ordered large fries each adn might me they wer large, we also ordered a prawn sald for me and a hot dog for daan, the girl looked confused when we orderd and it soon became clear why wene Daans hot do arrived with prawns in mare rose sauce all in the one bun, itw as rather funny amd we split it up, between us. After a walk round the town and a snoooze on a bench we cycled on to Eigerøy and stopped athe beach. We spent the rest of the day alteranating between sunbathing on the beah and hiding in the shade. Daan then went foraging to supplement our food supplies as we only had a packet of pea soup left and not much water, he collected lots of winkles which we boiled in salty sea water, then spent about and hour tweeking them out of their shells. Along with this we had sea kale and porridge with some mayoinnaie, it was one of the best meals we had so far. We then went for acycle down to the light house, whcich was lovely cycle/wlak although we were both pretty tired by the time we got back, we set up tent on the shore front rather close to some trees inorder to try and get some shade in the morning so we didnt get boiled out of the tent. we did 36.5 miles today with a new impresive top speed of 39.9 miles per hour

Week 1

Well we have arrived. We had our first experience of Norwegian food on the ferry we sailed on the Queen of Scandinavia, and the food was fantastic we opted for the buffet which we hadnt prebooked so we didnt get a table til 9:45 which was probably agood thing as it was a bit quiter then, we paid around 20 pounds per person and the food was fantastic, there was a huge counter of fabulous fish with loads of shellfish, then another counter with fab salads and nibbly bit, we didnt even make it to the hot food counter which ahd about 8 choices of hot dishes as well as 3 diffrent roast meats on the carvery.

We arrived in Stavanger at 9am and had a walk around the town, there was a NATO exercise happening which meant that there were lost of huge naval warships, the Britsih one was tied alongsid ethe Dutch one which I thought was rather symbolic of our marriage especially as the Brittish one was the HMS Campbeltown, then Daan pointed out the Dutch one was called the Ruyter which is named after a famous Dutch Naval commader whos biggest claim to fame was that he had sunk loads of British ships!!

we then headed for some breakfast to a cafe called the Old Bakery which we had read about in the guides, it was amazing, Ithought it was a museum and was reallys hocked taht we were allowed to sit at the tables, they were huge bit dinning tables with lace table clothes and candle,it was so posh, we ordered the breakfast platter whcih was only 90 NOK each (less than ten pound each), Itw as amazing this glass serving dish with cheese, ham, salad, fruit, egg, fish bread and juice and coffee. This was our first expereience of sylt (marinated herring with a cinamon flavour) Daan has since become totally addicted and we have to lug great big jars of it up every hill on the back of the bikes.

Whilst in the cafe we had a very bizare experienc, we met a a man calle Reg Porter who was visiting Norway again in order to raise funds for stroke research, he had previously cycled the length of Norway in 1963 on a tandem with his to be wife, who was just 19 at the time. It was amazing to meet him as we are almost reinnacting his trip. We even have a very similiar provisions list with us (ie lots of porridge). He has given us some very handy hints as to good camp spots to look out for I hope they are still there.

Daan then went to vist the canning museum whilst Kirsty opted to snooze in the sun, both seem to enjoy there chosen past time, It was about 3ish when we fi9nally go on our bikes and headed out of Stavanger we cycled 27 miles which was pretty tough going as the hills are huge. We set up camp near Hommersak which is on the coast and got eaten allive by midges, it was very much like the west coast of Scotland.

Day 2

We set of today to Lauvvick where we caught the ferry to Oames. I really appreciated the five minute ferry ride as I really needed the rest. Once of the Ferry we cycled over the Lysefjorden over a huge bride the views very spectacular. This was my first xperience of cyclining in tunnels, luckly there was a cyce lane though the tunnel but i forgot to take my sunglasses off before going in, itw as only a short tunnel and you could see the end from as soon as you eneterd but it was a bit scary as the walls seemed to keep coming in towrads you and I was extremly glad to get out the other side. From here we headed along a valley past Ovre Espedal, THis was probbly the most stunning of scenery I have ever seen, and it heleped that the hills werent to monstrous so I could actually focus on the view rather than gasping for breath. We got to an area tha was lie a nationaø park where we set up our tent, then I went and washed the clothes in a glacier fed river, I must ahve looked liek something out of olden times, beatin our socks on rocks then hanging then over bushes to dry. I then had a qucik dip mysel...which was very cold so I was going more for freezing the bacteria of my body rather tan washing. I wasnt sure about useing sampoo ibn the water so I decided to use the ecover laundry detergent to wash my hair and I have to say, it is really soft and glossy, I may switch to this for reguar washing. We had a fabulous dinner of tomato pasta with some red onion and some very nice wine, which is the inner bag of a box we have brought with us. It is amazing how food you would normally turn you nose up at suddenly taste like nectar once you are starved and you are eating outdoors. Dann then went off for an explore and I went to bed...I think the difference in our fitness levels is showing itself fairly early. We cycled 24 miles today.

Day 3
we cycled back out today over the bridge (and I remembered to take my glasses off for the tunnel)We cycled to Preikestolen today which means pulpit rock it is this huge sheared of rock above the fjords. Today was a mighty cycle day we decide to sit out the worst of the heat between 1 and 3 as it is just to unbearable to cycle so we found ourself a little flat rock on the side ofthe water a decided to give fishing a try, only we hadn't realised that neither of us had a clue how to wind on a fishing real so after a n hours of faffing we gave up and had a snooze we are keeping out eyes peeld for the next friendly looking fisherman to give us a quick lesson. We Cyeled to the bottom og the mountain the Preikestolen is on and set up camp and took all the panniers of the bikes. i was quite excited atthe idea of cycling without them as I thought ethta with 30kg less on the bike I would find it much easier....howvere it turned out that we had a 3 mile cylce which went up 350km in height...i though I was going to die...I really cant believe I made it...Daan obviously gott there about 15 minutes ahead of me, but I am glad to say he admitted to getting of an walking at one point which made me feel a lot better as I had not had to resort to this I just had to take about 20 stops on the way up. We then walked up the hill top the pulpitt rock, the guide books say this is a 4hour round trip , we did it in about 3 hours. It was totally breathtaking, it was great that we went up so late in the day we go to the top around 9ish so the light was fanatstic and there was only 3 other people there with us. By the time we got back to the tent we were both to exhausted to cook so we had bread and chees and then straight to sleep. I have disovered on thing about Norwegian cycling, you work really hard getting to the top of the hills and you would think yo uwould be able to realx all the way own but oh no, the hills are so big that the way down you hang on to your brakes for dear life so at the end ofthe day your legs are tired from going up and your upper body is tired from going down!