दिन अठारह

Smorten - 10 km northwest of Melbu

110 km

19.4 km/h average speed

Almost perfect weather, with a longer cold rain shower in the early afternoon followed by sunshine

Either no wind or a light tailwind

Actually, I would like to describe the place we are now, but let's go in chronological order.

Last night, I woke up around midnight because I had to pee. The weather was much better than in the evening. There was a lot of blue sky and some mountains were illuminated by the sun. The weather held up until morning and we set off in almost sunny weather with good prospects. But then we spotted the gray wall coming from the west. Fortunately, after a few kilometers, we reached a rest area where we used the toilets and refilled our water. We took the opportunity to let the brief rain shower pass. We did get a little wet again, but soon the sun came out and not only dried the road. We drove along a beautiful fjord, whose blue water came into its own in the sunlight.

We made a short stop at an untouched white beach that would make many Caribbean islands envious.

We had lunch in Svolvær, where we first met an Englishwoman on her way to Gibraltar and then settled at a table in front of the asylum seekers' home. We could already see the next gray veils over the mountains. Jonathan put on his rain gear, I was optimistic and just grabbed my fleece jacket. It turned out to be a mistake. It rained long and hard. Our original plan was to follow the E10 to Fiskebol and take the ferry to Melbu from there. 15 km before Fiskebol, we decided to take a 30 km detour to 1. Avoid the traffic on the E10 and 2. See more of the beautiful landscape. Despite another 10 km of rain, it was the right decision. The road was very lonely, and as soon as we reached the coast, the rain stopped and the sun came out. How much nicer and more pleasant a ride is in sunshine. I even flew a little bit behind Jonathan with the drone. In Fiskebol, we arrived so punctually that we could almost drive straight onto the ferry. In Melbu, we took the less busy road to the left around the island, and although we wanted to go all the way to Stokmarknes, we stopped after 10 km because we had found the perfect camping spot. White sandy beach, tables and benches, trash cans, and an outhouse. But the best thing was the landscape. The white sandy beach was framed by rocks, and in the hinterland there were meadows with low trees.

After I got water from a nearby farmer, we both jumped into the water, which was about as cold as I expected. But it was wonderfully refreshing, and how often do you have the chance to go swimming north of the Arctic Circle in sunshine? Now the last guests are gone and we will set up the tents. Unfortunately, some clouds have moved in.