Twenty-fifth day

Olderfjord - Honningsvåg

102km

17.6 km/h average speed

Today the weather description is simple: RAIN

Wind: Northwest wind and the main direction today was north-northeast

It was expected that it would rain again tonight. By the way, the camping site stay was not as luxurious as hoped. Sure, I had a hot shower and that alone was worth going to a campsite, but when you wild camp, teenagers don't jump around at midnight and my spot is usually more than 10m away from the road.

After waking up, I got ready so that I could leave the place by 8 am at the latest, since Daniel and I agreed yesterday that he would drive another 20km and since he usually leaves around 9 am, we could meet at nine wherever he is. And it's nice to ride together for a while.

During packing, there was a short rain break, but when I was ready to leave, it started pouring heavily. Since I didn't want to get completely soaked immediately, I waited for 15 minutes but it didn't get any better. So off we go. At first, it went well because the route followed along the east side of a steep cliff and the wind sometimes even came from behind. After 21km, I actually met Daniel, who was waiting for me in a reindeer souvenir shop. The day was much easier to bear together. I don't know if I could have kept my mood up in the constant rain, at 5-7 degrees and sometimes very strong headwind. But that way we talked and the time and kilometers passed almost unnoticed. The weather was consistently gray and it didn't stop raining for a minute. I didn't notice much of the landscape either.

Then the dreaded Nordkaptunnel came. 7km long, goes down to almost 200m below sea level, 9% gradient, and all the traffic to the North Cape has to go through it. But it wasn't that bad. At least it wasn't raining anymore. We also didn't have as much traffic as we feared, only the 3km climb was quite tough.

Then a few small bays, through a 4km tunnel (flat), and we were in Honningsvåg. Immediately we went to the nearest supermarket, replenished our supplies, and enjoyed the warmth and sweets.

Afterwards, I started taking care of my return journey and it seems to be a complicated matter. I think it will be the beginning to the middle of next week until I'm back in Germany. It takes 30 hours by bus or 40 hours by ferry to get to Bodø alone. Then I have to take the train from Bodø to Oslo, then a ferry, then a train again in Denmark and Germany, but that's still a long way off.

Today Daniel and I treated ourselves to a small cabin and we're relieved to be able to dry our things and ourselves. And to get warm again. Today I was freezing to the bone.