Rain, mosquitoes and a detour to Sweden

Thu 29.06.2023

We did something terribly wrong, because our bus was full of little mosquitoes. The Citronella candle didn't help either. Remember those nasty midges from Scotland? Well, they were about the same, and they bite instead of sting, and because they're so small and so many, it's almost impossible to kill them all by hand. They also fit in holes in the windows where the normal mosquitoes couldn't get through.

Well, the next morning full of bites (especially Lukas) we drove (with a shower stop at a gas station) directly to Trondheim. The city is famous for its old town with its coloured, crooked houses on stilts right by the river. There is also the Nidarosdom, a national sanctuary from the year 1090, in which Norway's kings were crowned for over a thousand years. We wandered through the town, drank sour coffee (Sarah is not at all enthusiastic about the local coffee culture. Either filtered coffee or totally sour), and strolled to the harbour. This time we didn't see any giant cruise ships.

We had dinner in the Solsiden district, where the restaurants and bars are lined up. In Norway, we were in restaurants several times where everything works with a QR code, not with a waiter directly. Also, everything is paid automatically with a bank card, there is hardly any place where people ask for cash.

By the way, we spent the night on a pitch in the middle of the city. Unlike in Bergen, which was pretty camper-unfriendly, there were two official pitches with more than 70 pitches each and even with a supply and disposal station. And the price was pretty okay with about 25 Euros for 24 hours.

Fri 30.06.2023

The weather wasn't great, it was raining. So, we decided to go to a swimming pool again. The pool at the harbour was huge. It had several different pools with slides, a wave pool even with a small climbing wall, a hot tub and four different saunas, one of which was heated by infrared.

After bathing, we went to the industrial district and visited the hardware store, because we wanted to prepare our windows in such a way that the nasty little mosquitoes would no longer get through. For us, with large shopping centres, it's like with museums. We're always very interested in what products are available in other countries. So, the time passed and only at the late afternoon we left towards Røros.

Sat 01.07.2023

HALF-TIME!

We are already traveling for two months. It's hard to believe how fast it all goes and how much we've already experienced. And that we still have two months left.

Røros was actually a small detour. The town was recommended to us by the Kjeragbolten car park security guard, as it is his home. After all, the town and its surroundings are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so definitely worth a visit. From the 17th century to the 1970s, copper ore was mined here and this has greatly influenced the appearance of the town. The old building structure, which is still largely preserved, has given Røros the UNESCO status. We visited the local museum, which is located in the former smelting house. It was built like a small miniature museum inside, very nice to look at. Further we strolled through the streets with the coloured houses and indulged in a special local dessert: a sweet flatbread with butter and sliced cheese on top, a mixture of sweet and salty, very nice and interesting.

On that day it rained till noon but in the late afternoon the weather got better. But when we set off towards Sweden, it poured again.

Why did we go to Sweden? We discussed whether we wanted to go to the Lofoten Islands via Norway, or via Sweden. In Norway, there would be the national way or a touristy road along the coast. The latter would be very nice, but it would take a long time. And since we had been able to experience a lot of fjords during the last two weeks, we decided to go to Sweden. We wanted to experience for ourselves what it is like to drive for hours only through the forest. A few weeks earlier, we had this romantic idea of driving to a small lake in good weather, taking a stand-up paddle out on the water and enjoying the long hours of sunshine. Well, it would be nice if it were nice, because unfortunately, it wasn't really. So, we decided to just drive and win distance.

The first thing we saw just across the border were reindeer. A whole herd of them. It was a really great experience. We spent the night near a ski resort. Lukas has prepared the windows in such a way that the little mosquitoes won't get in.

Sun 02.07.2023

On Sunday we drove near Östersund and visited the Moose Garden, a kind of shelter for moose. There were 5 of them, two of them we saw. The place is run by a couple, usually there are one or two guided tours a day. He attracts the moose with food (potatoes!) and tells the visitors many interesting things about moose for an hour. The animals are really very big and although we would love to see them in the wild, we don't want them running in front of our car.

In Östersund we had a delicious lunch and then drove 2.5 hours further north. In a place called Storuman there were like small peninsulas on the lake and on one of them we parked our bus right by the water. A great place for the night.

Mon 03.07.2023

And back to Norway! There was no point in sitting at the lake, the weather didn't want to be like we wished for. But that's just part of traveling, and thanks to the bus we're very flexible.

We had a four-hour drive ahead of us. And believe us, 80 percent of it was just through the woods. Sometimes you'd pass a settlement with four or five houses, and then nothing would come for ages. Eventually, maybe a bigger place with a store and a restaurant. Then nothing. We speculated about how these people lived here. Where do they work, how long do they go there, is there a 'village life' here?

On this long journey, our navigation said that we're driving for 230 kilometres straight without roundabouts or junctions. That's the distance from Basel to Bellinzona (for the Irish: from Dublin to Monks Restaurant in Ballyvaughan). And here we were just passing through a fraction of both countries. We looked it up: From the North Cape through the whole of Norway to Kristiandsand in the south it takes 33 hours without stopping. Hardly imaginable for us from this small country.

In Norway we stopped for the first time at the Arctic Circle. Of course, the landscape has changed noticeably since Sweden. Although we were only at an altitude of a little over 600 m.a.s.l., there was still some snow left and no trees. But the trees came back the further we drove down towards Bodø. Norway, of course, also has a lot of forest, but everything is just different here. It has a lot more mountains, the landscape is generally hilly, it has a lot of rivers to drive along. Sarah, in particular, finds it much nicer to drive around here.

Tue 02.07.2023

Our first destination that day was Saltstraumen, the strongest tidal current in the world. Through a strait 2.5 kilometres long and about 150 metres wide, almost 400 million cubic metres of water flow between the Saltfjord at the sea and the Skjerstadfjord inland. We were doubly lucky, because we were there at noon and the tide was about 1:00 p.m. and it was also full moon the night before, which makes the tides even stronger. The wild vortexes and the strong current, which rips at up to 40 km/h, were very spectacular to see. In the visitor parking lot we ate our lunch and had a little longer chat with a Lucerne man, who had parked right next to us.

Afterwards we drove on to Bodø. From the town itself we saw nothing but a shop, because after getting groceries we went straight to the ferry port. Our next destination was the island of Værøy, a small island belonging to the Lofoten group with about 700 inhabitants, just south of the main archipelago. The trip lasted almost 6 hours because it stopped at the island of Røst. When Værøy came into view, it was a very spectacular sight. On the one hand the island was illuminated by the sun and on the other hand the fog covered it like a blanket. The clouds or fog hung like waterfalls from the mountains. Also, when we arrived on the island and the whole convoy of motorhomes and campers all drove in the same direction (which is not so difficult with just one road on the island), we saw the fog directly above us and right of the road was the sea with its light blue water. The island itself does not have a camping site, but on the other side of the mountain there is a former airfield which can be used by campers.

Wed 05.07.2023

Unfortunately, the weather has not improved. At 08:00 the mountain peaks were still shrouded in fog. Although we first planned on going to hike this mountain, we turned over in bed again. Now we remembered our Irish friends from the hiking group. They go hiking in any weather, even if they come home soaked, because in Ireland you can't wait for good weather. So, we took an example from them and decided to do the hike. At 12 o'clock we set off and were quickly engulfed in fog. Fortunately, the wind came from the other side of the mountain, so we were still somewhat spared. However, some drizzle came and made the whole thing a bit fresher. After about 2 hours we reached the summit. At first, we could not see anything, we couldn't see 5 meters. In a place where there was no wind, we ate our lunch. And just right when we finished, the wind turned and the fog cleared. All of a sudden, we saw the villages down on the coast, we could see the next mountain peak and the sea. The wind was blowing like crazy, and it was cold, but it was worth it. It was very nice to have such a great view after the thick fog.

24 hours after our arrival, at 10:45 p.m., our ferry left the island of Værøy and arrived in Moskenes with a delay of 40 minutes. By the time we parked the bus, it was 00:50 a.m. Unfortunately, we had nothing of the midnight sun that night, it was 'just' bright.

Thu 06.07.2023

And finally, after several days of rather bad weather, we woke up to blue skies. Today we wanted to go on a hike again, because finally having such great weather, we wanted to see the Lofoten Islands from above. We decided to take an easy hike near our parking. The destination was Reinebringen, and we reached it by climbing 2,000 steps built by Nepalese Sherpas. And they were also a little steep. If we wished for sunshine on the hike yesterday, we were happy for some wind today. But the view at the destination was wonderful. Great view of the mountains and the villages of Reine and Hamnøy. Walking down the steps was faster, but our knees shook a bit when we were back at the bus. After lunch we went straight to a campsite right by the sea (which is not too difficult on this island) and did some spring cleaning. Washing clothes, cleaning the floor, dusting etc. Even in a small space you are unfortunately not protected from dirt, unfortunately on the contrary.

And today, for the first time ever, we can really experience the midnight sun.