Fifteenth day

Forøya - Camping Platz Kjelling Vestry (60km before Bodø)

91 km

Just under 20 km/h average speed

Grey, mountains covered in clouds, occasional light rain

Almost no wind

After it became 1 o'clock yesterday and I woke up at quarter to eight in the morning, I felt pretty sluggish for a long time. The weather had improved (in the classic sense). While the sun was not shining, it was dry and almost windless. Unfortunately, the mountain peaks were still covered in clouds. According to the map, there were large glaciers nearby (visible?). The effects of the glaciers were directly visible. The fjords here had a slightly milky, green-blue color. The first 30 km led us into a long bay and then out again. After an hour of driving, we were back within a few kilometers of the campsite. Then we went around a headland and to the first and only ferry terminal today. We hadn't checked the ferry times beforehand and had to wait for almost two and a half hours.

I took the opportunity to fish again immediately and after just 10 minutes I had a pretty big fish on the line. It wasn't a cod, I suspect it was a pollack or coalfish. I guess the fish weighed at least 3 kg and when I pulled it out, the line broke. Annoyed and with a guilty conscience (now there was a fish swimming around with a lure in its mouth), I thought about what to do. I definitely needed a more robust line and new lures. But it was Sunday and there were only a few houses around us and no store. In Sweden, I found a small lure. I thought that small lures would probably attract smaller fish. On the first cast, I got another bite. Judging by the force with which it pulled on the fishing rod, an even bigger fish. And unfortunately, the same thing happened again. I didn't even see it. Now I will really wait for new equipment.

There was still time for a short nap in the waiting room, then we continued to Ørnes. All the stores were closed there and the gas station didn't offer any fishing supplies either. As in the past few days, the road followed the coast and, as before, I constantly admired the sine curve-shaped mountains. While the mountains near Namsos were still gray whale backs, here they had grown to over 1000m, with impressively long and steep rock faces, and they just appeared powerful and eternal. Eternal because there is hardly any scree to be seen, only bare mountains, their bases wrapped in a bit of green. If I felt like a beetle yesterday, today I had shrunk to the size of an ant. The mood was similar to yesterday. Gray, with the peaks additionally shrouded in clouds. Sometimes I felt like I was in a fantasy movie. Although it was almost always drizzling, I drove in shorts and a long-sleeved shirt because towards the end of our daily stage we had more and more climbs to tackle. Uphill, I sweated like a horse, downhill the wind cooled me off. Fortunately, it wasn't that cold (around 14 degrees Celsius). There was very little wind today. In a bay/fjord, it was so calm that there was almost no wind and it wasn't raining, so we had an almost perfect reflection of the landscape in the water (I hope the photos turned out well).

Our destination today was a campsite in the middle of nowhere, 60 km before Bodø. The cabin we got wasn't cheap (990 kroner), but they also offered fish. I declined, but asked if I could borrow one of their fishing rods. No problem. After my success with fishing at the ferry today, I confidently asked Jonathan and Franz which fish I should bring them. A German in a neighboring cabin overheard and said that I should wait for another 2 hours, as the water was just starting to recede. I didn't let that scare me and went to the pier. On the first cast, I caught a medium-sized cod. My first thought was, 'This is no fun, it's too easy.' But after that, nothing bit. Proudly, I brought back my catch, but it was only enough for an appetizer. But still, after so many failures, the first (delicious) fish in my stomach. Now I'm going out again to fly the drone and then I'll go to bed a bit earlier today.