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Norway 2007: The Coast Route |
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Wednesday 13th June: Skogmo - Bjørlia (112 km) |
What does it take to be happy?
Life becomes simpler when you travel on a bicycle in Norway.
It doesn't mean that the problems go away, it means that the problems are more basic.
In the city we might worry about what to cook for the evening meal - will the guests like it?
On this particular day - and not for the first time on one of our bicycle tours - we almost ran out of food.
We were happy when we finally found a shop where we could replenish our supplies.
It rained most of the afternoon and we were happy when found a warm, dry hut to spend the night, next to a beautiful river.
We were happy to stand under warm showers for four minutes, feeling the warmth coming back into our bodies.
We were even happier to sit at the table in the hut and eat our three course evening meal.
And we were happiest of all to crawl into our sleeping bags and fall into a deep sleep.
A warm, cosy hut at Bjørlia: time to dry out after a day of rain
Karen's diary:
It rained overnight and this morning so we dressed for bad weather and set off for Vennesund, 38km away, for the ferry to Holm. We rode through green, rolling farmland with small mountains scattered around. The sun came out for a while. It was not far across to Holm, but the countryside was very different on the other side - rugged, steep and crowded with the rocky hilltops pushed close together. The valleys were steep-sided and the fjords and lakes were long and narrow. We decided to take the inland road (route 17) rather than following the coast. This road we found surprisingly beautiful; we followed a long string of steep-sided fjords and then a river. It was very good cycling - hilly but not too steep, and something to look at around every corner.
The supermarket at Foldereid had good tables and benches, under cover, overlooking a magnificent suspension bridge across the fjord. We enjoyed a good lunch but it was raining again as we left, and rained steadily until we arrived here at Bjørlia. It isn't really a village, just a farm and a camping ground with a few cabins. We decided to quit early, rent a cabin and try to get dry and warm. When we paid at the farmhouse, the lady in charge looked at us disdainfully as we dripped water on her clean stairs. We must have looked like filthy drowned rats. The cabin is delightful and very cheap, perched on a riverbank amongst some birch trees.
We could not be happier.