Norway 2007: The Coast Route
Monday 11th June: Furøy - Nesna (121 km)
Is cycling fun? At home we ride our bicycles because it is the easiest way to get around in the centre of a large city that is clogged with cars. On holidays we ride our bicycles for fun. Cindi Lauper sings 'Girls just want to have fun' and she may be right, but wanting the fun and having the fun do not always go together. The day we rode from Furøy to Nesna it rained all day and the strong head wind sapped our strength. We shivered as we ate our last snack bar sheltering behind a toilet block, on top of a mountain in the clouds, not knowing what lay ahead of us. We were irritable on the last few kilometres into Nesna - we just wanted the day to be over. No, this was not fun.
Sometimes when people see our photos of Norway they say 'What country are you going next?' To us it is a strange question. We had such a wonderful time in Norway that we would happily go back for more, even if it isn't always fun. Besides, we need a photo; the view from that toilet block on Sjonfjellet must be stunning.
Early morning rain at Furøy
Evening showers at Nesna
Karen's diary:
We woke to the sound of rain, and packed very quickly so as not to get too wet. It was cold on the ferry landing as we waited for the 7.00am boat from Forøy to Ågskaret. The journey takes only ten minutes. From Ågskaret we had a nice ride in soft, drizzly fog to Jektvik, where we had to wait for the next ferry. We got the timing completely wrong and had to wait in the rain for 90 minutes. A very nice Swiss couple invited us into their campervan for coffee - Nescafe never tasted so good!
The voyage from Jektvik to Kilboghamn takes about an hour. We ate most of our remaining food and chatted with the Swiss. The two Germans (who caught up at Jektvik) ate and slept. It was raining softly as we disembarked, but it was not too cold. We wore waterproof overpants, booties, overmitts, raincoats and helmet covers. The countryside was very nice - rounded, bouldery outcrops and mountains - but we couldn't see very much through the clouds, fog and rain. We had three long tunnels - all quiet (and dry). The shop (2km from Bratland) was closed. This was quite serious because we had very little food left, and the next shop would be at Nesna, still a long way. Fortunately we found a tourist handcraft shop along the way - we didn't want to buy any carvings but they had some chocolate, which we purchased gladly.
Everything went well until our turnoff to Nesna. First, a headwind, which made us feel colder and more tired. Then, an innocent-looking hill, which we expected would be quite short. We were wrong. The hill got longer, higher and steeper with every twist and turn. We got into the clouds and the weather turned really foul - a screaming, icy wind driving freezing rain into our faces. Thank goodness we were properly dressed or we would have been in trouble. Still we kept climbing. At the top of the pass we took shelter behind a public toilet, just long enough to eat some chocolate. I was shaking and exhausted but we had to continue to get down out of the storm.
We finally rolled into Nesna at 6.00pm and went straight to the supermarket to buy more food. With bulging panniers, we rode into the campground at 6.30pm (two hours ahead of the Germans!) and rented a cabin. It is only a few metres from the sea and the wind blows the bad weather straight through the front door. We just eat and go to bed without showers. We cannot bear getting wet again today.