|
|
From here you get on the 70 and then the E39 and stay on it until Trondheim in 189 km. There are 2 sea tunnels. The first 7 km one is at the exit to the Atlantic road has the only manned tollbooth in the country and the only one that has a fee for motorcycles (61Kr = 10$). They know how to get the tourists! The second is like elsewhere there is no toll. Trondheim is a huge city on the E6 and we got thru with not too much traffic. The E6 becomes a 2-lane highway north of the city and the cars start to thin out.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/282/1...d82b92ea_c.jpgDSC02685 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We stopped for the night just south of Verdalsora at the “KOA” campsite. We splurged as the price for a small cabin with power, heat and a small kitchen was 16 $ more than tent camping for 2 people with 2 motorbikes. Ahhh luxury! https://farm1.staticflickr.com/492/1...95eb3e96_c.jpgatlantic road 18 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
The distance from Steinkjer to Bodo is 690 km. There are six ferries along the Fv 17 that are from 10 to 60 min long crossings. The weather is supposed to be improving, but there is no evidence of this yet. It is just another 30 km north on the busy E6 until you turn onto the 17 when you reach Steinkjer, which is the gateway to the Kystriksveien or Coastal route to Bodo.
We started out late at 11 am in the rain again. From Steinkjer we drove the 77 km to Namsos with a fairly heavy traffic. Here the cars and RVs thin out and the road continues with twists and turns another 139 km to the first ferry at Holm. The last 100 km before the ferry it got very cold and it really started to pour. This is the unfun part of overland travel. The days you just want to go home. We had planned to go another 50 km after the ferry. We only had to wait about 10 minutes for the ferry. This is an enclosed boat and passengers have to leave the car deck. This meant a heated lounge and a hot coffee! Arriving in 20 minutes at Vennesund we were thrilled to see a camping site at the dock with small cabins. For not much more than camping we had a dry heated cabin with a small kitchenette. The other bonus was wifi fast enough to get in some Netflix. This was a great break from the horrible weather outside. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/401/2...20bf5960_z.jpgScreen Shot 2015-08-02 at 7.32.58 PM by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3770/...b1164bc8ae.jpgScreen Shot 2015-07-24 at 9.40.21 PM by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We were stoked to see only a light rain when we got up and then after an hour or so some sunshine.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/319/2...dde771d2_c.jpgDSC02695 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Today our plan is to head towards Bodo and get as far as we can get. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/310/1...4fb1e93f82.jpgScreen Shot 2015-07-29 at 8.44.46 PM by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr The ferry schedules are timed here so you can make it from one to the next, but of course we were now out of the rotation. We waited until the rain had almost stopped before we packed up and stupidly we did not consult the ferry schedule. There is a 64 km drive to the ferry at horn, and we missed it by 10 minutes. This meant an hour plus wait for the next sailing. But this did make time for a snack. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/477/2...15054138_c.jpgDSC02696 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/285/1...ab322e87_c.jpgDSC02698 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We arrived at the camping at Haugland just as it really started to pour. A cabin it is again. The rain did stop and with a bit of sun the reflections were amazing.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/396/1...43f0e8db_c.jpgDSC02743 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/539/1...3b941b0f_c.jpgDSC02746 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/502/1...300a8d74_c.jpgDSC03380 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/398/1...a4f246ab_c.jpgDSC02751 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/473/1...b02fdbf0_c.jpgDSC02753 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3748/...ec4047b6_c.jpgDSC02752 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Leaving in the morning it had improved to cloudy with occasional showers. But at least we had figured out the ferry schedules.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/457/2...f7aa55d6cf.jpgScreen Shot 2015-07-29 at 8.47.02 PM by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/391/1...6e6c4a60_c.jpgDSC02741 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We had just a 30 km drive to catch the 10 am ferry from Kiboghamn to Jetvik, which is 60 minutes and you cross the Arctic Circle after about 40 minutes. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/334/2...6e7b8bf8_c.jpgsaltstraumen 1 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/439/2...6a6eca1f_c.jpgsaltstraumen 2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/537/1...5421cb29_c.jpgsaltstraumen 3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/427/1...b78014de_c.jpgsaltstraumen 5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/287/1...d1882551_c.jpgsaltstraumen 6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/275/2...cb2172f3_c.jpgsaltstraumen 7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/444/1...da51df25_c.jpgsaltstraumen 9 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3714/...41dddf61_c.jpgsaltstraumen 10 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/326/1...ba47c417_c.jpgsaltstraumen 13 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/548/1...7e615026_c.jpgsaltstraumen 14 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
From here the whole load of cars again races the 28 km from Jetvik to Agskardet to get the next scheduled ferry sailing of 10 minute to Foroy.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/441/2...a8ca634d_c.jpgsaltstraumen 16 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/410/2...0a67093d_c.jpgsaltstraumen 17 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/349/1...80d2ea55_c.jpgsaltstraumen 18 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
You stay on the 17 north another 143 km of winding road along the fjords to arrive at Saltstraumen. This is a small strait with the strongest tidal current in the world. Up to 400,000,000 cubic meters of water flow thru the 3 km long and 150 meter wide strait every 6 hours. Water speeds reach 41 km/h and vortexes or maelstroms form that are up to 10 meters wide. We went down to see the water flow at the low flow so we were really impressed when we saw it at high slow. The vortexes were so huge they were like volcanic craters.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/399/1...b0a46e2f_c.jpgsaltstraumen 20 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/315/1...6153c719_c.jpgsaltstraumen 21 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Getting up early from the campground we drove the 28 km to the ferry dock at Bodo (pronounced Buddha) to get there at 830 for the 10 sailing, as we did not have a reservation. There was no worry however since they was only 3 bikes to board.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/542/1...5e0d050290.jpgScreen Shot 2015-07-29 at 8.51.26 PM by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/418/1...a1c2a2ee_c.jpgrotsundelv 1 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr The sailing to the Lofoten Islands takes 3-4 hours and can be a bit rough for the last part of the sailing. https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3789/...c9a0cc00_c.jpgDSC03410 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Lofoten is an archipelago that even though it lies above the Arctic Circle it has very mild temperatures for this latitude due to the Gulf Stream. There is evidence of human settlement here for 11,000 years. There are 6 major islands, several minor, and hundreds of small islands connected by causeways and bridges. We unloaded the ferry to light rain. The islands are known for the coastal fishing villages, high mountain peaks, and protected harbors. The weather worsened, but still we tried to navigate some of the small roads to the remote villages.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/522/1...4658ab91_c.jpgDSC03411 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/416/1...04118762_c.jpgDSC03413 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/429/2...f9c136f5_c.jpgDSC03414 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Finally we had had enough by 4 pm and found a campsite just north of the largest town of Svolvaer. We did have some breaks in the rain for a bit of a walk along the shore.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/389/2...42517d74_c.jpgrotsundelv 2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/377/2...f84abba5_c.jpgrotsundelv 3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
It rained hard all night, which makes for a poor night sleep. It was still raining hard when we were packing up, which is always crappy. We headed out again on the E 10 north and after about 45 minutes we started to see blue sky ahead.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/418/2...38e3c544cc.jpgScreen Shot 2015-07-29 at 8.53.16 PM by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr By an hour it was SUNNY and even hot. We pulled over to a rest stop and put up the tent to dry it out in less than 10 minutes. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/424/1...7597b6b6_c.jpgrotsundelv 4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We then had a really awesome day of sunshine and riding in Norway!
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/316/1...e4a2686b_c.jpgrotsundelv 5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We left the E10 and took the E6 North. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/316/1...7df1cede_c.jpgrotsundelv 7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/317/1...9afbdcda_c.jpgrotsundelv 12 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We did a side trip to the city of Tromso, but checking out the camping here it really sucked so we backtracked to the route 91. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/285/2...05e24f9b_c.jpgrotsundelv 14 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/475/1...fbf90b1e_c.jpgrotsundelv 16 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3774/...573b24a6_c.jpgrotsundelv 17 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
There are 2 ferries here are we decided just to go for it, since they are timed to depart in succession and so it is easier to get them all together. We had to wait about 20 minutes for the ferry for the 20 minutes crossing from Breivikeidet to Svensby. From here it is a 20 km drive to the next ferry from Lyngseidet for 40 minutes to Olderdalen.
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3674/...eb7aee64_c.jpgrotsundelv 18 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/294/2...594c9bf7_c.jpgrotsundelv 19 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/363/1...57301b2c_c.jpgrotsundelv 20 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Continuing another 28 km we found a camping spot at Rotsundelv. There were a couple of Dutch bikers here John and Anemika with whom we spend a nice evening. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/315/2...7e96e6f56d.jpgScreen Shot 2015-07-29 at 8.54.42 PM by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/275/2...47fc0c98_c.jpgrotsundelv 21 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
The day started out with nice weather, but that changed quickly. Within 30 minutes we were riding in the pouring rain. We did however finally see a reindeer today and the Nordkapp sign for 240 KM!
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3695/...0c6891ef_c.jpghammerfest 1 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/545/2...9cce3be8_c.jpghammerfest 3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We had originally planned to try to make it near to the North Cape today, but really we had had enough of the cold and pouring rain by 3 pm and we made for Hammerfest, which is by the way the most northerly city in the world. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/333/1...d78cdaa6aa.jpgScreen Shot 2015-07-29 at 8.55.07 PM by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
| All times are GMT +1. The time now is 04:54. |
|