I made a monumental mistake yesterday by ignoring the fact that all shops close on Sunday except the ones that are smaller than 170 M2, I was told they are allowed to be open.
I did not have a measure tape with me but that was okay , they had done the measuring for me and decide that every store I came past was too big !
The fact that I was sticking to the road less travelled did not help either, I missed all the decent size towns so I ended up at night arriving at a camp ground in the rain with some rice and a can of lentils in my pack. I went to the kitchen which, bizarrely , shared its entrance door with the women's toilets and showers. So there I was eating my mash, standing as there was no chair, and listening to farting women, yes they sound just like us blokes. It created a mental picture that will take a few sleeps to get rid off !
Monday 26 July. After a few kilometres I feel my back wheel giving up on me, 2 spokes have ripped right through the rim and with a bit of luck I just make it to the next town where I buy a new wheel from a friendly and knowledgeable dealer I and I am on my way to the Swedish border.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
170 square meter shops
I made a monumental mistake yesterday by ignoring the fact that all shops close on Sunday except the ones that are smaller than 170 M2, I was told they are allowed to be open.
I did not have a measure tape with me but that was okay , they had done the measuring for me and decide that every store I came past was too big !
The fact that I was sticking to the road less travelled did not help either, I missed all the decent size towns so I ended up at night arriving at a camp ground in the rain with some rice and a can of lentils in my pack. I went to the kitchen which, bizarrely , shared its entrance door with the women's toilets and showers. So there I was eating my mash, standing as there was no chair, and listening to farting women, yes they sound just like us blokes. It created a mental picture that will take a few sleeps to get rid off !
Monday 26 July. After a few kilometres I feel my back wheel giving up on me, 2 spokes have ripped right through the rim and with a bit of luck I just make it to the next town where I buy a new wheel from a friendly and knowledgeable dealer I and I am on my way to the Swedish border.
24 july empty villages and women
this photo was take in Roros, a village on the Unesco world heritage listI have stuck to the secondary roads as much as possible but the further south I come the more the traffic heats up, we are talking a car every 5 minutes so not exactly 5th Avenue .
The surroundings are starting to soften, more farmland cut out into the forests and the mountains have lost their steepness. The villages are still few and far between, they are more like a collection of houses randomly placed along a kilometer of road or so and when I fly through ( such is my fitness at the moment ! ) there is barely any life to be detected, certainly from what life there is I can see that the good looking girls have left town a long time ago, not that I am in the market I hasten to add but it is nice to browse, click on "add to basket" without actually going through with the purchase.
Like a lot of small towns in New Zealand there is no heart to these places, just a main drag and you know you are in the centre when the houses are built a bit closer together and sometimes there is a Dairy ( local shop for non NZ readers ).
All of a sudden I hit an entirely different kind of town that I could not place in any category and it t does make life a lot easier as we know to put people and places in boxes in our little brains just for future reference.
On both sides of the main road of this town called Otnes where flagposts situated every 50 meters or so and this went on for about a kilometer. Since all the properties along the street were beautifully maintained houses with immaculate lawns and lovely trees I wasn't sure whether I was entering a military cemetry or a small town in Alabama. I found it very creepy, this kind of patriotism, imagine the traitors who voted against the plan when it went through council, they have probably all moved to the North Cape.
The norwegians do like their flag a lot, every second house has one flying, presumably so they are reminded where they live when they wake up each morning.
Earlier this morning I had an entirely more positive experience when I stopped to have a look at a barn that was decorated on the front with wood carvings of soldiers ( like the tin ones we used to play with ) and animals. As I took the photo the farmer approached me and asked me where I was from, this is a difficult question for me by the way, if only they would ask where do you live or what nationality are you but no they want the long version.
Anyway we got talking about the barn and then I started asking him questions about his other ginormous barn, 200 years old I was told and completely built out of massive logs, it even had a ramp made from logs inside so horse and cart or later on tractors could drive up to the second floor where the hay was stored. I had seen farmers cutting the grass and putting it green inside these barns and he showed me how they have huge fans underneath that dry the grass while inside, this is due to the unpredictable weather around here, I could attest to that as the temperature dropped to minus 4 last night and the water in my bottles were frozen.
Then I asked him what kind of farm it was, milk he said. so how many cows did he have ? He looked a bit embarrassed when he said 13, he had read about New Zealand dairy farms obviously.
Did he make a living out of that I asked. Well with a bit of forestry on his property and his wife working in town they could manage, I should say at this point that what norwegians call manage is slightly different from our "manage", he had a brand new Volvo on the driveway and a stately home, so unless the bank owned the lot he was managing alright.
Friday, July 23, 2010
23 july : due to high demand some photos
I was asked to add some photos, so here we go:
first one is dried fish on the island of lofoten.
This is mowing the lawn norwegian style
on the beach near Andenes, waiting for sun to go under and come up again a few minutes later.I just camped here because it seemed a nice place to be and free .
A rock I saw who knoiws where, but the bloody thing is probably 8 metres high and i have no idea how the graffiti came where it is apart that you have to be a rock climber and master painter.
Me at North Cape, as I said , a bit like the Waikato coast !
I love grass roofs, my next whare will have one !
Morten, Kristian, Beks and Me in Reina. Thanks for the hospitality guys !and underneath I am at a lookout on the island of Senja.
Monday, July 19, 2010
blind cyclists and hippie scams
Because of the amount of ferries I had to take it was inevitable that I would catch up with the same cyclists at the next ferry terminal or Camping ground and at the moment this litlle community consists of 3 norwegian guys with trailers on their bikes, who are really pushing it by riding late into the night ( that is an advantage of the fact that it does not get dark at all), then there is the duo on the tandem, the one on the back seat is blind and deaf. He is having a great time taking in all the smells of the mountains and the sea. Unfaltering positive his interpreter asks if he can have chat with me about New Zealand as she had told him about me.
The Norwegian government pays for the interpreter and a rental car to give this man a holiday. Well he had been around, he talked about the Maori and about the 2 New Zealand women he had cycled with in Burma not too long ago for a cycle trip for peace. Very strong he called them, I didn't bother telling him what words we have in NZ to describe a so called strong woman ! ( just kidding darling ).
These guys on the tandem were flying, I could not keep up wit them.
The last one of our little cycle/ferry group was Dave, a 57 year young american hippie who used dude and rock 'n roll a lot. He has been cycling around europe for 11 years and has dreamt up this scheme where he has a business card that tells you some story about a call to world leaders to not invoke religion for war and torture etc. and it does not really ask for money but his " organisation is called "Swiss spiritual appeal ". He gets sponsoring for his trips through all sorts of means, for example where I got my bike fixed and payed 200 NKR he got a free wheel out of the same guy, in return for putting a photo up on his website, I am reluctant to call it a scam because he was a genuinly nice guy but it reminded me of a dutchman who came to Kohukohu a few years ago and emptied our cupboards while having this story abou the universe providing.
Ended up this particular night on a camping ground run by some pensioners, the old guy followed my every move, he wanted my passport number etc. He really must have thought that I was going to ripp him off . In the morning when I wanted to leave and make some breakfast before I went I found the kitchen closed with my food in the fridge with it, as if I was in a Youth hostel again . These camping nazis tend to charge to highest prices and have to lowest quality facilities, I am not kiding you, the best campings with modern clean facilities have been the ones under 100 kronor. I am sure there is a lesson in there somewhere.
It is mid afternoon here so i will leave this lovely library in Namsos and go and eat some more tarmac before dinner time.
The Norwegian government pays for the interpreter and a rental car to give this man a holiday. Well he had been around, he talked about the Maori and about the 2 New Zealand women he had cycled with in Burma not too long ago for a cycle trip for peace. Very strong he called them, I didn't bother telling him what words we have in NZ to describe a so called strong woman ! ( just kidding darling ).
These guys on the tandem were flying, I could not keep up wit them.
The last one of our little cycle/ferry group was Dave, a 57 year young american hippie who used dude and rock 'n roll a lot. He has been cycling around europe for 11 years and has dreamt up this scheme where he has a business card that tells you some story about a call to world leaders to not invoke religion for war and torture etc. and it does not really ask for money but his " organisation is called "Swiss spiritual appeal ". He gets sponsoring for his trips through all sorts of means, for example where I got my bike fixed and payed 200 NKR he got a free wheel out of the same guy, in return for putting a photo up on his website, I am reluctant to call it a scam because he was a genuinly nice guy but it reminded me of a dutchman who came to Kohukohu a few years ago and emptied our cupboards while having this story abou the universe providing.
Ended up this particular night on a camping ground run by some pensioners, the old guy followed my every move, he wanted my passport number etc. He really must have thought that I was going to ripp him off . In the morning when I wanted to leave and make some breakfast before I went I found the kitchen closed with my food in the fridge with it, as if I was in a Youth hostel again . These camping nazis tend to charge to highest prices and have to lowest quality facilities, I am not kiding you, the best campings with modern clean facilities have been the ones under 100 kronor. I am sure there is a lesson in there somewhere.
It is mid afternoon here so i will leave this lovely library in Namsos and go and eat some more tarmac before dinner time.
13 july Fresh fish and ratatouille
This day I caught up the Rebekka and Kristian and his brother Morten in the litlle fishing village of Reine on the Lofoten.
They had seen me but I was oblivious to anyone standing on the water side, where they were catching our meal, so I ended up a few km further down the road before getting a text asking me if i was the Yellow creature that flew past a few minutes ago. They had rented a Rorbu, which translates roughly to rowing house and they are little cottages along the water that have been done up.
I ended up learing how to play 500, apparently a game that is played very seriously in a certain household in Kohukohu. Next day Kristian dropped me off at the ferry back to the mianland.
They had seen me but I was oblivious to anyone standing on the water side, where they were catching our meal, so I ended up a few km further down the road before getting a text asking me if i was the Yellow creature that flew past a few minutes ago. They had rented a Rorbu, which translates roughly to rowing house and they are little cottages along the water that have been done up.
I ended up learing how to play 500, apparently a game that is played very seriously in a certain household in Kohukohu. Next day Kristian dropped me off at the ferry back to the mianland.
18 july it is just doing weather
In the last week there have been a few days where as I said yesterday , the men are separated from the boys. I am talking heavy rain and winds approaching storm in your face. I was almost blown off one off those arch bridges that connect different islands, they are 40- 50 metres high in the middle and have a little rails of about 1 metre high to keep you from falling off.
By the way the Norwegian s have spent billions building these bridges and tunnels to enable people to keep on living in these remote areas. on top of that they have hundreds of ferries crossing fjords, I crossed 6 in the last 3 days on a tourist route called route 17 ( www.rv17.no ).
I digress, the summer is hiding somewhere but I am not too bothered, my wife always says that it is just doing weather , we make a judgment as to whether it is good or bad and adjust our mood accordingly. Now that I am putting this in practice I find it easy to just cycle in whatever the weather throws at me, I adjust the clothing. Talking about clothing I can now definitively burst the myth of the breathable wet weather gear, it just does not exist ! The only time a rain coat breaths is when it is dry and there is a little breeze and it is not too hot, which is the time you don't wear it !
So no more complaining about the weather but there is plent left to winge about, my bike crapped out on me a few times although some genius in sortland has seemingly fixed, touch wood.
Then there are my fellow human beings, a few nights ago I found a nice camping ground and had barely pitched my tent or a young german couple arrived and proceeded to pitch their tent right on top of mine although there was half a football field available, no idea what goes on in these people's mind, maybe they are just very social.
Now I have to listen to this endless drivel about the setting up of a tent, it is as if they are reading from an instruction manual and they then confirm every stage with eachother as in : now we can put ze peg in the corner, okay das ist gut. Oh dear , he just said the wrong thing and she is pissed off, no speakies anymore, fuckin great ! He is still young and hasn't learned yet that after a long day driving through the rain she will pounce on you at the first opportunity.
An hour later I went to the camping kitchen to do my cooking and i open this door and am gretted with what looked like scene from a Bangkok prison, the one you see in druggie gets locked up doco's, where countless people are stacked in a little cell trying to find space and privacy while doing whatever they need to do.
This kitchen was 2.5 x 2.5 metre with one little window, it had 2 little kitchen tables in it with chairs, one wall was occupied with 2 sinks and another wall had to cooktops on it. There was a finnish family in there with 3 kids, one of whom was in a stephen hawking wheelchair, 2 woman doing dishes, a guy waiting with dishes en then me !
The men with the dirty dishes started to loose it, he put his plastic tub on one of the elements that I just turned on and then his wife came in seeing what took him so long, she picked up the towel and was going to give him a hand until her eyes met mine and I gave her the dirtiest look imaginable, out she went. In the meantime the finnishe father talked non stop in a monotomous voice as if he was reading from the Koran. I felt this rage coming up, the kind that you see in Mcdonalds customers when they try to stand out from the crowd by individualising their mass murdered burger with some extra lettuce and when things go wrong the go away and come back with an AK47 to settle the bill, that kind of rage.
Finally 2 nights ago I camped at a picnic spot alongside the road as is common practice in Norway, they don't rape and rob tourists they we we do in New Zealand, and around midnight this car pulls up and starts hammering in pegs right next to my tent, by this stage I am thinking my tent must have some pheromone on it , anyway he hammers away and then starts to cut down trees the whole night, this guy snored like nobodies business, frenzied knife attackes came to mind.
You see it is not always easy going on the trasvelling trail, and then I have not even mentioned the thousands of Campervans or as I like to call them Holiday Delivery trucks, we'll keep that for later as the experiences build up !
By the way the Norwegian s have spent billions building these bridges and tunnels to enable people to keep on living in these remote areas. on top of that they have hundreds of ferries crossing fjords, I crossed 6 in the last 3 days on a tourist route called route 17 ( www.rv17.no ).
I digress, the summer is hiding somewhere but I am not too bothered, my wife always says that it is just doing weather , we make a judgment as to whether it is good or bad and adjust our mood accordingly. Now that I am putting this in practice I find it easy to just cycle in whatever the weather throws at me, I adjust the clothing. Talking about clothing I can now definitively burst the myth of the breathable wet weather gear, it just does not exist ! The only time a rain coat breaths is when it is dry and there is a little breeze and it is not too hot, which is the time you don't wear it !
So no more complaining about the weather but there is plent left to winge about, my bike crapped out on me a few times although some genius in sortland has seemingly fixed, touch wood.
Then there are my fellow human beings, a few nights ago I found a nice camping ground and had barely pitched my tent or a young german couple arrived and proceeded to pitch their tent right on top of mine although there was half a football field available, no idea what goes on in these people's mind, maybe they are just very social.
Now I have to listen to this endless drivel about the setting up of a tent, it is as if they are reading from an instruction manual and they then confirm every stage with eachother as in : now we can put ze peg in the corner, okay das ist gut. Oh dear , he just said the wrong thing and she is pissed off, no speakies anymore, fuckin great ! He is still young and hasn't learned yet that after a long day driving through the rain she will pounce on you at the first opportunity.
An hour later I went to the camping kitchen to do my cooking and i open this door and am gretted with what looked like scene from a Bangkok prison, the one you see in druggie gets locked up doco's, where countless people are stacked in a little cell trying to find space and privacy while doing whatever they need to do.
This kitchen was 2.5 x 2.5 metre with one little window, it had 2 little kitchen tables in it with chairs, one wall was occupied with 2 sinks and another wall had to cooktops on it. There was a finnish family in there with 3 kids, one of whom was in a stephen hawking wheelchair, 2 woman doing dishes, a guy waiting with dishes en then me !
The men with the dirty dishes started to loose it, he put his plastic tub on one of the elements that I just turned on and then his wife came in seeing what took him so long, she picked up the towel and was going to give him a hand until her eyes met mine and I gave her the dirtiest look imaginable, out she went. In the meantime the finnishe father talked non stop in a monotomous voice as if he was reading from the Koran. I felt this rage coming up, the kind that you see in Mcdonalds customers when they try to stand out from the crowd by individualising their mass murdered burger with some extra lettuce and when things go wrong the go away and come back with an AK47 to settle the bill, that kind of rage.
Finally 2 nights ago I camped at a picnic spot alongside the road as is common practice in Norway, they don't rape and rob tourists they we we do in New Zealand, and around midnight this car pulls up and starts hammering in pegs right next to my tent, by this stage I am thinking my tent must have some pheromone on it , anyway he hammers away and then starts to cut down trees the whole night, this guy snored like nobodies business, frenzied knife attackes came to mind.
You see it is not always easy going on the trasvelling trail, and then I have not even mentioned the thousands of Campervans or as I like to call them Holiday Delivery trucks, we'll keep that for later as the experiences build up !
Saturday, July 17, 2010
17 july just a quicky
I am going to keep this short as It costs a fortune to use the internet here, had some more funny and excruciating experiences ,more later.
Spens a few days in the rain , that.s where the men get separated from the boys !
Crossed the artic circle yesterday by boat not by bike as i am doing route 17 which has a least half a dozen ferries in it. Hope to end up in Bronnoysund tonight.
catch you later, and yes I have eaten humble pie about the dutch going to win the world cup !
Spens a few days in the rain , that.s where the men get separated from the boys !
Crossed the artic circle yesterday by boat not by bike as i am doing route 17 which has a least half a dozen ferries in it. Hope to end up in Bronnoysund tonight.
catch you later, and yes I have eaten humble pie about the dutch going to win the world cup !
Sunday, July 11, 2010
9 july manuel from barcelona
Four seasons in one day, I started off in the rain , after a while the sun came out and at 6pm when I arrived on the island of Vesteralen I planted my tent on a white sandy beach and sat in shorts only till late at night. That sun is a funny thing, it crossed from left to right on the horizon over the water, then disappeared for a few minutes and popped up again. The eye protectors that you get on planes are lifesavers, otherwise you become an insomniac within days.
With the World Cup final coming up I have only encountered spanish people today, isn't it funny how that works. The guy who was running the cafe on board of the ferry to Vesteralen was from Barcelona and we did a bit verbal sparring all in good fun.
It will be a pretty straight forward win for holland, nothing flash but functional. I know this is a bold statement but in times like this you can't stay on the fence !
As I was sitting on this remote beach 2 cyclists approached me to ask me how to get off the beach !
They were of course from spain and had rented some bikes for the day. I am sure the rental guy will be pleased as peaches to get his bikes back with sea water and sand having reduced all the moving parts to rubble.
One little observation for the day, why can't car manufacturers make hub caps that stay on the rims of their cars ? I have seen hundreds of these car frisbees lying around , even in the most remote places, of course there is always the obligatory guy who adorns his fence or shed wall with them thinking it is original and looks the part. We send space shuttles up ( maybe not such a good example as they loose the odd tile as well ) but we can't make a hub cap stick , millions must go missing every year around the world, maybe time to put a deposit on them like the on cans and bottles.
Up to the pub tonight for the football, the pub is run by an afghani refugee who is also into cricket big time, watches test matches on the internet ! The rest of his family is in Australia because when it got unsafe all the boys from about 13 - 14 years old where sent out of the country by their parents as they were the target of the Taliban who wanted to mould them into fighters , so he was accepted by Norway, the rest went later to Australia.
In 2 days time I hope to catch up with some friends from New Zealand who have rented a cabin in the Lofoten, should be fun.
With the World Cup final coming up I have only encountered spanish people today, isn't it funny how that works. The guy who was running the cafe on board of the ferry to Vesteralen was from Barcelona and we did a bit verbal sparring all in good fun.
It will be a pretty straight forward win for holland, nothing flash but functional. I know this is a bold statement but in times like this you can't stay on the fence !
As I was sitting on this remote beach 2 cyclists approached me to ask me how to get off the beach !
They were of course from spain and had rented some bikes for the day. I am sure the rental guy will be pleased as peaches to get his bikes back with sea water and sand having reduced all the moving parts to rubble.
One little observation for the day, why can't car manufacturers make hub caps that stay on the rims of their cars ? I have seen hundreds of these car frisbees lying around , even in the most remote places, of course there is always the obligatory guy who adorns his fence or shed wall with them thinking it is original and looks the part. We send space shuttles up ( maybe not such a good example as they loose the odd tile as well ) but we can't make a hub cap stick , millions must go missing every year around the world, maybe time to put a deposit on them like the on cans and bottles.
Up to the pub tonight for the football, the pub is run by an afghani refugee who is also into cricket big time, watches test matches on the internet ! The rest of his family is in Australia because when it got unsafe all the boys from about 13 - 14 years old where sent out of the country by their parents as they were the target of the Taliban who wanted to mould them into fighters , so he was accepted by Norway, the rest went later to Australia.
In 2 days time I hope to catch up with some friends from New Zealand who have rented a cabin in the Lofoten, should be fun.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
8 july is lance armstrong an atheist ?
This morning i went into the first pharmacy I had seen since arrivng in Norway, I already have enough supplies with me to keep a small african village alive but no voltaren and my knees were hurting.
With not a word of english in her vocabulary the woman from the apotheke opened the doors of the cabinet to me to have my pick ! Did I tell you they are friendly ?
My wife and I are self medicators from way back as we both worked near doctors and think the knowledge has rubbed off , anyway I popped a couple and felt like Lance Armstrong on a difficult stage in the Tour.
By the way I suspect Lance might be an atheist, I have never heard him utter the word God which is unheard of for an american athlete. Lance knew from an early age not to count on anyone else, only to rely on himself and see where it got him. Funnily enough doping ( = sinning) thrives in catholic countries,like Italy. spain, France, Belgium, I love the sight of an italian cyclist winning a mountain stage, looking to the sjy and making a little cross and a few hours later he is handcuffed in the paddy wagon for doping offences !
I have only seen about 2 churches in 600 km which is quite uplifting for the spirit, apprently there are some archtectural masterpieces coming up further south, that is certainly something religion has given us together with art, suppression of women and sex education to little children !
Off to the apperently gorgeous island of Senja and then the boat to Andenes.
With not a word of english in her vocabulary the woman from the apotheke opened the doors of the cabinet to me to have my pick ! Did I tell you they are friendly ?
My wife and I are self medicators from way back as we both worked near doctors and think the knowledge has rubbed off , anyway I popped a couple and felt like Lance Armstrong on a difficult stage in the Tour.
By the way I suspect Lance might be an atheist, I have never heard him utter the word God which is unheard of for an american athlete. Lance knew from an early age not to count on anyone else, only to rely on himself and see where it got him. Funnily enough doping ( = sinning) thrives in catholic countries,like Italy. spain, France, Belgium, I love the sight of an italian cyclist winning a mountain stage, looking to the sjy and making a little cross and a few hours later he is handcuffed in the paddy wagon for doping offences !
I have only seen about 2 churches in 600 km which is quite uplifting for the spirit, apprently there are some archtectural masterpieces coming up further south, that is certainly something religion has given us together with art, suppression of women and sex education to little children !
Off to the apperently gorgeous island of Senja and then the boat to Andenes.
7 july : fencing norwegian style
One thing that has already become clear is that norwegian farmers do not know how to puty a fence up. I say this because of my observations, there might be climatic or other reasons for the fact that their fences look like they put some sticks in the ground that they found on a walk and then attached something on to it like plastic bags , packaging pallets or a bit of wire. I can honestly say that in 600 km i have not seen one decent fence, the best one had a plank at 50cm high and one at 1 metre high and there were sheep in the paddock !
In New Zealand we already export workers to London and the Outback , fencers could probably make a killing here.
I also propose to name the norwegians the friendliest people in the world, Fiji used to be famous for that but after 3 military coups and an under current of racism I think we can safely put that claim aside.
Finally went into one of those Sami tents where they sell souvenirs and boil coffee on an open fire. Bolit coffe is spoilt coffee we always say but this wasn't that bad it certainly grows hair on your chest.
A bit further I rode into a deserted camping ground and found out from the owner that he was closed because he had heart problems, his son worked in a factory and the daughter in law had cancer, and this all in 2 minutes with some poor use of th german language on both sides. Anyway I wasn't interested in his personal problems , I was fucking cold and miserable and I wasn't going anywhere ! So he offered me a hytte ( hut) for a friendly price and we shook hands on it.
Pity about the moaning dog though, reminded me of New Zealand, always someone who has a dog locked up all day or on a chain, mkaes you wonder why they have them. Well in this case that was easy to answer, these guys spend the winter towing the old guy around trhough the woods!
In New Zealand we already export workers to London and the Outback , fencers could probably make a killing here.
I also propose to name the norwegians the friendliest people in the world, Fiji used to be famous for that but after 3 military coups and an under current of racism I think we can safely put that claim aside.
Finally went into one of those Sami tents where they sell souvenirs and boil coffee on an open fire. Bolit coffe is spoilt coffee we always say but this wasn't that bad it certainly grows hair on your chest.
A bit further I rode into a deserted camping ground and found out from the owner that he was closed because he had heart problems, his son worked in a factory and the daughter in law had cancer, and this all in 2 minutes with some poor use of th german language on both sides. Anyway I wasn't interested in his personal problems , I was fucking cold and miserable and I wasn't going anywhere ! So he offered me a hytte ( hut) for a friendly price and we shook hands on it.
Pity about the moaning dog though, reminded me of New Zealand, always someone who has a dog locked up all day or on a chain, mkaes you wonder why they have them. Well in this case that was easy to answer, these guys spend the winter towing the old guy around trhough the woods!
5 july bike repairs
THe bike shop in Alta took out all the stops to fix my bike but as he took the casette off the back wheel he started to show the worried look, the one that says: " I can fix this but it is going to take all my skill and your money to get there", that look. An hour or so later and lots of Kroner lighter I left on a wonderfully light ride, that is for about 40km when another spoke broke !
Spent the next 90 km in the rain and found another bikeshop who did not have any appetite to try and fix it but I could have access to their workshop and do it myself ! Very generous and I ended up learning something, not about bikes b ut about listening to the locals when they tell you to stay in town because further down the road you will not have access to the big screen for the semifinal of the world cup.
I meet cyclists on a regular basis, from Poland czech republic, holland etc. and they are all male and in theit forties and fifties, mention the word Mid life crisis and they get really upset, quite rightly so we are a well adjusted bunch just doing what we love doing.
Even met a French guy in his sixties who had an old bike and a walking stick on the back that he needed for walking.
Spent the next 90 km in the rain and found another bikeshop who did not have any appetite to try and fix it but I could have access to their workshop and do it myself ! Very generous and I ended up learning something, not about bikes b ut about listening to the locals when they tell you to stay in town because further down the road you will not have access to the big screen for the semifinal of the world cup.
I meet cyclists on a regular basis, from Poland czech republic, holland etc. and they are all male and in theit forties and fifties, mention the word Mid life crisis and they get really upset, quite rightly so we are a well adjusted bunch just doing what we love doing.
Even met a French guy in his sixties who had an old bike and a walking stick on the back that he needed for walking.
4 july: on a wobbly wheel to alta
My back wheel gave me heaps today, I cycled most of the way with the brakes open. The landscape is unforgiving, a few shrubs and the odd reindeer, oh and lest I forget touring car busses. One bus approached from behind as 2 cars came from the opposite direction, all he had to do was slow down wait for a second till they passed and pass me, he did and then deliberately drove me off the road ! Luckily he wasn't going very fast. I will send his boss an email once i am finished with this.
Rain set in late afternooon so i managed to get a wash before i arrived at the campsite in alta.
Rain set in late afternooon so i managed to get a wash before i arrived at the campsite in alta.
3 july: first real test
Did I mention that next week somewhere up here they have to Artic open beach volleybal tournament ! THe posters look appealing but as I look at the skimpy lycra suits jumping up and down I have to put the collar of my fleece jacket up to avoid frostbite on the ears.
My first serious day in the saddle wasn't too bad, 104 km was always going to give me some aches and pains but it stayed within the limits the Bush administration set for torture techniques at Guantanamo Bay.
The 7 km long tunnel that connects the Island on which North Cape is situated with the mainland dives down 212 metres under sea level . It is quite eerie to be underneath millions of potential granite bench tops as it wasn't very well lit and the sound of a car or truck approaching is something else, neither was there light at the end of the tunnel so to speak as there was a bend 200 metres before the end.
Also discovered I already have my first bike problem, a broken spoke, but that will have to wait till alta another day away.
My first serious day in the saddle wasn't too bad, 104 km was always going to give me some aches and pains but it stayed within the limits the Bush administration set for torture techniques at Guantanamo Bay.
The 7 km long tunnel that connects the Island on which North Cape is situated with the mainland dives down 212 metres under sea level . It is quite eerie to be underneath millions of potential granite bench tops as it wasn't very well lit and the sound of a car or truck approaching is something else, neither was there light at the end of the tunnel so to speak as there was a bend 200 metres before the end.
Also discovered I already have my first bike problem, a broken spoke, but that will have to wait till alta another day away.
Friday, July 2, 2010
cycling to north cape
Assembled my bike and took off around midday for a 32 km trip to the North Cape visitor centre.
This is situated at 71 o 10 o 21 o degrees which does not mean a lot to me but it further north than the top of Alaska which I do understand. I left not too heavily dressed but with a lot of extra clothing in the bags and boy did I need them , again that icy wind but the first climb kept me warm. Then as entered this empty plateau it started raining and the wind picked up and my fingers froze up in minutes. I put on my neoprene overshoes, raincoat, gloves and still I froze, then all of a sudden it started clearing and as I entered the north cape the sun came out. As a cyclist they give you a discount, it is only $35 to see the sea !
It actually looked a lot like the area between Port waikato and Kawhia with the difference being that farmers knocked down all the trees there as here there were never any to begin with.
Met a nice german guy who took just 18 days to cycle from Berlin to here, a mere 3400 km, that should give me confidence but it had the opposite result, not sure why.
the video that follows is shaky, I am not in rehab just learning how to handle this little thing.
This is situated at 71 o 10 o 21 o degrees which does not mean a lot to me but it further north than the top of Alaska which I do understand. I left not too heavily dressed but with a lot of extra clothing in the bags and boy did I need them , again that icy wind but the first climb kept me warm. Then as entered this empty plateau it started raining and the wind picked up and my fingers froze up in minutes. I put on my neoprene overshoes, raincoat, gloves and still I froze, then all of a sudden it started clearing and as I entered the north cape the sun came out. As a cyclist they give you a discount, it is only $35 to see the sea !
It actually looked a lot like the area between Port waikato and Kawhia with the difference being that farmers knocked down all the trees there as here there were never any to begin with.
Met a nice german guy who took just 18 days to cycle from Berlin to here, a mere 3400 km, that should give me confidence but it had the opposite result, not sure why.
the video that follows is shaky, I am not in rehab just learning how to handle this little thing.
shrimpsalad and the war on terror
I arrived late last night near the North Cape in a place called Honningsvag. I had several stopovers with the one in Hammerfest being the longest and most memorable.
I had 7 hours to get through so I walked from the airport to the town centre which was about 3 km. By the time I got there I was cut in half by the icy wind.
Coming from shorts and t shirt in Oslo this was a wake up call to go and get a woollen hat and put my thermals on. It was about 10 C out of the wind and the locals were in complete denial, I saw one guy doing a demolition job on a building site and he had no shirt on !
This is country where my frugal nature comes in handy. Where it seems pointless and embarrassing to quibble over a few dollars in let's say Asia, here watching your pennies is a survival skill as important as CPR which is what you need after you paid nz$16 for a pint in the local pub ( consolation was that Holland won while I was there) or nz$14 for a latte and a muffin.
As I recovered from this first assault on my wallet I had to go through security at the airport.
Now this airport is the size of kerikeri's and lies on a isolated peninsula. It had 2 staff and 8 passengers at 10pm. As my bag went through the x ray everything came to a grinding halt, could he see the liquid I had in my bag he asked . Not sure what that could be. I started poking and came up with a little tub of shrimpsalad that I just bought in supermarket. I showed him the receipt and pointed out that it was factory made and sealed but all I got was the bureaucrat look that says you can talk all you like but you are not boarding with the shrimp, as a last resort I mentioned that there was no known use of seafoodchowder bombs in the vietnam war even though they have plenty of those critters, that went straight over his head too . Bush has got a lot to answer for.
I had 7 hours to get through so I walked from the airport to the town centre which was about 3 km. By the time I got there I was cut in half by the icy wind.
Coming from shorts and t shirt in Oslo this was a wake up call to go and get a woollen hat and put my thermals on. It was about 10 C out of the wind and the locals were in complete denial, I saw one guy doing a demolition job on a building site and he had no shirt on !
This is country where my frugal nature comes in handy. Where it seems pointless and embarrassing to quibble over a few dollars in let's say Asia, here watching your pennies is a survival skill as important as CPR which is what you need after you paid nz$16 for a pint in the local pub ( consolation was that Holland won while I was there) or nz$14 for a latte and a muffin.
As I recovered from this first assault on my wallet I had to go through security at the airport.
Now this airport is the size of kerikeri's and lies on a isolated peninsula. It had 2 staff and 8 passengers at 10pm. As my bag went through the x ray everything came to a grinding halt, could he see the liquid I had in my bag he asked . Not sure what that could be. I started poking and came up with a little tub of shrimpsalad that I just bought in supermarket. I showed him the receipt and pointed out that it was factory made and sealed but all I got was the bureaucrat look that says you can talk all you like but you are not boarding with the shrimp, as a last resort I mentioned that there was no known use of seafoodchowder bombs in the vietnam war even though they have plenty of those critters, that went straight over his head too . Bush has got a lot to answer for.
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