July 18th: Tromsø-Fjordbotn camping (84 km + ferry)
Based on the promise of a “not too bad” day, we left Tromsø a day ahead of our plan. It took a bit of time to get going since we slept in after a late night and needed to clean before getting on the road. I started with the trailer but began to fade a bit earlier than expected. Even after switching to the pioneers for the big hill, I was just not feeling like myself. I think I waited a bit too long to eat, as I was cold and couldn’t stop shivering even after a bit of food. We were fighting the wind and a chilly drizzle, and I just struggled to get warm. We eventually worked out a “recovery system” with me riding just behind Dražen, and him keeping a gentle pace. I managed to get back a bit of pep as we passed near where we had kayaked the previous evening. The road hugs the coastline, and with the deep fjords, there are quite a few turns and changes of direction!
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| View from the bridge to Kvaløya |
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| Some of the views along the way |
The area is quite pretty, but with the low clouds, I’m not sure we’re really seeing everything. We got to the turn for the ferry to Senja around 4pm and decided to cross today (these ferries are a bit infrequent!). We then follow the flat terrain along the coast to a nice spot called Fjordbotn camping. We splurged on a little cabin, we’re calling it the honeymoon suite!
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| The honeymoon suite |
July 19th: Fjordbotn to Finnsæter (60 km)
We started the day with a bit of a drizzle, but high enough clouds that we felt like we could actually see some of the spectacular peaks, cliffs, beaches, and raging waterfalls. We were following the “new” national cycling route, which is the national scenic route for cars but now with more adapted tunnels. There were approximately 5 tunnels, some of which were quite lengthy, but they were all very lit and had a button for cyclists to push to get a flashing “cyclist in tunnel” light for the cars coming behind.
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| When you push the button, the light flashes for the cars behind you |
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| View along the way on Senja |
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| View along the way on Senja |
I pulled the trailer for about 15 km, but it was getting slow as the wind picked up, so we switched. The wind brought rain and hail with it, and the conditions were frustratingly difficult and uncomfortable. We took shelter under our tarp when we reach Ersfjord, as it felt like the ocean was coming at us sideways. I think we were both almost ready to throw in the towel, but staying put wasn’t really an option in that windy spot! We managed to get moving again during a brief break in the downpour, and trudged up along the bit hill toward the tunnel before Skaland. We had sent a message to our colleague Eilif in the morning, as plan A was to pass by his place at Finnsæter and continue to Gryllefjord. We almost stopped at Skaland due to weather-related frustration, but got a text message from him with an offer of a free dry cabin at Finnsæter, so we got ourselves ready for another hill and continued with our (meager) groceries from Skaland.
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| Taking a break on the way up the hill |
There is a viewpoint along the way, and we had some strange mechanical issues (a loose axle!) – hopefully only related to the wind knocking down our bikes at Ersfjord. With that fixed, we made our way to the long uphill tunnel, then down the bumpy road with about five minutes of sun (!) before getting soaked yet again with a gusty headwind that was almost strong enough to stop me from moving forward. We were very happy to reach Eilif’s place, and had a nice visit with him at the “main” house (we slept in the mini-cabin). We had to get a few more calories inside us before he, his wife, his son, and his son’s girlfriend had their meal, but had a nice social evening even so.
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| A short burst of sunshine! |
We also got to visit his fish ladder – and the counter, video monitoring system, and recorded videos of fish that made it up the ladder! The indoor night was wonderful, and were glad that we took him up on the offer.
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| The fish ladder |
July 20th: Finnsæter to Stave (35 km + a long ferry)
Knowing that we had another cold day with wind and rain ahead of us, we didn’t make a very ambitious plan. We left around 9:15 to be sure to catch the ferry at 11 am. The 16 km to the ferry were mostly gently rolling except for one hill/tunnel, but we were miserably cold and wet by the time we reached the pier around 10:15. We picked up a few groceries since I seem to need continuous snacking in order to function, and boarded the ferry wearing all of the clothing that we could easily reach.
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| Hamn in the morning. Note the fresh snow on some of the peaks! |
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| On the way to Gryllefjord |
The crew had place numerous seasickness bags in the salon, and they were definitely needed by several passengers. The seas were quite rough, and the combination of pitch and roll was not very pleasant. Dražen was able to fall asleep by lying across a few seats, which was really great since doesn’t do well even on a calm day.
The ride took about 1.5 hours and we still hadn’t dried out by the time we set foot on dry land. We decided to stop at the first available indoor option. There was nothing available at Bleik, but they gave us a phone number for Stave and we booked the last spot there. It’s a bit extravagant, but we really didn’t want to be in the tent fully exposed to this wind. We had also decided to stay put tomorrow (in a slightly less expensive cabin) given the wind and rain that are expected…
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| Bleik |
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| Bleik |
We made a short trip to the beach at Høyvik so that we got a little bit of hiking in, and the weather was fairly cooperative for that, so at least we also got to see some of the famous sand beaches of Andøya!
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| Hiking |
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| Enjoying the beach on a chilly day |
July 21st: Bad weather day
We did… nothing. We moved from one cabin to another, went for a walk on the beach while they cleaned, then stayed inside and listened to the wind and rain (and slept).
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