Days 5-7: Storslett to Andenes
Onto the Islands
Day 5: Storslett to Tromso - 80 miles - 1255m
Woke up super early, despite the late night, to have plenty of time to catch the ferry I needed!
It was a pleasant 38 miles to Olderdalen from my campsite - only one real climb, which gave me a nice view of Rotsundet water, framed by mountainous islands. This then swooped me down along the Lyngen fjord. My God. The Lyngen Alps are magical.
What looks like orderly rows of white mountain after white mountain, and it just keeps on going!
The ferry arrived, & was free for cyclists, woo hoo. 35min later I had a time trial (haha not quite) 14 miles to get across the Lyngen Alps road, to reach the other ferry.
On this final ferry I met Frenchman Claude, who was a local cyclist, & had moved here with his Russian wife 30 years ago.
Upon asking if he knew of any food shops that may be open in Tromso, he immediately telephoned his wife, & invited me to dinner!
Dinner was meat soup... but he also partakes in 'Warmshowers', where local cyclists host traveling cyclists for free! Unfortunately with the panic of the long previous day, I had already booked myself into a hostel.
I still had another 30 miles to do (and may have found a potentially open vegan restaurant to go to!).
What an incredibly kind offer though :).
I should make the point now, that my days have been brightened by the people I have been meeting. Not only from chatting to them, but even on the road, as I share a wave or a thumbs up with about 80% of motorcyclists and touring campervans. This sort of kindness is so genuine, the only motive is to be nice. Right, gooey stuff over with!
The 30 miles into Tromso was great. Some forrested areas running behind rows of curved snowtopped hills, led me eventually to an open & beautiful fjord scene (not another one!).
With good ol' Ed Sheeran and an evening sun keeping my spirits high, I rolled into the city of Tromso.
I devoured my first meal 'out': a lentil burger with wedges, at a vegan café :). By the way, if I haven't already told you - Norway is unbelievably expensive. Standard meal is £20. My apple juice that night was £4.50. Geez.
Day 6: Tromso to Andenes - 62mi - 875m
The day that almost got away!
Now, today was supposed to be 88 miles, including two ferries. However, considering my injured knee, I'd planned to take a longer ferry which would cut the ride in half.
Had a chilled morning get-up, left bang on time (so proud). I was even a whole 30min early for the ferry. This would have all been great, if the ferries were running that morning! Bank holiday - noo!! First ferry to Fiskenes 1545... 40 miles from the place I had to get a last ferry from, at 1900. This isn't going to happen, I thought. I have to get that 1900 ferry to Andenes, as I'd booked onto a whale tour (whale watching capital of Norway!) for my rest day there. Hmm.
I spotted a bus driver loading his vehicle/greeting passengers, & asked if there was any other way of getting there that he knew of. He told me he could take me 20 miles from Fiskenes - but they were leaving now- DONE.
The bus would drop me around 100km from Gryllefjord (with the 1900 ferry), & I'd have about 6h 45 to get there. "Eaaasy!" I hear you cry, but with my current slow-mo style of 10mph, and allowing for things to go wrong (naturally), it was cutting it quite fine!
Oh yes, and after leaving the bus, I popped a few oreos and something gritty crunched between my teeth... at least 1/4 of one of my upper left molars was missing. & the nerve was a little painfully exposed. Fabulous.
Anyway, through Fiskenes and onto the island of Senja - known to have stunning coastlines & sea life. I cut through its hilly core, then came out at the south west coast. Aquamarine lagoons appeared, with seemingly floating islands of trees dotted within them. Wow.
Racing around the coast, I spotted two fellow cycle tourers! A Danish couple, who had been taking their time/enjoying every rich sight of the area (they'd spent 1 week riding down from Tromso). They bid me farewell as they thought they'd be too slow to catch the ferry.
A tunnel appeared, with a very steep looking old road/diversion climbing the mountain around it - please God let this tunnel be legal for cyclists...
It was not only legal - but it had a button for cyclists to press, which would alert cars of our presence!
The alert was broken, but the thought was there.
I MADE IT TO GRYLLEFJORD- 1800 - WOO.
This total dude, is Burt. He was my ferry buddy! Him & his wife do 3500km rides together for their 'holidays'. I asked him if he's crossed the US before, "Oh yes, 12 times". He does up to 150 miles/day, every day when necessary.
We rode the 2km through Andenes together, before saying our goodbyes/good lucks.
Day 7: Andenes Rest Day :D
There is a dentist here!
I awoke at 6am (some rest day, pah) o get there as they opened. Unfortunately fully booked until July.
A flustered call around to some futurebig'ish' places I'll be passing through also led to nowhere.
Better fortune was held for me during the whale trip - they said this was the first day the boat had made it out in five days, due to bad weather.
& we not only saw two Sperm whales - gently breathing at the surface before diving down - but a group of at least 15 Pilot whales.
It was absolutely incredible.
Then, after doing bike tour chores (food shopping, prepping, clothes washing, bike maintenance, blogging), I realised at 2200 that I definitely did not have enough time to prepare for a phone interview I was due at 2300. It was for an A&E post in Auckland, NZ. It went terribly.
Oh well, back to this adventure for now!
Woke up super early, despite the late night, to have plenty of time to catch the ferry I needed!
It was a pleasant 38 miles to Olderdalen from my campsite - only one real climb, which gave me a nice view of Rotsundet water, framed by mountainous islands. This then swooped me down along the Lyngen fjord. My God. The Lyngen Alps are magical.
 |
 |
| Scouser in Lyngen? |
Got to the tiny town of Olderdalen with over an hour to spare, unfortunately as it was a Sunday, this place looked like no one had lived there for years. A group of Canadians showed up & asked about the ferry (if it was even going to show!), & then I told them my plight - toilet requirement, & ideally food top up. 5min later they ushered me over to an open tiny gas station, yay! Annoyingly it only sold chocolate bars & pringles, but at least i could pee in a dignified way.
 |
| View from the climb alongside Rotsundet |
The ferry arrived, & was free for cyclists, woo hoo. 35min later I had a time trial (haha not quite) 14 miles to get across the Lyngen Alps road, to reach the other ferry.
On this final ferry I met Frenchman Claude, who was a local cyclist, & had moved here with his Russian wife 30 years ago.
Upon asking if he knew of any food shops that may be open in Tromso, he immediately telephoned his wife, & invited me to dinner!
 |
| Lovely Frenchman Claude |
I still had another 30 miles to do (and may have found a potentially open vegan restaurant to go to!).
What an incredibly kind offer though :).
I should make the point now, that my days have been brightened by the people I have been meeting. Not only from chatting to them, but even on the road, as I share a wave or a thumbs up with about 80% of motorcyclists and touring campervans. This sort of kindness is so genuine, the only motive is to be nice. Right, gooey stuff over with!
 |
| Tromso with its iconic bridge, & Arctic cathedral (right) |
I devoured my first meal 'out': a lentil burger with wedges, at a vegan café :). By the way, if I haven't already told you - Norway is unbelievably expensive. Standard meal is £20. My apple juice that night was £4.50. Geez.
Day 6: Tromso to Andenes - 62mi - 875m
The day that almost got away!
 |
| Perseverance is the key! |
Now, today was supposed to be 88 miles, including two ferries. However, considering my injured knee, I'd planned to take a longer ferry which would cut the ride in half.
Had a chilled morning get-up, left bang on time (so proud). I was even a whole 30min early for the ferry. This would have all been great, if the ferries were running that morning! Bank holiday - noo!! First ferry to Fiskenes 1545... 40 miles from the place I had to get a last ferry from, at 1900. This isn't going to happen, I thought. I have to get that 1900 ferry to Andenes, as I'd booked onto a whale tour (whale watching capital of Norway!) for my rest day there. Hmm.
I spotted a bus driver loading his vehicle/greeting passengers, & asked if there was any other way of getting there that he knew of. He told me he could take me 20 miles from Fiskenes - but they were leaving now- DONE.
 |
| Fiskenes harbour- boy, am I glad to see you today! |
The bus would drop me around 100km from Gryllefjord (with the 1900 ferry), & I'd have about 6h 45 to get there. "Eaaasy!" I hear you cry, but with my current slow-mo style of 10mph, and allowing for things to go wrong (naturally), it was cutting it quite fine!
Oh yes, and after leaving the bus, I popped a few oreos and something gritty crunched between my teeth... at least 1/4 of one of my upper left molars was missing. & the nerve was a little painfully exposed. Fabulous.
Anyway, through Fiskenes and onto the island of Senja - known to have stunning coastlines & sea life. I cut through its hilly core, then came out at the south west coast. Aquamarine lagoons appeared, with seemingly floating islands of trees dotted within them. Wow.
 |
| Senja |
Racing around the coast, I spotted two fellow cycle tourers! A Danish couple, who had been taking their time/enjoying every rich sight of the area (they'd spent 1 week riding down from Tromso). They bid me farewell as they thought they'd be too slow to catch the ferry.
A tunnel appeared, with a very steep looking old road/diversion climbing the mountain around it - please God let this tunnel be legal for cyclists...
It was not only legal - but it had a button for cyclists to press, which would alert cars of our presence!
The alert was broken, but the thought was there.
I MADE IT TO GRYLLEFJORD- 1800 - WOO.
We rode the 2km through Andenes together, before saying our goodbyes/good lucks.
Day 7: Andenes Rest Day :D
There is a dentist here!
I awoke at 6am (some rest day, pah) o get there as they opened. Unfortunately fully booked until July.
A flustered call around to some futurebig'ish' places I'll be passing through also led to nowhere.
Better fortune was held for me during the whale trip - they said this was the first day the boat had made it out in five days, due to bad weather.
& we not only saw two Sperm whales - gently breathing at the surface before diving down - but a group of at least 15 Pilot whales.
It was absolutely incredible.
 |
| Sweet German couple on my boat - they believe Scotland is the most beautiful country in the world |
Then, after doing bike tour chores (food shopping, prepping, clothes washing, bike maintenance, blogging), I realised at 2200 that I definitely did not have enough time to prepare for a phone interview I was due at 2300. It was for an A&E post in Auckland, NZ. It went terribly.
Oh well, back to this adventure for now!
WOOW.....I AM SHORT OF WORDS , I WISH AND I WISH......
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