Tuesday 11 July 2017

Day 10

Today we came down from the high of yesterday and riding the Trollstigen and Atlantic Road. It wasn't helped by the fact that when we awoke, it was raining hard. As if that didn't dampen the spirits enough, yours truly then managed to scratch one of the panniers on the wall, as I was moving the bike. Nothing major but annoying nonetheless.  Breakfast was to be had at the Astoria in town, owned by the brother of our host. Handy, except it's a 5 minute ride away. We walked in dripping and sat down to fill our faces.

The rain had eased off as we left, to return to Molde. Not for the ferry this time though, as we were taking a different route back down the country, so took the under fjord tunnel route instead. We did still have a ferry crossing to make and as before, we arrived at just the right time, only having to wait for the  contents to be disgorged onto the quayside. On board we squeezed past a coach and line up at the front. Waiting patiently with our money ready, the guy never came to take a fare off us, so we got a freebie.

We were soon making a fuel stop by which time the weather had totally turned and the sun was shining. Waterproofs were removed and we continued down a valley, bordered by high cliffs, with the usual cascading waterfalls. A river ran alongsde the road for miles and miles.  These huge mountains stand opposite each other, like two heavtweight boxers standing eye to eye at a weigh in, tall, proud and fearsome, whilst the rivers can be the calmest, meekest stretches one minute, then the most aggressive and angry looking white water, the next. Both are a sight to behold. The river beside us was no exception. Gradually the landscape changed again, the mountains became more rounded and lower. Agriculture returned to the landscape once more and it was cows we now saw,  not sheep.

Soon we came into a town called Dombas. which is the busiest place we have seen since leaving Bergen I'd say. This was our lunch stop. We opted for the usual, a big sausage ( £18 for a burger, come on) but something got lost in translation I think, as instead of  roll, it came in a flimsy wrap. Still, it filled a gap and came with a drink, for a third the price of the burgers. 

We grabbed this opportunity to pick up some more cans of beer in the Kiwi supermaket and an ice cream. We weren't  in any rush, so took a look in the church before continuing on our way. 50 miles later, we were skirting a beautifiul turqoise fjord and approaching our digs. That's when the rain began. Some 6 hours later, it is still lashing down and looks to be set for tomorrow too. That will be a shame, as we have our last two tourist routes on the agenda tomorrow, including the Stegastein viewing platform. We've not had much luck with most of those though, so expectations are low.  We'll see.

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