Thursday, 13 July 2017

Day 12

It was a chilly start to the day, 5 or 6 degrees but that was positively tropical to what was to come. It was overcast but the roads were mainly dry, wich is always a good sign on these twisty roads. We stopped at the first petrol station we came to, to have some breakfast and then set off for our first scheduled stop of the day, at the Skjervsfossen waterfall. Tomtom failed to give us any instructions on the approach to the turnoff, so just as well I was paying attention to what was showing on the screen. They have made these falls into a miniture nature type trail, with walkway leading down into the valley, alongside the falls. These are quite impressive, though the walk back up the trail is quite strenuous, even for an athlete like me ;-)

The toilets were strange to say the least, with a large floor to ceiling window, overlooking the river and part of the floor glazed!  Halfway down the vally, the falls run under the road, so we stopped there to get a better view. A nice touch, was a disabled bay marked on the side of the road. As we carried on, heading towards our next waterfall, we were once again treated to some gloriously twisty roads, before encountering the most incredible series of tunnels. Looping around and over themselves, first left, then right, then left again, we finally exited at the Vorringfossen waterfall. As I parked up, I saw Knutr go sailing passed the entrance. I'd waved but he hadn't seen. His tomtom is working today, so I was sure he'd be back and sure enough a minute or so later, he appeared.

After taking some photos and a coffee, we were back on the road, climbing once again. Up and up we climbed, back into another snow covered landscape, the road lined by long poles, for when it is covered with snow. Up there it was bloomin' cold and in places, very windy. We rode through a mixture of sunshine and cloud cover. At this altitude though, the sun had little or no strength, least not with the wind. The road was a joy to ride with many sweeping bends but I was so cold, apart from my hands (heated grips a godsend) that I just couldn't wait for it to end. I have no idea how many miles we were on that frozen plateau  but it seemed like it was never going to end. End it did though and we pulled into a garage, for a warming cuppa and a hotdog.

The rest of the trip to our digs, was uneventful, getting warmer by the mile. By the time we reached the hotel, the sun was blazing and the temperature was in the high teens. As we unpacked our gear though, we were reminded of our time in the frozen wasteland, as everyting felt so cold.  The sky is clear now and the forecast looks like being good for tomorrow and our ride into Oslo, though I expect we'll have a chilly start.

One thing to report. No issues with the alarm this morning. It's possible it was being interfered with by a transmitter or something yesterday, so seems I can relax.

Something I've been meaning to say for days now and that is just how clean this country is. You would have to look seriously hard to find any litter anywhere. Back home the verges and hedgerows are littered with all sorts of shit but here neither in town, nor out in the wilds, is there a scrap of anything. Truly amazing and something we should aspire to. Ha, some hope!

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