Day 8

Day 8 can be summed up in one word. Fantastic. Brilliant. Amazing. Unbelievable. Scenic. Snowy.  Take your pick which one.

The day started in the rain and pretty much ended in the rain, with a mixture of dry/wet inbetween. At some points though, the waterproofs came in handy, not just for keeping the rain out but also for keeping the wind out and the warmth in, as we climbed over 5000m into the snowy mountain tops. I never imagined that in July, I would be taking a photo of my bike against an 8ft snow bank, or witness people on skis!  Nor did I imagine that we we ride about 7 miles on an unpaved road, with snow one side and a part frozen lake the other. That took a lot of focus, as the surface was a mixture of tiny gravel but shiney smooth compacted mud, in the wheeltracks, ok when dry but extremely slippery when wet.

Anyway, we made it down ok and lived to tell anothr tale.

The further north we go the landscape seems to get bigger. The mountains are massive and the fjords wider and darker than before. The only thing getting smaller, is the roads, often only one car wide, with the tightest of hairpins, both challenging, exciting and scary all rolled into one.

We stopped at a viewpoint which overlooks the town of Gerainger and the fjord. Two tiny cruise ships were manouevering at the end of the fjord. Of course, they are huge but from that height, they become almost insignificant. Another viewpoint, Eagle Point and a differnt angle of the town and fjord. All very impressive. From there it was just a short ride to our camp site, up the valley. The location, like everything here, is impressive but the mountains seem to generate their own climate, one moment dry, next peeing down. Just to underline this, 3 seperate waterfalls cascadde from the rocks above the camp site. They are noisy too, constantly there in the background. A bit like if you lived near a motorway, with the traffic noise.

Tomorrow we are heading for our most northerly point of the trip, Kristiansund, taking in along the way, the famous Atlantc Road. There's a couple of ferry to catch before we get to that point, some more twisties and another waterfall. Bring it on!