Last night was the worst nights sleep we’d had since leaving home. I worked out later that because the track which guides the bed up and down was at the front, the bed was tending to pull slightly away from it. Consequently every little movement caused the bed to shift and make an annoying knocking sound. Also, we were getting low on water in the tank so there was a warning light flashing so Lynne lay awake worrying about that. The heat was on too and Lynne seemed to think that might drain the leisure battery. At about 2.30am we were both wide awake with the lights on while I figured out a way to stop the bed knocking. In the end it took a wad of folded up card wedged in to stop the movement.
Even then I lay awake for ages before finally dropping off. I was awake again at 6.30 needing desperately to go to the toilet. Trouble was I knew the toilet cassette was full so I got dressed and snuck out to go somewhere discreet just to take a pee. Imagine my surprise on seeing there was snow everywhere! The motorhome had a good layer of snow all over the front and the mountains, what you could see of them, were covered in the white stuff! After going down some nearby steps to ensure being out of sight and having a pee I decided I might as well swap the toilet cartridges over as we had an unused spare in the rear storage. This gave the added advantage that at least Lynne wouldn’t be called on to sneak off and squat somewhere in the snow. (now there’s a mental image to conjure with). At no time while I was doing all this did it occur to me that there was a public toilet across the other side of the car park.
When I got back into bed Lynne was unsurprisingly awake. After all my banging about It would have been surprising if she hadn’t been. I was back outside at about 7.30 as the mist began to clear and I decided to try to shoot a time-lapse video with the go pro. As I was setting this up the young German guy in the tiny caravan had just surfaced and wished me a good morning. At about the same time another young German lad turned up on a motorbike and started telling us how he had camped the night in a tent just off the plateau. He seemed like a nice kid but I did think maybe he must have had a screw or two loose camping out in this weather as it was absolutely freezing. Anyway as the morning drew on more and more people in motorhomes and coaches started to turn up and Lynne and I decided to head off to Geiranger. Shortly after leaving the top car park we stopped and tried to do a video blog for facebook. People seemed to have liked the previous two and found them amusing but as we stood in the freezing cold we eventually decided it would have to wait for another day!
The road down to Geiranger was another scenic treat and there were lots more hairpin bends to negotiate but within 30 minutes or so we were in Geiranger. We checked in to Geiranger Camping for two nights. 300 NOK per night which I thought was a bit expensive really but we found a nice spot right on the edge of the fjord. Walking around the local tourist shops it quickly became obvious that they all sell pretty much the same stuff (junk mostly). After the 3rd or 4th I’d had enough of looking at troll figurines and expensive knitwear! Does the fact that I find myself looking at tea towels with Norway emblazoned on them and thinking “ooh that would make a nice souvenir” mean I am well and truly in my dotage?
On reflection, it seems one day might have been enough in Geiranger but tomorrow we can do the waterfall walk. I have to say, we’ve seen so many waterfalls since being in Norway that I’ve become slightly blasé about them whereas previously I only needed to see a tiny trickle and I’d be rushing to point a camera at it. Not so much now!
Wandering Wildman 