We spent more or less all day driving today. The plan had been to get to Trondheim and spend at least one night. The campsite we had decided to use turned out not to exist anymore. That was a pity as it was a nightmare to find after the GPS took us to the wrong place. I ended up having to pick my way along by looking at google earth on the iPad and doing it street by street only to find when we got there that there’s construction work in progress and a note pinned to a lamp-post giving GPS coordinates for alternative camping. Problem being, I have no idea how to use them so we decided to carry on driving north instead.
We’ve spent so much time in remote rural locations now that every time we get near a big town or city we go into some kind of culture shock. I don’t quite know how else to put it, except to say we just don’t like being in or around the big towns. Maybe a bit too much like being home!
We carried on north on the E6. That was quite a big road with lots of traffic (relatively) and we didn’t see anywhere that we thought might be suitable for wild camping so we decided to turn off and head for quieter roads. Before we came off the main road we came across an American Diner called the Pick Up Cafe. What a brilliant place with loads of old American memorabilia and various cars and fire engines parked outside for effect. It was a really charming place very well done but slightly let down by the service in the cafe. We chose our food from the menu (burgers) and I ordered at the counter. Lynne wanted a Sprite to drink and I was told they’re in the fridge, help yourself. Charming! That’s obviously the way they do it here but it seems a bit lacking somehow. Also I can’t get used to the idea of paying the bill before eating. Somehow it doesn’t seem conducive to leaving much of a tip. Actually I don’t think we’ve tipped wherever we’ve gone in Norway, Maybe we’re just getting tight now we’re poor old pensioners! Also the cost for two burgers, one Sprite and a strawberry milk shake of roughly £45 doesn’t help much!
So, not long afterwards we left the E6 for the 17. We drove for a long while without ever seeing somewhere to wild camp for the night. Finally we came upon a campsite called Holmset Camping and pulled in. We quickly agreed to stay for the price of 230 NOK. It was a huge relief to finally settle somewhere for the night as I was well and truly knackered by then. The people in the motor home next to us were German and the guy didn’t seem to be able to stop staring at our van. Sometimes you would think because our steering wheel is on the other side to theirs we must be off another planet. Personally I thought he should have paid far more attention to his knuckles dragging on the floor! The campsites free wifi was fairly good so we settled down with a gin and tonic and watched a couple of episodes of Sneaky Pete on Amazon Prime.
As I write we’ve just had a very similar day to the one in the previous paragraphs. We didn’t start out until 11.00am and then, thinking we were being clever, decided to get off the beaten track. However, one wrong turn later and we found ourselves lost! Found ourselves lost, is that what you’d call an oxymoron? Well you know what I mean! Having backtracked for about 20 miles we then turned into a road where a signpost informed us that the road was closed in 25 kilometres. So on to plan C, whatever that is. Finally we started following signs to take us back to E6 which seems to be the best option for getting South to North relatively quickly. Having said that, I would advise anyone considering traveling through Norway that by road at least, there is no really quick way. It’s only in the past couple of days that we’ve started seeing 90 kmh (56mph) speed limits. The general terrain just doesn’t lend itself to having 6 lane motorways cutting through the landscape and as yet I don’t think we’ve seen anything remotely like the motorways we’re used to at home.
We keep seeing road signs warning of Moose crossing the road. I don’t know whether or not to believe they actually exist because we’ve never seen a single one in all the miles we’ve (I’ve) driven! Seriously though we’ll keep our eyes peeled in the hope of seeing one and failing that, I’m given to believe that as you go further north your chances of seeing Reindeer increase significantly, so fingers crossed.
Not long after starting out this morning we went to Namsos and found an LPG depot. It was unmanned and I couldn’t read the instructions as they were quite naturally in Norwegian. Therefore unwittingly I authorised a 999 NOK payment (about £90) and still couldn’t get the pump to work. There was a big warehouse type of place across the car park so I went over and walked in. At first I couldn’t see anyone in this vast warehouse but eventually a man appeared and having said hello I asked him if he spoke English? “Nei” he replied “I don’t work here”. Funny I thought, that sounded English to me. “Oh so you don’t speak English and you don’t work here?” “Nei”. Thankfully he decided without prompting in English or Norwegian to go and get someone who would admit to speaking English. This guy was very helpful and came out to explain to me how to use the LPG pump. The 999 NOK I had authorised will be refunded and we had a receipt from the machine confirming this. In the end I pumped 34 NOK (£3.18) worth of LPG and now we’re full again. All this stems from us not knowing how long a tank of gas will last, but we’ve wild camped 5 times and done lots of cooking and still not used much more than a quarter of a tank.
One last photo which was taken yesterday along the way. I’ve totally lost track of where this was but I think it’s worth including anyway as it is such a beautiful scene.
Wandering Wildman 