We arrived in Oslo yesterday after the worst day of our trip so far. I’m writing about it now, the day after because I was too fed up to do it yesterday! The day started out ok, more torrential rain which you would think we’d be getting used to by now but, no, it’s starting to get me down. Shortly after setting off we were high up in the mountains and the rain turned briefly to snow and I had a little frosty sign lit up on the instrument panel. This was not a problem because as soon as we started to go down again the snow disappeared and the rain took over again! I’m not sure how long we’d been driving when we decided to pull in at a supermarket, or what passes for one in the middle of nowhere, and get a few things we needed. We might have been in there 10 minutes at the most and when we came out we found someone had hit the motorhome. I don’t know how you don’t see a big thing like that, but someone or something had presumably reversed into it and decided not to hang about. So, long story short. We now have one broken bumper and a smashed to bits fog light which also seems to have stopped one brake light working. There was no one around and even while we were in the shop there were only a handful of people in there and I couldn’t see any sign of cctv anywhere outside (this is the back of beyond remember) so we had no choice but to carry on with our journey.

Needless to say this put a considerable damper on the day. The biggest worry is the brake light not working. When we got to Heddal which was where we wanted to look at the Stave Church which I think I spoke about in my last blog, I popped into the local Ford dealership to see if they could help with getting the brake light working again. They didn’t want to know! Not helpful at all. Friday afternoon, finishing in an hour, no capacity! Well thank you for nothing Olav or whatever your stupid name is! Yes, by now I was properly pissed off.

So, we went to look at the church, which was very impressive but closed, so we couldn’t see inside. It actually stopped raining long enough to take a few photos none of which I had much enthusiasm for. To top off a horrible day we drove into Oslo, which, like any big city, is a nightmare to drive around. Having said that, we did manage to find the marina where we had planned to stay for the night relatively easily. The only problem was, it too was closed. There was a group of people sat talking just inside the entrance and they informed us that it had been closed since last week. There is now only one place you can stay and that is 7 kilometres away in Bogstad. So we set off again for another horrible but shortish drive to the campsite at Bogstad.  It’s got a nice ring to it hasn’t it, Bogstad! Sounds nice. Well It wasn’t! We had no choice but to stay there even though it was by far the most expensive site we’ve found yet. It cost 370 NOK for one night. Thats almost £37! Once we were set up in our spot we just sat miserably contemplating what a shit day it had been. The camp wifi was as good as nonexistent from where we were and then Lynne read in the brochure that it was most effective in and around the reception building. So later that evening we had a walk up there with one device to see if the wifi was any better up there. Where’s this going I bet you’re thinking. Well, the upshot was that at 8.30pm we decided to up sticks and move up by the reception where the signal was quite strong. This meant unplugging the electric, rolling off the levelling chocks, and filling up with water (which we’d forgotten to do on the way in). This was all done in pitch blackness and pouring rain! By rain, I mean bucketing it down. I drove round to the new spot and we ran around getting set up again and by now we were both soaked! This better be worth it I’m thinking. Back in the van I got my wet boots off, changed into dry shoes, about to settle down when Lynne sheepishly informed me “the toilet’s full”. Dry shoes off, wet boots back on, out into the pissing rain again to perform my favourite job of all. It was near enough 9.30pm by the time we sat down again to watch a couple of episodes of Sneaky Pete on Amazon prime. Thankfully the wifi proved to be up to the job so it was all worthwhile in the end.

A day later and I’m in a better frame of mind, thankfully. Also, the rain has stopped. It’s like a miracle, there’s actually blue sky! We decided to stay another night at Bogstad camp so that we could get the bus into the city. So that’s exactly what we did this morning. Oslo is a typical big city and we spent about three hours walking around. What I think must have been the main shopping street was packed with people and not very nice really. Absolutely teeming with people so much so that it was difficult to walk properly amongst them. Not my idea of fun. We walked up to the Royal Palace, strange that you could walk almost up to the front entrance with hardly any obvious security about. One sentry on guard which I couldn’t help comparing to the one’s at Buckingham Palace. They stand still as statues for what seems like hours on end where-as this guy was moving all the time, scratching his nose, rubbing his eye. He was all over the place! Not very impressive. Before leaving the city we had dinner in a restaurant called Mamma Pizza, bet you can’t guess what we had. It was very nice but I had to go to the counter to order. That would have been ok, but I was behind a table of seven girls who all ordered and paid individually, made even worse by a couple of them questioning some of the ingredients in the pizzas. Is there milk? because I’m lactose intolerant, can I have it without cheese because I’m vegan, blah blah blah. All this took getting on for 15 minutes while I’m stood there waiting like a spare part! in the end though, it was a nice meal and probably the cheapest we’ve had so far in Norway at 328 NOK. (£30.70)

Oslo was ok, it has a lot of very interesting modern architecture, and there were things going on everywhere we went. The Norwegians are obviously a wealthy people judging by the number of expensive looking boats in the many harbours dotted around the coastal areas. We were reading the other day about tipping in restaurants, apparently it’s not generally expected as they make enough not to have to rely on tips. We’ve found grocery shopping to be roughly three times what we would pay at home. While we were in a Ford dealership recently we looked at the price of cars and for instance, there was a Mustang which I imagine would be about £40,000 at home was nearer the equivalent of £75,000! But I digress, Oslo was nice but not somewhere I could imagine going out of my way to go back to. Just looking back at what I’ve written here and the phrase ‘Oslo was ok’ doesn’t really suggest an abundance of enthusiasm does it? Maybe that tells it’s own story. Just one last footnote, the weather today was mostly wall to wall blue sky sunshine! Yippee!!

This morning we didn’t make a move until about 11.30 am. We were up just as early as usual but because we didn’t have to leave the campsite till midday we decided to make the most of their excellent WiFi. Lynne shopped round for a new energy supplier (just in case we ever go home again) and I spent my time working out where to go next. We topped up the water before leaving and headed off toward Voringsfossen which is a huge waterfall. On the way there we passed through an 11 kilometre long tunnel which reminded me of one we went through yesterday and I forgot to mention in yesterday’s blog. It was 25 kilometres in length and to stave off the inevitable boredom that comes with driving for so long in a tunnel they’ve created 3 chambers along the way which are brightly lit in all the colours of the rainbow from yellows and blues to purple. I know how it sounds, and it’s definitely one of those ‘you had to be there’ moments but it made the long journey through the long tunnel strangely enjoyable. Back to today, we went through a tunnel where there were traffic islands in the tunnel. They were brightly lit too. The only trouble was we went straight on where we should have turned right. Hence we did a needless 15 mile detour which set us back somewhat! 

I forgot to mention that it was raining with a vengeance this morning, yes, a big surprise!  When we got up, there were new waterfalls all around the mountains which hadn’t been there yesterday. Not surprising really as it had been persisting it down all night. This was something of a hindrance when we chanced upon a massive waterfall on the roadside. I’d seen pictures of it before and I knew it was in the vicinity, but wasn’t sure whether or not we would pass it today. I’m glad we did because even though we’ve probably seen thousands by now, and that’s no exaggeration, this one was a belter! As I said though, the rain was blowing in my face as I tried to set up to photograph it so it was quite a challenge to keep the lens dry long enough to actually shoot the image. I hope you’ll agree it was worth the effort. Once again there are only trees to give a sense of scale but take it from me, this thing is massive!

Lynne made a new friend along the way and he was very friendly but unfortunately we had to leave him behind.

As we approached Voringsfossen we went through tunnels which weave their way up the mountain and I could see from the map on the sat nav that without it quite being a spiral, the tunnel was crossing above itself as it wound its way upwards. This happened three times. I find it mind-boggling to imagine the work that went into building these tunnels. When we finally reached Voringsfossen there was a huge well organised car park and we quickly parked and set off on the path to the main view. Lynne only took one look down into the ravine and decided to go and wait back in the van. I don’t blame her although I can’t quite relate to that fear of heights myself. Apart from a few other people I had the place pretty much to myself and I set about finding the best composition. Although Voringsfossen is about the waterfall it’s not really the only thing you have to consider. As you’ll see from the photograph it’s really just a bit part player in a much bigger scene. I personally think it’s one of the most epic locations we’ve been to whilst in Norway. I think the image illustrates what an impressive view it is. There’s a saying in photography that a great view doesn’t always mean a great photo but I think this one of my best of the whole trip. As luck would have it I was just finishing when two coach loads of Japanese tourists turned up. If you read yesterday’s blog you’ll know my feelings about the Japanese. At that point I was happy to beat a hasty retreat back to Nellie and a nice cheese and onion sandwich.

After we left Voringsfossen we carried on towards Notodden which is where we hoped to look at what is said to be the largest Stave Church in Norway but looking at it online we just found that it closes for the winter, TODAY! Bugger! Hey ho, we’ll just have to content ourselves with seeing the outside then. Anyway, we carried on driving looking for somewhere to wild camp. As time went on we found ourselves in the wildest rugged landscape I think we’ve seen yet. By now we were over 4000 ft above sea level and when I got out to take a photo my little old ears nearly fell off! The scenery was breathtaking though and also in full autumn colour with a huge mountain backdrop covered in snow. I wish I could say I took any photos that would do it justice but I don’t think any of them do. The photo I’m including here comes close to showing how beautifully desolate this landscape is, with what seems like the ghost of a snowy mountain in the background. In a vast area that almost defies description this is my best effort!

Raining! End of blog!

Seriously though, yes, we woke to more rain this morning. I know, it’s getting boring now! The car park which last night had been packed with lorries and cars was empty except for us this morning. We left at about 9.30 to head for Flam. On the way we filled up with diesel and also adblue. The system here for adblue is brilliant. Just as well really as our motorhome seems to drink the stuff. This was the third time I’ve had to fill up since leaving home. Lots of the gas stations here have adblue pumps on the forecourt so you authorise your card in advance and fill up just like pay at the pump petrol at home. Why on earth can’t we have adblue pumps at home? We’re supposed to be a great nation but sometimes when you see how things are done abroad it seems like we’re just a little bit backward in a lot of ways! I know, other man’s grass and all that but there’s no escaping the fact that in certain ways the people here are so much more switched on. The roads in Norway, for instance. We’ve been in Norway for more than a month now and I have to say they have some of the best roads I’ve ever driven on. We’ve driven past teams of workers laying road in some difficult terrain and they make it look so easy it beggars belief. Anyway, back to the adblue. I’m not aware of any pumps for it in the UK. So I suppose the only option for the forseeable future  is to buy it from Halfords and get it all over the place like I did the only time I ever tried topping it up myself and it’s bloody awful stuff.  Sorry, rant over, again!

We made good progress and with the obligatory ferry ride included we arrive in Flam slightly before midday. That is to say that the sat nav took us to the wrong end (the dead end, literally) of Flam. We sat and puzzled for a few moments thinking, this can’t be right it’s meant to be a tourist destination. On consulting google earth we realised she had once more thrown us another curved ball and sent us to completely the wrong place. The road we were on was a dead end so I had to do a u turn and go back the way we came. Ten minutes later we got to the proper Flam. We easily found the campsite we had in mind and booked in for one night. Once again this was mainly to get all the electrics charged up and to use their internet. This was one of the more expensive places we’ve stayed and cost approximately £40 including the use of their laundry facilities!

By 1.00 pm we were walking round Flam which, it seems to me, is no more than a railway station and a handful of souvenir shops packed with Japanese tourists running amock all over the place. I recall the recent world cup when Japan had played a game and the reports said that the fans cleared up all their rubbish before leaving the ground and how polite they always are. Well, my findings are rather different. When they disembark from whatever coaches or trains they come in on all hell breaks loose. They don’t have a quiet setting because otherwise why when they speak, do they have to sound like they’re addressing someone half a mile away. Imagine a shop with 50 or more of them running round shouting at each other! They must be the noisiest group of people you could ever meet. Sorry, this is turning into another rant! Suffice it to say I find them all slightly irritating and needless to say, anyone who knows me will attest to how easy going I am! We could have done the train ride which takes you through some majestic scenery but I couldn’t see the point as we’ve already overdosed on majestic scenery for the month that we’ve been in Norway. Also the idea of being on a train full of Japanese people shouting up and down the carriage would be my idea of hell! And another thing, I love photography as you might have gathered, but the Japanese photograph EVERYTHING! What on earth is that all about?

As usual when we stay on a campsite we took advantage of the facilities and got a load of washing done. Lynne sat outside watching Coronation Street on her iPad (seriously) for a while. After the initial rainy start, today was one of the nicest days we’ve had for a while so because she suddenly wants to be seen as the outdoorsy type she insisted on being outdoors while I sat inside in comfort! While we were in Flam we looked in at a restaurant and were quite impressed with the interior of the place. From the outside it’s built like the old stave churches and inside is very atmospheric with lots of rustic wooden furniture and a fire in the middle of the room. We decided then to eat there later tonight. Back at the Motorhome as we were getting ready to go out we were visited by an Indian family who asked very politely if they could take a photo of the ‘car’. My immediate response was “why”. “Oh, to send back to our family in India” came the reply. I have no idea why they picked on us and not some of the much bigger motorhomes on the site but I said “by all means, go ahead” and went back inside. It left me thinking that they definitely need to get out more. I shouldn’t be nasty really as they were very polite about it and like the Chinese people we met at Dalsnibba probably never see small houses on wheels where they come from.

So later in the evening we went to the restaurant, which was quite busy and when we asked about a table we were told it would probably be an hour to wait. We agreed to wait and got drinks to pass the time with. We both had beers and they came to 198 NOK which is approximately £18.50. The hour passed quickly though as I estimate we had waited about 15 minutes when they called us to our table. Why do they always do that? It’s almost as if they try to put you off by saying it’ll be an hour and then 15 minutes later your table’s ready! Lynne had a chickpea burger and I had a steak burger. Burgers sounds a bit basic I know but the food was beautifully done. Not your average burgers at all. Good job really as with desert thrown in it came to 745 NOK. (near enough £70). We had a really nice evening and it made a pleasant change to eat out because in more than a month of being in Norway we’d only eaten out once mainly on account of how horrendously expensive everything is.

Back ‘home’ we settled down and watched an episode of Sneaky Pete on Amazon Prime. This was the best WiFi I think we’ve had at a campsite so we had to make the most of it. Oh, by the way, did I mention that it rained all evening too! As I’m writing this it’s blowing hard and hammering down on the roof.  Yes, after quite a nice day of sunshine, normal service has now been resumed!

We had a sleepless night for which I have no known reason. Just that we were awake at 2.50 am. Absolutely no idea why, where we were camped could have been the quietest place on the planet. It must surely be the darkest place I’ve ever been. After 11.00 pm if you looked out the door you would literally see nothing! Just absolute darkness. I have to say I found it quite disconcerting. This morning Lynne decided to pose for an early morning shot in the doorway with the mountains and the trolls road in the background. You should just see the zig zag road going up in front of the cab of the motorhome and the small bridge over the waterfall on the far right of the picture.

We were at the foot of the road called Trollstigen (the trolls road) and after breakfast this morning we set off to drive up to the top. This involved lots of hairpin bends and a number of stops along the way for mediocre photographs none of which will be on display here. The road is a fantastic piece of engineering and judging by the date on the small bridge over the waterfall half way up, it must have been built sometime around 1935. As usual when we got to the top it was raining just a bit. (chucking it down again). We got out and walked to the view-point, built-in order to get the best possible view over the road and the incredible valley bellow. I had the wrong lens on but had no intention of walking all the way back to get another one as my feet were already soaked. I’d been lazy and kept on a pair of trainers that are more like slippers than anything you’d walk out in the rain in! I ended up taking two hand-held shots one above the other so as to try to make a vertical panorama, something I’ve never tried before. Here is the result. Quite successful, I’m happy to say.

We had a quick look around the crappy souvenir shop before carrying on with today’s journey. We were heading for Flam, which is quite a big tourist destination but based on our past excursions into ‘touristy towns’ I’m not expecting too much, although I realise it’s late in the season judging by the amount of campsites we’ve seen which are closed for the winter. We’ve had so much rain that it occurred to me how much trouble we would be in if that all suddenly turned to snow! Fingers crossed it doesn’t! There’s plenty of snow on the mountain tops but it seems like that’s permanent in a lot of places. Where there are glaciers it can still snow in the middle of summer apparently. As I’m writing we’re about an hour and a half from Flam but I’m tired of driving so we pulled into a roadside rest stop to wild camp for the night.

Yesterday I said Alesund seemed nice. Well, I’ve had second thoughts about that statement. We spent this morning mooching around the town and we were both struck by how miserable everyone is. Yes, I know there are those who would say that’s rich, coming from me, but really, I’ve never seen so many miserable faces. Also, it being a Monday you would have expected a few more shops to be open than there were Sunday afternoon. Seriously, there wasn’t much difference although there was one shopping mall open but that was as soulless as anywhere I’ve ever been. Absolutely no atmosphere whatsoever. Everywhere you go there seem to be lone men wandering about aimlessly with a hangdog expression and nowhere to go. We did go into a supermarket and do a little shopping. The guy on the checkout didn’t look Norwegian, wrong shade of brown and long black hair that looked like it hadn’t been washed in two weeks! Yuk! Anyway, to top off the glowing impression we were getting of Alesund, it decided to chuck it down with rain again. I must say I’ve loved most of the time we’ve spent in Norway but the incessant rain was starting to wear a bit thin now.

So that was Alesund, not a place we’ll be hurrying back to any time soon. We topped up with drinking water and dumped the grey water waste. As I was filling up with drinking water Lynne was waving at me from in the van and it seemed the alarm was switching itself on and off for no reason. I went to take a look and tried to set the alarm with the key fob. It didn’t work. So I started the engine and then switched it off again, the only problem was it carried on running even after I had taken the key out of the ignition. Now that’s strange! I messed about with it for a while and finally it seemed to be functioning correctly again. I had no idea what could have caused the problem but for now at least it seemed ok again. So we set off for Trollstigen. Shortly after leaving the motorhome park we were on our way out of the town and I used my left hand indicator and found it was blinking twice as fast as normal. That could only mean one thing, I went out to check, and sure enough the front left hand indicator wasn’t working. I got a spare out of the set we’d bought shortly before leaving England and swapped it over. Lo and behold, that didn’t work either.

As luck would have it I knew we had just passed a Ford dealership as this problem was manifesting itself. Having exhausted the full extent of my mechanical knowledge by changing the bulb I decided the only option was to throw ourselves at the mercy of the men from Ford! They were actually very helpful in a begrudging sort of way. I gave them the keys and they drove Nellie into the workshop. We only had to wait about 10 minutes before the gentleman I had first spoken to came out and said there was nothing wrong and that the bulb hadn’t been fitted right. I don’t know how he knew that as I’d given him the bulb in its holder when I walked in. However, I wasn’t about to argue as he now assured me that everything was working fine. I shook his hand and off we went, happy campers. Literally!

Back on the road to Trollstigen we were both noticing an extremely irritating noise coming from the back of the van. It was like a rattle combined with a screechy squeaking noise. It turned out to be the slider in the track at the foot of the bed. It has some kind of a tensioner which presumably stops it rattling but is now broken. I’ve still to work out a solution at least temporarily to stop that driving us both up the wall as we still have a good many miles to do before we get home!

Anyway, we carried on and it didn’t take long before we were in amongst the mountains again. I have to say that makes me a lot happier than being in any of the towns we’ve experienced up to now. We pulled in at a rest stop which turned out to be more or less at the foot of Trollstigen. Having parked the van we decided to take a walk. There was a signpost nearby which told of a walk that started right there and was only two and a half kilometres. That should be easy we thought so off we went. I was in my element again with loads of beautiful waterfalls to photograph.

Unfortunately two and a half kilometres  began to feel more like 10 miles as, at what I imagine must have been the halfway stage we started having doubts about whether or not we were on the right track. But keeping faith in our navigational abilities we soldiered on.  Eventually we reached a point where we could see Nellie on the car park but she (really) was the other side of the river! I thought there must be a bridge somewhere but couldn’t see one anywhere. I decided to get Lynne to wait while I went off ahead to see if there was indeed, a bridge. It only took two or three minutes for me to see that, thankfully there was a small bridge so I went back to help Lynne down the track to it. I thought she might freak out when she saw the bridge as it was basically just planks of wood and wire! She never batted an eyelid and came across with no fuss at all. Very impressed I was! It certainly was a relief to find that bridge as the only other alternative would have been to have gone back the way we came and it was already getting dark. As I sit writing this I’m looking out the window and this location has to be the darkest blackest place on earth. Absolutely no light pollution whatsoever. I popped my head out the door and It’s a bit scary to see such compete blackness!

Lets hope the Trolls aren’t about tonight! If I’ve got it right, the name Trollstigen means something like the Trolls path and that’s what we’ll be driving up tomorrow. I’m looking forward to fantastic views from the top.

What started out mediocre with niggling problems turned out to be a pretty good day!

Today we’ve spent the entire day relaxing. We had a wander around Alesund which seems nice but understandably on a Sunday almost everything is closed. In the afternoon it started to rain and didn’t really stop again all day, long into the night so we just kicked back and totally chilled out. It was lovely, I thoroughly enjoyed having a day without driving. I took a few photos around Alesund but nothing special. I’ve not seen what I would class as outstanding light for ages as it’s mostly grey and overcast and thats just when it’s not pouring with rain. I’m including only one photo, simply because it’s not every day that you see a tree growing in the (not quite) middle of the road! They’ve even placed a small stone in front of it to protect it from knocks!

I had hoped to take a walk this evening up to a viewpoint above the town. Apparently that would have meant walking up 418 steps. Unfortunately it was blowing a gale and chucking it down with rain all night, so not really an option!

So, that was our brilliant day of doing pretty much nothing. There was I suppose, one highlight when the young lady in the camper van parked next to us decided to dress directly in front of us. This involved taking her top off with no bra and replacing it with another one. Absolutely no shame some of these young people today! I was shocked and appalled, mostly because I couldn’t get the camera out quick enough!

Good morning. It’s Sunday morning and we’re chilling in Alesund. we’re parked right on the waterfront as you’ll see from the photo.

Yesterday was a blogging disaster. We had no internet for a couple of days and it took me that long to realise I could do it all through a link to my iPhone. Duh! So, yesterdays blog was done on Lynnes iPhone and I couldn’t work out how to insert photos. So this very short blog is just to catch up with a couple of days photographs (for what they’re worth).

First is a monster waterfall from the previous day. I wish there was something to give it a sense of scale. I suppose the trees will have to do. This thing was enormous!

Second is a screen grab from a time-lapse of the Atlantic Ocean Road. It shows the approach to a bridge which looks way scarier in real life than it does in the pic! Apologies for the inferior quality.

Third is a simple picture of the mountains on the other side of a fjord as we were approaching Alesund.

That’s it for now, this was just a catch up so next we’ll see what Alesund is like. First impressions yesterday were good, so fingers crossed!

Well, disaster has struck! We ran out of internet! I’m not even sure when I’ll be able to get this online. It’s not such a terrible thing so far, as the last two days have been driving days. Yesterday we spent the whole day on the road. I’d intended stopping somewhere short of Trondheim so as to be roughly half way to Alesund. It didn’t quite work out that way as we never saw any likely places for camping until well after Trondheim. Consequently not much to report. We stopped a few times along the way mostly to photograph waterfalls none of which resulted in outstanding images so just as well as I don’t have the capability to post them here. Other than that I’m sorry to say the day was a steady driving slog! We eventually stayed on a huge roadside car park occupied by just us and a lorry. It was pretty bleak and it was only next morning that I thought to look at the elevation on the Sat Nav. We were actually at 1150 feet so no surprise that it was cold. Not only that but it rained most of the night and Lynne didn’t get much sleep as a result. I was ok thanks to the fact that I wear ear plugs in bed anyway. Ho hum, really interesting so far eh? I’m not going to bore you with any more details of this excruciatingly average day, so on to today.

Yes, well. Today was not much better. It rained almost all day and we spent most of the day driving again. We were heading for Alesund but had a little detour along the way to see the Atlantic Ocean Road. Once again it was pouring most of the time we were there. Before we got  there we had debated whether or not to go ahead as it was very windy and I had visions of another driving experience like Nordkapp. However, when we got there it wasn’t too bad so we drove the 8 kilometers or so and then drove back. It’s a stunning place and the Norwegians build the most incredible bridges. This road is made up of numerous bridges which link up lots of small islands along the stretch of coast. One of the bridges goes up in the air and round a bend at the same time. (Is any of this making any sense?) You would have to see a photo to understand but as I’m writing this with a link to Lynne’s I phone, I don’t know how to add photos and I never took a decent one anyway!

So, on to Alesund. We made pretty good time getting to Alesund and quickly found the car park which caters to motorhomes. It’s right on the waterfront and provides electricity and everything. (Except WiFi) Alesund looks nice so we’re looking forward to having a look around tomorrow as everything was closed just as we got there. Sorry these haven’t been the two most scintilating days but with no internet it’s difficult to present a good blog anyway, ie, no photos!

To sum up today, well, it pissed down most of the day making the driving generally quite unpleasant, we saw the Atlantic Ocean Road which I think would have been brilliant on a day where it wasn’t blowing a gale and raining but today was a bit of a disappointment because I couldn’t really do any decent photography in what should have been a stunning location.

I think we might spend two nights here so tomorrow might be a bit more chilled. I could do with a break from driving for a short while. Today we went over the 5000 mile mark since leaving home!

Woke up this morning after an awful nights sleep. Lynne woke me around midnight saying she could hear people moving about outside. I got dressed and went out only to find that two motorhomes had turned up late and by the time they were set up they obviously would have made quite a bit of noise. It took me an age to get back to sleep and then I still woke at 6.00 this morning as usual. We got off to a relatively early start as I was expecting a big days driving. We decided to head for Alesund on the coast. Maybe we’ll have better luck with this place. It’ll take at least a couple of days to get there but we have to make our way south anyway. We’ve tried three different places, Kristiansund, Trondheim and Bodø. The only one we succeeded in getting into was Bodø and that was nothing to write home about. The others looked like they would be even worse which is why we didn’t persevere with getting in. I’m hoping Alesund will be better!

‘We drove pretty much all day with a few photographic stops but not as many as I would have liked. It absolutely poured down with rain as we were climbing through an area with autumnal colours everywhere and waterfalls galore. I always use filters if I’m shooting waterfalls and I can’t if it’s hissing down with rain! So frustrating. However as we reached the peak and started to descend, the rain stopped and I was able to do a couple of photos that illustrate nicely the autumn colours. I might add that none of these colours were on display when we passed this way a couple of weeks ago going in the opposite direction.

At about 2.30 pm we arrived back at the Arctic Circle visitor center. We had a wander round just like before and Lynne bought some small gifts. Shortly before arriving at ACVC I commented that we would probably not see any more Reindeer. Within about 2 minutes one ran into the road and I had to seriously test Nellie’s brakes. Just imagine the headline, “Birmingham man kills Rudolph!” It’d look good on the insurance claim though, what caused the collision? a red-nosed Reindeer ran out in front of me from nowhere! He’d given Santa the slip.

At about 3.30 pm we decided to start looking for somewhere to wild camp. There are so many road works going on that we didn’t see any likely places at all. We pulled onto one car park where there wasn’t the usual sign saying welcome to this picnic area, please enjoy using this facility and also please enjoy your onward journey! They might as well just say, have your 10 minutes, have a cup of tea and then naff off! Anyhow, I had a quick walk round and quickly saw that there was a sign saying all of that, but someone had ripped it’s post out of the ground and thrown it down a small embankment where no one could see it. We moved on!

It was 6.40 by the time we found somewhere we could actually stay. No thinly disguised F off signs, just a big hoarding welcoming us to Mosjoen and giving a potted history of the town. So we settled for the night and watched the comings and goings of your average lay-by in Norway. One van pulled up and unhitched his trailer which had on it a skidoo and some other stuff and just left it there. Seems awfully trusting to me, at home I’m pretty sure it would be gone in minutes, in fact they probably wouldn’t wait for you to unhitch it. Various lorry’s pulled in and then out again. I have no idea what they stop for but I’m always glad when they’re gone. We’re supposed to be able to see the Northern Lights again tonight but there’s a thick mist as I write so not expecting too much.

Once again this morning we took it easy and didn’t bother making a move till after 11.00 am. We decided to go to Bodo which is only just a little more than an hour away. We opted to spend the night at a petrol station that accommodates motorhomes for 150 NOK including electric. The other option would have been a beach location about 10 minutes out of the town. I’m wishing now that we had chosen the beach. We walked into the town from the petrol station (it sounds pretty glam doesn’t it) and it was underwhelming to say the least. Consequently this is probably going to be my shortest blog yet! Bodo looks a bit grim to my eyes. There was nothing about the place that I could recommend. I talked yesterday of some of the people seeming a little dour, well, this place was teeming with dour faces! The only photos of any interest were one nice piece of wall art and another, not so nice but still quite clever piece. Here they are.

Look around Bodo long enough, the Bad will turn up to complete the set.

That’s all I’ve got today, lets hope things improve tomorrow!