Norway 2007

Tuesday - One little hop!

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Tuesday 25 June 2007

After breakfast Dave J said "have you seen the view out the back?" No I hadn't, so he showed me the way, out the back gate from the patio, over a heap of natural rock to this view point over the City of Bergen, its pretty impressive, and as usual the picture just doesn't do it justice.

N60.37178 E5.36678 (map)

John checked his tyre pressure before breakfast and found it about 3psi down on yesterday, easily explained by the tyre being stone cold. We discussed whether to get a replacement now, but the cost would likely be prohibitive and take at least half a day, so John decided to take it easy and replace it back home.

So, on with today's ride: Today we're riding North out of Bergen as we had on Sunday (the red arrows show the direction). But this time we're travelling a little further West on the outbound leg and there's just one little ferry hop...

08:38 We took the E16 then the E39 out of Bergen and after 33 miles we turned left (map) on to the R570 for the Masfjorden ferry

09:54 The R570 road was deserted and the scenery just breathtaking, we just had to stop to take pictures. On the left is Austfjorden with a little inlet on the right to private houses on the shore.

N60.70737 E5.41707 (map)

10.25 We rode on to Masfjordnes for the ferry across to Duesund. When we arrived the ferry was on the far side of the Fjord (Austfjorden/Masfjorden). In the ferry shelter was a timetable saying the next ferry was due at 10:40, so not too long to wait.

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10:40 In she comes, our one little hop! I believe this is Norway's only cable operated ferry called 'Fjon-M' built in 2001 for ferry operators Wergeland-Halsvik (see the big W on the side) She can carry 21 cars and 60 passengers. The fare was just 36kr £3.00. Oddly the receipt for the fair was a Tide receipt, and a search on the Internet showed Tide had a timetable, but its not a Tide ferry?

N60.80089 E5.30451 (map)

She's coming to get me, and there's no place to hide!

11:23 Leaving the ferry we continued North toward Sognefjorden, after passing through a half mile long tunnel we popped out again to be greeted by this stunning view of Gulafjorden, we piled off the bikes to take pictures.

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11:43 As we rode further on to Rutledalen (map) on the banks of Sognefjorden, we couldn't see anywhere obvious to stop for a break, so, carried on Westward.

12:00 We'd actually turned South again before we finally found somewhere for a break, the Joker supermarket in Brekke. It was fairly obvious the locals in the shop weren't too used to tourists from the curious looks we received, but there was enough English spoken to find out there was no coffee available :-( No matter, it was a fairly big supermarket and they had plenty of soft drinks and one of my favourites, potato sticks. While enjoying the refreshments outside I suggested cooking for ourselves tonight, rather than 'yet more burgers'. No one objected, so that was agreed. But what are we going to have? Most seemed agreeable to pasta or curry, we'll have to see what they have at the shop later... cunning plan sorted!

N61.01997 E5.46182 (map)

0.5ltr Fanta Orange 11.90kr / £1.00 - Large bag of potato sticks 16.70kr / £1.40

Riding on from Brekke we joined the E39 to Romarheims (map), from here we had a choice, take a short cut via the E39 back to Bergen and an early shower, or as planned, turn left on to the R569 and do a bit more exploring. Well it was only 13:13, too early to go back, so we took the R469, I'm glad we did!

13:22 Taken from the north side of Mofjorden on the R569, if you look there's a waterfall in the middle of this picture, way in the distance.

N60.79499 E5.75807 (map)

13:34 And this is the waterfall close up, it's called Kvernhusfossen and is 700ft high, I've left the buildings and Patto on his bike in the picture so you can get some idea of the scale.

N60.81626 E5.79530 (map)

Riding on around the head of Mofjorden and through Mo we rode in to a tunnel 2.2 miles long, this tunnel crosses us over into another valley and a series of short tunnels. Some of these tunnels are incredibly narrow, even riding a bike through them seems tight. Just before entering one of them I spotted a lorry at the other end, so stopped to give way. How it got through without scrapping the tunnel's sides I'll never know. Then a group of classic cars on tour came though with everyone waving, it was turning into quite an event.

14:00 Riding along side Eidfjorden between the tunnels on the R259

N60.71757 E5.78457 (map)

14:06 A little further down we passed through Hesjedatstunnelen (tunnel) and came across another waterfall, later research on the Internet showed it was called Hesjedalsfossen, it's an impressive twin fall of 230ft, the water tumbles on to the rocks below, then flows out under the road and in to the Fjord. There's parking here and even picnic tables.

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This is the exit of Hesjedatstunnelen showing the old tunnel next to it and on the far left the picnic area,

N60.69782 E5.76395 (map)

That's pretty much the end of the 'on road' excitement for today, the ride back to Bergen was just the usual slow going and tunnels of the E16, we finally got back to the Montana at 15:40. But then it was shopping time for myself and Dave S who I'd co-opted on to cooking duties :-)

The Spar shop was just 200yds down the road, but buying the right stuff was proving difficult as most of the labels are in Norwegian. We decided on mince beef curry tonight, mainly because we found jars of Tikka Masala sauce on the shelf (the only curry sauce in the shop). Then we found the minced beef labelled 'Karbonadedeig', to be honest it could have been minced elk! Dave said he liked peas, so a large tin of peas was added to the shopping. (You have no idea how hard it is to decipher a Norwegian till receipt to sort out the individual prices for the list below!)

This is what we bought:

2x 500g Tikka Masala sauce   43.80kr

2x 500g Minced beef              131.80kr

2x Large onions                           6.96kr

1x Red pepper (for colour)         9.58kr

1x 750g Basmati rice                15.90kr

1.5ltr Sugar free 7up                  16.90kr

1x large tin of peas                      8.00kr

Total:                                         232.94kr - £19.80

17:15 Back at the Montana in the communal kitchen, we set to work.

The onion and red pepper were sliced up and fried till just going soft. The mince was fried separately till it had fully changed to that grey colour, then tipped in with the onion and pepper. Next the Tikka Masala sauce was added and the whole lot left to gently simmer for around 40 mins.

Nearly the whole box of rice was boiled for 15 mins in another large pan, then rinsed with boiling water in a big sieve and served up with the mince curry on top.

We couldn't find any Nan bread in the Spar shop so a crusty loaf was bought and sliced up instead (loaf not on the shopping list above)

Dave S serving up, the curry was a touch on the mild side, but it was all cooked to perfection and everyone got a large helping, not bad for around £4 each, and nobody got food poisoning!

Note: If you start cooking early as we had done you miss the crowds that turn up later, and don't forget the oven and hobs here are 'pay as you go', around 10kr for 30 mins for each appliance.

The evening was spent watching Norwegian TV in a small room between one of the accommodation wings and the entrance foyer. It was often American shows dubbed over in Norwegian or with Norwegian subtitles, 'CSI: New York' was quite watchable.

One last picture today, to complement the one at the top of the page...

Sunset over Bergen

Tomorrow is our last full day around Bergen, lets hope it's a good one.

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Today we travelled 182 miles in 7h1min, average speed 26mph

Garmin tracklog available here

Tuesdays elevation graph: A few peaks, the highest being around 1500ft

Tuesdays temperature graph: The sudden drops in temperature on the graph below are very likely caused by tunnels.

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