The rugged coastline makes it easy to lose the bearings without a GPS. Sometimes the sea is on the right, sometimes on the left, sometimes it is just a lake and sometimes a fjord. The high position of the sun does the rest. It ensures that we are timeless and sometimes cycle late into the evening. We can always check in at the campsites at any time.
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Even right by the sea, many of the day’s stages crack the 1000-metre altitude mark. Steep stretches of up to 20 percent, sometimes on gravel, demand everything from us.
Norway and fair-weather cyclists are working on their love for each other. ‘Once Norway, always Norway’ is something we hear more than once from German tourists, mostly traveling in motorhomes. We struggle with the weather, with the ‘simple life’ on campsites, with the ‘happy’ Norwegians. Perhaps Norway is only partially suitable for exploring by bike, the seemingly endless country stretching northwards. Or maybe we are the ones looking for the city and its people? Those who live largely in the dark for months may become strange. Hardly anyone notices us on the road. That has never happened to us in any of the countries we have cycled through. The only people who greet us here are athletes – racing cyclists, joggers, cross-country skiers on roller skis and skaters. That is nice too, of course.
Today we come to a dead end. The path ends in front of a private house with an open window. Maybe someone can help us. A person appears at the window, sees us and closes the window – also a message.
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From Kristianssand, the cycle path heads north. Another two hours until it is supposed to rain. Arrival 5 p.m., Bornes Camping. We stay dry. After check-in by the gentleman with typical Norwegian charm, there is the predicted downpour. We spend the evening eating muesli and chocolate in the drying room. There is a house and it is heated. Real luxury for us cyclists. We go through all the possible options for the onward journey: 1) north, 2) east, 3) west or even 4) the ferry to Denmark and from there to Gothenburg and on through Sweden. Endure and persevere. We head north for now.
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Finally, our cozy sleeping bags get the appreciation they deserve. In the morning, we pack up the tent wet and cycle on through the beautiful Setlasdal valley, reaching Evje after 25 kilometers, a small Norwegian settlement with a pleasing number of stores. Iron and other ores used to be mined here. The scenery is magnificent. We have breakfast by the river and spontaneously decide to spend the day and night at the campsite not far away: Camping Odden. It is a beautiful spot in the sun and rain. The tent is quickly dried and we stroll through the stores together. There are reindeer skins to buy, souvenirs and something to eat. We go to the library with tourist information to plan the rest of the route.
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We crawl into the tent with the great feeling that we will be looking up at a blue sky in the morning.
That is exactly what happens. The sky is blue. Breakfast by the river. It does not get any better than this and the day’s stage is really strong. Just like you imagine Norway… or Switzerland. We cycle along the National Cycle Route 3 ‘Fjords and Mountains’, always alongside the Okra. It goes up and down. Gigantic rock formations with rushing waterfalls to the right and left. ‘Arte live’ in a nutshell.
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After 110 kilometers with a stiff breeze from the front, we are welcomed at Camping Flateland, at the foot of a waterfall. The nice woman at reception is delighted to see us cyclists. She cycled from Holland to Rome last year. Today she is proud of us.
We find a place to sit and then watch Germany play in the European Championship. We enjoy the warm sun in the lee of the tent. Wonderful! It can go on like this.
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High rock faces, black-blue water. Sometimes to the right of the water, sometimes to the left. On the other side, cars and motorhomes. Via Hovden we head for Haukeli. Haukeli is the gateway to Hangardavidda, the national park, a large plateau at an altitude of 1300m. Still icy today. Tomorrow the temperatures will rise. And again, we are confident that we will crawl out of the tent dry tomorrow and squint into the sun.
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Midsummer. Fifty-five kilometers of the E134 road lie ahead of us to the next town with shops, Røldal. Time flies by. Norway shows its best side. Most of the tunnels are closed to cyclists and we cycle around them on the beautiful old pass roads. We are really blown away.
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In Røldal, we decide to take advantage of the fantastic weather and ride another pass with an altitude difference of six hundred meters. From then on, it is all downhill.
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Norway has won us over.