Norway (5)

As promised, I wanted to visit Venke on the way back after my time on Litløy! And that’s what I did! She and John welcomed me very warmly again! It also smelled of waffles… together we chatted again about travelling by motorbike and about the world and his wife, as the saying goes! After saying my warmest goodbyes several times, I carried on north… My next destination was the island of Senja! There I wanted to climb the 639-metre-high Segla! John had also recommended a back road to me to avoid the busy main roads there. He’s a truck driver and knows Norway pretty well! Said and planned, I went back onto the Norwegian mainland via the Tjeldsundbrua. Since it was already late afternoon by now, I slowly started looking for a spot for my tent!

Since it kept lightly raining on and off, rainbows formed over the lakes. At the end there was water, by the way, just in case anyone’s wondering…

I found a great spot by a small lake, or fjord — I’m not so sure anymore. Right by the water! A little further off, a small camper van was parked. For the evening I’d bought pasta with tomato sauce. As usual, I first set up the stove in front of the tent to make use of the time. The stove hissed and I started pitching the tent. Once I was done, I was surprised the spoon I always put on the lid hadn’t fallen off yet… so the water wasn’t boiling. That’s how I sadly discovered my gas cartridge was more or less suddenly empty. I’d gone about it roughly like with a toothpaste tube. Somehow you can always still get something out. Lesson learned again. So I set off to the camper van with my lukewarm water. Next to it were two more cars (the people also looked like they were camping there). So I asked them first. But they told me they were only here for fishing and had neither a tent nor a gas stove with them. One of the Norwegians, though, offered to give me a gas cartridge. He lives not far from here and I could come and pick it up. I was overwhelmed and totally delighted! You could even see his house from the lake. Since he was on his bike, he set off ahead. In the meantime I carried on putting my things into the tent and then set off. With the gas cartridge in his hand, he waved to me. We talked for quite a while and I told him about my trip and my experiences. At my age he’d travelled a lot too, so he could well relate to the gas-cartridge problem! After saying about four times, „right, off you go now then“, I thanked him several times and headed back to the tent. By now I was hungry too! Once again it was overwhelming!

Travel connects people! I can confirm that by now! And that you’re never alone and somehow always get help, too. You do always somehow share the same „problems“. Although „problems“ like that are also just a matter of perspective. I could also be lying on the couch at home…

And so, sitting in the sand, I finally got to eat my pasta with tomato sauce after all, and watched the sun set behind the trees.

I actually wasn’t far from the Segla anymore… actually… when I came onto the island of Senja over a small bridge, the weather was great! I rode past a big illuminated sign showing the classic roadworks pictogram. But since it was all in Norwegian, I just carried on for now. Then another sign came up and Google Translate told me: „Road closed“. But the road was clear… so I just rode on. It went past a great viewpoint:

And Ersfjord Beach:

To the Segla Trail, or rather the start of the hiking path, it was then only about 15 minutes. But then! After I’d now ridden on for over an hour after the road-closure sign came up, I of course assumed the sign really referred to the first road. But no. It was about the road you only reach after an hour. And why? Because this was the only coastal road on the island and the only way to drive across the island. The sign was of course at the beginning, so that people like me know early on… So I rode the whole way back again and arrived at the foot of the Segla nearly two hours late. I’m under no time pressure, but when the sun starts to set I do like to be lying in my tent, since it was slowly getting really colder and colder here… After a brief think, I quickly checked Bunk a Biker and actually found someone nearby. Rita wrote back to me straight away and welcomed me to her place for the evening! So I could now go hiking nice and relaxed. My place to sleep was secured for now! The ascent was strenuous and very steep. But the view was worth it once again:

Towards late afternoon I headed back to the bike. Quickly changed and lashed everything back down, and set off for Rita’s. About 45 minutes’ ride. What I hadn’t considered, or rather had seen on the map, though, was that there was still a ferry connection on the way. And it happened as it had to… I missed the last ferry by about 30 minutes. After a quick bit of research it turned out there’d be a three-hour detour if I wanted to drive around the ferry. I called Rita and explained the situation to her. She checked the ferry again and confirmed that the next one didn’t run until 10:15 in the morning. But she recommended an acquaintance of hers who also offered somewhere to stay on Bunk a Biker. I gratefully declined the offer, though. For that I’d have had to ride back another hour, and I really had already ridden enough detour kilometres today. Luckily, though, I found a free shower in the little ferry harbour! A good turn after all! There was also a camping option listed nearby on iOverlander (the app for wild campsites). Once there, it was unfortunately already pretty full… But there was a fenced-off field that I could just about get the bike into, between the bollards. So I was able to pitch my tent by the water once again and had another great sunset on the beach.