Day 35-2. Strömstad to Sandefjord by boat, then the NSCR to Horten contd.
At twelve we entered the Southern end of Sandefjordsfjorden. I had to check the name on the map. The town is Sandefjord, which is a bit curious given that you'd expect the fjord to be called Sandefjord and the town to be called Sande. I'm sure the good citizens of Sandfjord had a good reason to name the town thus. Back at the Sandefjordsfjorden, we were now sailing up it and the fjord looked lovely in the sun.
I stood on deck for most of the next half hour as the ferry reached the end of the fjord and the port of Sandefjord. We could see some new blocks of flats with sea views and probably price tags to match. Just for fun we made up some descriptions that estate agents might use to sell them. "Modern appartments with sea view. A must for those who like the hustle and bustle of a busy port. Ideal for insomniacs or early risers".
We walked down to the almost empty car deck and got ready to leave. Once off the boat, we headed straight for the tourist office to see if we could score some maps for the NSCR. It was not far from the ferry terminal and we parked our bikes up outside. Once inside, a nice lady showed us some free maps of the local area which looked like they would be enough for today and tomorrow. We didn't really want to shell out money for a complete NSCR map given that we'd already got one and needed a map to cover around a hundred and fifty kilometres of the NSCR.
With our maps in hand we headed out into the sunshine and decided to stop for a spot of lunch. In the port area of Sandefjord there is a nice park, with a big fountain and a statue. We sat in the sun and brewed up taking it easy. After all we had plenty of time. Or was that one of those things you shouldn't say on a cycle tour?
Forty minutes later we were off again. We found an NSCR sign for Tønsberg, that familiar green 1 on a brown background and headed off inland. We lost track of the signs in the centre as there was some redevelopment going on but after a few minutes found the next sign at the junction between Museumsgata and Skippergata. Here we turned right and followed the road up to Gokstadveien, where we turned right again and headed East, out of town along main and more minor roads towards Enge Brygge. Here, we had to catch the small ferry that would take us past Veierland to the Tenvik on the island called Nøtterøy. We'd spent a night on Nøtterøy in 2005 on a rather busy campsite, but this time we were going to cycle on.
However, this ferry ran every two hours or so and we'd arrived just twenty minutes after the ferry had left. Our 'plenty of time' to get to Horten had just lost over an hour and a half. There was nothing to do about this as neither of us wanted to retrace our steps and take the alternative route to Tønsberg. So I got out the Trangia and we started with a nice cuppa. Then it was a case of mooching around us at the marina for something to look at. In the end Damae got a book out and leaning against the Enge Brygge sign proceeded to do some more studying for her masters. I found some exciting wildlife in the sea next to the jetty before returning to being bored.