Navigation
Where am I?:^mistymornings-->Cycletouring-->2008-->Norway.-->Day 33

Day 33-1. Berger to Halden.

Distance D 71.25 km Max 53.5 km/h Time 5.06:24 Average 14.0 km/h
Distance S 71.21 km Max 49.0 km/h Time 4.36:18 Average 15.5 km/h

It wasn't raining when we awoke, which was nice. However this didn't mean that it was dry out there. Everything outside our inner tent was damp, covered in a layer of glistening dew. Still, it was a lot better than the start to the day before. The sun made an appearance allowing us to eat breakfast without putting on lots of extra clothing. We even managed to get the tent half dry before we left.

As we were finishing breakfast the Norwegian owner of the campsite drove up the drive. To be honest we'd not gone down first things this morning to register as it was quite a long way down that gravel track. We chatted for a bit and paid for the night. It turned out to be one of the most expensive of the tour at NOK 150. Given that the facilities were clean but average, I guess we paid for the view down the valley.

Ironically the main reason we'd pushed on to Sukken Camping was that we wanted a shower. We didn't have tokens the night before and we didn't feel like a shower in the morning. We could have wild camped earlier in the evening and made today a bit longer. That would have balanced out the two days a bit better and saved us a hundred and fifty kroner.

Whilst we were packing up a German gentleman of advanced years came over to chat. He had seen our Rohloffs and was most interested in the technology. We chatted in Germlish about bikes and bike technology quite happily for about ten minutes. He used to cycle but now had balance problems. I mentioned recumbents like the HP Velotechnik Scorpion and he'd seen them too and was interested in those trikes, although they were, like a Rohloff, a bit on the expensive side.

Eventually he realised his wife, on the other side of the campsite, really, really wanted to go and do the shopping right now. He took leave of us and headed off to do the groceries. We were left to do our final packing before cycling back down the hill to the main road and taking our leave of Sukken Camping.

It took us twenty minutes to get into Ørje where, for the second time in the holiday (see day 3 here), we chanced upon some canal locks. There was also a Canal Museum and a steam boat of some sort. We didn't stop this time but made a mental note to come and visit Ørje at some point in the future. We crossed over to the other side of the Øymarksjøen and headed almost due South on a minor road. This of course meant going uphill for a bit towards some dark, threatening clouds. It looked like we were going to get wet soon.

The rain held off for more than half an hour and when it arrived it was only a short shower. By one, we'd reached the junction at Damholtet where we took a left turning onto the RV 124 for a few kilometres. Here, the road came close to the lake and we found a spot by the side of the road where we could sit, brew up and eat our lunch. Although it was a bit chilly it was nice to be able to sit down and take a proper break. Suitably refreshed we packed up and headed South once more.

Next page