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Where am I?:^mistymornings-->Cycletouring-->2008-->Norway.-->Day 37

Day 37-3. Larvik to Helgeroa and back.

Twenty minutes later my trip meter hit 499.99km (having already hit 999.99km twice during the holiday) so I stopped and waited for Damae to catch up. With her watching I rolled my bike forwards until the trip meter showed 500.00km. It was a good feeling to have achieved the distance. We celebrated with a picture of us looking relaxed and brown in the late summer sun.

A few minutes later we entered Stavern and cycled East through town until we could go no further. We stood for a few minutes looking out across Larviksfjorden. We then cycled back to the small fort with its characteristic star shaped plan, very similar to forts in Holland, particularly Willemstad in Noord Brabant, albeit somewhat smaller. It reminded me of the fort in Fredrikstad's old town where we stayed at the end of our 2005 trip. We sat in the green grass and made a nice fresh cuppa. As we were sitting there we spotted two cycle tourers looking quite determined as they headed towards Helgeroa.

Finally it was time to head on. We took a quick look at the outside of Stavern church, apparently built in 1756 in the Roccoco style whilst Stavern was a garrison town. We decided it would be worth a visit one day but today was not that day. Then we threaded our way north through town, stopping to do groceries at the Meny, climbing up past hoardings advertising housing developments with sea views. Damae fell behind again, her cold muscles not responding to the sudden demands after the long break in Stavern.

We carried on up the RV 301 and not long afterwards passed the turning to Tanum we'd taken in the morning. The long undulating descent in to Larvik had started and we were kicked off the Gamle Stavernveien back onto Møllebakken, thanks to another well placed sign. Turning right, we plunged downhill passing the edge of the new development we got lost in the previous evening. Ah, fond memories.

We turned right before the centre of town, under the E18, past the petrol station and headed back up to Vasvik campsite. A leisurely evening followed where we worked round the lack of showers by taking warm water from the sink and pouring it over each other and then had a mildly unsuccesful barbeque. Whilst the veggie burgers were fine we discovered that the barbeque didn't quite have enough ooomph to properly grill the maize and other vegetables. In the end it was yummy, smoked maize is not that bad, and we just managed to finish our meal before the sun disappeared behind the hill.

By half eight it was starting to get dark, the dew had already fallen and the temperature was following suit. It was time to retreat into the tent and talk about the day and the trip. The holiday was now at an end and in less than two days we'd be back in Utrecht.

In the distance, voices and sounds of people being sociable drowned out the distant never ending hum of the E18. We fell asleep satisfied that we'd achieved something today, looking forward to a good night's sleep.

Or was that a bad idea, looking forward to something at this time of night?

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