11th/12th June - Lubeck

Now I must apologise to the Dane’s.  Having had a very comfortable night in the B&B just outside of Hirtshalls (which was actually owned and run by an Icelandic couple) I set off in the morning directly south with the aim of stopping at Lubeck in Germany.

In the planning stages of this trip I had deliberately left a spare day at the end to allow any significant issues to be easily absorbed, but I hadn't had any.  So I now had a choice of taking 3 shortish days to get to the Hook of Holland and my ferry back to the UK, or two long riding days and stopping somewhere for 2 nights.

I did a bit of research and thought  Lubeck looked a good option as it was about half way and had an interesting history and old town - so that meant just pushing on through Denmark without stopping.
The other factor was (again) the rain.  Although it was a sunny start to the day, heavy rain was forecast for much of it.

Any boy did it rain - for the middle 4 hours of the journey it was basically a deluge and at a couple of points I had to pull off the road simply because I couldn't see where the edge of the road was, let alone what was in front of me.

By the time I crossed the border into Germany though the rain was easing and by the time I arrived in at the Holstentor Gate in Lubeck, it was sunny!

So it was off with the bike gear and on with the shorts and tea shirt and a then off for a quick evening stroll around the town and something to eat.

Lubeck was capital of the Hanseatic League, a powerful trading organisation, in medieval times and its gothic brick architecture dates back to that time.

The old buldings are scattered around the ‘old town’ , in places competing for space with modern shops and department stores including TKMax, Woolworths, C&A and other higher end brands.

One of Lubeck’s claims to fame is being the origin of the marzipan industry and the town includes a museum and other attractions focused on this. 

Compared to Scandinavia it seems to be quite ethnically diverse, though I am not really making a fair comparison here as I didn't visit any cities in Scandinavia. 

The Hospital of the Holy Spirit, shown below, is one of the oldest social institutions in Lubec dating back to 1260.

It is generally a nice city to spend time in and worthy perhaps of a weekend break.

Sadly in WWII Lubeck suffered a lot of damage and was the first city to be heavily bombed by the RAF, destroying much of the old centre.  This was heavily re-built over many years and is now a UNESCO world heritage site. 

The city was first and foremost a trading city, sitting as it does on the river Trave’s estuary into the  Baltic Sea and with access also  to the North sea via the Trave-Elbe canal. 

So that’s Lubeck in a nutshell.  I had a nice walk round in the evening and following morning but by  afternoon the rain had caught up and the rest of the day was consumed by torrential downpours and thunderstorms. 

Tomorrow its across Germany, into Holland and an overnight ferry to the UK.

10th June - Norway to Denmark

So here it was, my last day in Norway - I seem to have been travelling the Fjords for a long time.  For sure it is the longest time in any single country of this trip, but still only 11 days. Though because that’s been without a break from riding, it seems longer - moreover its actually been 18 days since I had a break from riding - maybe that’s why I’m feeling a little drained!

Anyway, good news - the sun is out this morning, so I pack up and leave my wooden hut in the mountains and head south.

The road continues on from yesterday. But without the rain it looks even better.

At one point the road veered to the right to avoid hitting what I can only assume is a dam.  I tried to find a way around or up it to check that out, but there was no road, anywhere I could see that went up.

So I continued on my way gradually descending form the high plateau.

As I descended my SatNav (which was linked to my phone) started warming me of delays on the planned route and offered diversions. 

One of these essentially went around the approaching large lake using a single track road on the opposite side to the main road and, whilst it added a little time and distance. Looked more interesting, so off I went.

Good choice ...

Back on the main road I had a brief stop at (yet another) waterfall, this one called Reirsfossen, I think

After that it was an uneventful run down into Kristiansand for my ferry to Denmark.  I had chosen to use the high speed Sea Kat crossing (2.5 hours) and at the last minute had upgraded my ticket (by €18) to get a reserved seat and an all you can eat and drink buffet.  A real bargain that proved to be and highly recommended if you are ever out that way. 

Once in Denmark, I had a short 20 minute ride to a small B&B I had booked

The owner had said I would be sharing with another biker when I booked the day before.  Emilio is from Spain and had ridden up to Denmark on his 20 year old vespa and (get this) was leaving in the morning to ride it around Iceland! That put me in my place!

Very nice chap, who takes pleasure in doing things a little differently - we borrowed the owners garage and spent a little while trying to figure out where his (very minor) fuel leak was coming from.

8th//9th June - Hardanger to Lysebotn

The Hardanger is one of the designated national tourist routes of Norway and for much of its length uses route 13.  It promises a varied mix of picturesque landscapes and roads and was roughly going south, so good to go.

I headed up into the mountains behind the campsite and 20 minutes later was able to look back at where I had come from.

The road wound its way across the high ground towards Voss.

With the high altitude (>600m) the lakes were still frozen

There was some lovely scenery and exciting roads as the route took me up and down the valley sides

This waterfall was about half way down the valley side.

This  one Tvindefossen, further down the valley on the approach road to Voss, was very much on the tourist route

After Voss R13 continues to Gravin and then the ‘official’ tourist route continues along the fjord side and crosses by ferry further down.  

I opted,however,  to take the Vallavik tunnel which is a little bit special.  

Apart from being 7.5km long it contains a roundabout from which the tunnel continues in two different directions.  Surreal when you reach it for the first time!  I have it on video from my helmet cam and will hopefully add it later - I chose to go down both routes in turn.

The first exits and continues for a few hundred metres and then exits onto a lovely valley from which you can see the bridge that the other route leads onto.

So I then turned around and went back into the tunnel and took  the other exit off the roundabout across the bridge that appeared immediately at the tunnel exit and along that side of the fjord and down the river valley towards Odda.

In Odda I though I saw a sign for a glacier and so headed up the small road indicated.   This was a little used gravel road that headed slowly upwards, very picturesque with the occasional rather cute wooly brown calves lying on the road verges.

The road was blocked for some reason further up and so I couldn't get very close to the glacier but took this shot just after I turned around - you can just see it creeping down off the mountain and its apparently called buarbreen. 

Back onto route 13 and further down from Odda you suddenly come across Latefossen, a truly spectacular double waterfall that crashes down just metres from the road side covering anything that passes in copious amounts of spray as you drive across the narrow bridge.

It was now raining heavily again  and so I ploughed on in search of somewhere to stay, eventually settling on a campsite in Roidal that had dry cabins for rent.

The next morning it was still wet and I continued heading south stopping only to take this shot of Flessefossen an hour further down the road.

Dry time was rare, sometimes there was a break in the rain for a short time, the only other respite was  the tunnels, of which there were many varying in length from a hundred metres to several kilometres. 

Cloud and rain was never far away though.

I was heading for Lysebotn today and had pre-booked a small local ferry that would take me from half way along the Fjord to Lysebotn itself to which there is only one road in and out. 

The  road down to the ferry point was a small little used one - the ferry itself does the length of the fijord, but only stops at this point if pre-boooked.

So I got there nice and early and waited quietly in the rain for  the boat to appear.

The rain abated a little once on board and we headed off down the fjord towards its origin.

This Fjord has particularly dramatic cliffs at either side, that in the swirling mists reminded me of the ‘Gates of Mordor’ from The Lord of The Rings. 

There is not much at Lysebotn itself, just a couple of campsites and the ferry stop itself.  The attraction here is its remote location and the road out - the road goes from sea level up the cliffs via 27 hairpin bends and one tunnel.  

The tunnel is about 1km long, has a 10% gradient, is unlit and even has a hairpin bend in it!

At about 700m up there is a coffee shop / cafe from where you can look down at the road you have just climbed. 

It is not as visibly dramatic as the Trollstitigen, but is a more challenging road to ride and has double the amount of hairpin bends. 

Once on the top the road continues to deliver an exciting ride up to the summit of around 1000m. 

I headed off the main road a while later in search of a remote campsite that google was telling me was nearby. 

Ah - there it is....

As I settled for the night, I realised this would be my last night in Norway, I had come along way since Nordkapp and the final section heading for home was about to begin.

I always get mixed feelings at this point on a trip - the highlights are over, things from now on become more ‘normal’ and with that there is a sense of losing something.  

On the other hand of course, I’m going home, a decent bed, food, dry and fresh clothes and not having to get up and ride in all weathers every day await!   

Just 3 more countries to cross.

7th June - from Geiranger to Sognefjord

As forecast it rained most of the night and at one point I had to venture outside to re-tie a couple of the tepee’s securing soaps that were flapping in the wind along with that side of the tent.  By morning it was drizzly and very damp underfoot.

I packed up and set off which almost immediately involved climbing out of the valley.  Once above 400m the snow started to appear and I climbed above the low cloud and into another bank.

Despite the cold and rain, there is a certain beauty in the barren landscape with the remnants of the winter’s snow  and draped in cloud.

In some sheltered places the full depth of the snow that had been ploughed through could still be seen.

In other places what appeared to be flat plains of snow were revealed as frozen lakes only by the presence of the occasional unfrozen holes.

The roads were not icy but were a little slippy in places and needed some care, as the road slowly descended everything became very wet and slushy.

Once back below the snow line the greenery returned along with steady rain from the low cloud. 

Of course as a result of all that water, any waterfall that existed was particularly lively.  This one erupted from the side of the road and plunged down the steep valley side.

Down at sea level it was still raining and I was feeling the damp so stopped for some refreshment in a local cafe.

£19 for a burger and coffee - ouch! - but ‘just what the doctor ordered’  non the less.

It must have been a special burger because by the time I left the cafe the cloud was starting to lift.

It continued to brighten as I traversed the fjords heading gradually south

In the still deep waters of the fjords reflections of the hillsides started to appear .... 

This one was stunning - I just sat and looked at it for 15 minutes in quiet contemplation.

U shaped valleys were everywhere of course  ... 

This one nicely framed a glacier creeping down the mountainside.

And of course more stunning waterfalls ... this one was just before I had to catch a local ferry across the fjord and so only had chance for a quick snap.

On board the ferry heading for the other side of Sognefjord

I headed for a campsite I had read about that sounded like a nice quiet spot just a few miles on the other side.

I was not disappointed - it even had an ‘old man’s bench’ !

I got unpacked and put things out to dry and then went for a walk along the shore.  You can just see the waterfall I snapped on the other side of the fjord. 

So what started out as a wet and miserable day turned into a glorious sunny evening.

And at midnight a loveley sunset - it came back up again at about 3am, but at least there is some night-time now.