Today's plan was to get to the southernmost point of mainland Norway, for no other reason than because I am supposed to be trying to get to the northernmost point too. So here I am next to a lighthouse called Lyndesnes Fyr. It is the big red thing next to the other big red thing.
In the car park next to the lighthouse, these two church ladies were selling the tastiest waffles I have ever eaten. Possibly I was very hungry but they were bloody good. They were very worried for me because I am on a bike and told me to be careful. I told them I noticed that Norwegians don't seem to know what indicators are for, or when the other person has right of way or pretty much anything about the driving etiquette we take for granted. They agreed and said the Norse way was to let the other person be responsible for not hitting you. At least now I am clear about where I stand.
I hit the 'North Sea Road', a winding beauty that hugs the coast for about 200km and had a ball. Some of the local lads seem to get a bit bored with sticking to the speed limit so shred their tyres where plod cant see them. These marks on the roads were very common. I lost track of time completely and managed to find a 20km stretch of gravel when I took a wrong turn. Actually, not really gravel, more a compacted gravel that sees a lot of travel. Still , I felt I was really in the sticks.
Then I came to Jossingfjord which has its claim to fame according to Wikipedia:
"The fjord is known as the location of the Altmark Incident, where, during World War II, on February 16, 1940, the British destroyer Cossack managed to free prisoners taken by the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee from the German tanker Altmark.
During the war, the term Jøssing came to mean a Norwegian patriot, the opposite of a Quisling (or traitor). The origin of this term is ironic: the Norwegian collaborator government tried to neutralize their nickname Quislings by using the Jøssingfjord event to coin a derogatory term Jøssing, referring to anti-nazis. This attempt backfired"
Anyhow it has a brand new tunnel at the end of it because the old one was a bit titchy. You can see it on the right in the previous pic. I was feeling brave so I went round the barrier and decided to see if I could get through the old tunnel. Actually, it is more a series of tunnels with holes out into the cliff to let air/light in. Fabulous views out but a bit constricted. In the end, I could get through as there was a drop on to rubble which I was a bit too nervous to attempt with nobody around to help me pick it up if I dropped it.
I arrived in Lysboten this evening which is just stunning. The road here is 32km of single track across the top of a 1000m mountain and then drops into this fjord at sea level in 8km. This is basejumper central. The place is crawling with adrenalin and testosterone soaked americans. Hope to get some pics of them doing their thing tomorrow.
Route 281 miles/13:41hrs
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