One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well — Virginia Woolf
There is a small path next to my tent and I see people entering the campsite with groceries in hand. Ah, a shortcut to the supermarket, how handy! I won't have to cycle so far back tomorrow morning when I go shopping. I've just seen on the map that the nearest supermarket is 55 kilometres away, so I'll have to do some shopping as I don't have enough to get me through the day. Normally I always make sure I have enough food for at least one day, preferably two, because you never know. Not this time, though, because there were plenty of supermarkets along the whole route, which I had seen, apart from this stage. But I had forgotten that the next day was Sunday. And in Norway the shops are closed on Sundays. Also the supermarkets...
I have only been on the road for 10 days, but I have already experienced so much! I haven't even had time to write a newsletter. I am now staying for a few days with Wenche, the pilgrims coordinator in Avaldsnes, and her husband John. John thought yesterday that I shouldn't just work in Norway (when I'm not on the road, I'm at the computer), but also enjoy Norway; and so in the late afternoon we went to the hytte (many Norwegians have a hytte, a summer house) to kayak, swim and eat. In other words, to indulge in the Norwegian pleasures of outdoor life and very pleasant company. Well, it is true that I enjoyed Norway to the full during these 10 days, but it was enjoyment of the superlative!
But first back to the beginning. Even the two-day car journey to Norway is worth mentioning, because I had pleasant company with me, Aafje from Utrecht. She had to go to Kristiansand around 17 June because she wanted to cycle to Trondheim from there. We drove with our bikes on the car to Hirtshals in the north of Denmark to take the ferry to Kristiansand. It was very pleasant, it was very nice that we could take turns car driving, which made the trip less tiring.
In Kristiansand, we went our separate ways. Aafje got on her bike and I stayed an extra day because I wanted to check out some things there (cycling). Then I drove to Avaldsnes, to John and Wenche, in two days. I didn't have to cycle this whole stretch again, as I did it last year with Remy. There were a few places to check, but I could easily do that by parking the car and doing a small hike.
On the way I visited Bøye and Vigdis in Flekkefjord. Last year, Remy and I were allowed to park our car with them for six weeks, but that was not necessary this year. It was a special and very warm reunion. Special because Vigdis is currently in a rehabilitation centre after a major surgery. Together with Bøye I visited her. I was invited to stay with friends of theirs, Jan Sverre and Christine, who is originally Dutch. They live on a beautifully situated farm and rent out some lovely holiday cottages. I was offered to sleep in an old 'schoolhouse'. Unfortunately, Hauglandgard is too far from the cycle route (14 km uphill), otherwise I would have liked to mention it in the new guidebook. But for all the car-driving readers of this newsletter, I would highly recommend Hauglandsgard!
Starting last Saturday, I cycled from Avaldsnes for four days to check out a stretch of the Coastal Pilgrim Route. That's actually the modus operandi this summer: check a section of the route by bike from one place and then drive a bit further by car. Not everything has to be cycled because I have done it before.
And so I arrived at a campsite on Saturday afternoon. I have no sense of time when I'm cycling, at least not when I'm spending the summer in Norway, and so on Sunday morning I found myself standing in front of a closed supermarket door with four slices of bread, a jar of peanut butter, a piece of ginger and a container of about 200 grams of wild berries in my bag. I had to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. And breakfast the next day. I felt a slight panic. If I wasn't cycling, it would be too little, but I'd be climbing a lot that day. And then I would need (much) more.
It ended well. Of course, because I have plenty to spare. There is even peanut butter left (though dry, to eat like this) and the ginger remained untouched. On Sunday, after 55 kilometres, I came to a village with three supermarkets. They were closed, but there was also a petrol station that sold enough to fill my tank, but hardly anything to feed me. Petrol stations have a nasty habit of giving people the wrong fuel, but necessity breaks the law.
Fortunately, among all the bars, biscuits, crisps, soft drinks, instant noodles and sausages, I found something edible: a packet of oatmeal crackers, slices of cheese and a small yoghurt. That was enough to get me through until Monday morning.
On Monday I bought enough fuel for two days at the first supermarket.
Photos of the cycling trip with a downpour of rain at the start.
