The journey, not the arrival matters. – T.S. Eliot
Of course, I was expecting another spectacular arrival in Trondheim. And it was spectacular! But via the Emergency Room...
From the Emergency Room I did have an appropriate view: on Hotell St. Olav. Immediate reassurance then: I was there because of a tick bite and the subsequent circle around the bite. Now I have been given antibiotics and hopefully the Borrelia bacteria won't get a chance. Fingers crossed!
View of the Hotell St. Olav from the waiting room of Legevagta (Emergency room) in Trondheim
Just a quick note: the route app
As with the announcement of new guides, I had wanted to write jubilantly in the newsletter: there is now an app!! But I forgot. Just before I left for Norway it was ready and now The Olavspad / Gudbrandsdalsleden is in the route app of the Fietsvakantiewinkel (Dutch shop). It was a huge job, because all the data had to be entered manually (I can see the eyebrows of IT people frowning... yes, really! A data import should be technically possible, but it didn't work). Remy helped me tremendously with this and by early April it was ready. Then the route to publishing was still long and full of detours before it could finally be published (including application to Apple and Google). You can see how it works, and what it looks like, on the Via Gaia website.
Meanwhile in Norway
The fact that I have now arrived in Trondheim does not mean that I am done with the coastal pilgrimage route; and that is not a bad thing, because I have next summer too. The publication of this guide is not until late 2025/early 2026 and
in order to produce a beautiful and practically feasible pilgrims' cycle route soon, there is still a lot of work to be done, because this route has more challenges than any other cycle route. But together with the four pilgrim leaders of this route, we will certainly achieve a great result. There’s no shortage in the corporation I receive!
Dutch Norwegians
There are four pilgrimage centres on the coastal route and I had been to two of the four by now (at Wenche in Avaldsnes and Mauritz in Bergen), but the third - at Tonje in Selje - was a bit trickier. And so that didn't work out.
On the way to Rachnild from Smøla's pilgrimage centre, I visited Anne and Rogier van Oorschot, of Norway Adventures. They have lived in Norway for over 20 years and their company offers holidays and group tours "For authentic experiences off the beaten path".
Anne had met me during the press trip last year, and she had invited me to visit. I slept there one night and spent an enjoyable evening with Anne by the fire in the Eldhuset.
Smøla
There's something special about the island of Smøla and I can't explain what. Well I'm quite a down to earth person (I think), but when I landed here last year, it felt... yes, what really? Just fine, good. I had the same feeling again now. Too bad I don't have words for it.
There will soon also be a few 'extra cycling tours' meant for day trips in the guide to the coastal pilgrimage route. One of them is 'Smøla round'. And mapping out this route was not difficult as there is a circular road running along the entire coast and just following that road is enough for a wonderful day trip of about 70 kilometres. Optionally, the route can be extended with a visit to Veiholmen, a fishing village situated on a group of small islands connected by bridges. You really feel like you're at the end of the world there.
I spent three days on Smøla and, like last year, stayed at Eco Camp Norway. It is a particularly pleasant accommodation where everything is about ecological entrepreneurship.
To Trondheim
On Wednesday, I got on my bicycle to cycle to Trondheim in four days. This stretch was a bit disappointing the first day. I found it boring. Or am I now used to the beautiful Norwegian landscape? But it got prettier and prettier and day three was spectacular. Day four should have been equally spectacular. You see, you can drive into Trondheim on a very beautiful, but also quite tough route. You then see Trondheim lying on the fjord from the so-called 'happy hill' at one point, with the Nidoaros Cathedral in the middle. But since I wanted to get to the GP's office as quickly as possible, I opted for the easy route, right through the city, with no nice views.
But this view on the cathedral is also nice.
And yet the welcome at the Nidaros Pilegrimgården was again as warm and cordial as previous times. And it always remains a special moment for me too to arrive at the Nidaros Cathedral and see the milestone marked 'o kilometre'. It is now the sixth time and three of the six times Kristina was on duty, so it was a nice reunion.
This weekend I'm staying with Glenn and Lisa, but more about that in the next newsletter. Monday and Tuesday I have appointments in Trondheim, and then I will take the ferry back to Smøla, where the car is. But not before I drank the entire Olavs well near the cathedral! After all, that water is said to have healing properties...
De Olavs well close to the Nidaros cathedral
The last 200 km to Trondheim:
