Where's Bertie? He's in a picnic area/viewpoint near to Stapnes (exact location: 58.38292, 6.05726).
The day started with some hints of blue sky, so there was no lying abed for me. Up I leapt as the alarm went off and out for another run around the lake, where the ducks and swans are so accustomed to runners that they don't even lift their heads from under their wings as you pass.
Two missions were on the agenda before we left Stavanger this morning:
1) restock the bare fridge;
2) book a ferry from Norway to Denmark.
Yep, we have had enough of the rain and with no notable improvement in the long range forecast, we are heading to Denmark a week earlier than strictly necessary, with the ferry booked for early Monday morning. Of course, the weather may prove not be any better in Denmark, but at least food will be cheaper! (In truth, Denmark may not work out cheaper over all, as Norway is so good for free night stops and free service points that the expensive food is balanced out.)
With the fridge looking less bare (no point in a big stock up when we will so soon be back into a world with Lidl stores) and our tickets booked, we bizarrely decided not to top up on diesel at the cheapest price we've seen for weeks (every station we've seen since has been 30p/litre more), and slowly made our way down towards the coastal town of Egersund.
By the time we stopped at the first service point, it was raining. It continued as we diverted to a lakeside picnic area for lunch. It was because of the rain that we didn't stop for any of the walks or points of interest I had highlighted on the map (although I do now wish we had stopped at the information centre for the UNESCO GeoPark we passed - apparently a unique landscape, the area bore a resemblance to the Rhinogs, I thought). Rain as heavy as we have been experiencing lately is no fun for walking (aside from getting us and our gear wet, it doesn't do the paths any favours).
After sitting in a car park in the town of Egersund for half an hour, we gave up waiting for the rain to stop and donned waterproofs. It's a town of wooden buildings, but having seen many such towns by now, it didn't seem anything special. It wasn't until we had moved on that I rued not checking the bits I'd highlighted in the tourist brochure. The town has a little hill a short walk away and nearby there are petroglyphs. There have been lots of sites of petroglyphs that have been far enough off route for me not to call for the detour, so it was annoying to miss these when we were right by them.
Our night stop wasn't much further along the road and it was a surprise to find a handful of motorhomes already parked up there. Experience to date has told us that most people keep later hours than us.
We arrived in rain that was interspersed with heavy showers, but as the evening has worn on the sky above has cleared and we are enjoying sunshine as I type this. It'd be nice if this could just last 48 more hours!
Snaps taken from the viewpoint where Bertie is parked. I slipped and fell in a pool of mud on my way back from taking these photos. No damage done to me (it was a soft landing!), but my jeans are in a bit of a state.
Thank you to Kay and Kev for the cake. I would offer a slice, but there's dessicated coconut on the top. Oh, and it'll be long gone before we see you.
The day started with some hints of blue sky, so there was no lying abed for me. Up I leapt as the alarm went off and out for another run around the lake, where the ducks and swans are so accustomed to runners that they don't even lift their heads from under their wings as you pass.
Two missions were on the agenda before we left Stavanger this morning:
1) restock the bare fridge;
2) book a ferry from Norway to Denmark.
Yep, we have had enough of the rain and with no notable improvement in the long range forecast, we are heading to Denmark a week earlier than strictly necessary, with the ferry booked for early Monday morning. Of course, the weather may prove not be any better in Denmark, but at least food will be cheaper! (In truth, Denmark may not work out cheaper over all, as Norway is so good for free night stops and free service points that the expensive food is balanced out.)
With the fridge looking less bare (no point in a big stock up when we will so soon be back into a world with Lidl stores) and our tickets booked, we bizarrely decided not to top up on diesel at the cheapest price we've seen for weeks (every station we've seen since has been 30p/litre more), and slowly made our way down towards the coastal town of Egersund.
By the time we stopped at the first service point, it was raining. It continued as we diverted to a lakeside picnic area for lunch. It was because of the rain that we didn't stop for any of the walks or points of interest I had highlighted on the map (although I do now wish we had stopped at the information centre for the UNESCO GeoPark we passed - apparently a unique landscape, the area bore a resemblance to the Rhinogs, I thought). Rain as heavy as we have been experiencing lately is no fun for walking (aside from getting us and our gear wet, it doesn't do the paths any favours).
After sitting in a car park in the town of Egersund for half an hour, we gave up waiting for the rain to stop and donned waterproofs. It's a town of wooden buildings, but having seen many such towns by now, it didn't seem anything special. It wasn't until we had moved on that I rued not checking the bits I'd highlighted in the tourist brochure. The town has a little hill a short walk away and nearby there are petroglyphs. There have been lots of sites of petroglyphs that have been far enough off route for me not to call for the detour, so it was annoying to miss these when we were right by them.
Our night stop wasn't much further along the road and it was a surprise to find a handful of motorhomes already parked up there. Experience to date has told us that most people keep later hours than us.
We arrived in rain that was interspersed with heavy showers, but as the evening has worn on the sky above has cleared and we are enjoying sunshine as I type this. It'd be nice if this could just last 48 more hours!
Snaps taken from the viewpoint where Bertie is parked. I slipped and fell in a pool of mud on my way back from taking these photos. No damage done to me (it was a soft landing!), but my jeans are in a bit of a state.
Thank you to Kay and Kev for the cake. I would offer a slice, but there's dessicated coconut on the top. Oh, and it'll be long gone before we see you.
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