After an uneventful two and a half hours flight we landed in Haugesund airport, in western Norway. I assembled my bike and rode out the airport building. The cold morning air and the slightly iced up road came as a shock. I was quite not yet prepared for this.
As I rolled into town I stopped at a gas station to get my tires to proper pressure, got some money from the ATM, bought a map (16 €), had a breakfast (8 € for a coffee and a pasty).
The tourist info was closed for the weekend and Haugesund did not tempt me to stop for a night and explore the city, so I carried on cycling north towards Bergen, following the national cycling route No. 1.
The route was a constant up and down and twist and bends and quite some traffic. After a while the cycle route left the main road and I followed quieter country lanes towards the islands of Bomlo. After a 15 minutes wait the ferry appeared on the horizon as I chatted to a norwegian guy who took some interest in my bike. He told me wild camping would be OK all around Norway.
Bomlo is a very pretty island, lots of huge rocks and pine trees, scrubs with redberries of sorts make up a lovely scenery. I stopped to ask a beekeeper for some honey and waved my hand carelessly at some bees - HUGE error, the beasts attacked me right away, one got me on the cheek and another one right in the neck. I even had to pull out the stings. Quiet a fright so I decided to flee and cycled away fast. The beekeeper must have had a good laugh at my innocence towards the bees. So much to norwegian wildlife.
This night I camped in a small bay right beside the sea and had my first hot meal in Norway. I tried to light a fire but the wood was too wet and did not light properly. I soon gave up.
The next day I continued riding on small back country roads that wound along the western norwegian islands. For the night I installed myself in the small waiting room of the last ferry
terminal before Bergen. I asked the maintenance guy if it was ok to sleep there and had to wait until the last ferry left to be able to lock the door. But before I could lie down on my sleeping mat the police arrived and inquiered what I would do there. Hearing that I am a tourist they wished me a Good Night and said they wouldn t disturb me any further.
As I rolled into town I stopped at a gas station to get my tires to proper pressure, got some money from the ATM, bought a map (16 €), had a breakfast (8 € for a coffee and a pasty).
The tourist info was closed for the weekend and Haugesund did not tempt me to stop for a night and explore the city, so I carried on cycling north towards Bergen, following the national cycling route No. 1.
The route was a constant up and down and twist and bends and quite some traffic. After a while the cycle route left the main road and I followed quieter country lanes towards the islands of Bomlo. After a 15 minutes wait the ferry appeared on the horizon as I chatted to a norwegian guy who took some interest in my bike. He told me wild camping would be OK all around Norway.
Bomlo is a very pretty island, lots of huge rocks and pine trees, scrubs with redberries of sorts make up a lovely scenery. I stopped to ask a beekeeper for some honey and waved my hand carelessly at some bees - HUGE error, the beasts attacked me right away, one got me on the cheek and another one right in the neck. I even had to pull out the stings. Quiet a fright so I decided to flee and cycled away fast. The beekeeper must have had a good laugh at my innocence towards the bees. So much to norwegian wildlife.
This night I camped in a small bay right beside the sea and had my first hot meal in Norway. I tried to light a fire but the wood was too wet and did not light properly. I soon gave up.
The next day I continued riding on small back country roads that wound along the western norwegian islands. For the night I installed myself in the small waiting room of the last ferry
terminal before Bergen. I asked the maintenance guy if it was ok to sleep there and had to wait until the last ferry left to be able to lock the door. But before I could lie down on my sleeping mat the police arrived and inquiered what I would do there. Hearing that I am a tourist they wished me a Good Night and said they wouldn t disturb me any further.
In the morning I cooked breakfast by the sea and got ready for the last kilometers to Bergen where my friend Anna was waiting for me.
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