Day 8 - Rutledal to Forde 98.98km in 6hrs. Avg speed 16.4kph. Money spent 70Krone (approx £6.00)

Last night's camping spot was chosen because of the close proximity to the ferry port of Rutledal. So when I woke and popped my head out of the tent, it was a rude awakening to see the ferry approaching. The previous night, I'd seen on the information board that only 5 ferries per day crossed here so it could be quite a wait if I missed this one.

I quickly packed up my gear by which time the ferry had already docked and I still had a two or three kilometres ride to the port. My hopes didn't look promising. So it was no surprise to see the ferry sailing away as a turned the final bend before the port. I figured I would have a few hours to wait for the next ferry so I parked up at the port and pulled out the stove. I knocked up another massive bowl of porridge, re-fuelled and had a little look around.

There was a wooden building of some description which turned out to be a washing block. It was split into two halves, male and female. Inside were toilets and sinks with mirrors over them. The place was spotless. It was as though no one had ever used them before. I was feeling distinctly grubby and smelly at this point so I went back to the bike for my washing kit. Having looked around I found that I had this port to myself so I stripped off in the washroom and had a thorough body wash. Standing there naked in the washroom I wondered what would happen to me if someone was to walk in and find me like this. Fortunately for me no-one came in!

As I still had quite some time to wait, I decided to wash all of my dirty clothes while I had the opportunity. The weather was beautiful so I reasoned my clothes could be washed and dried before the ferry arrived. I grabbed my laundry and hand washed it all in one of the sinks. I returned to the bike, rigged up a washing line along the length of it and hung my clothes to dry. Just as I had finished hanging my clothes, the ferry came into view. This was much sooner than I was expecting. It turned out that the ferry sailed to two different ports, one of which was closer than the one I needed to go to. I dismantled the washing line and tucked the wet clothes under straps across the bike. My clothes would be dried as I rode.

I boarded the ferry and took the above photograph as I crossed the fjord.

The next 30kms were a lovely gently undulating ride along the banks of the Sognefjord and other smaller (yet still large) lakes. Eventually I reached a point where the no 57 road I had been using re-connected with the main E39 road I had used a couple of days before. The next 30 kms were also pleasant. The sun was shining and the gradient was smooth and easy. Then things began to change. I wrote in my diary:

The next 17kms were not easy. I found myself climbing for almost 2 hours until there was snow either side of me and I was passing ski slopes and ski jumps. I took loads of photos and thought they would look great until I realised I was on photo no 36 of a 24 exposure film! Never mind, I'm sure there will be more photo opportunities as good as these before I'm done. The downhill side was pretty hairy to say the least. It was downhill all the way to Forde now, some 15kms away and I must have made it in about 20 minutes. I reached 65kph at one point, my top speed so far. I had to slow down a little before I soiled my shorts!

Forde was the largest settlement I had seen since viewing Bergen from a couple of kilometres away. A beautiful place nestled at the end of a fjord. I rode around the town for a while to see what the place offered. There were a number of shops and banks and even a couple of pubs. I fancied a pint but didn't even go over to have a look. I knew that alcoholic drinks were off the menu for me on this trip. The price of alcoholic beverages in Norway is prohibitive to even the Norwegians. I would find out later in the trip that Norwegians typically have a few drinks at home before turning out late for a couple of drinks in the pub in order to save money.

I found a telephone box, spoke to Kelly and the kids and went off in search of food. I found a shop that sold flapjack. Flapjack is the friend of the cyclist. It gives off loads of energy and is instantly ready for use. It serves as an excellent emergency food in time of need. I bought a few bars of flapjack and topped up on apples and bananas then went off in search of a suitable place to pitch the tent.

The view from the tent.

I found a wonderful spot perched at the end of the fjord. A luxury hotel sat a few hundred metres behind me. The guests had wonderful balconies on which to sit as they enjoyed the same view that I had. I wondered how much the guests were paying for that view and felt smug in my tent having paid absolutely nothing for the same privilege. One of the reasons I chose Norway to cycle around was that it was legal to free camp anywhere as long as you stayed over 150m from anyone's house. I noted in my diary:

At the moment I'm sat in my tent looking at a beautiful fjord through the steam of my boiling soup. I'm about 4km beyond a lovely town called Forde. Another 100km day tomorrow if I am to reach the Nordfjord so I'll sleep now.

And so I lay back and once again, instantly fell asleep. I awoke on hearing the sound of bottles being tipped into some container. I'd heard the sound before having worked in pubs in the past. It was coming from the hotel behind me. It was still light so I assumed I mustn't have been asleep for long. My watch always hung from the roof of the tent as it had a useful light on it. I reached up to check the time. The watch said it was 1am. At first I thought my watch had stopped but upon checking I found it was working fine. I knew the time was right when I fell asleep and then had the realisation that I had now travelled far enough north for it to never go dark. This was what I wanted to see. Sure I wanted to see the midnight sun but it really didn't seem to matter. The fact that it didn't go dark even though the sun just dipped below the horizon was enough for me. I was delighted and struggled to get back to sleep for a while as the excitement tingled around my body. Eventually though, I dropped off again.

Thanks for following my journey. Please join me tomorrow for day 9 where I came across the tunnels that I'd been warned about.

Until then, have a super day friends

STEEMONKEY🐒