Day 6 Svelgen to Isane (35 kms)

Awaking to a glorious day, I packed up my tent, had a quick breakfast, and sat down with my laptop on the picnic table overlooking the fjord to catch up on some admin. A Norwegian couple came in to swim off the diving board, and complimented me on my choice of “home office”. I lingered too long doing this and that, and then a trip to the Co-Op brought home to me again how Norway comes to be listed as the fifth most expensive country in the world. Despite the current weakness of the Norwegian krone, a handful of items – just lunch and supper for one – that would have cost about £15 in Scotland set me back more than £30.

Leaving Svelgen, the inland route of the EuroVelo1 follows a quiet main road that pulls sharply up from the town and climbs without relent for the next seven kilometres to a tunnel at 1100 feet, before dipping slightly to a bridge over a fjord branch and climbing continuously again for another five kilometres. A bit too gruelling with all the weight on the bike. At a picnic spot I found a bin and went through the Ryanair chuck-it-out-at-the-check-in routine, and I think I managed to reduce my payload by about 10 per cent. Casualties included a jumper I wear round our house in the winter and therefore thought would be ideal for the Arctic, and a seven year old copy of a guide to Norway leant to me by a friend which was already turning to papier-mache (sorry). Doubtless I'll live to regret some of my choices, but I now know definitively that 30 kilos of gear is the absolute tops. It's what I took to Istanbul, and I should have stuck to it. The Venerable Claud felt much easier afterwards, and soon we were beginning a long and rewarding descent to the next fjord where – after asking permission from an old sailor tending what I'd call his croft – I camped again by the water's edge amid stunning beauty marred only by the sudden and incongruous appearance of a huge cruise ship operated by the German line Aida, whose trademark is the depiction of a huge pair of red lips on each vessel's bow. I would not presume to comment on matters of taste.

All in all, a disappointing day in terms of distance achieved, but I remain stunned by this country's almost unmarred beauty -- as well as all the natural splendour, you also barely find a single bit of litter. The place is a real complement to its people.