Day 29: Aalborg (Denmark) to Viborg (Denmark)

On June 11, 2025 By Sharron YaxleyIn VikingsLeave a comment

Another great breakfast was enjoyed wistfully looking out the window at the rain. The forecast was for rain most of the day. 40% chance the weather forecast said, but it turned into 100%!

As we packed up our bikes, released from their underground prison cell, we put on our neoprene over booties. Seriously think I lost at least 100 calories putting them on. They are a workout!

Heading out of the city with steady drizzle, puddles and car splash common.

Within a few km we were in the suburbs, really nice large homes alongside the river.

The houses thinned out and farmland took over.

The camera did not come out much today. We don’t want to risk damaging it, but we did get a number of photos.

Looking towards the river, you cannot see the other side clearly due to the drizzle.

Walks through the fields, with deer and fix in the area. Although I did not get a photo, a latter sign had a razorback looking pig on it.

The route, overall, was great today. We were on very quiet country roads designated as cycle routes, and later, a rail trail.

The number of thatched roofing has surprised me. We saw quite a few in northern Germany a few weeks ago.

A nice section of sealed cycleway.

For periods, the drizzle turned to mizzle, very light.

An example of why we don’t like the camera in wet weather. Water on the lens.

This is a Nature Centre we rode past. The maps indicated toilets here but we could see none.

The fields varied with lovely colours.

The seemingly standard Danish church design. We saw lots of this style on Bornholm Island.

We were at an intersection. Tony was changing his layer choices of clothing. A campervan driver asked were we ok? Yes, thumbs up. I noticed bikes on the back. 😊

I spoke too soon! As we went to ride on, Tony noticed sealant on tyre. Not good!

We run tubeless tyres. The sealant leak indicates a puncture.

Sure enough, a sharp small piece of flint was embedded. Our Norwegian friend Rudi warned us of flint issues with cycling tyres in Denmark.

Tony removed the flint and was able to insert a Dynaplug into the hole, pump the tyre up, and it held.

You can see the plug sticking out in the photo.

Not long after we commenced riding a rail trail. Maybe 45 km or so today.

The first section was sealed. Very nice,

We took a nature break here just off the track. Here I am returning from the scrub putting the layers back on.

The track became a compressed gravel/dirt. By now, it had stopped drizzling and muzzling, and this section was ok.

I enjoyed the agricultural views and peace and quiet.

We grabbed some lunch in Aars and ventured to check the rain radar. There was a large band of rain moving up from Viborg.

We knew we were not going to avoid it as we had about 47 km remaining.

As we left Aars and returned to the rail trail the surface had changed to a white sandy, gritty and soft when wet surface. It was spongy and offered lots of resistance.

Lots of crap and grit on the bike. Someone was unimpressed but the option was a very busy arterial road not too far away.

We decided grit and safety.

Some more shelters just off the track. You could have a stack of friends here.

Fancy shaped loo.

Ah, a nicer surface through an old rail cutting.

About one km after we took the photo below, we found the track totally closed. Excavators were working ahead.

We rode back to the village to shelter, as the rain was heavier and we needed to consult our bike computers to ascertain alternatives.

Unfortunately there was only one. That busy arterial road.

By now it was quite heavy rain. There was a cycle path to the side, but between the rain and trucks splashing water up, we got very wet.

On the upside, there was no wind and it was about 11c, so we were not cold as long as we kept pedalling.

We stopped under some trees about 11 km short of our destination. My glasses are useless in some ways with the water disturbing vision, but they provide some protection for small projectiles (pebbles etc)thrown up by vehicles on the road.

I have a rain cap under my helmet with a peak to reduce drip from my helmet.

Within a km or so of that photo, we were back onto our original route. The deviation actually saved about three km overall, but I was glad to get away from the busy road.

An unusual building on the outskirts of Viborg.

Back onto quiet backroads we had a stress free arrival into Viborg.

The rain stopped with four km remaining.

We decided to check out Viborg town tomorrow morning. Our priority was cleaning our bikes and gear.

At our hotel, named Golf Resort does not have a golf course. No evidence of golf being promoted but it is in a lovely position by a lake, and has a bike wash down area!

We removed all our gear and individually cleaned each bag.

Tony hosed down and dried the bikes, but was totally peed off when it started drizzling again!

We had a very nice meal in the restaurant although it would have been better if I remembered our room number correctly. I said 413, but we are actually 416 and the waiter was a tad annoyed (reception had booked in 416 too) and ‘squeezed’ us in.

With room numbers changing daily, they blur!

Today was a great route, bar the detour. Whilst the gravel was shite, on a fine and sunny day it would be super.

98 km today, 2,770 km cumulative.

Thanks for reading 😊❣️🚴💪

Day 28: Skagen (Denmark) to Aalborg (Denmark)

On June 10, 2025June 10, 2025 By Sharron YaxleyIn VikingsLeave a comment

We headed off early to the local Lidl to secure some breakfast. It was like a little picnic, sitting on the grass, adjacent to a high brick wall protecting us from the already strong wind.

The roads were quiet, and we retraced some of the cycle paths we had arrived on the previous day.

The land here is open and features heath like plants.

Signage indicating cycle routes,

The sealed paths are so well done. Like a road for cars, but narrower, and for cyclists and walkers.

We soon head out along the eastern coast line in a southerly direction, through some villages, with a busier arterial road close by.

First convenience stop was convenient as it enabled Tony to listen to the last eight minutes of Collingwood vs Melbourne. For my non Aussie friends this refers to AFL football. Collingwood win by one point pleasing Tony.

Self serve and pay strawberries as we approach the busy port town of Frederickshavn.

Bloated fish…

The Frederikshavn kirke is very symmetrical and was inspired by a similar church in Aachen (Germany). Many of the churches we have been past this trip have been closed so we’ve not got to peep inside.

Another standout building is this Gunpowder Tower, which played a significant role since its expansion after the Scanian War (1676-1679) also supporting the Navy during the Great Northern War 1709-1720)

These are wars I had not previously heard of as my education covered ones I guess that had Australian involvement. The wars mentioned pre date my first Australian-British ancestor who arrived with the First Fleet as a convict (Richard Morgan).

We missed something in this busy town. Over 30 palms were planted at a local small beach. It was super windy so I’m not sure how pleasant it would have been today.

Saeby was our last coastal town. It’s marina is just ahead.

Ferries heading up towards Frederickshavn.

We purchased some lunch food from Rema 1000 ( supermarket). They don’t rate. Lidl is my favoured. We find somewhere to shelter from the wind. We had ridden about 51 km and still had 53 km remaining. We were changing direction to the south west, heading inland towards our destination of Aalborg.

The wind that had been with us had been a tail wind at times, but of head, bit of side, but after leaving Frederickshavn it was pure head and slight side wind.

It was a difficult few hours riding for sure.

Roundabout of the day.

It is hard to photograph wind but I tried here. Normally the wheat would be very even in colour to look at. In strong winds, it ripples through and creates quite mesmerising patterns.

Here are two Danish flags standing up to the headwind,

The forecast was for winds in excess of 40 kmh with gusts higher. This is Tony’s bike computer showing live data with a gust of 63 kmh.

I think this has been our toughest 50 km in wind this trip. It was slow and at times scary and evil. If you got a sudden gust, it rocks you and the bike. Cussing I can confirm changes nothing!

Some quirky art at the village of Uggerhalne.

Holding the bikes tightly as we we tried to keep them in control and steady, we slowly got through the km, and made it into Aalborg.

Our hotel has a wonderful ‘jail’ as the guy at reception described it, in their underground car park for bikes. It is that, a locked jail cell, but great.

The hotel is curious in that it is Denmarks only not for profit hotel with profits supporting seafarers here and in Greenland that need support. I am not sure I’ve ever stayed at a not for profit hotel before anywhere.

We head off after showering and laundering.

Nice water feature, with wall art on the other side of the river,

Over 90 areas in the city have wall art. I liked this one although wonder about the poor guys burdens.

This statue is quite small. Similar height to is in the plinth.

Quirky building. Inside there was a sink so not sure of it’s use.

Castle like.

This is an old merchant house known as Jen Bangs (the merchants name). It dates to 1624 At a time that was river waterfront, he had his own merchant navy and the river position gave him quick access to his navy in the harbour.

No signs of any river flowing along this street today so I presume it was drained or there are underground pipes.

The Budolfi kirke is the cathedral church for the Lutheran Diocese of Aalborg in north Jutland ( the region of Denmark we are in).

We also wandered into the grounds of Aalborghus Castle, a half timbered castle built by King Christian III from 1539 to 1555 initially as a fortification.

There are some tunnels under the castle you can wander in, damp and cold, I hope no one latches the outside doors!

Not sure of the meaning of these but I liked them

Back to our hotel, and guess which is our room? They dried beautifully too. This is the Yaxley flag indicating we are in residence.

So an interesting day, easy first half, evil second half. We have now ridden 2,672 km this trip! Our legs feel stronger!

Looks like rain tomorrow! Time will tell.

Thanks for reading 😊❣️🚴💪

Day 27: Kristiansand (Norway) to Skagen (Denmark)

On June 9, 2025June 9, 2025 By Sharron YaxleyIn VikingsLeave a comment

We left our lodgings nice and early, and literally rolled down the hill to the ferry terminal a km or so away.

Check in started maybe 15 minutes later, and we then went to the bicycle/motorbike lane and waited.

Once the gates were opened to the ferry, we were the very first on, riding to the very end of the cargo hold, lower level.

We are very impressed with Colour Line (same ferry company we used from Sweden to Norway). The cargo vehicle area is as whistle clean as I think any such area could be.

We make our way up to wait for breakfast to,commence, as I had prepaid for the buffet.

Once open, we enjoyed a selection from an incredible array and quality of food available.

When we finished, we hurriedly cleared out as the mass of people in the area around the food was overwhelming,

We went to the bar, of all places, as it was quieter. There were people drinking beer and wine already. Always amazes me as to why they think beer at 8.30 am and I think coffee!

We had some nice views as we departed from Kristiansand.

I like this one. I’m calling it my farewell Norway picture as it was the last island. Norway was very good to us, and I did feel a bit sad.

More adventures are ahead, and I try not to look back.

We did a ‘where are we’ check and it also shows our route.

After 3 hours 15 minutes, we arrive in Denmark.

We go down to our familiar position, by our bikes, amongst the big vehicles. You do feel quite vulnerable there. All the drivers are in their vehicles, but we stand there hearing the very loud noises directly.

We are off first, ahead of the vehicles. It is good when they hold the vehicles so we can exit safely.

It is a fine day in northern Denmark, as we exit the port of Hirtshalls.

This is the route we then followed for what was a half day of riding, 59 km.

We followed a series of wonderfully marked cycle trails and paths today. We also noted series of walks that were also seemingly well marked.

There was a mixture of sealed and dirt.

I probably should add bumpy raised boardwalks too (second photo, right hand side).

Lovely small river we followed, that drained out to the coast, not far away.

There were lovely green forests, reminding us of Poland and all the trails we followed there.

There were interesting thatched buildings and a windmill.

The lands were open and flat, with sand dunes on the coastal side.

We stopped at a clearing off the track where we found this shelter. You can sleep in these shelters. They are a great idea and I imagine not a significant construction cost either.

Tables, fire pit, and we spied another structure a little further away that we think was a long drop toilet.

The sealed paths were like this, weaving around forest.

We made good progress and arrived in Skagen, our destination, but rode through and out, as we were heading to the northern tip of Denmark.

This is Denmark’s second tallest lighthouse, Det Gra Fyr. 210 steps, or 46 metres in height. From a distance I thought it was concrete, but in fact, it is brick. It was built in 1858.

We rode as far as is possible to the north of Denmark, Grenen.

It is a tourism hotspot, busy carpark and souvenir shops, restaurant and walks.

It is apparently one of Denmark’s biggest tourist attractions with over a million people a year visiting.

There is a 3 km return walk along the sand spit to the very true north.

Tony climbed to the viewing vantage point, whilst I babysat our bikes.

As well as the sand tip, there are also relics from WWII. We had ridden past many concealed bunkers earlier, with only the door showing. These were all constructed by the Germans.

Two seas meet at the tip. the Kattegat and Skagerrak.

Many ships are anchored off shore waiting for their loads and berth slot.

Looking back towards the lighthouse.

It was only a 3.5 km ride back into Skagen and our accomodation. We are staying in a guesthouse that was a former farm. Our room is a former stable.

Skagen is a really nice town. We wandered through and down to the marina area where we found dinner at a fish restaurant in one of the old buildings.

We noted three very large fishing boats, same size and build. They must pillage the seas dreadfully.

Tony told me that he talked to Magnus (the guy from Klåverön Island accomodation who did a boat transfer for us) that fishing in that area used to be excellent. However, large fishing boats had totally scoured the area, and now it was poor. 😢

Many people do not like fish farms, but I am not sure that ransacking our seas is the answer either.

We liked this large statue, with knitted fish dangling!

I laughed at this sign, only as I liked the words, and reminded me of our dog Khaleesi that we miss.

This is another statue we found. I think he won his bout.

We have gone from white buildings in Norway to yellow with red rooves here. It is quite striking.

Skagen Kirke was built here after the severe problems Skagen experienced in the 18th century with sand drift. In 1795 the former church was covered in sand and was abandoned.

This newer church was built in 1841. You can visit the sand covered church some 2 km away.

The church has extensive lawns, and features a large robotic lawnmower. I’ve not mentioned these previously, but particularly in Sweden, these were in many gardens working away diligently.

They were as ubiquitous as the Volvo car in the driveway.

It is hard to miss this ‘feature’ near our accomodation. We wondered about it riding in earlier, we wondered about it again as we walked back.

Nothing on the maps, and we thought it looked like a hand grenade on a lighthouse base.

As we returned, one of the owners was wandering around, greeting guests sitting outside. I asked him what it was. He sighed and said, ‘artwork apparently’ but locals also think it looks like an oversized hand grenade. It is located within the property of a power plant.

He told us about the history of the farm and the conversion, pointing out the buggy they had restored.

It’s been a lovely day back here in Denmark. We look forward to more cycling adventures tomorrow.

Thankyou for reading 😊❣️🚴💪

Day 26: Arendal (Norway) to Kristiansand (Norway)

On June 8, 2025 By Sharron YaxleyIn Vikings2 Comments

A beautiful morning. Blue sky. No rain forecast.

We rode to Rudi and Carina’s home, only a few km away, and shared breakfast with Rudi. We could keep chatting for ages, but we needed to get moving.

Rudi gave us a head start I dare say so he could smash it and get a workout in the catch.

We rode and chatted, stopping for photos.

This is a famous hotel, formerly a bathing hotel back in 1937. It is beautifully positioned with a lovely small ocean beach, near Fevik.

The views were fantastic, some gentle undulations, and we were soon at Grimstad, a town known for its white houses, cobbled streets and poets and writers,

This lovely statue is of Terje Vigen, a fictional character in a poem written by a local poet Henrik Ibsen, published in 1862. The story goes that during the Gunboat War (early 19th century), Grimstad was under a British naval blockade. Vigen decided to use a small rowboat to paddle to Denmark to get essential goods for his family.

The story goes on….

We then checked out a cycling display, honouring two local cycling legends.

Thor Hushovd was a three time Norwegian national road race champion, the first Norwegian to lead the Tour de France for multiple stages, and the winner of the 2010 World Road Race championship.

He is considered the greatest Norwegian cyclist ever.

The second honoured cyclist is Dag Otto Lauritzen who won a bronze Olympic medal and the first Norwegian to win a stage of the Tour de France.

There are two bikes on display (one a beautiful red and green Merckx) plus trophies. Unfortunately the photo did not work out to clearly show the bikes.

Shortly thereafter we said our farewells to Rudi as he headed back home.

We were sad to say goodbye, but happy to have connected as well as we did.

Rudi took a photo of us both, a rare thing touring.

Then the selfie all together.

We had a hill to climb short thereafter to spin, spin, spin. We were enjoying the scenery.

Lillesand was the next larger village, located within the Blindleia archipelago. White painted houses, a lovely harbour, lots of little shops, and a guru meditating to classical music.

Our route then headed inland and we followed the Otra River. The Otra is 245 km long, and Norways eight longest river. There are multiple lakes and 12 hydro electric power plants, producing much of Southern Norways electricity requirements.

As we climbed and descended, the river was never far away.

The river flows to Kristiansand, our overnight destination. We need to cross that bridge in about 10 km.

The wind was quite strong this afternoon. We wondered how it would be when exposed at height.

We crossed a smaller bridge, where a foot and cycle lane was constructed below the vehicle lanes.

We approached the larger bridge, wind gusts from the side, dedicated cycle path.

Once at the top of the bridge, the wind from the left was evil. We crawled down to control our bikes when the gusts hit.

Good view though!

The city was super busy as there was a running event on. Sommerlopet had distances from 1 km to a half marathon, and it seemed to be very well supported.

We worked our way around runners and barriers, and found our accomodation, another Air B and no B, at the top of a steep hill.

It’s huge, we have a whole floor of an art deco period house to ourselves, with views towards the harbour.

The owner decided I must be riding with another female and set up two separate bedrooms. I assured him Tony was my husband, and as such could sleep in the same room.

He then went on with a long winded story about lesbians coming to stay 😳. I suspect he’d separate them too.

Tomorrow morning we transfer back to Denmark. It is a 3 hour 15 minute ferry on Colour Line, the ferry operator we used from Sweden to Norway.

In the search for food, we walked into the city centre. we headed towards the finish line as the very last runner finished to great cheering from the commentator. I think everyone else had gone, and felt a bit sorry for her as they were pulling down barricades etc.

The church below is the Kristiansand Cathedral. It is the fourth church on this site, with this one built in the late 1800’s. It seats 1,750 people making it one of Norways largest.

We went past at 5 pm and the bells chimed. We finished dinner nearby just before 6 pm and they were still chiming.

Love the Vespa’s. Takes me back to Muhlbach in the Tyrol, arriving at accomodation the day of the annual Vespa party.

Nice statues.

I liked this building.

This is for Kim, my friend who recently went to Japan. She photographed many interesting sewerage and water caps. This is the best one I’ve seen this trip.

A nice water fountain, as we meandered back up to the Air B and no B.

Todays route brings us to the conclusion if our riding in Norway.

Southern Norway, particularly along the waterways, has been wonderful.

Denmark awaits.

Thanks for reading

Day 25: Risor (Norway) to Arendal (Norway)

On June 7, 2025June 7, 2025 By Sharron YaxleyIn Vikings2 Comments

There were only handful of guests staying at the hotel. It was quiet. We headed off to breakfast and shown some food in the corner (cereals, yoghurt, bananas), so presumed, that was it.

Filled our bowls up. Then out came a massive platter with various cold meats, smoked salmon, cheeses, salad. It was huge.

Out came the bread basket followed by two fried eggs and bacon.

Ouch…so much food and two lovely ladies wanting us to devour it all…..well I don’t eat eggs and bacon, Tony had to deal with that.

We made up two nice rolls for our journey and it started to look like we’d eaten more than we had.

Back to our room, and this was our view out the window. Light rain and our lovely little ferry from yesterday arriving.

We left via the main road but after five km peeled off onto a lovely quiet road. This was a trip highlight, as it was dotted with lakes and fjord views. We rode around 35 km along this section.

Similar to yesterday, lots of ups and downs. With the rain and wet roads, all descents were taken slower.

You can’t afford to break heavily and slip out…oil, green grass, white lines, metal caps are all dangerous if you brake on them in the wet.

The rain eased during this section on and off. It would rain, the sun would try to come out, it would get darker, it would rain. Repeat.

Today we had no wind, not one breathe!

Some of the views.

We liked this house perched alone on this lake. Must be pretty in winter with the snow.

A video Tony took along this section.

The first town today at the end of this lovely section was Tvedestrand. From my strava map below, you can see it is at the top of a bay of water.

Borrowed aerial view photo from Norwegian tourism.

We then climbed up a hill on my least favourite surface, cobbles. Wet cobbles.

We continued to follow quieter roads, dotted with more lakes and fjords.

We crossed a high bridge just after Arnevik, connecting it to Strengereid as we had been on another island. Great views with a bit more height.

More water views as we approached Arendal

Arendal is a city with around 45,000 population. I was not aware that Germany had invaded any parts of Norway, but they did in 1940. The town was captured by a German torpedo boat.

The town has many car parks in the massive mountains of rock, as well as a few tunnels we rode through.

Actually one if the tunnels formed part of a climb, prefer my tunnel rides to be descents not ascents. The cars were tolerant.

In the city centre the Trinity Church.

Something we noted today with the rain. Many people do not wear rain coats in the rain. The umbrella below was the first.

The Norwegians seem to be very hardy, despite Helly Hansen being a wonderful Norwegian wet weather gear manufacturer.

Our route had us traversing around the harbour and then up to our accomodation another five km along.

It took us up a crappy gravel path, and off the bikes here.

This was navigable as we wheeled our bikes between the excavator and garage, Tony lifted them over pipe work and a rain eroded gap, onto that metal walkway. Shortly thereafter we were riding again.

We are staying at a camping ground in a cabin, listed as waterfront. That it is! View from our deck.

The bikes were filthy again from the rain, the earlier path in town and riding around the cabin park finding our unit.

A clean up was needed, and we used fresh water and rags to clean them up, and they stayed outside in the drizzle until dinner time.

With so much wet gear, we needed to be creative with drying. 🤣

At 6 pm, we were picked up by our friend Rudi. I met Rudi years ago on Zwift when he joined an event I regularly led. I adopted him, and I was ‘mum’.

It was truly delightful to have a meal with he and his lovely wife Carina in their home.

We spent a number of hours easily chatting away (they speak excellent English), about travels, Zwift and life.

We got to see his Zwift pain cave set up and very nice bikes that he has.

The Zwift circle of friends has been very good to me. Rudi is the third Zwift friend we’ve met this trip. Such meet ups I do value and treasure, being the sentimental sop that I am. ❣️

Despite recent shoulder surgery Rudi intends to ride with us for a portion of tomorrow.

We will ride to his house and share breakfast before heading off.

As I mentioned yesterday, sunset is much later here than home.

This is a photo Tony took after we packed some if our gear and hopped into bed.

The route today was excellent and I would highly recommend to any biking tourers.

We ride 75 km and climbed just under 900 metres.

That’s it for another day. Thanks for reading. 😊❣️💪🚴

Day 24: Langesund (Norway) to Risor (Norway)

On June 6, 2025 By Sharron YaxleyIn Vikings2 Comments

Looking out our bedroom window, I gazed upon the local houses, thinking they looked like a Lego constructed home. The day was starting off fine, with forecast of rain in patches during the day.

A nice breakfast, we retrieved our bikes, packed and off we headed.

We were to ride most of the day through the southern Telemark region, dotted with islands and bays.

The first site of note, was Bamble kirke, a white wooden church built in 1845. It is impressive with its white timber exterior.

Adjacent were the Olavskirken (St Olav’s church) ruins, initially constructed around 1150, and left to fall into ruin after the new church was built.

St Olav is the patron saint of Norway.

We ended up on a horrendously busy road for a period, where a yellow bus overtaking Tony did not veer away at all. It was close.

We’ve sighted deer and squirrel, but still no moose.

Fortunately, after 10 km or so, we veered off onto a lovely country road that meandered around internal lakes and fjords, providing lovely views.

At Kragerø we were to catch a ferry at 11.30. We had arrived with 50 minutes to spare. Time to chill.

Kragero kirke was built in the 1870’s replacing the previous built in the 1600’s.

From Kragero you can head to outer islands including Jomfruland National Park.

This was to be our journey today, crossing to Stabbestad, a 12 minute ride by ferry.

Our ferry arrived. An assortment of vehicles included a big yellow bus! I did wonder if it possibly could be the same one.

The we climbed out of Kragero with now very cold legs. They did protest. I think it was a 1.5 km climb too. Spin, spin, spin.

Today was all up down, climb, descend, repeat. We climbed 879 metres today in around 65 km.

We were inland again for a while, but again dotted with water views.

I had mapped the village of Oysang to check out. Down the hill we went. We decided not to leave and climb back up.

We had ridden about 65 km at this point and what we discovered changed our plans, for a few reasons.

We discovered this little wooden boat. It turns out it it Norways oldest wooden ferry still active. It travels a few times a day between Oysang and Risør (our destination).

The schedule works around school children taking them to and from school in Risor.

There was a 2 pm ferry scheduled. That was about 45 minutes away so we cleaned our bikes and ate some of our food.

At 1.59 pm three people walked down the hill and we paid 200 Norwegian kronor and hopped on.

The journey across the fjord is part of the North Sea cycle route. The route was threatened with closure in the 1990’s but a local interest group worked hard to keep the route open, with the ferry refitted in 2003.

The setting for the Oysang harbour is tiny and ever so pretty. We were really enchanted by the area.

We met a lady who lives in Oslo, but has a summer house here. She was on the ferry to get her groceries in Risor. She told me her neighbour is from Tasmania.

Looking back, the white house belongs to the lady from Oslo.

It is a 25 minute crossing, and we quickly arrive in Risor. Guns on deck.

We checked in. I negotiated a preferable storage location for our bikes after rejecting the first suggestion (behind the outside bar).

I asked if she thought they could be stolen there (knowing I was not accepting this option already), and the response ‘you never know these days’ did not pass the test.

They are now in a locked room within the hotel!

We wandered around town. Most of the buildings are white and timber. One place was being stripped back and it was a lovely timber beneath.

We found a nice restaurant and feeling hungry ordered two courses. Entrees were bigger than anticipated and we battled eating main course.

Mine is fish soup. Very filling and this is entree.

Certainly not cheap eating here, spending over 1200 kroner, we walked a bit more to settle our stomachs!

It was a good day today. We had some rain, we had some wind, we had lots of climbing, but we had some great sights.

We certainly do not regret cutting the ride by 30 km to take the old wooden ferry as it was a beautiful experience on a piece of Norwegian history.

Thanks for reading and joining us.

😊❣️🚴💪

Day 23: Sandefjord (Norway) to Langesund (Norway)

On June 5, 2025 By Sharron YaxleyIn Vikings2 Comments

We awoke to the sound of rain around 5 am. Over the next few hours it stopped and as I peeked out our north facing window could not see movement of the vegetation. That was promising despite the wind being from the south.

Neither of us had slept well, due to an inferior mattress. I had also wacked my head, twice during the night, as the bed was jammed in under the window sill, with a sharp edge adjacent to my pillow. I had mentally rearranged the bedroom furniture during the night.

Tony was feeling heaps better, not 100% but felt he could ride. I had told him of the train options I had identified.

Staying at an Air B’no B ( no breakfast) we left before our hosts stirred at 8 am.

We made our way out of Sandefjord along a bike path, with very grey clouds.

We found a supermarket in the small village of Asane open and grabbed some food to eat.

We turned off the busier road at Hem and headed further inland through predominantly rural land holdings.

Turning back towards the coast, I think this is at Bjonnes.

The busy city of Larvik we passed through stopping to take a photo of these older masted boats in a small harbour.

The roads were wet, and we fortunately dodged rain bullets again today. For much of the ride, we wore our rain jackets, as the water from the road that flicks up is far easier to clean from your rain jacket than other clothing.

Water views dotted the landscape.

Nice local war memorial outside this colourful building.

Ubiquitous rural churches.

The irrigators are going despite the rainfall.

Very pleasant outlooks to view as you ride what was very much up and down all day.

The forests have changed significantly from Poland. We are now around 59 degrees North. Over 33% of Norway is forest.

This image made us stop. It is a safety sign for car drivers to give cyclists space.

Today we rode in a mix of bike paths and open road. The rural back roads are quieter with no verge. The busier roads tend to have some verge that we try to ride within, or on the white line.

With side wind gusts not being a factor today, we can ride far right without the same risks imposed.

Rocks still feature. Many people have massive boulders in their backyards.

We liked this little cabin.

More water views.

That’s a high bridge!

One high bridge is never enough. Let’s build a second one.

This house has an interesting position, with a nice little under cover boat house.

We climbed over 900 metres today. That’s a fair amount with luggage. None of the climbs involve any great altitude, so it means lots of ups and downs and no significant longer flat sections.

We had 8 rated climbs per our Hammerhead (bike computer) but bar one, some of the nastier ones were unrated with sections up to 15%.

The longest climb you can easily see. It was about 2.5 km long and quite doable with luggage on a quieter road. We could see a freeway at greater heights where most traffic zoomed along.

Here is part of the climb.

That is me. I did not stop where Tony was taking the photos from as I was concerned I would not be able to recleat my shoes back onto the pedals. I’m not as clever as Tony 😁.

Not far from the top there were red lights. Never a popular sight climbing, but fortunately the majority of the climb was behind us, and the steepness had abated.

On we rode with an eventual green light. Shortly after the top of the climb there was a road block. One of those non negotiable road blocks. We are not going to be able to sneak through this one!

Fearing we were about to ride onto a freeway, as we rode on we were fortunately able to use the access road established for the construction vehicles.

These tunnels are part of a 17 km bypass of the city of Porsgrunn between Oslo and Kristiansand. This section being constructed is 5.2 km long.

We avoided Porsgrunn, cutting south. We are not a fan of riding through larger cities without good reason.

Norway is investing massive amounts into tunnel infrastructure, also building the world’s longest and deepest underwater tunnel.

The tunnel will run under the fjords, and will be 26.7 km in length and 390m at the deepest point.

That tunnel, when completed in 2033, will reduce travelling time between two of Norways largest cities, Stavanger and Bergen by 40 minutes.

Closing in on our destination, water to our left, we head towards the large bridge connecting Brevik and Stathelle.

I stopped to take a photo. The wind was dreadful up here, with a narrow path for bikes. As you can see, the safety barriers prevent a decent photo but the to the bottom left looked quite nice through the gaps.

Looking further along to the right, another new bridge being constructed! Lots of Kroner!

Round about of the day. Lots of metal. You need to use your imagination on this one! I’m not sure what it depicts.

It was a cruisey 80 km ride today despite climbing over 900 metres. We arrived before check in time so went to the local supermarket to grab some lunch.

The hotel was then happy to check us in early and wonderfully announced, before I spoke up, that they had a secure place for our bikes. 😊

Tonight they are locked in a meeting room off their conference centre.

Our accomodation buildings are large with an array of indoor and outdoor pools.

After dinner we wandered around outside.

Getting closer, there is a sea pool and sauna on the deck edge. A guy walked out of the sauna in just his bathers and casually walked back to the resort. Meantime, I’m hugging my clothing tight as it’s about 6 degrees C and windy!

I like this photo. A small island with bell and mini lighthouse.

Distant view looking down Langesundsfjorden and where we head tomorrow morning.

Today’s route map.

Tomorrow is a big day. We need some rest. However, the sun will not set until 10.23 pm tonight, and will rise 4.15 am.

I hope the curtains block out the light!!

Thanks for reading and joining us 😊❣️🚴💪

Day 22: Dafto (Sweden) to Sandefjord (Norway)

On June 4, 2025June 4, 2025 By Sharron YaxleyIn Vikings8 Comments

Today was a day primarily concerned with getting the ferry across the North Atlantic Ocean from Sweden to Norway, so we could continue our adventures.

Also doubling as a ‘rest day’ as there was not a lot of cycling time available without pushing boundaries either end of the day.

We also like to make sure we leave plenty of time to get to a ferry in case of a mechanical issue, or medical as it turned out today.

Tony was feeling quite dizzy with vertigo after breakfast and we decided to maximise the time in our room until check out time of 11.

He slept and felt even worse when he woke up.

I transferred all our gear and bikes to a place we could assemble them, and checking out asked for a large taxi.

I waited and spoke with the lovely taxi driver explaining. He loaded the bike and took Tony to the ferry terminal. He also removed the bike from the van saving Tony the effort.

I then rode departing the pirate park.

I only needed to ride 5 km without Tony but it felt strange.

I had an hour to get there so stopped to take photos of this area we really rate highly.

Well perhaps not this guff, but the hotel was great.

This is what I’m talking about. Lovely coastal scenes, gorgeous little homes and fishing huts.

Loved this water feature. I am sure it’s a hit with the locals in summer.

Interesting information de the Kosterhavet National park, one of Sweden’s most popular holiday areas.

North and South Koster islands have been added to my bucket list of we return.

Just a beautiful region.

I found Tony sitting outside the terminal, pleasingly looking a bit brighter.

I tried to check in but needed to go and line up elsewhere with the motor bikes.

Eventually our ferry arrived, dwarfing the surrounding islands.

It is quite a narrow passage and the ship reversed in, to the left of this photo.

The most incredible line up of assorted vehicles left the ship over two levels. The capacity is significant. We got very cold standing there with the biting headwind lashing us. All our warmer clothes were on.

We were the very first to enter the cargo hold, cycling to the far end and strapping our bikes to the side. The motorbikes and then buses followed.

The first things we noted on board.

I had purchased a lunch package with our ticket, and lined up behind the bus tourists at the buffet, to be told ‘oh no, you’re booked into the elegant restaurant on level 8’.

So up we went, in our cycling gear, and here we sat for the duration, enjoying the views in a restaurant with only three other guests! Nice meal too!

Some of the views from the Sweden end. I think you can see why we rate the Bohuslan archipelago highly.

The ocean swell was considerably larger than our crossings over the Baltic, and was glad when Tony put his head down, and fell asleep.

The crossing is 2 hours 30. Our first views of Norway.

Drivers were called down to the cargo area 20 minutes before docking.

Standing down there, amongst the high trucks and buses is a funny feeling. It’s also extremely noisy and you cannot be sure what is happening outside.

This ship has perhaps the cleanest hold I’ve seen, the floor is shiny and spotless.

Lots of cables and piping, again all looking pristine.

Finally the sirens start and the hydraulics open the hatches. Nearly out. Two buses and a motor home went out, then us.

We were shocked how cold it was and even windier!!

Our accomodation is in an Air BnB only one km or so from the terminal.

After checking in, we walked into town, with Tony feeling heaps better.

Our ship was just departing, slowly reversing out. The nose of the ship had lifted when we arrived but we’d entered via the rear hatch.

I had trouble getting up onto the big chair for this photo. It is very large!

This lovely old building was a health retreat and spa in the late 1800’s. The area is setting up for a music festival in the surrounds, hence all the tables.

The Viking ship is regarded as one of the most important contributions from Norway in world cultural heritage. This region was once one of the most famous areas for building Viking boats.

The skill is being taught again on this site.

I saw the boat and called out “Floki!”. Floki was a famous Viking boat builder in the TV show Vikings. He had a wicked laugh.

The Hvalfangstmonumentet (yes that is just one word) is a bronze memorial statue that rotates. In English that translates to the Whalers Monument.

It took the artist 7 years to complete, with the big unveiling in 1960.

We are hoping for good health and the winds to ease tomorrow. The latter looks unlikely but let’s see what the day brings.

Thanks for reading.

😊❣️🚴💪

Day 21: Fiskebacksil (Sweden) to Dafto (Sweden)

On June 3, 2025 By Sharron YaxleyIn Vikings4 Comments

A beautiful morning looking off our balcony.

That’s where we need to get to first off. Lysekil, situated on the southern tip of Stangenas peninsula, also at the mouth of Gullmarn fjord.

A nice breakfast overlooking the water, we packed up and headed to the ferry, adjacent to the accomodation.

Behind our accomodation block was this windmill, overlooking Fiskebacksil and well placed for wind, although we have not seen any of these older windmills operating.

The little ferry terminal. Tony checking the ferries progress.

Getting closer.

Really close now as it navigates its way through that very narrow channel, then reverses in for passengers to walk on board.

First little hill climb was out of Lysekil and soon we were following either busy roads or quiet rural. It was a real mix today, with very little cycle paths available.

The wind was a factor today. It was a SW of around 35 kmh with gusts around 57 kmh.

Our route was one of zig zagging our way further north.

On the zig, it seemed to be busier roads, with the wind a huge factor hitting us more to the front and side. Scary at times when the gusts hit, as we are in the right hand side of the road, we did not have much road leverage with drop offs etc.

The zags, they were better as we often had the wind behind us! The roads tended to be quieter as well.

We had a lot of climbing today. 900 metres in our 103 km of riding.

The scenery. Most of the photos are whilst we are in the zags, as it is possible to stop safely.

Slightly inland from the coast, rocks still prevail. Lovely scenery. Dotted by the occasional church, forest and village.

This church is in Svenneby and is one of Bohuslan’s oldest churches. Dating from the 12th century at a time that this land was Norwegian. The baptismal font and belfry both stand on the rocks high above the church.

A little further up the road, Svenneby has a second church.

We turned off and headed into the village of Hamburgsund. Eventually making it into the supermarket for food (as numerous people came up to ask about what we were doing, our bikes etc), we sat and ate by the pleasant harbour and marina.

The town sits by a long channel separating it from the island of Hamburgo. We met a lady on a ebike who was filling her panniers up with food from the supermarket as she lives on Hamburgo. There is a small ferry connecting the island to the mainland.

Time to keep moving. More churches, marinas and villages to see.

We are staying in Dapto, about 5 km south of Strömstad, our final Swedish destination.

Our accomodation is in a kitschy place I would ordinarily roll my eyes at. However, the range of accomodation is extensive, spread out over a huge area.

We are staying at a Pirate themed park! We are in a 12 room hotel, and I have seen no other guests in this part of the complex at all.

The hotel is very well appointed, with pirate themed ‘artwork’ adorning walls, the occasional skull, treasure chest and chocolate filled coins to eat.

Our room is huge, with a lovely corner balcony, with an undercover area for the bikes.

Our washing dried beautifully outside, plus the heated towel racks in the bathroom were turned on (often they are not).

Our room and balcony.

The complex takes up all the land this side of the waters including the green hill to the left. There is a theme park bottom left, conference facilities and the widest variety of accomodation possibilities.

It is very quiet here at the moment fortunately. Dinner was super quiet and nice.

Today has been our last full day riding in Sweden, and what a blast it has been.

So many highlights from meeting Jennie and Cecilia, to the outstanding a Bohuslan archipelago and everything in between.

I love the Swedish supermarkets, the range of food exceeds what we have available. Price wise, the food is still quite reasonable despite the AUD fx rates. many items are cheaper than what we pay.

Riding has been exemplary. With the exception of today, around 75% has been on sealed cycle paths. To date, we have ridden 1,039 km in Sweden alone.

Todays route. You can see the Norwegian border lines, to the upper right and ocean.

Would I come back to Sweden to ride? Absolutely, this country rates as one of the more cycle friendly countries we have visited.

We had been pre warned that Swedish drivers were not as courteous as Danish, but they have been excellent.

Polish drivers are better at road crossings, but as long as you wait, all has been good.

Even the weekend pack riders use the cycle paths here vs the road!

Thanks for reading 😊🚴❣️💪

Day 20: Kloveron (Sweden) to Fiskebacksil (Sweden)

On June 2, 2025June 2, 2025 By Sharron YaxleyIn Vikings2 Comments

Waking up to the mazing views from our little overnight cottage on Kloveron Island, a peaceful and serene place.

Sunday morning and a conga line of boats start to head out from Marstrand Marina for their days adventures.

We enjoy a lovely breakfast on the deck delivered by the enchanting Astrid, 12 year old daughter of our host Magnus.

I could spend more time here, easily. We have discovered that there are trails across the Island that are rideable.

But, life goes on, and our adventures need to continue.

Looking off the deck early morning:

We had organised a private transfer with Magnus in his boat to Ronnang, which would save quite a few hours of waiting for different ferries.

The map below shows Ronnang in the north. We were on the large island to the south of Marstrand and Arvidsvik.

Today, the first day of summer, was to deliver the wettest day so far with 9-10mm predicted for mid afternoon.

Whilst we awaited the agreed time, we cleaned our bikes.

Off we went, bikes snuggly on board, with gear removed. Magnus at the helm, the most chilled boatman. We both really liked him and were thankful for this transfer.

If ever you decide to head to the Bohuslan archipelago, you need to stay there! Contact me for more info.

I sat next to Astrid who talked to me about her school in Marstrand, going to the Fort at lunchtimes, the curriculum that includes a compulsory Swedish programme for 11-13 year olds that incorporates subjects include mental health, your body, exploitation and so on.

I was very impressed at the depth of her knowledge, and her grasp of English as a second language (she also speaks German).

At this stage she would like to become a psychologist and help troubled teenagers supporting other current Swedish mental health care programmes.

With young ladies like Astrid, Sweden’s future is in excellent hands.

Some of the views along the journey.

Within one hour we arrived in Ronnang and bid farewell to this lovely family.

We headed along the marina and back out onto solid roads.

Crossing a large and high bridge afforded views across the Stigfjorden Nature reserve.

Our path today was a mixture of Bohuslan archipelago views, rural views as we rode through mid sections of islands, nature reserves and small villages.

A lovely church with the skies darkening.

Curios roadside.

There is a walking trail in the area, as shown by the map. We noticed many of the road post indicators.

We liked this view from a lay by we pulled into.

Another lovely old church.

Back to the coastline and the first of two ferry crossings. These are free and operate on demand. The ferry is winched across with cables.

I like this view. There are so many rocky outcrops. little lighthouses dot the area.

Rain wise, we kept dodging bullets. There were wet roads in places. The skies darkened numerous times and the wind got stronger but we kept moving forward.

Tony checked the radar numerous times as it was changing fast! We are the blue dot and the weather is either side.

On we went, loving these islands.

The second ferry we were super lucky timing wise. Tony saw it was about to leave and put his foot down just as they started to lower the entrance. He made it, they lifted it and on I then went.

The excellent thing about these ferries acting as a bridge, we likely have no cars passing us for 10 minutes.

The last 20 km or so are a series of sharp and short climbs, up to 12-13%.

With only 5 km to go, the rain gods could control themselves no more. Down it came.

We arrived into our destination of Fiskebacksil, riding along my least preferred surface, cobbles.

I am still super cautious on cobbles having broken three teeth and two ribs on cobbles back in 2018 in Switzerland.

Fiskebacksil is at the mouth of the Gullmarn fjord. A smaller town with around 400 permanent residents, boosted by tourism.

It is another glorious setting, but it took us 30 minutes to appreciate this as it was pouring, I needed to check in.

I knew they previously were ok with bikes in the room, but they were now very wet. They were still ok with that much to my surprise.

We are in one of their apartments, and it took us far too long to figure out the lift in the rain! We over complicated it as it had a key pad with numbers. Google scan and translate and we had it sorted, transferring our bikes and gear up to our apartments ( oh and one set of stairs to carry up up as the lift did not go to our level).

Our accomodation is in the middle of this picture, the building with a long and open balcony. We are on the floor below but able to see over the red pitched roof.

Although not as clear with the rainy weather it is a great view with Lyeskil over the water, where we stay riding tomorrow.

We get better photos after dinner and showering.

We walk into accomodation always sussing out how we will dry our clothes after washing them! Given it was raining, using the balcony (where we put our wet bikes, but under the overhanging canopy) was not an option. This is the setup I came up with.

Tony’s bedside table, rubbish bin inverted, fan! Needed to be in this position as the hangers are those non removable one, which we hate!

We booked into the hotel restaurant and this turned out to be an expensive meal, quite fancy, but nice, as we sat there in our clothes that have been stuffed in touring bags….

A nice assortment of bread to start. Main meal we both had veal cooked a few different ways, and decided to go full hog and have a less is more dessert.