Next instalment: To Oslo...

With sunny Bergen done and dusted our bikes boarded the HUGE guards carriage whilst we sat in what can only be described as first class seats (for a very standard price...) for the next 6 hours over mountains and rivers, through cloud, sun, lashing rain, lighting, more sun and then cloud on arrival in Oslo.


IT WAS DARK! Well, nearly.

4th time lucky!

They grow up to be tough...

Norwegian awards: Top prizes go toooo............ dry bags and Lycra!

Not cheap, so worth it.

A quiet corner for some bicycle magic

Mission accomplished!

And again!

Claus and Kilian, thank you!

So long! I'll be back without a doubt...

So there was Norway; 5 weeks of...

• Stunning scenery- so many amazing mountains, fjords and rivers and so few people there...
• Memorable people- Our flight with Jonas, the midnight eclipse with Micka and Thomas, crewing a luxury spa boat with Chicago chef Ben, fishing with Kine & Atle, (and that was just the first 2 days!)... A massive thank you to everyone who made Norway feel like home!
• Daytime- From English soil I can confirm that night time does indeed still exist...
• Fish- We would have gone hungry without that rod- thanks Jonas! (Though we don't miss the smell of the fish racks)
• Ferries- A comfy seat and a break from scorching sun, driving wind and rain, tired legs etc., they were always eagerly anticipated and enjoyed
• Hussman crackers-(Norwegian Ryvita)- Kept us going strong but won't be buying any more soon!
• 24hr Sunshine- The weather worked out a treat for us with only 4 or 5 days of really wet and windy weather, win!
• Empty roads-  With possibly the most patient drivers in the world and only the occasional motorhome to share the roads with it really was stress free riding, and we won't forget the 'European Plastics Industry Motorcycle Club' in a hurry! 

In a nutshell: We loved it, and think you would too (just dont drink river water south of Bodø!)

A long overdue catchup... To Bergen!

Hey all! Along with the comfort of a *REAL BED!*, the novelty of home brings a fast enough internet connection to fill in the complete absence of photos since before Bergen, hope they're worth the wait!

Pasta fail

Late after dinner ferry

wetwetwet

Scorcher of a waiting room!

decisions decisions...

Celebratory Calzone in Bergen, woop!

Fine dining #2

Famous fish!

What it is to be dry!

Bob, how he struggled!

Bergen=awesome

Bergen= more awesome

Bergen: 275 rain days a year, but not today!!

Thank you Ukraine!

Dunphy; King of antlers!

Loris!

Oh yes, it's a dinosaur, boom!

So Bergen was done in style, now on to Oslo!

Final miles, train rides and a first glimpse of night...

So here I am, how many miles later? I'll work it out in a min... but the national library of Norway has kindly provided a comfy seat and FAST INTERNET! to bring you this update, but unfortunately not enough permissions to actually access any photos...

Photo descriptions it is, let your imaginations run WILD people!

1. 30th June- Set off after a few hours drying from 'Vaselineton' as we came to know it, found more very curious cows by the biggest waterfall yet-got sprayed. 
2. Made epic sandwich
3. Saw a duck headed mannequin outside a kiwi supermarket
4. Learnt that bags of pasta do not survive 4ft drops
5. Got an 11pm ferry in daylight (just), camped on a perilous yet perfect patch of grass by the quay

1. 1st July - Raining again but very very warm, riding the end of the old postal road
2. Found the warmest ferry waiting room in history, possibly doubles as a sauna
3. Made epic sandwiches
4. Spend a silly amount of time getting into Bergen thanks to the guessing game that are city cycle paths
5. Found 'ICE- George Town' (google it, oogle it)
6. Found a very convenient campsite, ate, collapsed.
7. Job done! 2220km later, we can declare a ZERO PUNCTURE success (forgetting the triple spoke failure)

1. 2nd July- One awesome sleep and a 48 hour 'Bergen Card' later, we hit the city in perfect sun
2. We posed by fountains
3. We wondered why there are so many unhappy babies being squirted by fountains
4. We watched Bob get stuck on a unicycle
5. Became awestruck at the tall alleys between huge old timber buildings
6. Drank beer
7. Received Ukranian vodka! 
8. Drank Ukranian vodka
9. Cooked a pizza and bought more beer. 
10. Found a sauna
11. Couldnt believe our luck!

1. 3rd July- We didn't have headaches, so we went back in to the city!
2. We faced lions and tigers, and a strange little rat
3. Realised we'd been in museums for far too long!
4. Went to the cinema!
5. Took silly photos with 3D glasses on lamp posts
6. Made epic sandwiches

1. 4th July- Independence day- highly celebrated in America, 100% irrelevant in Norway.
2. Found the Maritime museum! 
3. Held big ropes
4. Got on our  7 hour train to Oslo, featured in Harry Potter we're told! (Cloud, Sun, Lightning, Sun, Cloud)
5. Arrived at midnight, used the remaining 3% of iPhone battery to find the best campsite possibly ever
6. Took the Oslo photo with our tent, slept.

1. 5th July- City time once again!
2. Saw many naked statues with babies on a bridge... we're sure there's a story behind these...
3. Ate frazzles
4. Sat on cannons
5. Drank £10 beer
6. Slept

1. 6th July- Back to the city!
2. Norwegian awards, as nominated by us (needs the photo really!)
3. Found boxes from InterSport, the most helpful sports shop across Norway...
4. Said our goodbyes...

So Dunph is in the airport for the night attempting the all nighter (lacking phone alarm battery) for a 7am flight and I'll repeat the airport run tomorrow for my evening flight. We've also learnt that Oslo Airport is about 70km from Oslo, not so easy with bikes!

So maybe I'll get photos up in Edinburgh, but until then...

Norway, it's been a pleasure!

Raindrops keep fallin' on my tent... 48 hour lock in!

After 4 weeks of near perfect weather (with a few exceptions, admittedly) we've decided to sit out 2 days and 3 nights of rain at a 'restplasse'- fjordside picnic benches with toilets etc... and very few people around in this weather!

But just 3km away we discover the metropolis that is Vassenden; a handful of houses, petrol station and cafe with a couple of computers- sounds like a day out!

Here's what we've been up to since Geiranger (in a strange semi-reverse order!):

The end is in sight!

The threatening, growing puddle

The constant view.

The cheese party!

Funky stuff this Norwegian Blue

A colourful tinned dinner (and a break in the rain!)

but it wasn't to last... retreat to the tent...

A morning wake-up

View of the day...

You had to be there, best belly laugh yet!

An eeeven bigger boat

Shoulder shot!

Curiosity killed the...

And it began...

so we hid! Bus shelter 1 of 4, sleep 1 of 2...

The last sunshine we saw!

Anything you can do...

Post-swim warm up

So...bright...!

The best man in Norway- Anthony

The nastiest tunnel(s) yet.... in a van!

We can't go over it...

Ice lake at 1030m!

Energy to spare!

Beast.

So yesterday we sat in a tent and today we've sat in a cafe all day while the big rain passes, tomorrow we will leave... honest...

Roughly 200km to Bergen for a couple of days, then the highly anticipated Bergen-Oslo train ride for our last days on norwegian soil and the search for 2 bike boxes and the riddle of transporting them to the airport, we shall see!

I hear the weather is lovely with you all.

Oh, and better luck next year Feds...