Safe Return Doubtful

We had an hour or so out at Styrkesnes before moving on. It will be one of the memorable places I have stayed over the years. On a flat beach when the tide is out there’s a good fifty metres to explore.

Over the last weeks there has been no serious rain, but the forecast came to fruition yesterday and today. We’ve had a two day blast from the Atlantic with wind gusts up to 80 kilometres per hour, heavy rain and temperatures between 6 and 9C. Shap weather.. at least until this week when I believe some summer has arrived.

I recall a couple of days weather like this when I was riding down Norway in 2016. I cycled in it on the first day and was so wet and cold that I resorted to a bed and breakfast accommodation for the night, only to find that another three groups of cyclists had done the same thing. We spent the evening drying everything out in the radiators and telling each other rain stories. The following day was just as bad, so we hung around with one more cup of coffee, in that great Dylan lyric, and didn’t leave until late afternoon.

Yesterday morning I drove to Holkestad, the end of a road at a quayside and a couple of beaches where I hoped to hike. But it was extremely exposed to the wind, which is coming from the southwest.

The van rocks around in the wind, and makes it difficult to sleep, so this morning, for once beaten by the weather, we took a rapid walk on the beach and then headed around the coast to the island of Engeløya, reachable by a 110 metre high bridge of 2 kilometres. There were council officers there, and it was about to close due to the wind, but I just got over in time. I’m at the north west corner of the island at a beach and small town nearby called Bø. It seems just as wild, but the wind was at its strength this afternoon, so maybe not as wild as on an exposed coast.

Roja is at the age now where he realises when the weather is this challenging. We went out, but briefly. It’s due to go through at 8 pm this evening, so with that in mind, I cooked early, a cauliflower zucchini lentil dish, and plan to go out for an hour or so then.

I’ve finished a couple of books meanwhile, written up reviews, caught up on some podcasts, listened to what seems, a rare Lancashire success, from Canterbury, and looked at the route that lies ahead for the next few weeks.