Midtun
I took the wrong ferry. Instead of going to Halhjem, I ended up taking the ferry to Husavik. After leaving Stord, I thought I would take the ferry to Halhjem from Sandvik ferry terminal (not the other Sandvik I camped at). But at the ferry terminal there were signs for Bergen ferry and Husavik ferry. Since I wanted to ride my bike from the ferry terminal to Bergen, I incorrectly assumed that the Bergen ferry was going directly to Bergen. And the Husavik line must be the Halhjem ferry, just named differently. Sometimes the ferry terminal name is not the same as the nearest town name. And all the time-tables at that ferry terminal were confusing, not to mention two different ferry “adapters”. Right at the moment the ferry started I realised I was at the wrong ferry!
The weather wasn’t good since I left Stord, and it was turning worse every minute. I had my lunch break at Fitjar, salad and apples, for a change. I thought it would give me the last bit of push I would need to reach Bergen. I wasn’t worried about accommodation either, Bergen is a big city, I would have found a hostel or something. Everything was on track.
After the wrong ferry I ended up at a random island, at its south there is Husavik; at its north it’s Storebø and Hufthammer. Turns out the island is small, I can easily traverse it. But given the confusion and wait at the ferry terminal, I already lost quite a bit of time. I thought of camping out on the wild, but the weather was not getting any better and it wasn’t late enough to pitch a tent somewhere random. I looked for an accommodation on the island, and there were a few, I tried calling. I suspect the reception desks were closed by then. So my other option was take another ferry up North, to Krokeide, and start towards Bergen and sleep somewhere in the wild. I had resupplied at Storebø, plenty of food with me. But the weather wasn’t looking good, and the closer I am to towns, the harder it is to find a spot to camp out in the wild.
When I reached the Krokeide-Hufthammer ferry line, it was raining cats and dogs. Fortunately, there was a waiting room where I could wait for the ferry. While sitting there I called a bunch of accommodations near Bergen. One motel / campsite responded.
When I got quite close to the campsite, I encountered quite a few construction sites that blocked the roads to the campsite. At this point my frustration reached its peak, and it took me some time to find a route that does not go through construction zones. I probably also broke quite a few traffic rules today, but I didn’t care either! I was cold, wet and I had bright blinking lights all over me.
Eventually, after 12 hours after I left last night’s peaceful campsite, I came to tonight’s campsite, only to realise the showers only operates with Norwegian kroner, which I didn’t have, so no warm shower for me tonight.
Practically every bit of rain protection failed today so me and my things are rather wet but tomorrow seems like it is going to be sunny.
On the bright side, I did see an old sawmill, the Rydland Sawmill.
Midtun, Norway