If a Bnb is only 5 GBP more than a campsite then the Bnb wins the “where to stay tonight “ competition every day. Clearly the owners had more barn than horses and so turned one half of it into accommodation to supplement their farming income. 6 bedrooms sharing one bathroom but I need feared not for I had therun of the barn to myself . The owner put on a breakfast fit for kings and even kindly made me a Swedish meatball sandwich for lunch. Bless. Situated just 3 km from Dingle even the ride into town last night for a pizza, salad and obligatory ice cream was a pleasant one.
The view out the bedroom window at 5.30 am (sun rising at 4.15 in this part of the world) wasn’t too shabby either .
The only problem occurring in the first hour as I passed through countless woods and open farmland was that I couldn’t shake the same song from my mind .
“ If you go down in the woods today you’re sure of a big surprise .. if you go down in the woods today you’d best go in disguise ...for every bear that there ever was will gather there for certain .. for today’s the day the teddy bears have their picnic “ .... after 20 minutes of repeat I was trying it in rap, carol, quick, slow, and even a Mickey Mouse voice. Yup I agree. Sad and strange. But these things happen on a long distance bike ride .
The good thing about chopping your own wood is that it warms you twice.
I challenge any non Swedish speaking person to correctly pronounce the bottom 3 destinations.
Not sure it’s the best named amusement park I’ve ridden past.
Closing in on the Norwegian border the road dipped down to the coast . The sights were beautiful. The hills that followed as I got closer to Norway not so.
5km from the border I came across a flurry of Norway plated cars all heading for outlets such as this on the Swedish side. Stopping for a looksee it was obvious to me that beer, tobacco , soft drinks and confectionary are all cheaper in Sweden than the north. People were loading their cars to the brim with all of the aforementioned.
There’s two bridges that cross the inlet that forms a natural border in this part of the world between Sweden and Norway. This one is the serious freeway one.
My route was over the older and dare I say more character filled bridge.
Got that self timer thing working a treat. .....not quite. An English family had strangely walked to the middle of the bridge for a family shot and kindly took this snap.
If I am going to carry a selfie stick I may as well use it. Front half of the bike is in Norway the back end still in Sweden.
Two kilometres into Norway something happened to me that didn’t happen on my 2,212 km bike ride from London to Italy last year not had occurred in the 4,000+ km that have ridden so far this trip. I got a puncture. Suddenly the back end of the bike felt very soft almost as though I had suspension. Strangely comfortable. That was until all the air had disappeared and the rim was hitting the ground. The source was a bit of Norwegian flint that had pierced my until now, bullet proof tyres.
Offload the bike , flip it over , and 13 mins later I was on my way. Formula one esque type pit stop.
The view from my first Norwegian campsite wasn’t too shabby either.
Welcome to a country Nick as seemingly patriotic as Sweden. This being my 5th and final international boundary I rode across today it leaves me with just Norway to conquer. “Only” 2,000+ km to go. WHOOP !
