I also spent most of the day within sight of the water--whether it was a fjord, or the North Sea itself. It was hard not to stop every 5 minutes to take photos. I did take a few though.
This would be a fjord.
Calm water.
Coming in to Arendal.
I stopped in Arendal outside a McDonalds to see if I could get wifi. Nope, but a nice lady chatted with me for awhile. As I was heading out, I saw a Subway restaurant. As it was snack time, I got cookies (3 for 24Kr). Then I spotted a bank across the street. I am pretty sure the amount of Kroner I have won't last until Stavenger. This time I was able to get cash with my debit card. Woo Hoo!
I turned on the Garmin to see which way to go as I didn't see any of my friends, the brown signs. However, as soon as I started heading in the right direction, my friends were back. There were some pretty interesting sly dog roads, but everytime I wasn't sure, I just kept looking, and sure enough, there would be another sign.
I stopped in Fevik at a Meny grocery store to get some yogurt. Turns out they also had free wifi, so I was able to post the last blogs. I also ended up getting dinner for the next two nights.
When I got to Grimstad (if you can't tell, I'm using a map to remember the names of the towns), I decided to have my lunch. I had a very nice spot on a bench by the boats in the marina.
They also had toilets there which was quite convenient! After the potty stop, I headed out of town toward Lillesand. Again, my friends were leading me along. I came to Lillesand, and almost called it a day at a camping place. But, it was early still, and I wanted to get closer to Kristiansand.
I came into the town, and from there I saw no more of my friends, the brown signs. I fired up the Garmin, but I didn't want to go the way it said. In hindsight, it was probably Route 1. But, it went inland, and I wanted to stay to the coast.
I was riding along a busy road when I saw a bike route sign (not one of the Route 1 signs) to Kristiansand. I figured I was heading toward Kristiansand, so I might as well take it. It was various stretches of gravel then short sections of pavement. It definately followed the coast. I went through an underpass and this was the view.
It was a good route, and I saw a camping sign. By this time, I decided I was close enough to Kristiansand, so I could call it a day. I still had another 12 km to go to the campground. This was also the road to Kristiansand, until the last 5 km. I will have to go back those 5 km tomorrow.
I'm at a place in Skottevik. It is the craziest place. There are all these rows of hedges defining various sections. There is no clear cut way to walk to the restrooms. There is also a swimming pool that I didn't discover until I had already cleaned up. Notice I didn't say "shower"? The shower ate my 10 Kr, but gave me no water in return. I used my t-shirt from the ride today as a washcloth in the sink that had hot water. In many of the places, you have to pay for a hot shower, but there is hot water in the sinks. Anyway, I got clean.
I wanted to see the North Sea. Walking though the maze of cabins, I was able to climb the rocks and get a view of the Sea.
It's a rocky coastline, but they still manage to build houses.
It was very windy here, but as usual, it dies down in the evening. Unfortunately, when the wind dies down, the tiny little biting bugs come out to play. I had to, again, retreat to the tent to do this post. Supposedly, there is wifi. I'll give it a go, but will probably have to post this in Kristiansand tomorrow. I'm still ahead of schedule, but that's a good thing because the coast is very hilly. I had almost 7 hours of ride time today, but only managed 58 miles.
Here's a parting shot of a Crab boat cooking the crab and selling it.
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