Route to the blog:
Briefly in advance:
You haven’t heard from us for a long time. That was because we, both of us this time, suffered a health setback. So we lacked all motivation and energy. You can read more about it in this blog.
But from the beginning.
After resting with Artur, the doctor from Norway and our new friend, we finally continued towards Lofoten with grins across both cheeks. Lofoten is a region in the Norwegian province of Nordland and part of a group of islands off the coast of northern Norway, consisting of about 80 islands. We almost didn’t know how nice it feels to ride a bicycle healthy and alert and in good weather!
Our next stop was Bodø, from there there is a free ferry for cyclists (about 3.5 hours) to Moskenes at the southern tip of Lofoten. The route took us along some beautiful fjords, additionally we had the pleasure of two smaller ferry crossings along the way.
Luck seemed to be completely on our side again! After about 28 km a lady on a quad stopped right next to us and inquired whether we already had a place to sleep, we were allowed to spend the night in her hut directly on the fjord.
Since we wanted to take it easy after such a long period of being sick, we gratefully accepted the offer. When we talked about fishing, she proudly told us that they catch so much fish in the summer that they have enough for the whole year and pack everything in nice portions and put it in the freezer.
So there would be several times a week fish in various variations so for example also as fish cake.
Since we could not imagine with the best will in the world what on earth that is, she drove home without further ado and got us a portion 😊. In the end, the fish cakes tasted like bratwurst with a fishy finish😅.
The next day we felt great and when we passed a charming bay with a sandy beach in the early afternoon after just 48 km, it was again the perfect opportunity for us to take it easy and take it slow. So we pitched our tent right on the beach, enjoyed one of the so rare warm days and even ventured into the water; how wonderful!
Unfortunately, the fun was over again at 2 o’clock in the morning, when a violent, unannounced thunderstorm came up and literally thundered us out of our sleep. Since our tent was in a very unfavorable place, we decided to “flee” to the nearby toilet house and sit out the storm there. The whole thing dragged on for 3 hours and our recovery sleep was over.
Since the weather was supposed to get worse again, we took advantage of the next, still rain-free day and drove 70 km and over 1,000 hm to the village of Saltstraumen, maybe a mistake? Saltstraumen is home to the strongest tidal current in the world. We were lucky enough to pitch our tent with a direct view of the stream.
Unfortunately, however, we were not lucky that night either and heavy gusts and rain came. To top it off, Nicole tripped over one of the taut storm lines, and then the tent pole attached to it broke into two pieces. So we had to provisionally repair the pole in the pouring rain to at least get some sleep.
When the thermometer the next morning again showed below 10 degrees with glorious rain, we were godly happy to have to drive only 30 km to Bodø.
Finally, completely wet, arrived in Bodø, we were torn. Do we really want to go to Lofoten? The weather forecast was so unsettled and we were fed up with the weather. After a long back and forth we dared to take the 3.5-hour ferry to Moskenes, where we were allowed to set up our tent in the rain, unfortunately still completely wet. We were so tired that even in the cold wet we slept soundly until the sun warmed us up the next morning.
It was done, we were in Lofoten, our destination in the far north and with beautiful weather! We were super happy and wanted to explore Lofoten completely and then head east, slowly but surely making our way to Finland.
But unfortunately, fate wanted it quite differently. After all, we had two wonderful days:
On August 19, almost a month ago now, Nicole again abruptly felt as if someone had pulled her energy plug. Beni was also feeling not good and we decided, LUCKILY but with heavy hearts, to take the Hurtigruten ship from Svolvær to Trondheim again the next day. So high in the north, you are simply in the wrong place with the bicycle and sick.
The trip took 34 hours and cost us a fortune. On the ferry, we both felt increasingly worse, so bad that we thought for the first time about breaking off and the associated consequences. We had sleepless nights, there were quite a few tears and we were seriously worried about our health. We have now been sick six times in 2 months.
Once we arrived in Trondheim, we went to see a doctor again, we just wanted certainty.
The doctor was able to take away most of our fear and give us some hope again. He too said it was nothing life threatening, probably one or more viruses we picked up combined with the weather conditions and we just needed some more time to recover.
We changed our plan again completely and took a train to Storlien, right after the Swedish border. We were just tired of the weather and the prices of Norway! But since our condition did not improve, we struggled a few more kilometers to the next affordable accommodation, a Tiny House, where we recuperated for over a week. We were so exhausted that we always had to go to sleep after meals and could only get out for a maximum of 10 minutes during the day.
When we had to clean the Tiny House at the end of the week and took the next train to Sundsvall, we almost had a circulatory collapse.
We will spare you the whole story now, it has no end; in any case, it went on like this and we are still in a accommodation.
However, we have been feeling much better for almost a week now. Until then it was a constant up and down, one day we were looking for apartments in Switzerland because we were sure we were breaking off, the next day we were fitter again and hope came back.
To this day, we still don’t know if we will make it to Australia or not. The decision is so damn hard for us! Already once we had to interrupt our trip and our dream (then because of the closed borders during Corona). We don’t have the strength to go home again to heal up and then give up everything again to travel to Australia. The last month has used up all our reserves. Hoping for improvement, we literally fight our way from accommodation to accommodation. It’s the uncertainty that gets us down.
Despite everything, we are confident again and do not want to give up our dream yet. The next few days will be decisive, because our flight to Australia leaves in almost 2 weeks. With or without us, we’ll see.
Keep your fingers crossed for us and thanks to everyone who encouraged us and thought of us ❤️.
There are others who are doing shitty 😂:
For even more insight into our everyday cycling life, check out our latest video: