Thursday 8 September Osen to Trondheim

The slightly bizarre entrance to the store at Bessaker

YES!!! Woke this morning and did a happy dance, the wind had dropped and although we had quite a bit of overnight rain, it was clear and the sun came out. Everything looked so much better. After breakfast Ian headed off to a point under the bridge with his fishing rod, but was back not long later. Discovered you needed a licence to fish on the bay side of the bridge and on the ocean side it was low tide and the rocks were really slippery. So no luck there.

With such nice weather we were keen to hit the road and the first part of our trip was through “jaw droppingly beautiful” scenery with little fishing villages and boats. Had Ian stopping frequently so that I could grab photos, the water was so calm with great reflections. I think having had so many wet days made us really appreciate the day and make the most of it.

First stop was at the wee fishing village of Bessaker, peaceful and quiet. Popped into the local store and couldn’t stop smiling when I saw the ceiling of the foyer with hanging paint pots and other decorations…really quirky. Continued on through a big valley with much large farms then up through the mountains, the trees certainly becoming much bigger. Arrived at the town of Arnes about midday, quite a smart looking village and came across a very nice looking café. Decided it was time we had lunch out and a good call. We both had open sandwiches, mine was a type of small fish cakes on top of a dill mixture and lettuce and other goodies, while Ian had a pulled pork version. Just so tasty, and followed by an excellent coffee. Seems ages since we have eaten out, quite a treat.

Noticed a craft supply store on the way back to the van and saw they had a huge stock of wool. I have been learning to knit socks on the trip and have just about finished my first pair, so bought some wool to make another pair. I have been really fascinated to see how many people in Norway knit, you see them sitting in café’s, on ferry’s, and everywhere with their knitting. It is a craft that certainly hasn’t been forgotten here.

The temperatures have been the warmest for weeks, about 17 degrees and with the sun shining it is all just so pleasant. Continued on, enjoying the scenery and the roads were quite a bit wider .. they even had a centre line marked! Arrived at Brekstad just in time to see the ferry for Valset just arriving, so within 10 minutes we were heading off to the mainland, a 25 minute trip. Sat in the van and couldn’t see a thing, but watched Jilly the GPS to see where we were as we crossed the water.

Had planned on finding an overnight spot after leaving the ferry, but there was nothing, so decided to head for Trondheim. I have read a few blogs over other travelling in motorhomes and they mentioned a parking area in downtown Trondheim where you can park your motorhome for 24 hours for no charge. I put the GPS co-ordinates they gave into Jilly, it was getting onto 6pm when we drove through the city and Jilly didn’t miss a beat, delivered us straight to the spot where there are about 12 parking spots. Only 2 others here when we arrived but now there are 6 of us. Such a great place, right beside the river with a bridge that we can walk across to get into the centre of town.  Trees around us and right next to a large athletics complex where there were lots of people out practising on the track. Couldn’t be better.

And if you are interested the GPS details are:  https://maps.google.com/maps?q=loc:63.42580,10.38215

This morning views, in the sun, to the great rocky face opposite where we stayed.

The store at Bessaker

My yummy lunch

Took this through the window, low tide, but a bridge to the house when the tide is in.

Trondheim, a view from the bridge this evening

..and looking towards the city centre where we will head tomorrow.