Day 10: Runde-Ulsteinvik (43 km)
After my amazing stay at Runde island, I continued Thursday morning towards Ulsteinvik. This was a short distance to cover – only a bit more than 40 kilometres, in other words: half a rest day.
I arrived in Ulsteinvik around two o’clock and had a late lunch. Then I sat in the restaurant until Vegar came home from work. Vegar was our expedition leader on Greenland 2013. I was invited to his mother’s house where we enjoyed a nice grill dinner with the whole family. After dinner, Vegar took me on a sightseeing trip around Ulsteinvik, which is a really nice small town with an amazing location, and to Flø, a small village nearby which has become very hip among artists and other people in recent years.
Great view from Ulsteinvik
Sunset in Flø
Great to see Vegar again
Day 11: Ulsteinvik-Ålesund (42 km)
The next day, I continued towards Ålesund. Before I came to the city centre, I stopped at the shopping centre at Moa and bought some supplies and equipment. Among other things I invested into a new rear light (since the other is broken), a LED rear light for the helmet, and a reflex vest with LED stripes. This will make me much more visible in the tunnels which I sometimes need to take.
I was going to take a rest day in Ålesund and stay in one of the nicest hotels in town: Hotel Brosundet. I checked in at one o’clock, parked my bike and went for lunch first. Then I returned to the hotel to install the new light and fix some other small things on my bike.
Later in the afternoon, Ioanna arrived who was visiting me here. We had a very nice dinner at XL Diner, a restaurant famous for their Bacalao.
On Saturday, we went to Atlanterhavsparken, a big aquarium, and had an amazing four-course dinner in the evening at Maki, the restaurant belonging to Brosundet hotel.
View over Ålesund
Hungry otter eating lunch
Day 13: Ålesund-Finnøya (12 km)
Today, we went on a boat trip into the Hjørundfjord – the neighbour fjord to Geiranger fjord, so to speak. Here we enjoyed lunch and Hotel Union Øye, a beautiful old hotel with lots of history, and returned to Ålesund right in time for Ioanna to catch the airport bus to return to Oslo.
My plan was originally to take a boat to Hamnsund, cycle to Brattvåg, and take another boat to Harøya island. Due to heavy rain, however, I skipped the 20 kilometres’ detour from Hamnsund to Brattvåg, and stayed on the boat which continued directly to Harøya.
From here it was a very short ride over a bridge to the next island, Finnøya, where I will stay for the night. I was lucky to find a Thai food truck next to the marina, so I can save my Real Turmat for the next days. Tomorrow, my plan is to continue towards Kristiansund.
Back on track
Rainbow over the Thai food truck