We were still wide awake when we climbed into our sleeping bags at 10:30. We’d not camped for seven years and the unaccustomed sounds of wind rustling the tent disturbed us. The wind grew stronger and it started to rain, which wasn’t in the forecast. I anticipated a wet day while lying there awake but it had stopped before we rose at 07:00. We took too long preparing porridge and tea for breakfast so didn’t get away until 10:00.
The morning featured plenty of sunshine and again it was warmer than we’d expected at this latitude in mid September, reaching 15°C. We continued the delightful run on the quiet 815 road by the water’s edge, beautiful mountain and coastal scenery. We rejoined the European route E10 which runs from Å to Luleå in Sweden, about 850 km in length. It wasn’t too busy but there were a few trucks, some with trailers. We crossed from Gimsøya to Austvågøya via a long steep bridge, at the far end were picnic benches and toilets, a good place for lunch.
We continued to Svolvaer, following the cycle track for the last 8km, a good surface and useful as the road was busier as we approached the town. Here we bought supplies then returned to the E10. A few km north, we chatted to a cycle tourist from Stockholm who’d been wild camping and was returning from the North Cape. We turned off the E10 along the Ev888 for the campsite at Sandsletta, a fast run that got us there for 18:20. The campsite had better showers but still charged 10 kr on top of the 150 kr camping fee, the most expensive of the campsites we stayed at. The kitchen had two dual ring cookers and one large pan. There was nowhere to sit but it was a warm enough evening to be outside at the picnic benches.
Distance cycled: 81 km