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Today I cycled towards the Sværholt peninsula to Veidnes. A 75km dead end road up a remote northern peninsula. Lovely views across the fjord. Coffee and cake with a friendly lady. Lunch with a breathtaking view over a tundra plateau. Organising a boat in the Veidnes community house. Crabbing in the fjord and camping in the 3rd most northern dairy in the world.

Day 45. 133km. Lakselv – Bekkarfjord. Map and gpx.

I left at 3am to much better cycling conditions. Overcast but clear air. The odd sprinkling of rain but nothing very serious.

The road along the Sværholt peninsula started by passing through some rugged rock formations.

Unlike the road on the other side of the Porsanger fjord, the road did not hug the coast directly below massive cliffs rising directly up from the sea. Rather, the road undulated across grassy plains which ended in rocky or sandy beaches.

The road was dotted with houses along the whole way. Sometimes the density of houses was marginally higher and the collection warranted a name – a hamlet. Passing through Brenna, a lady sitting on her porch called out to me (in norwegian) and invited me in for coffee and cake.

She lived in Brenna and was interested in my trip from Holland. I was different from the other ‘tourists’ there who were all from Norway. She fed me many pieces of cake. 🙂

The road continued up the coast before turning inland. Usually turning inland means steep climbs. This was not the case here.

The road followed a river, walled steeply on both sides. On the right side, just out of view, there was supposed to be a big lake, according to my map. I climbed up there, to find a beautiful rolling grassy plain tundra landscape dotted with tiny lakes. The big lake was further away. I had my lunch there.

Veidnes is a little community at the end of a long, remote road. Until 1985 it was only connected to the rest of Norway by a ferry. It was a 3 hour expedition to the next town Kjøllefjord. Now that the road has been built, the ferry has stopped. It is also home to the most northern dairy in the world.

Peder, who was going to take me across the fjord in his boat said it was too windy for his boat. He, and the friendly lady in the community centre helped find someone else to take me across. In the mean time I ate and slept at the table in the community centre.

Then a fisherman came back from salmon fishing in the tundra rivers and kindly took me across the fjord.

The other side of the big fjord, I met with Peder who helped arrange the boat trip. We had a chat, and he took me out with his son and his friend to collect crabs. The crabs were massive.

I am camping in the pastures of the 3rd most northern dairy in the world. This is my tent in the pasture taken the next morning in glorious sunshine. It will be a lovely sunny cycle to Mehamn.

Thanks to everyone who helped me today. It was a great day!