Slurry and tunnel closed to cyclists

(Photos of the diary entry can be found at the end of the text).

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I start the morning with yoga by the lake. Ajaci lies next to me, occasionally opening one eye to watch me more or less disinterestedly. When Papaschwan and Mamaschwan swim to the shore with their three children, he is suddenly wide awake. Wow! Wow! Wow! “Leave them alone,” I ask him to stop barking. I interrupt my yoga, walk to Terra and fetch a few old slices of bread to offer to the swan family. “Your breakfast,” I say and throw them a few bites, when suddenly Papaschwan attacks me, snarling. “Uh, uh, I won’t hurt your little ones,” I flinch. “Well, that would be it. Adventurer injured by a swan during a camper van tour through Norway”, I see the imaginary headline of a daily newspaper.

“Ooooh, what’s that nasty smell,” asks Tanja during breakfast. “The farmer next door is spreading his manure on the meadow. But he could also be disposing of it,” I reply, looking out of the window. “Nobody in Norway just disposes of their manure like that,” Tanja replies. “I don’t think the Norwegians are much better than the Germans. They are lucky that 15 times fewer people live in this country than in Germany and that their country is 28,000 km² bigger than ours. There is less dirt and it is better distributed. And yet there are lakes in Norway that are heavily polluted. For example, Lake Vansjø below half of Oslo.” “Which lake?” “The lake where we met the bear hunter. It’s one of the lakes in Norway that is heavily polluted by sewage from the surrounding settlements, the nearby airport and agricultural use. So who knows if the farmer took a soil sample before his massive spreading of manure to determine what the soil was missing. We can only hope that the wind will change direction. If not, we’ll keep going,” I say.

In the afternoon I take care of our drone, which I would have liked to have flown on Kjeragbolten or Breikestolen. Unfortunately, drone flights are prohibited there. “What a load of crap,” I grumble. “Like what?” “I left my old smartphone at home. It has the app on it to fly the drone.” “Hm, can’t you download an app like that?” asks Tanja. “Let’s see. I don’t even know what kind of app that was. You need an app for every device these days. Sometimes I don’t even know where my head is anymore because of all the apps. Apps for the camera, the GoPro, the Gimpel and even the headlamp. The apps are going crazy,” I continue to rant to myself. An hour later, the drone control app is installed on my new smartphone. I check the charging situation of the hand control and the batteries and excitedly leave the Terra. “I hope everything works,” I think to myself. Then the Mavic 2 takes off and delivers the first images of the surroundings. “Is it working?” Tanja calls out. “Great!” I reply with satisfaction.

Nock! Nock! Nock! A knock at the door in the evening. A very slim young man is standing in front of me. “Sorry to bother you. I’m on my bike and have just come from the North Cape. Are you heading towards Stavanger by any chance?” “We’re heading towards Bergen. Why?” “Oh, the next tunnel isn’t open to cyclists. Thought you might be able to give me a lift.” “Closed tunnels are a real nightmare for cyclists. How do you get around them?” “I cycle around them, often via narrow pass roads, and if there’s no other option, I take the bus.” “There are countless tunnels in Norway,” I say, thinking of the many tunnels we had to ride through on our bikes in China. “Yes, lots of them and sometimes it’s really scary. Because of the echo, a small Polo sounds like a big truck and a truck sounds like a volcanic eruption, but I don’t need to tell you that,” he laughs. “Have you been traveling for a long time?” “For half a year. Now I have to leave for the south. It’s about to get rainy and cold up there in the north. Unfortunately, Corona has thrown a spanner in the works. Let’s see if the borders are open when I tackle southern Europe. So you’re heading in the wrong direction for me. Then I’ll call it a day and pitch my tent in that beautiful meadow. Have a nice evening.” “Thank you, we wish you the same, and above all keep enough air in your tires.”…