Too late!

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

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The bumpy gravel path gets better and better. Rusty crash barriers secure the roadway, then black asphalt lies beneath the wheels of the Terra. The mountain range to the east of us, which has pushed our track to the North Sea for a few kilometers, recedes more and more. A small permanent campsite appears at the beginning of the valley. Numerous caravans are parked in this fantastically beautiful place behind the foothills. Instead of an awning, a small wooden hut is erected in front of almost every caravan. Like a German allotment garden colony, Norwegians use such places as their weekend and vacation domicile. Then we reach the southernmost point of the island of Andøya. The narrow strip of asphalt now winds its way north again. Fjords, skerries, rivers, lakes, moors, lonely mountain valleys and small plateaus accompany us to the town of Sortland, which today is home to 10,566 people and is a landing stage for the Hurtigruten (traditional Norwegian mail boat line). “Enter the LPG filling station into the sat nav,” I ask Tanja as I steer our Terra Love over the imposing 948-metre-long Sortland Bridge, which was built in 1970 and connects the islands of Hinnøya and Langøya. When there was no bridge, a ferry transported vehicles and passengers across the strait. The crossing was one of the busiest in Norway at the time.

“Got it. Turn left at the end of the bridge. From there it’s only about 2 kilometers,” Tanja indicates the direction. At 15:40 we are standing in front of the LPG filling station. “That’s strange. No one there,” Tanja wonders. We discover a sign. “Closed from 3:30 p.m.,” Tanja reads aloud. “What a bummer. 10 minutes late,” I get annoyed. “So, what do we do now? We urgently need gas.” “No idea,” I reply, checking the map in the sat nav. “As far as I can tell, the nearest LPG filling station is in the town of Narvik. That’s about 180 kilometers from here,” I think. “Narvik is on our route?” “Yes, but with a detour of 20 kilometers.” “That means we’d have to drive for a good three hours today and we’d also be driving in the dark.” “Correct.” “Why don’t we find a parking space here for the night and fill up with gas in the morning. Then we’ll be rested on the journey and won’t have to take a detour,” Tanja suggests. “That’s exactly what we do. Who knows what it’s good for. Maybe we’ve arrived here 10 minutes too late to experience something extraordinarily great tonight,” I joke. “As you know, nothing just happens,” Tanja replies with a laugh.

While Tanja shops in a nearby supermarket, I study the parking space app Park4Night and find a promising parking space on the opposite side of Sortland where you can stay for free. “What have you found?” asks Tanja as she returns with her bags full. “I think so. We have to cross the bridge again. The place is on the other side of the Fojrds.” “Well, let’s go then. I’ve bought some delicious shrimps for tonight. Don’t you like them?” “Great idea. We’ll fry them on our table grill,” I reply happily. Minutes later, I park our expedition vehicle in reverse on an old jetty covered in deep holes. “Perfect!” I shout. “Absolutely. We even have a fantastic view of Sortland from here. Maybe you can take a few pictures of the town tonight.” “If the weather stays like this, it’s worth considering,” I reply, pulling the handbrake and the ignition key out of the lock. While Tanja prepares our dinner, I type the day’s experiences into my laptop as I do every evening, save the pictures from the camera on two external hard drives and start adding captions and bullet points. “How much longer do you need?” asks Tanja, putting a can of beer on the table. “Done”, I reply, fold up the laptop and can hardly wait to tuck into the delicious shrimps. “The sunset looks fantastic,” says Tanja, looking out of the window. “Fabulous. What more could you expect. A mega great meal, plus an exclusive pitch right on the fjord, above which the evening sky sets in a veritable explosion of color. Simply fantastic. Now all we need is a big aurora over the city and we’ll know why we were 10 minutes late for refueling.”…