Hjørring — Mandal – Roaming Around

This post is part of adventure Scandinavia 2019

Day 7 Maiken and Junie had to leave early to go to work / school, which means that I was early outside, cycling on an alternate route to Hirtshals. Traffic was light on the narrow road and at 11:00 I arrived at the ferry terminal. The ferry to Norway came first one hour later. A motorcyclist from Norway joined my on the waiting lane and, after we had boarded, shared my table in the board restaurant, where we enjoy the lunch buffet and had good conversations.
The ferry leaved Hirtshals at 12:15 and reached Kristiansand at 15:30.

I cycled out of the harbour area and came to a busy cycleway close to the E18 highway. It started to rain and after minutes, following the instructions of my navigation app, was left alone on a graveled, steep slope in the middle of nowhere. Rain was now pouring and I had to push my bike for more than one kilometer on the muddy ground. Welcome to Norway was my first thought. I had booked a cabin close to the coastal road near Mandal and was relieved, as I finally reached the cabin. There was no shop or restaurant nearby, just a petrol station offering sausages and hamburgers along with some drinks. Not the best place to stay I thought. But the cabin was comfortable and I was no longer under the rain.