Ski and Paddle Norway 2009

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The forecast yesterday was now being reality outside the window of my cabin where there was a 6-7 metre high willow bush. It was thrashing about widely in the wind but the waves on the beach were not that big. I rechecked the forecast and it said it would be a force 5 in the morning rising to a force 6 in the afternoon. It was frustrating but I had to resign myself to staying here for another day and resort to plan B.

Plan B was to forget the paddle over Oslofjord to Svinnesund on the Swedish border. Svinnesund was up an inlet and involved a large detour. Instead I would take a more direct line to Oslo, which was a lot further than Svinnesund. Oslo was about 140 km from here, or 3 long days paddling. The next 30 km to Tonsbergtonne needed a force 5 or less as it was an exposed section with many shoals waiting to spring a surprise.

I then had a bit more of a sleep before getting up at 1000 and doing some office work until 1200 when Reidun arrived. She said Roy, the journalist, was at the bakery in Nevlunghavn and wanted to treat me to lunch there. I showered and then walked through Nevlunghavn to the bakery.

It was a 20 year old family run business which made bread, cakes and had a café also selling filled rolls and soup. It seemed to be doing a roaring trade and many of the locals seemed to come here for lunch and a social catch up. People seemed to rate it better than the hotel. We joined a table with 3 others and there was a lot of banter. Both Roy and Reidun had to return to work so I wandered through Nevlunghavn again.

The winter population of Nevlunghavn was about 500 but in the summer this can rise to 5000. There are a lot summer houses here which are just used for 2-3 months in the holidays and then closed up for the autumn. It was already autumn. All the houses, summer or permanent were well kept and many of the gardens had apple or pear trees heavy with fruit.

I wondered through the small lanes and around the small harbour area for two hours admiring the buildings and the village. There were a few older men repairing lobster creels for the season which opens on October 1st. These creels are made from slats of wood rather than netting over a wire frame.

I returned about 1600 and relaxed in the cabin. The management here had given me a free night in the cabin as I was stuck by the weather, which was very generous of them. I spent the rest of the afternoon looking out of the window at the increased wind which was a definite force six now, doing some paper work and looking at the weather forecasts for updates. It seems to be less dire for the next days now but it is an ever changing situation. I will have to play it by ear and take any opportunity when it comes.

It had been a frustrating day but Nevlunghavn was a nice place to be stuck in.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 1st, 2009 at 8:10 pm and is filed under Update. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.