We opted for a quiet last full day with Winston, and thought we'd do a little more exploring of the local shoreline along the south coast. We also wanted to spend the afternoon repacking our bags prior to returning Winston the following morning.
Leaving Nevlunghavn, we took a very quiet road with lush forest and rock cuts as we diagonaled back to the E18. After a few short interchanges, we hopped off to visit a 24-hour Circle K for our morning coffee. Not only was it our 10th free coffee - meaning our thermal mugs had now paid for themselves - but Jane also got to witness some other guy order and scarf down two hot dogs.....at 745am.
With full mugs, we jumped back on the E18 and continued west, marvelling at the ongoing efforts to twin the highway AND several associated bridges and mountain tunnels! Soon the road ramped up to 110 km/h for a stretch, so we made good time before hopping off again to explore the shore.
Winding our way down Road 38 into Kragero, literally and figuratively, we were surprised to find a quaint little seaside town awaiting us at the end of the road. A protected harbour/canal ran through the downtown, with a pedestrian walking bridge spanning both sides. Another (single-lane) bridge allowed vehicle traffic across to a connected island.
Walking a little further up, a maze of narrow streets and odd angles greeted us. After walking the old town, we found a lovely little bakery for a second coffee and a delicious snack. Jane even wowed the staff showing them how Google Translate (via Lens) worked on her phone to turn Norwegian signs to English. She had a cinnamon knot, and I had possibly the most scrumptious donut ever - a custard-filled dense disc with chocolate on top!
Before heading out, we stopped at the local Kiwi and bought a bunch of brunost (brown cheese) and Norwegian snacks to bring back home. After re-tracing our route through a surprising number of tunnels and roundabouts, we regained the E18 and sped eastward. We also topped up Winston's tank at an automat to save time in the morning.
Jane picked out a great campground for the night, and we were the first people to arrive at Hummerbakken Camping just outside Stavern. OK, so in the end only one other camper showed up anyway, but we had our pick of great spots along a little ocean inlet on a perfect sunny day, to relax and re-jig the luggage.
We had ham sandwiches in the afternoon and finally tried our can of spicy tomato mackerel, before re-heating last night's leftovers for dinner. We also enjoyed showers and did the final round of dishes. We headed to bed with everything in readiness for the next morning.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment