Heading south. This would be the first day that I had to retrace my route. I knew exactly what the roads would be like, the scenery and what waited at the end – which was as bit strange after a week of every morning heading into the unknown.

Anyway the day started with my first non porridge based breakfast in a few days with the Slettnes Lighthouse breakfast and views out to the Barents
Sea. I loaded the bike up in the rain, said goodbyes and headed south on the most northerly road in Europe. Got as far as the most northerly museum in Europe. The Gamvik Museum was fascinating, especially as I was in no rush, with the weather and the Hurtigruten not due into Mehamn until 1am the next day. It had a wide variety of sections ranging from the archeology of the area, the Sami people,  stockfish and the destruction at the end of WW2. Had a good chat with the curator about the museum and living in Gamvik during the dark, cold and snow of winter.

Eventually I had to face going back out into the cold and wet to cycle over the three big hills to Mehamn. Met some cyclists at halfway who were very envious of my neoprene overshoes, as it was very wet and cold. Despite the weather the scenery was impressive and I stopped to take many photographs.

When I made it back to Mehamn, I holed up in a bus shelter on the edge of town (that I’d noticed on the way out), it was 2 pm and only 11 hours to wait for the Hurtigruten. I ate a slow lunch in the bus shelter, until eventually local children kept walking past just to see if the foreign cyclist was still there. I moved on to the cafe for coffee and cake, which I stretched as long as I could. I went to the Hurtigruten terminal which had a nice waiting room and toilet, which became my home for the next eight hours as I didn’t really fancy going outside.

I did wander around a bit and shopped in the co-op before it closed. The north bound boat, the MS Midnatsol, came in about 8:30. It was a very big ship and a few passengers and a car left the ship and a cargo of pallets of fish boxes was unloaded. It was turned around in about 10 minutes.

Eventually the MS Lofoten arrived, a much smaller ship and I had to carry my bike up the gangway. I was quickly booked in and given a windowless cabin.

The ship seemed deserted, which suprised me, even though it was 1 am, as this was the most northerly port and while there was no sun, there was plenty of brightness. I learnt the next day that the crossing from Kirknes had been a bit rough and everyone was suffering.

Friday 26 June 2015, (Distance Cycled 24 km, Total Distance 727 km)