Senja

Day 31: Andenes-Brensholmen/Kvaløya (89 km)

We took a ferry this morning at 8:45 from Andenes to Grillefjord on the island Senja. Unfortunately, it was very misty today, so we didn’t see so much of the beautiful nature at Senja.

There are two ways to cross Senja – either via the west coast facing the ocean or via the east coast. My map of cycling routes indicated the eastern route, but the traffic signs for cyclists indicated the western route. Apparently, some of the tunnels on the western route have been upgraded in recent years so that they are safer for cyclists now. Since the western route was 20 kilometres shorter, we chose that one.

There were many tunnels indeed. Some of them had a button which cyclists can push before they enter the tunnel, upon which a warning light switches on which indicates for car drivers that there are cyclists in the tunnel. Most of the tunnels were well lit and there was very little traffic, so they weren’t a big problem either.

We had lunch at a motel in Skaland – a not so good hamburger at a weird place with weird people. When we continued, we noticed that the mist was getting thinner, but the sun first came through when we had crossed the last mountain pass. The route was rather hilly today, and we had more than one thousand metres uphill in total.

When we reached the harbour at Botnhamn from where we took another ferry to Brensholmen on the island Kvaløya, the sky was all grey again.

We now have a bit more than 50 kilometres to go to Tromsø tomorrow. So we will have a short day and the chance to wash clothes, take a long warm shower and relax.