NORTH SEA SUMMER

The headland west of Lomesanden The campsite at Lomesanden is hidden away behind a giant industrial site making aluminium castings. There is a wide, curving sandy beach sheltered to the west by a headland crowned by WWII German gun emplacements, so it’s very safe! The site was about 3km from the town of Farsund and when I cycled into town I found a huge new roundabout on the edge hosting two large supermarkets.  This proved to be a pattern in Norway, as I suppose it is in the UK. Sometimes three supermarkets shared a roundabout.  They were all a little different in price and range of goods available, but I wouldn’t want to spoil any traveller’s fun by telling them which was which. On Monday I took a day off from cycling - and cycled into Farsund.  It was mostly closed – partly because it was still winter and partly, I think, because it was Monday.  It’s quite a small town with a population that clearly grows a lot in the summer when the holiday...

After a night with the nightingales (who were still singing in the morning) I headed off along the coast towards Kristiansand and Arendal.    Boat in garden - Lillesand It was a quiet sunny day and there were holiday homes and boats everywhere.   I began to think that there might be more boats than Norwegians.   By the time I reached Kristiansand it was feeling like summer.   I wandered around the town a bit and then set off to find the campsite out near the airport.   It was in a massive open field by a main road and was the most expensive I stayed on in Norway – more than twice the price of the excellent one at Sandnes the previous night. The girl on the check-in assured me it was the best in Kristiansand and I believed her because I’d been told the other one was more like a swamp. Map. The next day I continued on towards Arendal, inland at first to reach a bridge, then back to the coast. Lilac was coming into bloom, and dog-roses, and I ke...