Day 17 - Boiling in Bud

Our parking place last night was the busiest one we’ve stayed at. However the sunset was beautiful. We stayed awake till 1am hoping to see more Aurora but nothing happened. Consequently we didn’t drive off till 10am, heading along the Atlanterhavsvegan. It was another gorgeous day, so much so that at our first stop we had to change clothing as it was 24C.

The drive over the bridges was delightful and we stopped often, though at one place there were so many campervans there was no space. The majority are German, with Norwegian and Netherlands not far behind. We’ve only seen one UK van during the whole trip. It wasn’t possible to really get a feel for the Atlantic road as one bridge let to a small island, then there would be another, or a causeway, snaking across the islands. The most stunning bridge looked like it was at a strange tipping angle, being both curved and steep. We had a few walks, trying to find a way to do it justice but it wasn’t possible, so I have made a collage which includes the aerial view copied from the information board.

We wanted to get off the busy 64 road so took a side road to Bud which we would not have seen had we re-joined the E39 south. Bud, a genuine fishing village, nestles at the end of a peninsula, facing west. We parked up by a place which had some art work stone circles, with geological explanations about the different rocks used.

A short walk, which we welcomed after the long drives of the previous two days, led us down to the waterfront where we wandered among the rorbus, admiring the red colour of the huts and the ochre of the houses. We walked uphill to a church with a kind of onion dome steeple. A flag was at half mast and a funeral was taking place. We continued on up the hill to the museum, (shut as summer is apparently over,) and found beyond a series of German WW2 heavy guns, searchlights and an underground control centre. Mr C had a little play. The path led down steps back to the parking place. Before getting our chairs out for a picnic we continued across the road to walk along a jetty, from where we got a pretty view back to the town.

We decided to have an easier day and save Alesund till tomorrow, so we drove on the E39 to Molde to get the ferry over to Vestnes. Mr C’s cunning plan was to leave the busy road, taking the 661 along the coast, and after rejecting a few possible parking spots (they would be in the shade of the steep hill behind) we found the perfect spot, off the quiet road onto a track at the end of which were spaces for 2 vans. We overlook the fjord and Midsumd. The chairs are out for tea in the sun as it moves round to the west. The only fly in the ointment is not a fly - lots of flying ants which eventually drove us indoors. I had to start on supper anyway - a cheesy pasta with tuna and broccoli.

A perfect day of only 82 miles.