Tuesday 31st July 2018
Despite Alta campsite being just off the main road, which runs around the edge of the fjord, we were not disturbed by any traffic noise during the night.
The facilities were a little dated but were as always, clean and tidy and there was plenty of free hot water. There appears to be no delineation of pitches, which has been quite common in Scandinavia.
Our plan was to head to Tromsø, a city on an island of the same name. In order to cut down on the mileage, and to give Ray a well deserved break our journey would include a couple of ferry trips.
Towing Kilometres – Today: 415 Cumulative: 20,713
First stop, Olderdalen, for the ferry over to Lyngseidet on the 91, the same number as the road.
We were treated again with some marvellous views as we climbed high above the fjords, as well as those along the shoreline. We were not expecting snow capped mountains at this time of the year and the temperature was still in the high 20’s, even at altitude!
A whopping 449 KOR later and we were on board for the 35 minute journey. (It’s extra for any trailer). There was plenty of space on the upper deck for a stroll, as well as a café below deck with seating and usual facilities.
After disembarking we continued on route 91, along the inlet of the fjord to our next ferry port of Svensby.
There was no need to book in advance. Just rock up and wait in line. The system works on a first come, first served basis. Plus both these ferries operate a linked timed service so you don’t have to wait too long to connect to either.
20 minutes later and 326 NOK lighter we arrived at Breivikeidet and made our way east on route 91, then north on E 9, along the fjord towards Tromsø.
Our hearts sank as we made our approach to Tromsø. We hadn’t done any research about the city and it was much larger than we were anticipating. The ‘Paris of the North’ apparently.
In the distance spanning the water was a huge bridge and Tromsø was incredibly built up! Such a contrast to the small towns and villages we had been experiencing lately.
Once we had navigated the road works over the bridge and located an LPG station, we both decided that Tromsø was not for us and we made our way back out of the city via the modern tunnel under the fjord.
Now not knowing where we were heading and with a distinct lack of campsites we had to take stock and work out where to head next.
After trawling the internet and Google Maps for campsites we eventually settled on Elvelund Camping in Sjøvegan, Troms.
As we made our approach, Ray suddenly had a flash back to a previous motorcycle trip and remembered he had visited this site before. Although it was definitely not as busy as it was on our visit.
Luckily there were still one or two vacant spaces, albeit someway from the amenities and unfortunately not overlooking the fjord but peaceful.