Monty the Motorhome is spending a second night at Elvegård Camping, as we’ve decided to take it easy and view the maelstrom again as the tide comes in.
The hot showers reported on yesterday’s post were just brilliant. However the set up was a little odd. There are two shower cubicles, adjacent to one another, in the Men’s wash-block - no problem with that, quite normal really. However the two are separated by a semi-opaque piece of glass, such that you have no privacy from anyone using the other shower. I suppose it is just the same as having communal showers, but of course we have that British reserve. Ruth says it is exactly the same set up in the Ladies. Now if there was a Unisex wash-block life would be interesting!
The rain set in again last night and we went to bed early. However at about 11.30 pm there was the sound of revving motorbikes just outside the side door, followed by the sound of people talking. Peeping out a short while later we were amazed to see a tent pitched about 1 meter away form us. There was plenty of space elsewhere on the site, so heaven knows why they decided to cosy up to us. Anyway they were up and about before us in the morning and gone by the time we opened the blinds.
With showery rain forecast for the day we set off in waterproofs to see the incoming tidal display. This is supposed to be better than the outflow that we saw yesterday. We arrived just before the peak, again viewing from the bridge apex, and were disappointed. Yes there were swirls and eddies, yes the play of light on the ever changing water surface was mesmerizing, yes the water looked like boiling treacle - but somehow, as it is supposed to be the world’s most powerful maelstrom, it was underwhelming.
We went on and into Saltstraumen village, walking alongside the swirling waters, that were racing by at quite a speed. In places where the water was boiling up there were masses of fish jumping out of the water. We’ve never seen so many doing this. An army of gulls and terns were swooping down in a feeding frenzy, and close by we sat watching some fishermen just casting in and seconds later pulling out decent sized fish (cod, we think). Ruth was quite jealous, as she hankers for a small fishing rod; but by her own admission says she wouldn’t know what to do if she actually caught a fish. Sounds like there would be two things flapping about.
In keeping with fish theme we returned to Monty and had tinned mackerel sandwiches for lunch. Great mixed with a bit of tubed mayonnaise and some sliced cucumber.
The site is right next to the shoreline, so we went for a walk in the afternoon, armed with binoculars, looking for eagles and otters, both of which are supposed to be common in these parts. We managed to see a couple of eagles flying some way off-shore, but no otters.
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| Beautiful shoreline just down from the campsite |
Back at the site this evening it seems deserted. Yesterday there were six other motorhomes, today just one other. The holiday season in Norway seems to be coming to an end - we have seen a number of places with opening times that start at the beginning of July and end after the first week in August. A remarkably short season.
Our evening meal tonight was good old bacon and eggs, with baked beans thrown in. Cooked in the campsite kitchen, which along with their washing up facilities, means Monty is odour free tonight.
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