Nordkapp

That Havoysund waiting room was comfy enough for me easily fall asleep. Four hours later I woke up to the noise of people entering the building to wait for their bus. I grabbed some food from the local supermarket before heading back to the pier and almost missed the boat because it had been the wrong pier all along. Luckily I noticed the enormous Hurtigrute ship further down the port in time. Once again I was on bord MS Nordlys and had no trouble locating my favorite corner on the observation deck from earlier journeys. This time however the sightseeing was limited due to the thick fog that blocked the view in most directions.

I disembarked two hours later in Honningsvag and took on the dreaded crossing of the island of Mageroya. It's always a challenge regardless of the weather but this time it got really rough: a relentless headwind with gusts that threatened to push me off the road on the descents joined forces with rain clouds and freezing cold air to try and sabotage my ride. Above an altitude of 100 m it was like cycle touring the Styx whereas down in the valleys it could actually be quite pleasant. The reindeer didn't seem to mind. A few groups of them were relaxing at 300 meters facing the elements with the stoic calm of an animal that just made it through the arctic winter. I prevailed in the end, and even allowed myself a short detour to explore the fishing village of Skarsvag.

At Nordkapp visibility was better than expected: the iconic globe sculpture wasn't veiled in fog, at least not all the time, and there was a clear view of the sea. I had the obligatory picture taken and then went to talk to the various cycle tourers that were hanging out in the hall. Some of them had long journeys behind them; I was the "freshest" one by a long mile with only two and a half days on the road so far. It was late afternoon when I left. I've never been to the Kapp this early, but there was no point waiting for the midnight sun behind these gray clouds.

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