Day 18: Thu 27 Jul: Stromstad to Fredrikstad

Cycle: 64 km - Total so far: 809 km

Start time: 8:45
Stop time: 2:35pm
Weather: cloudy but fine, 16 to 20deg 

After 1.5km to clear the town we got onto a gravel road through a very peaceful forest. This ended after 7km and we spent the rest of the day on smooth tarmac. Some bike paths, some quiet back roads and a few not-so-quiet roads. Again, everyone was cautious around us. At the 20km mark we came across a shopping complex at Nordby, in the middle of nowhere, which also had a Maccas so that was a good trigger for a coffee stop. Not long after that we crossed the border into Norway, using the Svinesund Bridge (Norwegian: Svinesundsbrua, Swedish: Svinesundsbron), a 704m through arch bridge.

Lunch was purchased at a REMA 1000 at Sjkeberg - nice fresh sandwiches and strawberries. About 10km out of Fredrikstad we stopped to check smart phones on how to get off a busy road to the hotel, when a young local on a bicycle offered to show us a bicycle route. We gladly accepted and off he went. This young man was on his grandfather’s bike with no gears and was going like the clappers, not considering for a moment his six older followers were all laden with 10-15kg of luggage.  A very fast 20 minutes later we were shown the free ferry which would take us across the river to the city and to our hotel. 

Our hotel, Victoria Hotel, is a lovely old-world charm place 10 minutes walk from the city centre. 
After washing duties, we went for more free ferry rides so that we could orientate ourselves to the city layout (Wendy elected to stay in as Greg had kindly shared his sore throat and head cold). We saw that the size and the number of pleasure craft here is staggering and well on par with what we had seen in Sweden. 

Dinner was taken at an "Irish Pub" (O’Leary’s) which certainly had Scandinavian prices. It's by far the most expensive country that we have ever visited. However, we were aware that it was going to be that way when we were planning the tour so it's not too much of a surprise.




Our room at Hotel Victoria, overlooking the park and the smokers


An old house at Fredrikstad

Fredrikstad Town Hall

Fredrikstad Domkirke

The Svinesund Bridge

Being farewelled by our host at Emma's B&B

The forest road

Recharge your car at Maccas

Morning tea stop

At the Norwegian border

The river which forms the Swedish/Norwegian border

Our local guide who showed us the way into Fredrikstad

The free ferry to the city

A local ferry stop

Central Fredrikstad

A cafe in the mall at Fredrikstad

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