Day 24: Wed 2 Aug: Oslo to Karlstad
Cycle: 24 km - Total so far: 979
km
Start time: 7:30am
Stop time: 4:30pm
Weather: overcast with some showers
Today we caught the bus (218km) back into Sweden. We did this for two reasons:
1. because it's too far to ride the distance we need to in the time allocated
and, 2. we couldn't actually find accommodation near the places within rideable
distances when we were planning this tour.
The rain showers conveniently stopped for Wendy, Kate, Mick and Greg
(Maree & Ken were on a later bus) to ride the 1.3km to the central bus
terminal. We quickly established ourselves on the edge of the empty loading bay
of platform 10. This was so we wouldn't have to carry our bagged bikes too far.
We then set about packing the bikes, without disassembling them too much;
peddles, panniers, front wheels off, turn the handlebars sideways and pop the
whole lot into Bunnings garden bags that we had brought with us. 20 minutes
later we were all done. The bus arrived shortly after and Mick got into the
luggage compartment and we handed the bikes and panniers into him. It was with
some relief that we boarded the bus and departed spot on time, 8:45am. We had
done plenty of train journeys with the bikes before but this was our first bus
trip with them. The bus was very comfortable and the scenery very picturesque.
The 2 hours 45 minutes went quickly and the hills were hardly any effort at
all.
On arrival in Karlstad it took us 20 minutes to unpack, reassemble the
bikes and ride away. We were so pleased with our efforts that we shouted
ourselves a Maccas coffee and sat on the river bank to have our lunch. We
then rode the 4.5km to our hotel, Best Western located near the E18. Only one
room was ready so we threw all the luggage in there and after a 15-minute wait
for the rain to stop we rode back into town for a look around. Found a lovely
town square with lots of grand old buildings.
About 4pm we rode to the bus terminal where Ken and Maree had just
arrived. We waited for them whilst they unpacked and reassembled their bikes
and the six of us rode to the hotel. After pre-dinner drinks, dinner was a
buffet for five of us, while Mick opted for a burger; wise choice as we (Greg)
tend to overindulge with a nice buffet.
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