Yesterday, on the eleventh day of our journey, we travelled from the buzzing city of Tromsø to the peaceful village of Bognes. It was a day of contrasting experiences, as we left the city’s hustle and bustle and embraced the tranquillity of the countryside.
We continued our journey south on the E6, Norway’s main north-south artery. The landscapes along the route offered a visual feast of mountains, fjords, and forests. The ever-changing scenery, coupled with the peacefulness of the journey, made for a memorable day.
Our arrival in Bognes marked the end of our eleventh day. This beautiful coastal village, located at the tip of the Skjomen fjord, was the perfect place to unwind and reflect on our journey so far.
Car charge and usage data
Not much distance, not much speed, not much traffic. All of this equated to a great miles per kWh figure of 4.2.
We did not use any Tesla superchargers at all on Day 11. We used two fast chargers from networks at petrol stations, the first one being at a Circle K and the second at Shell. The second one was not strictly necessary in order to reach our destination but, as always, it’s good to get a head start on the next day.
Story of the day
It was hard to wake up in the morning because of the partying all night. Well, until 3:00am (and – to be clear – not by us) but we were in the city centre and then there was lots of music, screaming and talking. And the seagulls were an absolute nightmare to deal with. But we couldn’t shut the windows because it was too hot in the hotel rooms.
After publishing the blog for the previous day, we went for a walk around the city as a small bit of exercise before we left. On the way, we went into a gift shop – the only one that was open that early in the morning.
A little while longer of exploring the city and we decided to go back to our hotel to have breakfast. But there was no breakfast to be seen in our hotel restaurant. The receptionist explained that it was in the neighbouring hotel. So the team went over the road and got plates to fill with buffet food again. One of the items was doughnut / polo mint shaped crispbread.
Then we were reminded that the lift was broken in the hotel. We decided to take the bags in two trips. On the way to and from the car park the first time, we got a bit lost but we got to see more of the city and got some more exercise too. On our second run, we had a spare hand so used the mobile phone’s map app to get to the car park. The car was then packed, the parking was paid for and so we left Tromsø at around 11:20am. A very late start relative to every other day of the trip so far.
We drove for a little while out of the city until we came across a Circle K petrol station that had its own set of electric chargers. The charging place was also the lorry parking so there was some tight manouevering needed. We decided to charge there for a little while, while we got some drinks and filmed some videos. Drinks consisted of a chilled coffee and a small mango and orange smoothie.
Then we set off driving again up the many mountains. If you’re not paying attention you could think they’re all pretty similar but each climb, each bend, each descent has a magic all of its own.
We also had our lunch on the way which was a shared ham and cheese sandwich.
We came to our second charge stop after a while. It was really nice, with picnic tables and everything, plus the majesty and beauty of a petrol station next door. Charging was contactless so you no need for us to sign up for an app just to use one charger, as we did with Circle K (although to be fair, it might come in handy over the next few days).
Then was another drive. The navigation on the car kept predicting different times we would get to the hotel. This is because it thought we would miss the ferry but we didn’t end up doing so. We managed to get the 18:00 one and so made it to the hotel not long after.
The main E6 road includes the ferry as an integral part of the route. The ferries are much smaller than, say, a Dover to Calais one – appropriate for the low volume of traffic – but there is still a cafe, seating, toilet facilities and plenty of space to walk around. The facilities at each end are also impressive; the investment that goes into making sure people have proper facilities on their drives is wonderful to see. Compare and contrast with some other European countries further south.
A small budget roadside hotel awaited us and it was absolutely fine. Warm, dry, clean with all the facilities we need. Perfect and even better, it was literally next to the E6 so our journey could continue the following day with ease.
That said, we had to get to the restaurant quickly because it was closing very soon. Something we have been used to on this trip.
