Driving In The Rain

I took over the driving from Morten just after we passed Trondheim. Morten drives a Toyota Rav4 which I really came to appreciate. The initial drive along the E6 was pretty straight forward until we drove into the next thunder storm where I learnt all about aquaplaning first hand.

The real joy came when driving along the 769 after the detour to Stiklestad. Along this well kept minor road, which wound around some minor hills and valleys, there was absolutely no traffic and so we had the total freedom of the road which I took full advantage of.

Rejoining the E6 at Steinkjen, we made good progress up into Nordland (the first county of North Norway). Along this stretch the E6 only has one lane each way which is fine until you get stuck behind a slower car. The locals have perfected the art of overtaking along this undulating, windy road but this was one local custom I decided not to emulate.

Shortly after entering Nordland we encountered yet another thunderstorm and another downpour. However, this one was severe, even by the standards of the last few days. We were flagged down by a drenched official  who explained that the E6 had been closed ahead because a bridge had been swept away by the sheer volume of water flowing along the river it spanned! Our only choice was to backtrack and take a minor road through the countryside but that we had better hurry because he was not sure how much longer this country road would remain open for!

Unfortunately, unlike all of the other minor roads we had detoured along, this road was only wide enough for traffic one way at a time, was poorly maintained and more windy and sloppy than usual. Trying to drive quickly along this road in heavy rain with regular oncoming traffic was a really challenge for me. We saw in places waterfalls which were sweeping across the road and threatening to make it unpassable which only emphasised the need to maintain speed. I think it is safe to say that I swore for the first time in front of the in-laws when a couple of oncoming trucks refused to slow down or yield the centre of the road. It was a wicked choice to either risk losing the wing mirror on the care or risk sliding off the wet verging...it is fair to say that I learnt pretty quickly exactly how wide the car was!

Eventually, we made it back onto the E6 and made it to Mosjoen.