NPL Day 111
Day 111: Thursday 5 October 2023
North of Gitlestein-Lindesnes (Nesvarden) via Lindesnes lighthouse
This morning started out great. No rain, and since it was our last day it didn't matter that our tent was wet, we could just pack it down.
When we hiked it was really beautiful. The morning was so calm, the sunrise was so pretty and the birds were singing.
But getting closer was... Tough. Our feelings were all over the place, but it was hard to feel happy. We got mad at each other several times during the day for silly reasons, like that the day wasn't perfect. Today wasn't just our finishing day, it was also our 10 year anniversary together, and it felt strange that we didn't really have any way to celebrate any of it. It also felt sad that all of this would soon be over. In a way it was a relief to not have to walk anymore, but at the same time we didn't want the adventure to end.
In Spangereid we passed some signs with interesting history on, and also passed a horse with a cool moustache that we said hello to. The fence wasn't very sturdy though, and maybe the horse knew that... He pushed his body against the fence and the whole thing moved. So we quickly continued, and hoped that us walking away meant he would stop leaning against the fence. We didn't want to be the reason it broke 😂
A little bit later we took a break in the sun close to the sea. Kim was feeling sad and confused again... But we had to keep going.
A little further and now we could see the lighthouse. Kim was again close to tears and Lukas suggested that we should sit down for another rest and talk, and Kim burst out crying. It felt better after a while, but the emotions were really all over the place...
She also ate her Billy's now. It was meant to be saved for the finish line, but she was so hungry so she really needed it now.
We walked all the way to the lighthouse. We made a movie of ourselves with the GoPro then walked up in the lighthouse, and then went down with a "now what"-feeling. It took a few minutes, then we managed to gain enough courage to ask some strangers to take pictures of us in front of the lighthouse. We had heard from the French hiker, Hervé, that we met almost 100 days ago, that the lighthouse warden kept a book with all the NPL hikers that passed through. But how to find the warden?
As we hiked down towards the white house that we heard he was supposed to stay in, we saw that the dog in the garden was really excited to see someone. So we guessed that he must be the owner of the dog, and warden.
When we asked him and said that we had heard about the book, he was really happy to meet us and invited us to his home. There we sat down, talked for a while and got to write in the book. Apparently he was a lighthouse warden together with some others, and they were working shifts.
We signed the book and talked some more. He even offered us to sleep in the lighthouse, but we decided to politely decline. Both because of the camping cabin we had booked and that it had a proper bed, kitchen and shower and we wanted to be fresh for our travel home - in the lighthouse there was nothing. But also because it was to be a stormy night, with over 20 m/s gusts. We didn't want to be in the lighthouse, that close to the sea, with those winds...
Before leaving he also took a photo of us for the book. Then we had to walk to the southernmost point too! Not just the lighthouse.
As we continued towards the southernmost point, a little bit more to the east, Kim managed to slip in the mud when she tried to stay dry, and started to cry uncontrollably.... Worse than ever. She started sobbing about how she couldn't do it, how she couldn't finish. But finally we reached the cliff that was the end point of Norway. Kim was crying now too, and we spent some time there on the cliff, while Lukas talked about the hike, what we had done and how much he loves Kim.
After again trying to get her shit together, we found a small inlet where Lukas could swim, so he finally got to swim in both ends of Norway.
Then it was time to head back to the camping. We found some geocaches, then walked the 3 km back to the camping in Lillehavn. Everything seemed good, we never met the owner but the key was in the cabin door and we started to prepare dinner, take a shower and get ready to go home early tomorrow. Since we were getting up and leaving super early tomorrow, Kim thought it was a good idea to prepare everything in the evening. Even put the money on the table with the key so it would be easy to access. That was when we found out that the small zipbag with Lukas' bank card, ID card and the 800 NOK that we withdrew yesterday, weren't in the shoulder pocket anymore... Kim started to cry and panic all over again that we lost so much money, the most important things, on the VERY last day. How could we now pay for the camping? What should we do? And that all of this was happening on a day that was supposed to be good and happy, but was all but!?
It felt especially bad that Kim had suggested that we should put the 800 NOK in the zipbag that we normally keep cash in, were Kim stores her cards etc, so it would be safe, and Lukas had literally said that it was fine, because he had kept the cards in his shoulder pocket the entire hike and nothing had happened. But of course it happened now...
Lukas calmed her down, and we had food and popcorn, and things felt slightly better. Then we really had to go to bed, because the day after we had to go up at like 5 o'clock, clean the cabin and then catch the bus half a km away, at 06:43 in the morning 😴
Today's
Distance: 24.59 km
Start time: 08:06
End time: 16:50
Ascent: 464 m
Descent: 662 m
Tent: 63/111
Total distance from the North Cape: 2742.64 km
