Elk! It's a Moose

Where were we? Oh yes, Selbu. Now we had to get back to Hell and rejoin our route. Maybe I should be attaching maps to this Blog (Comments on a postcard to…).

Before we left, B practiced charming the receptionist (you never know when that might come in handy). I watched listened and learned. He faced a tough challenge. No hint of a smile. To use B’s own quote “On check-out the receptionist was quite gruff” and he was right there. We were hoping she would do us a favour and ring ahead to Mo to book us in for tonight. I did not fancy our chances. B persevered. Then we got the bill. Steam came from B’s ears. B does not do ‘tuts’, He bypasses those preliminaries. No warnings. No long exhalation of breath (note to self: gotta stop doing that). I checked that I could get out the door quickly if there was an explosion. Instead I was impressed. Controlled rage. ‘Eh, I am terribly sorry, but there does appear to be something not quite right with this invoice’ (or words to that effect). Now at this point the poor woman should have just said ‘Yes, B’ and accepted that whatever it was, she was wrong. But no. She assumed an air of righteous indignation that comes from the certainty that some upstart had mistakenly had the effrontery to even suggest the possibility that everything was not perfection itself and that, as a matter of fact, B was wrong. Now this was a new one for the books (or the Blog). I edged closer to the door, hand on the handle. But no: what followed was a masterclass in assertiveness (this guy should give lessons) that resulted in her accepting that she had indeed made a substantial mistake. Wow! Great, now lets get out of here. But no: amazingly B kept at it and charmingly asked whether she would do us one small favour and ring ahead to Mo to book us in for tonight. And she did! Then B, in his usual expression of appreciation told her “now you can have the rest of the day off” And she smiled. A bright cheery smile and wished us all the best for the day. Keep this guy away from the North Pole - he’d melt it!

Now lets get to Hell out of here.

A bit down the road we stopped to take a photograph of a warning sign we had spotted the night before in the rain. The triangular warning signs are sought after souvenirs for many German tourists and there are warnings that it is dangerous and a criminal offence to nick the signs. They do however provide the backbone for the design of all sorts of souvenirs, including the ubiquitous T Shirt, mugs, and stickers. The subject of the warning, the Moose (often called the Elk in Europe) or, to give him his Latin nomenclature - Alces alces - is the largest member of the deer family. He is a heavy (up to 820 kilos), long-legged and tall (up to 2 meters at the shoulder) ruminant. As in other members of the deer family, his antlers are shed and regrown annually. He eats a variety of grasses, herbs, and bark and has a penchant for fruit. Mind you this got him into difficulty in Norway a couple of years back when a warm summer produced a lot of fruit that was then covered by early snowfalls. The fruit started fermenting but was a readily available and tempting source of food for the moose. He got drunk in the process of eating them all. Local paper Faedrelandsvennen carried warnings to "Be careful when you approach moose that have been munching apples for days. Their behaviour can alter and they can become frighteningly aggressive. Clap and see how it reacts. If it doesn't retreat but instead comes even closer, by all means stay vigilant. It can be intoxicated and attack"

The moose prefers being near water and often wades into forest-edged lakes and streams to feed on aquatic plants. Usually solitary, their normal gait is a stiff-legged, shuffling walk that enables them to cover ground with surprising speed. They sometimes trot but seldom run. Moose are usually shy, but they tend to be unpredictable and belligerent. During the breeding season, in autumn, the males will fight fiercely for mates. One to three ungainly young are born after gestation of about eight months.

Big Moose Country

The fact that the moose is a big lump on stilts of legs makes him particularly dangerous in an encounter with a car. The poor moose gets chopped off at the legs and then takes retribution when his heavy body falls through the windscreen. The result is usually serious for both motorist and moose. Scandanavian car makers Volvo took advantage of this and developed a test - the Älgtes- to design cars that were safer in these circumstances and then ran an advertising campaign pointing out that there were no moose in Japan and implying that, as a result, Japanese cars were not as safe on Northern European roads. Norway's moose population has exploded in recent years and there are frequent reports of serious accidents with cars. Attempts were made to reduce the number by setting the hunt quota at over 44,486 moose.

TAlp Shopped

While we were stopped at the sign, the weather changed and the rain returned. We got back into our wet gear returned to Hell, rejoined the E6 and headed North to Steinkjer. By the way, there were almost 800 moose shot a couple of years ago in the Steinkjer area: the second highest number in a Norway. We saw…well none actually. But hail, yes we saw, felt and heard that as we motored along. It was cold too so we stopped on the outskirts of Steinjker for coffee sandwiches and buns in the petrol station. Great. Warmed us up too. And there were others bikers there at the same game - a guy and girl from Canada: we were to meet them again at the salmon fish farm (Laksavir Fiskmuseum) and at the polar circle. When we left we only got a kilometre or so up the road before we ran into a traffic jam. We sat, or rather stood, there for about twenty minutes while workers blasted rock from a cliff face ahead of us, then cleaned the road and let us through. Hail sounds even louder on your helmet while you are stopped!

The rain turned to showers by the time we were passing the powerstation and salmon farm so we stopped there for a while. The scenery along here all the way to our destination that night in Mo I Rana was wonderful. Again words do not do it justice but a few photographs might help. We took plenty and if you want to see them then make sure you get the DVD slidehow prepared by B.

It was a relatively long day – we would have 490 kilometres done by the time we stopped in Mo – so we stopped again in Tofors for more sandwiches and coffee at a petrol station; here they even had tables and seats! I nipped out to get something off the bike and realised why we had been wearing jackets and raingear even while it was not raining…it was cold!!.

Our own private roads

But we eventually reached Mo, checked in, hung up the wet gear and put on “evening wear” and strolled into town. We had a lovely Chinese meal in the Kro as recommended in the guide. The Guide says ‘the fare is surprisingly good even if the surroundings are a little drab’. They were not wrong. The façade would not entice you in but the food was excellent. There can be such variety in Chinese food. What I got in Bergen was so stodgy, gluey, cold, and congealed it was inedible and should have put me off Chinese food for life. However, I gave it a go again here and was rewarded. Good hot food well served. If in Mo give Kro a go!

Mo Ships

Mo at midnight

Afterward we walked some more and retired in bright nightlight. A new day had arrived quietly and today was the day we hoped to get inside the circle. If only I had not cut myself. Here we go again, I thought. Dijon repeated. A bloody mess....