Wednesday 7 September 2022--Up early to catch the ferry. It's the regular vessel, and I'm startled by the size of it--it's actually rather small for a car ferry, I suppose, but it's a leviathan compared to the boat I arrived on. This is the start of a long, complicated travel day, which I've made more complicated than necessary. I will ride three ferries and six buses. It's not as bad as it sounds.

The morning sun makes Ona seem to glow as we curl out of the harbor and sail away. I find myself feeling unexpectedly emotional. I've written before about the pang of departure, the bittersweet farewell to places I may not see again. I don't know why Ona should affect me like that. It's a small place, nice enough, but I can't say that it has anything really special to offer, or that I made any kind of personal connection. And yet there is some sort of magic to it. I would be glad to return, even to stay a bit longer. It seems very unlikely that I will.

The ferry makes stops at Sandøy and Finnøy, where I boarded the fourteen- seater two days ago, before dropping me at Småge, on the island of Aukra. There's a short wait for the bus for Molde, which crosses Aukra and drives right onto the ferry to the mainland. The bus trip takes about an hour.

I have a little time to kill in Molde. The town looks like it would be worth a bit of exploration, but I'm hauling my bags around. Besides, there's a cruise ship in, one of several that I saw in Ålesund, and the streets are full of cruisoids. I find a quiet café overlooking the waterfront and relax for a while.

Here is where I've made things complicated: I'm headed to Kristiansund, and there's a bus every hour going direct, taking about an hour and a half. But I've figured out that I can travel via Atlanterhavsvegen, the Atlantic Road, by linking up three routes. You have likely seen photos of the Atlantic Road, particularly Storseisundet Bridge, which shows up often in social media posts about crazy roads and bridges--telephoto shots make it look much steeper than it actually is. It is nonetheless reputed to be a very scenic route, and I want to see it.

The first leg is on the 532 bus from Molde to Elnesvågen. And here I've made a mistake: the recommended route was the 510, with a change at Sylte. But I've looked at the change point on Google Street View, and it appears to be an unsheltered spot at the side of the road, not a very pleasant or safe place to wait for twenty minutes. It makes more sense to me to take the 532; there's a longer wait at Elnesvågen, forty minutes, but it's obviously a large transit nexus, and I'm hoping there will be somewhere close by to get a cup of coffee. When we pass Sylte, I can see that there's a brand new transit lot there, which wasn't on the years-old Street View I saw. [I see it there now, in a new view from September 2022.] It turns out there's nothing near the Elnesvågen lot but a large school, and I have a long wait on a metal bench. Fortunately, the weather's nice. Moral: trust the local transit app.

It's the 512 that will take me over the Atlantic Road (after first backtracking to Sylte). It is indeed a scenic route, and I get a few good photos out the bus window; but the bus is not the best way to experience it. There are places to stop and walk around, I'm sure with interesting interpretation of the string of islands we are passing over. I'm glad to have seen it, but I'd really like to return in a car, and take my time with the traverse.

There's another change in Kårvåg. The 501 will take me to Kristiansund, passing through the Atlanterhavstunnelen under the Bremsnesfjorden. There's a scheduled bus swap on the way, for some operational reason obscure to us passengers. Thus I have ridden four buses from Molde to Kristiansund, instead of one, taking twice as long, at least. But it has all gone very smoothly, despite my minor logistical error. I drove transit routes for ten years, and understand a little about operations. I'm impressed. Of course, running sparsely-used routes across a wide area in a way that people can use efficiently requires sufficient funding, something that comes with a commitment to the public good, which appears to me to be a bit more of a given in Europe than in my own country.

I have a little time in Kristiansund--not as much, obviously, as I would have, had I taken the direct bus from Molde. Win and I had a walkabout here in 2004, and I recall not being much charmed. The town seems more inviting now...I suppose a bit of sunshine helps. It's mid-afternoon, and all I really want is a quick bite, as I've eaten only a pastry in Molde since I left Ona, and I'm not sure what I'm going to find where I'm going. A burrito from a food truck fits the bill.

The 800 express ferry bound for Trondheim departs at 4:30. It makes several stops along the way, and I get off at Edøy, forty minutes along. I pick up my last bus of the day, the 831. It crosses a couple of bridges and causeways onto the relatively large island of Smøla. At the other end, another series of causeways leads to the village of Veiholmen, at the heart of a scattered cluster of skerries.

I have another very nice room, albeit without a kitchen, looking over the placid harbor. It's good I had the burrito, because I don't think I could stay awake in a restaurant this evening. It's been a long day, concerned mostly with getting from one place to another [and I'm sure not all that interesting to read about]. I pop into the Co-Op next door, and am pleasantly surprised to find a decent selection of beers. I'd thought that alcohol was only available at the government monopoly. I'm happy to sit on my balcony with a couple of cans, watching the sun go down over Veiholmen. I have two nights here.