M'off again ... five weeks on the road

Grand stuff Micky.. right there with you.. :thumb :beerjug:
 
Hi Micky,
Glad your having a good time, the photo’s and write up’s are brilliant.
Bye the way, if you’re on the DFDS Sirena Seaways ferry did you meet the Captain. If so, you’ve both got something in common, he did a similar thing to you. When you damaged your pannier on the Armco, he fecked the ship on the Armco docking at Harwich last Thursday, putting a hole in the hull below the water line.:eek: Ferry from Harwich to Esbjerg has been cancelled this week.
I’ll keep you post if it effects your return journey. It could be a ‘Long Way Home’ via the Stella.
Malc
:thumby::beerjug:
 
MAGNET MICKY :aidan :aidan :aidan:hug:hug:wave


vERN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


A rather large stone was brought in to use and the errant pannier forced back in to some sort of shape Norm :pullface

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My man in Rotherham, once home, will have it looking like new :aidan
:beerjug:


Hi Micky,
Ferry from Harwich to Esbjerg has been cancelled this week.
I’ll keep you post if it effects your return journey. It could be a ‘Long Way Home’ via the Stella.
Malc
:thumby::beerjug:

Cheers Malc ... in hand. Doesn't affect us yet :thumb
:beerjug:




Monday 24th June

Gosh .... it is a cruising holiday ;-)
We have a crackin' breakfast at the Hostel then head for the ferry bright and early, filling up before we get there, for heaven knows what awaits on t'other side!
There's already a queue at the Svolvær terminal. Two Swedish car/caravan outfits pull up behind us .... we had been talking to them yesterday on the Lofoton Peninsular down at Sørvagen. They get the coffee and biscuits on the go ... lovely people indeed ;-) We are told their stories about them having motorcycles when they were young, but they're too old for them now ...... they were younger than Sue and misen! We have an hour to wait before sailing ....

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Lovely people indeed :thumb

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Bikes secured for sailing, bow doors closed :eek:

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A two hour sailing errrr mmmm cruise amongst the small islands, stopping at one of the larger smaller islands, Skrova, to pick up a couple of people. Sue comments that the majority of people on the boat are elderly and probably spending their kids inheritances. Years ago it was the kids that travelled, now it's us old folks.

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The Island of Skrova

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Back to sea again ...

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The old folks keeping warm and dry ...

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As we near Skutvik the sun disappears and it starts to rain.

Once on Terra Firma at Skutvik we head north to start with and then pick up the E6 south towards Fauske amid heavy showers, very heavy showers .... and bright sunshine. Once south of Fauske we did what Sue does best ...
... we took one of her short cuts, detours or loops, call them what you may, but they usually end up in us getting lost, getting nowhere ... or finding remarkable and memorable places :eek:

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Aiming for the nadgery coastal road back south we hit the hills and side roads to get to them, the sun comes out, the roads dry and all is well with the world.
We call in at a small camp site in search of a hut for the night. We like the huts, better than camping. All is closed, zilch, nuthin ... I'm sure I could hear the sound of duelling banjo's in the distance, curtains being tweaked to one side, feel the eyes on us. We hightail it outa there!
Magnificent roads, sweeping bends, superb scenery sees us to a petrol station. We've only done 75 miles but we'll fill up just in case were going to be on the road at midnight! It's now 6pm and the garage proprietor confirms a small campsite, with huts, 5km away.

Heaven, were in heaven, what an idyllic little find. On the shores of a fiord at the Kjellingstraumen Fjordcamp. 450Nk gets us a rather quaint 200+ year old wooden hut for the night. The doors are tiny, Sue is only 5'2" and has to duck down to get in!
www.kjellingstraumen.no N67 04.357' E014 18.555'
A warm welcome, no bier but the guy sells us two of his own cans of Ringnes Pilsner 4.6% and brewed in Oslo cheap. Free WiFi ..... Result ;-)

Sue is 5' 2"

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Inside the Wendy House ... there is standing room, honest ;)

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It's even got free WiFi :thumb

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:beerjug:
 
'Ere Micky, there's a useful thread in the Training Forum about U turns if you need a read ...


:hide
 
Hi!

It is Liv, the girl you didn't meet because she was too late to text you.
I'm so sorry!!!!!!! :tears :blast

Next time, then, somewhere, I hope?

:) Liv.
 
Micky, are the pictures taken on your Leica digital, they are very good.:thumby:

Nice bit of blacksmithing on yer pannier, bit o T`cut ,when you get home jobs a gud un.:D

Keep it coming.

Andrew
 
Hi!

It is Liv, the girl you didn't meet because she was too late to text you.
I'm so sorry!!!!!!! :tears :blast

Next time, then, somewhere, I hope?

:) Liv.

Thanks for the PM & heads up on Dalsnibba Liv ... it's now in our itinerary :thumb

We're sorry we missed you too gal :tears

As per the PM, we were going to get in touch but somehow time evaporated ... and we didn't. Our loss :blast

Another time hopefully :thumby:
:beerjug:
 
Typical Yorkshire man :D

Ah, but cheapest ain't always bestest ;)

Actually, they're by TeckNet from Amazon :thumb

Did a search, five star reviews from everyone. £13 each. mine now still going strong after a couple of years of hard work and travelling :D

Excellent value .... and I ain't bothered what you say about the colour :P

:beerjug:
 
Thanks for the PM & heads up on Dalsnibba Liv ... it's now in our itinerary :thumb

We're sorry we missed you too gal :tears

As per the PM, we were going to get in touch but somehow time evaporated ... and we didn't. Our loss :blast

Another time hopefully :thumby:
:beerjug:

Another time, yes, I hope. :tears

:) Liv.
 
Ah, but cheapest ain't always bestest ;)

Actually, they're by TeckNet from Amazon :thumb

Did a search, five star reviews from everyone. £13 each. mine now still going strong after a couple of years of hard work and travelling :D

Excellent value .... and I ain't bothered what you say about the colour :P

:beerjug:

colour matches your keks.....allegedly:augie
 
colour matches your keks.....allegedly:augie

You must speak to your informants .... they're wrong :P

:beerjug:


Wednesday 26th June

This sunset piccie was taken at 11pm last night :eek:

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Wake to bright sunshine. Cool but sunny. 250 miles down to Storsand, still on the coastal run, and find a camp site rather like Butlins, but were now handy for tomorrow's run ... The Atlantic Highway. We pass and get passed by new found friends in their motor homes, motorcycles and cars and we all get together at the next ferry crossing to continue the bonding. One young lad is on a three week trip away from work. He is German and his family have been millers since the early 1700's. he rides a scruffy but totally original single spark 1100GS. He tells us about the making of flour, the various wheats ... I could listen to him all day. There is another German on a 1200GS, also alone, on the same ferry but our 1100 friend doesn't speak to him. The 1200 rider is so far up his own arse, doesn't acknowledge a "Good day" from Sue, or his fellow countryman.

We bumped in this couple on their 1200's on several occasions. Usually at the ferries ...

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On the longer of the ferry crossings we pass through the Arctic Circle on our way south, no line across the water here ...

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We are enjoying ourselves folks ... honest :D

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Is this a ferry crossing coming up? A tunnel? It has a sharp bend in the middle :eek:

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No ... it's a bridge with a sharp bend in the middle :blast

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The bridge goes over to an island and then turns sharp right and runs along a causeway joining several small islands together! Engineering ingenuity at its best :thumb

Another hut for the night, another delightful Wendy House

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..... and Sue can stand up in the doorway :D

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..... and our neighbours are a friendly bunch

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On the road again ...

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A night at Butlins :eek:

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The Atlantic Highway and Dalsnibba beckon ;-)


Thursday 27th June

Early start from Butlins, bright sunshine and terrific roads and scenery and just the one ferry, sees us at Molde just south of Kristiansund in a tourist type of a camp site, the Kviltop NAF Camp. dunno what the NAF stands for 'cos it's not really naff! Another hut mmmmm doesn't much like we'll be using the tent on this trip. These 'ere huts are addictive ;-) Messages from DFDS and from Johnny Boxer, our ferry home from Esbjerg to Harwich on Wednesday 3rd June has been cancelled.
Now studying the options ....

To get here we used the back roads to get round Trondheim, one of Sue's infamous 'loops' ;-) unmade smooth gravel roads through the forests and mountains, marvellous, with the Atlantic Highway road to finish off with to bring us in to Molde. The Atlantic Highway joins many small community islands together and has brought tourism and commerce to the area. It twists and turns over the water for mile after mile. Not to be missed if you're in the area. The sun shines for us.

The Atlantic Highway

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Stretches for some 20 miles or so between Kristiansund to the north and Molde to the south.



Friday 28th June

On the road again ....

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A better photograph of

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Mick and Sue


Ah Dalsnibba ... couple more ferries sees us riding along more of Sue's shortcuts and loops, unmade roads high up in the forests, towards Geiranger. With direct orders from Liv, of this Parish, to visit Dalsnibba at any cost then how dare we not. Thanks Liv, for some of the most spectacular and mind blowing scenery yet. Here we stopped to take in the view most used on Norways travel brochures, of the large ocean going cruise ship looking so tiny way down below. Wow!!!! Liv even arranged for a cruise ship to be in the fiord for us.

The scenery here has to be believed ... can you see the road winding it's way up?

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That's a cruise ship in the bottom :eek:

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Even the mountain lakes have icebergs :eek:

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After a Butlins kind of camp site we fall upon the Lund Camping site at 2687 Bøuerdalen

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N61 42.839' E008 19.126'

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Large mushrooms :eek:

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A real bar-b-q

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Ample parking ...

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A perfek world :beer:

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Established in 1834 it's Norway's oldest bier :friday

We're in the Sognefjellet National Park area that has 27 of Norways highest mountains. Just thought you might like to know that one folks.

Sue tells me to tell you that a full tank of petrol (Xcountry) is approx 100Nk, also coffee and cakes, and a twenty minute ferry ride .... all about the same at 100Nk

Sue takes time to 'phone DFDS who confirm that our ferry is cancelled. No suggestions, no alternatives, no help. "Yes it's cancelled, we're sorry, we can offer you a return sailing on the 11th July however, that will be the first available date I'm afraid!"
Ha ... 11th July, I ask ya. I 'phoned P&O and booked us on to the Wednesday 3rd July Rotterdam to Hull crossing. Unfortunately this will require a long day's ride from the MC Tourcamp on Denmark to the Europort at Rotterdam! I'm rather surprised that we were able to secure a crossing with P&O for there must be many people stranded like us and wanting to return to the UK.

We now have three full days to get to Kristiansand, southern Norway, for our sailing to Hirtshals on Denmark on Tuesday next. Time to chill :thumby:

:beerjug:
 
Thursday 20th June 2013

I took the advice/suggestion from Magnet and Harry the Cat. A 17 tooth gearbox sprocket was fitted in place of the standard 16 tooth just before this trip ... along with standard rear sprocket and the usual DID heavy duty gold professional chain. The chain and sprockets replaced had done a good 30,000 miles. The bike now feels far more more relaxed, shows 60mph at 3,500 rpm and still pulls away in sixth at 60mph like nobodies business. Both Fran and Tony have logged a 1.027% and a 0.872% gain (respectively) in mpg since fitting said 17 tooth but I'm not in to this because of that possible slight saving. The bike just seems more relaxed.

Ho, ho ho, very amusing...:rolleyes:
 
From one tosser to another

Eh up Micky,
I've just opened my account for the first time since joining in April.
Fancy being called "one of them tossers I'm going on the Stella with". Quite humbling to be thought of so specially by one so .........
Keep on enjoying your trip ol' fella and growing old soooo gracefully, give Sue me best.
Greeting to the South Yorkshire guys and gals I've been lucky to ride with over the years. Looking forward to Italy with some of you in July.
Special hello to the Irish lads, especially the Cork Brigade, eh up Deccy, see you and Steven at the Stella, ride prettily down there now.
And finally greetings to the many friends we made at the Graham Arms Hotel in Longtown, Cumbria. You made working for a living fun, it's now 9 years since we sold up and retired, where does time go? :aidan
Best wishes, Tom
 


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