Norway - The itch has been scratched

Phil Magill

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NORWAY 2019​



I have always wanted to visit Norway but alas when the direct ferry from the UK to Norway was cancelled I thought that it was a country too far for my limited traveling time and I didn’t relish the thought of having to get 3 ferries from Ireland to Norway and the same back ( I’m not a great sailor ) and also 100’s of miles of boring motorway from Amsterdam to Hirtshals in Denmark.


But I happened to be surfing the internet when I came across www.overlanders.ie website and that they were doing a shipment of bikes to Norway at the beginning of August 2019.


So I telephoned the number and spoke to David who explained that I just need to bring my bike to the shop in Gorey, county Wexford and they would ship my bike plus all my camping gear and luggage to a pick up point close to Oslo airport at Gardermoen.


A deposit was paid and a search for flights was begun and booked with Norwegian Air flying from Dublin from the 1st to the 16th August 2019.


On the 20th July 2019 I left the bike at Overlanders shop and was immediately impressed with the whole operation, the bikes were put into racks and loaded onto trucks, one truck was already loaded ready to go and another was being loaded to go to Germany.



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Farewell old friend we will meet again


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I decided to take the Transalp as it’s not a very fast bike because I had read on this website about the horrendous on the spot speeding fines in Norway. http://www.speedingeurope.com/norway/
 
Day 1



I arrived at Oslo airport on the 1st August and took the airport shuttle bus directly to the pick up point at one of the airport carparks.


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And rode the short distance to the hotel I had booked for the night and boy was it hot


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I booked into the hotel, I was advised that it was a cashless hotel ( only accepts cards ) and of course I was given the room furthest away from the lift, so with the sweat pumping out of me I humped all my gear to the room.


The design of the room was like a concrete bunker, with dark colours and a slit of a window looking onto the airport runway. ( If you are a light sleeper then ear plugs will be required )


After sorting out my stuff I went for a walk around the area, just hotels and carparks and a military museum, which only opened on some Saturdays.

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Day 2



Up early and went for breakfast, a large selection of hot and cold food on the eat all you can see buffet, made myself a packed lunch as well.


It was lucky that I went to breakfast early because a large group of Chinese tourists arrived and descended onto the breakfast buffet like a plague of locusts, pushing and shoving and they seemed to have a competition to see who could get the most onto a plate.


Loaded up the bike and checked out of the hotel and get onto the E6 north towards Andalsnes, this road turned into a construction site just before Lillehammer and was very slow moving for about 50km.


It’s starting to get hot

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Decided to stop here for a few nights.

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https://www.trollstigenresort.no


A nice flat campsite with lovely views all around.

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I decided to have an evening run up the Trollstigen whilst the weather was nice and sunny.

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Here’s a short video that Google Photos made.




https://vimeo.com/361679366


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The Trollstigen visitor center

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Day 3



Up early and the weather is nice.

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Today I’ve decided to take a run over the Trollstigen again, riding higher into the valley I can see that the view to the top is covered in low cloud, it was lucky I decided to go here yesterday evening.


I followed the 63 to Valldalen and was surprised to see strawberry fields in the lower parts of the valley, they must have a very short growing season this far north.


I continued on the 650 along the shores of Storfjorden, very little traffic on this road, then onto the E39 to Vestnes to get the ferry to Molde then along the Atlantic road to Karvag.


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Then it was back along the 64 to Andalsnes.
 
Day 4


Today I’m planning to go to Geiranger, I take a scenic route the FV102 from Tresfjord towards Dyrkorn to get the ferry from Liabygda to Stranda but as I come out of a tunnel I see a long queue of traffic, I wait for a few minutes but no movement so decide to go up the outside of the cars to get to the front only to be confronted with the entrance to another tunnel blocked by emergency vehicles, so I pull in at the small shop / café nearby and had an ice cream and a drink.

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After just over an hour the traffic was allowed to move into the tunnel to pass the accident scene between a car and a camper van.
I make it to Liabygda to find that I have missed the ferry to Stranda so continue along the road to get a ferry from Linge to Eidsdal.
The road from Eidsdal to Geiranger was a lovely road.


Views of Geiranger fjord from the Ornesvingen view point.

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I tried to get a spot on the camp sites along the shore a few kms out of town but they were full so I tried the site in the center of Geiranger but it was full also, so riding up the hill out of town I tried the next camp site, Vinje Camping, http://www.vinjecamping.no where I got a spot beside a waterfall for two nights. A nice spot about 2km from the town up a very steep hill.


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Day 5



I leave the camp site around 9am and turn left up the hill on the 63 to be confronted with a convoy of coaches going towards the cruise ships in Geiranger, now, it was interesting to watch them maneuvering these machines around the hairpin bends with the dickhead car and camper van drivers not giving them enough room to turn.


I turn off to follow the road up to the Dalsnibba viewpoint, 150NOK (about £15) toll.
I have to say to views are lovely from the viewpoint and I was lucky it was a clear day.


The view back to Geiranger

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https://vimeo.com/363179655


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Not your usual sort of tourist tat.
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After spending a bit of time on the summit I ride back to the 63 and turn left to travel south towards Stryn.

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I turn right off the 63 onto the 15 and travel through a long tunnel and when I come out the other end I go Wow.

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Riding along the 15 by the shores of Oppstrynvatnet and it was a double Woww.

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The water so calm and peaceful and very few vehicles passing I sat here for about an hour.

I continue through Stryn for a few miles and turn right onto the 60 towards Hellesylt and the ferry back to Geiranger.


Hellesylt is a very pretty little village, with a few shops and cafés also a small camp site.

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Onto the ferry to Geiranger and a very leisurely cruise along the fjord passing a few cruise ships.

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And then back to the campsite.
 
Day 6


Time to move on, I travel along the 15 to Fosserbergom then onto the FV 55 towards Skjolden, the temperature has dropped and it’s a bit chilly in the mountains but the roads have very little traffic and the scenery is lovely.


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I turn left at Sogndalfsjora to the ferry from Mannheller to Fodnes and on towards Flam.


I was impressed by the 24km Laerdal Tunnel, I thought it was never going to end.


Got to the Flam camp site, https://www.flaam-camping.no which was very busy and got a pitch high up on one of the terraces overlooking the town.

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Managed to get the tent up just before the rain started and continued all night.
 
Day 7



Today I had planned on going on a trip on the Flam Railway but alas when I made some inquiries about booking a ticket, I found that the train was fully booked until late afternoon by the cruise ship and numerous coach parties.


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So I had a look around this pretty little harbour, lots of market stalls selling tourist tat and food stalls and also a company doing fjord tours in a Rib, not for me, I’m a poor sailor.


I did have a look in the Flam Railway museum, which was free, interesting to read how the tunnels were dug using explosives, pick and shovel. It also had some interesting old railway vehicles.


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The harbour was very pretty.

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Lots of these little electric cars around for rent.

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I call into the little supermarket at the harbour to get a couple of crusty bread rolls and cheese for lunch and go out for a ride on the bike.

I go through Aurlandsvangen and turn right onto the steep narrow twisting road towards the Stegastein viewpoint, there are a number of tight hairpin bends on this very narrow road, I travel about a mile and I’m confronted with a traffic jam, I sit for a few minutes but nothing is moving, so I overtake to get to the cause of the holdup half a mile away, a Dutch registered car pulling a caravan stuck at one of the hairpin bends and judging by the smell he’ll be needing a new clutch for the car. I was able to get past to carry on.


The view from Stegastein viewpoint back to Aurlandsvangen and the fjord.

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Carried on along some lovely traffic free roads, probably caused by the caravan.

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It started to get very overcast but I managed to dodge the rain until I got back to the campsite in Flam.
 
Day 8



Time to move again, traveling along the E16 near Flam I enter the Gudvangen tunnel and I’m aware that the visibility in the darkness isn’t great, I could smell rubber burning and there’s a haze hanging in the air. I had noticed road works signs at the tunnel entrance but could not see any evidence of work going on.


As I slowly moved further into the tunnel I started to imagine all sorts of stuff, what if it was a vehicle on fire, should I turn and get out of the tunnel, the traffic coming towards me were not showing any signs of distress, flashing lights or tooting horns, so I slowly carry on, I see a construction truck parked in a layby in the tunnel but don’t see any workers but I carry on until I exit the tunnel. About 30 miles further on I stop for fuel and see that I’m completely covered in a fine white powder which must have been what was hanging in the air in the tunnel.


I enter the Vallavik tunnel and after covering a few miles the GPS suddenly came to life and said “ In 200m at the roundabout take the first right”. I thought to myself that can’t be right then sure enough there was a roundabout, in the tunnel, which took me across a long high bridge ( the Hardanger Bridge ) and then into another tunnel with a roundabout.


I have been really impressed with the bridges and tunnels in Norway.


Followed the 13 through Odda and the E134 towards Haugesund on the western coast.


A few impressive waterfalls along the way.

https://vimeo.com/363669579


Got to Haugesund and checked the satnav for a campsite and went to the Haraldshaugen campsite https://www.en.hhcamping.com the campsite was fully booked due to a Jazz festival that weekend in the town but the young lad said he would try and find me somewhere to pitch the tent.



And here it is, on top of a hill guarded by a pink pig and a large bumble bee.

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https://vimeo.com/363673629


A very nice campsite with a very clean amenities block, but the campers kitchen only has 1 sink and 1 cooker for such a large site. Although the site is within walking distance to the town centre.
 
Day 9



I awake to a lovely sunny morning so decide to take a walk into the town centre which was only a mile away.

A very nice town centre and it was very busy because of the jazz festival which had a parade through the streets.

No matter where you go in the world you will always find a Irish bar.
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The view over the old harbour is nice.
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And a good use for an old Kymco scooter.
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After some sightseeing and a bit of shopping for lunch I return to the campsite, have a bite to eat then go for a ride.

I have a look at the map and decide to go north on the 47 then the E39 towards Goddo Island.

Getting away from Haugesund the traffic became very light, the roads and scenery was another Wow.


I’m sure you can get a cream for this.
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The prettiest location for a bus shelter I have ever seen.

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https://vimeo.com/364882533


Goddo is a really beautiful place with very little traffic and soo peaceful.


I take a meandering route back to the campsite, it’s starting to get overcast, I think there will be some rain later on.
 
Day 10



Throughout the night there was very strong winds and torrential rain.


When I wake up in the morning, I can feel that my sleeping bag was very wet, I quickly sit up thinking “F#ck have I pissed the bed” but a quick look around tells me no I didn’t, there was a large pool of water laying on the floor and my clothes were soaked as well. The tent had leaked massively during the overnight storm.


I had planned to move on today but instead it became an expensive day of drying out my clothes and kit.


I did manage to get a hut for the night because they had a cancellation.

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Day 11



The heavy rain continues this morning as I make my way south to Arsvagen and onto the ferry to Mortavika and then past the city of Stavanger, the heavy rain continued into the early afternoon, so as I was riding on the 45 along the shore of Byrkjedalsvatnet I decided to find somewhere to stop for the night and found the https://www.byrkjedalstunet.no/en/welcome/ a lovely looking hotel with cabins.


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But I managed to get an economy room at the top of the Annex, which had a shared kitchen, sitting room and bathrooms.

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A bit of a quirky place with nice wood carvings

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The weather dried up mid afternoon so I decided to go for a cruise along the Lysefjord and booked the ferry with https://www.kolumbus.no ( cheaper than the cruise ferry but you must book at least 2 hours before the sailing )


Made my way to the Lauvvik ferry terminal and a small catamaran ferry arrived, cars have to reverse onto this ferry and it stops at several small jetties along the fjord.

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The sky was getting overcast again with very dark clouds in the distance towards Lysebotn.

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This is first time I’ve ever seen a ferry with a set of wing mirrors

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I set the GPS to take me back to tonight’s digs, wow what a road, near the start a dark tunnel with a hairpin bend.

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Why do people build small mounds of stones, there’s 100’s of them on both sides of this road.

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https://vimeo.com/361675825
 
Day 12



Up early this morning and make my way to the hotel restaurant for breakfast, which was a very varied “eat all you can see buffet,” so a large breakfast was had and a packed lunch made.


I hang about until 10-30 waiting for the heavy rain to ease off and make my way along the 45 towards Seljord.


I think this sheep has had enough and it’s going to end it all.
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The rain was torrential so decided to stop at the Hegna campsite to see if they had a vacant hut https://www.hegnacamping.no which they had so decided to stay here for two nights.


The rain was so heavy I just abandoned the bike by the hut until the rain stopped

https://vimeo.com/361676978


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I rigged up a line across the porch and hung the leaking tent out to dry.


Later I had a walk around the site to check out the facilities, a new modern heated toilet block and a small 24hr self-service supermarket and only two other people staying on the site who were building a large extension onto their caravan.


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I got chatting to the cleaner ( it’s great that all the Norwegians I have met speak perfect English ) and asked why the site was empty, he told me the site was full up until the day before, there had been a few days of torrential rain and everyone went home.
I asked him how do I get into the shop and he explained that I must put my credit / debit card into the reader to open the door and then get the goods that I wanted then scan them at the till, pay with the card used to open the door and then use the bar-code printed on the receipt to open the door to get out.

And if I wanted to buy beer or wine, I had to register my fingerprint to open the door to the drink’s cabinet, which automatically locked during the times that the sale of alcohol was forbidden.

I pointed out that if a shop keeper in the UK tried this system he would be out of business in a couple of days.


Obviously, they don’t have the same calibre of scumbags as the UK and Ireland.


This supermarket was also for the use of local residents.

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Day 13



I awake to a lovely sunny morning and decide to go for a ride in the surrounding area.


I found a lovely road from the campsite to Austbo then the 362 along the shores of a large lake to Arabygdi then the E134 to Amot and the 37 through Hommo.


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I came out of a tunnel and thought “I recognise this.”

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An amazing feat of endurance for the commandos climbing down into this ravine and up the other side to attack the heavy water plant in the middle of winter and then escaping.

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Carried on along the 37 through Rjukan and crossed over the runway of the Notodden airport along a cracking little road back to the campsite.
 
Day 14



Left the Hegna campsite in a sunny 20 degrees and went along the cracking little road that crossed the Notodden airport runway.

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Travelling north along the 40 towards Geilo.


What a road, it has everything, tight twisties, sweeping bends, tight hairpins and very little traffic.


The temperature dropped to 5 degrees on the high ground and the heated grips had to go on.

Spotted this lovely little church at Hol on the shores of Holsfjorden.

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Time to find somewhere to stay tonight and came across Birkelunde campsite https://birkelund-camping.com/?lang=en and booked a hut for the night.

A nice little hut which must have been recently refurbished because everything in it was new.

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Day 15


The temperature in Hovert this morning was 4 degrees but it was bright and sunny and by the time I left the campsite the temperature had risen to 10 degrees and got warmer as the day progressed.


Today was a nice leisurely ride back the Comfort hotel at Gardermoen airport.


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The luggage was dumped in the room and then it was out to find a garage to wash the muck of the bike before returning to the pickup location tomorrow.
 
Day 16


Last day, I leave the bike at the pickup location at 1pm and hang around the hotel for a few hours before getting the bus to the airport and the flight back to Dublin.


Farewell old friend I shall see you again next week.

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I really enjoyed this trip, Norway has been a place I’ve always wanted to visit but thought it would never happen and probably wouldn’t of happened if wasn’t for being able to ship the bike to Norway, I’m not a great sailor and the thought of travelling on 6 ferries to and from Norway put me off going.


I met a lot of lovely people of different nationalities and was surprised that almost all spoke really good English, I can only speak a little bit of French, German and Spanish, enough to get me a room for the night and a meal.




I had left the bike in Norway on Friday, the following Tuesday I received an email from David at Overlanders to tell me that the bike is ready for collection, what a great service he runs.



Hello old friend.

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Lucky the police didn’t stop me and check to satnav.

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Looks like you had a great trip, nice and relaxed, at your own pace, just as I would like to do it. Great write-up enjoyed reading that on a Sunday morning. Norway is definitely on my list.
 
Nice report & pics there :thumb

Norway is on the list, but my trip would need to be done in 9 days, so fast from the chunnel to Denmark, ferry over & explore the SW area, then fast back.
 


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