Crasher goes North: Riding with Finn to Finland

Map of Day 7

Tuesday  21st July 2015

I had a restless night. The hours of darkness are getting shorter the further north we go. When I did manage to get to sleep, I soon woke again due to being cold. I got up around 1am and retrieved my Thermatex  blanket* from my pannier. This thing is a revelation when it comes to camping comfort. 

Wrapped up in my blanket, I drifted back off to sleep. But, only for a few hours.  At 4:30am the sun was already high in the sky, and I woke up again due to being too hot. I lie there for a bit until I hear Finn rustling in his tent. I get up and go for a shower.

By 7am Finn and I are packed and getting ready to leave. It is scorching already. Finn and I have another long, 600kms ride, on straight empty roads ahead of us. Greg won't be coming with us though.

Greg has been ill over the last 18 months or so, suffering with Lyme Disease. He has been feeling better lately, but the long days in the saddle are taking their toll on his body. He has promised his wife that he will go no further and start to make his way south again. He is going to visit some friends on his way. We are also hoping to meet up again with him in about a week, as I and a few others make our way back down the west coast. It is sad to wave goodbye to Greg. It has been good chatting and spending time with him over the last few days.

The first quest for Finn and I is to find a fuel station, so that he can fill up. He follows his satnav to the nearest one to find an unmanned fuel station right in the middle of a Mercedes car dealers forecourt! Throughout this trip I will end up finding fuel stations in the strangest of places. They just seem to put them in a convenient place, irrespective of what is there already. He fills up and we set off to join the E04 north.

As we join the E04 I look at my satnav. When it says 173kms to the next junction, and 262kms to my next turn off I can tell it is going to be another one of those days. The road is more of the same. A straight, empty, fast, well surfaced three lane carriageway with those horrible wire rope crash barriers that slice motorcyclists to pieces. The centre lane alternates between the two outer lanes, turning each lane into dual carriageway every 10kms or so. We are making good progress until we hit several stretches of road works.

These road works involve following a convoy vehicle at 40kph for the duration of the 5km stretches where they are resurfacing the road. Finn signals for a coffee stop after the third set of road works. I am ready to stop too.

Finn spots a sign at the side of the road for a café. I follow him as he darts off up a forest gravel road. This requires quite a bit of concentration on a fully laden adventure bike fitted with road biased tyres. I was having a ball. The Dunlop Trailsmarts I had fitted for the trip are working really well.

The road led us to a holiday park set out to look like a frontier town from a spaghetti western. We found the café, but the owner didn't start serving until 11. It was just after 10. We chose to ride on, rather that wait. Ten minutes up the road we found a Shell service station. A very attractive lady in her early forties served us some pastries and we helped ourselves to coffee. I was beginning to notice a trend, that Shell stations were staffed by the more attractive female staff when compared to the other brands of fuel. Whoever is running their recruitment campaign gets a big thumbs up from me!

 Finn and I sit and talk about the ride ahead of us today. I am getting excited as we will soon pass into the Artic Circle and then into Finland. Our final destination for today is a campsite in Muonio. Here we have planned to meet Mark, Stuart and Alison who are making their way up from the International Aprilia Caponord meeting in Greece.

With our coffee cravings satisfied for the time being, it was back to the bikes for a few more kilometres. I spot a curious looking moped trike, and Finn tries it for size. I think the trip to the Nordkapp might take a while longer if he swaps the trike for his Caponord!

   We turn off the E04 onto the 398 and 99 just before Tornio. These smaller roads are empty. There is still nothing to see but trees either side, but at least there are a few corners every now and then.

After another couple of hours riding, we stop for lunch at a roadside diner. Even here in the middle of nowhere the women serving were young, blond and beautiful.

There is a varied menu. Finn suggests the "meal of the day" option. This is a buffet style lunch consisting of a huge pot of beef casserole, a choice of vegetables and accompaniments, and a drink. For £6. It was amazing. This type of home cooked meal is hugely popular at Scandinavian cafes and diners. This one was particularly busy with lots of different types of people all tucking in to some great food. There were lots of truck drivers too. If the truckers stop here, you know the food must be good.

With leathers buckling under the strain from full bellies, we rode on towards Pello where we would cross the river into Finland. Just before a small town called Svanstein we see the sign to indicate we are at the Polar Circle.

We take some photos and the obligatory selfies, and I add one of my stickers to the collection already there. If you are ever travelling in Scandinavia look out for my stickers. They are all over the place!

At Pello we cross the Finnish border and join the E8 to Muonio. Just as we are leaving Pello, I spot a couple of bikes parked outside a café. Finn has spotted them too. It is Mark, Stuart and Alison who we were hoping to meet up with. So, with a quick " Englishman abroad" U-turn involving a few horn blasts and two fingered salutes from other drivers I make it across the road to join Finn and the others.

We are now a group of four bikes. Me on my Triumph Tiger 800XC, Finn and Mark on Aprilia ETV1000 Caponords', and Stuart and Alison on a Aprilia Caponord 1200.

We ride the rest of the way to Muonio together. Well Finn, Mark and I do. Stuart and Alison have roared off into the distance somewhere. The throttle on Stuart's bike only appears to have two positions, closed and wide open!

We get to our stop for the night at Harriniva Camping. Mark has a 4 berth hytte booked. He insists that Finn and I share as we do not have anything booked. Stuart and Alison have booked a hytte of their own.

Harriniva is a hotel and camping complex that runs various outdoor activities throughout the winter. Dog sledging, snowmobile safaris and Nordic skiing are just some of the things they offer. During the summer they open as a campsite for travelers like us.

The temperature display on the outside of the reception building said it was 13 degrees. I think the decimal point was missing, as it felt more like 1.3. Mark signed in and we made our way to the hytte. It was great. And warm! It even had a sauna.

The hytte's were situated down by the river. This was the border between Sweden on the far side, and Finland where we were. Being next to the river also meant there were quite a few mosquitoes about.

We spent the evening catching up, and talking about each others journeys so far. It was a nice evening chilling out with a few beers and eating microwave meals from the local supermarket.  Tomorrow we travel to the Nordkapp.

Here is the next vlog:

* The Thermatex bedding blanket has become an essential part of my camping kit. It packs down really small ( about the same size as an A5 notepad ), and yet provides a suprising amount of warmth. It is a very thin heat reflective, foil backed fabric blanket that works by reflecting back radiated body heat. It is also breathable to stop you getting sweaty. And, it is made in the UK using British fabric.

I was amazed at how effective it was. Within a few minutes of adding it as an extra layer over my sleeping bag I felt warm and snug. It is not the most comforting feeling blanket, feeling a bit like tent material, but it certainly works.

Here is a link to the manufacturers website:

http://www.thermartex.com/products.html

Crasher goes North: Off to meet our Danish friend Finn

Map of Day 6

Monday 20th July 2015

My bladder alarm clock wakes me just after 5am. I am not going to make the 200 metres to the toilet block, so I reach for my trusty "overnight" 1ltr orange juice bottle. One started there is no stopping, and I start to get worried as the bottle becomes nearly full. Luckily a flood is averted and I manage to turn off the tap.

Just what the hell did I drink yesterday? Has someone snuck into my tent during the night and poured a few gallons down my neck? Fully drained, I lay back into the cosy embrace of my sleeping bag.

At 6:15 I feel the need for a pee again. As my "overnight" is already full of freshly squeezed, I have no option but to take a walk. I get up, have a shower, and once back at my tent I start to pack up my things. Greg is up and starting to pack too. We have breakfast and set off around 8:30.

Just as we are leaving the site I notice that Greg has left a couple of luggage straps lying on the top of one of his panniers. With visions of the straps wrapping themselves around the back wheel of his bike and firing him into the scenery, I flag him down with some frantic arm waving and pointing.

Crisis averted we head out of Mora on the E45, before taking the 296 and 30, and the 50 east to Soderhamn on the Baltic coast. Heading off the E45 onto the smaller country roads makes the riding more enjoyable. The roads are fast and winding, and we are able to keep up a decent pace. Dense pine forest lines either side of the road. Occasionally a clearing appears containing a small red wooden cottage. It is how I imagined Sweden would be.

Around 11, Greg makes the international hand signal for a coffee stop as we come to a small village. Not the Gareth Hunt, Nescafe advert kind of signal. This is more of the raising a cup to his mouth kind. If it was after noon, it would be known as the "fancy a pint?"

A café is spotted on the radar and we move in on the target. I can smell the fresh baking as we park up.

As I open the door and step inside, the lovely smell is more than matched by the stunning array of pastries on display. A young lady is wiping the glass front of the counter. I assume it is to remove the drool spillage left by the previous customer.

I choose a twisted ring donut with a hazelnut fondant centre, and a coffee. Greg has an equally sickly looking custard filled, chocolate dipped pastry and a coffee.

The café seating area is divided into a couple of rooms. It was obviously somebody's home at one stage. The first room was full of older people drinking coffee and playing board games. It was like a social club. Greg and I sat in the adjoining room where it was a bit quieter.

An hour from leaving the café, we arrive in Soderhamn. Here we head north again on the E04 which  will take us all the way to Umea. The E04 is another straight slog. The road follows close to the coast along the Gulf of Bothnia. But, a wall of trees blocks any views. It is a fast road with sections of dual carriageway every 10kms to allow the faster traffic to pass.

We start to see a few road-train trucks as we travel further north. Some of these are rolling along at 100kph, so we don't take chances when overtaking. They are ideally suited to the long straight roads up here.

Greg pulls over a couple of hours into the journey. He is bursting for a pee. We had not passed an open service station for ages. We are both running low on fuel. Feeling more comfortable, it is back on the road.......for about 600 metres! As we crest the top of the next rise, a huge service station complex comes into view. We pull in, fuel up, and decide to stop for lunch. We are both chuckling as we take our helmets off at stopping just up the road.

With a ham and cheese calzone, and a bottle of blue drink consumed it is back on the road for the final few hundred kilometres to Umea. I spot the odd glimpse of a coastal inlet, and we cross a couple of nice suspension bridges, but the road is just long and straight. The last 160kms is a real ordeal for me. My music player and helmet camera batteries have died, and I am brain dead. I just seem to be riding for ridings sake. Heading for a destination that never seems to be getting any closer.

At 74kms to go, my fuel light comes on. The countdown readout on the dash says that I will make it with 6kms to spare. I know that there is some fuel left after the readout reaches zero. But, I have never run that low on fuel before. Game on!

Every roadside mileage sign is checked against the satnav which is checked against the fuel countdown. At least the tension of running out of fuel stops me concentrating on the monotony of the journey.

Eventually, we reach the outskirts of Umea. I insist the satnav takes me to the nearest fuel station. 17.3ltrs of fuel go into the 19ltr tank. My heart rate begins to return to normal. Now lets find the campsite where we are stopping tonight, and where we will meet out friend, Finn.

Finn is Danish. We all met through the Aprilia Caponord forum. He is a super fit, marathon running dynamo, who fixes fighter jets for the Danish Air Force. As we get to the campsite, Finn greets us with cold beers and his usual smile. We start catching up on our travels so far, and discuss the next parts of the trip.

Finn is looking at my bike. " I see your bike is a real Triumph!". I look at him with a confused expression. He then points at the oil residue on the right hand side engine case. Arse! I take a look and discover that the oil seems to be coming out of the gold coloured gallery plug. I check it is tight, wipe off the mess, and top up the oil. I will have to keep an eye on it, and sort it out when I get home. It never gets any worse throughout the trip, thankfully.

We turn in for the night at around 10:30 even though it is still bright daylight outside. We have another long day ahead of us tomorrow, which will take us into Finland.

Crasher goes North: Lazy Sunday Afternoon

Sunday 19th July 2015

I woke from a well needed good nights sleep. I was a bit cold during the night. But, I had slept right through. I climb out of my tent around 7am, and wander over to the washrooms for a shower. The showers were the posh rainforest type affairs like you tend to find in better quality hotels. I have never felt so clean. This was more glamping than camping!

There was free Wi-Fi all around the site, so while I was making breakfast I emailed my parents to confirm I was still alive and send them some photos. Greg was also up and about. He was busy checking Facebook for information on the progress of some of our fellow travelers. 

Today was supposed to be the day that a few of the others met up with us in Mora. One of the couples was taking the double ferry option I had considered. They had posted on Facebook that the exhaust silencer on their Caponord had self disstructed on a German autobahn. And, that they had also forgotten to pack the poles for their tent. Repairing their exhaust problem had delayed them enough to miss the second ferry.

The second couple had travelled down to the Italian alps for the Stella-Alpina rally just over a week ago. They were then hoping to meet up with us, and travel up to the Nordkapp. They had not updated their progress for a couple of days, so we had no idea if they were coming or not. Greg was a little annoyed at the lack of communication from these other couples. Should we hang around, or do we head towards our next destination?

Before we all left the UK, I compiled a list of everyone's mobile phone numbers. This would enable us all to get in touch if there were any problems. Greg and I both sent text messages and rang them throughout the day, but we got no response. They were updating Facebook. Why not just send a simple text to let us know what was happening?

I wasn't about to let things like that spoil the trip, so after breakfast I fancied a walk into town. Greg and I did a bit of exploring. Mora is a pretty little town. It is situated at the side of Lake Siljan. We stopped for the obligatory morning coffee and cake in a café down by the shore.

We sat there for a while watching the world go by. Everyone seemed to be very good looking. And, very sporty. Wizzing past on rollerblades, cycling, jogging, and even on Nordic skiing rollerblade things. It was like being on the set of a soap opera. I can only assume the Scandinavian hospitals have some kind of ugly baby cull to keep the bloodline pure.

We had a look around the town to burn off the cake calories. There was no litter anywhere and everyone was friendly.

There were lots of these brightly painted wooden horses all over town

We bought some things for dinner tonight from the local Co-Op, where the young lady on the till was absolutely stunning. I become a little distracted by her and manage to throw my change all over the floor!

So, before I can embarrass myself anymore we head back to the campsite in the direction of the church.

The church is quite large and located close to the campsite. Greg thought it was funny that I hadn't noticed it until now. It was partially hidden behind the tree next to my tent. Well that is the excuse I gave!

During the afternoon, I carried out a more permanent repair to the wiring on Greg's bike using some cable crimps he had managed to buy. Greg checked Facebook again, and made some tea. He was beginning to get annoyed again at the lack of communication. Yes, we could of ridden a few hundred kilometres of tomorrows journey, but I think the day off the bike has done us both some good.

There were a few more people roller-skiing around the campsite as we sit around soaking up the sun. Apparently there is a famous ski race held in Mora every year. I had noticed the finish line structure which is a permanent feature in the town, earlier during our walk.

We had a great evening meal of roast chicken, salad, and fresh bread that we had bought earlier. Greg was now resigned to the fact that the others were not coming to join us. We went for a walk down by the river before turning in for the night. The sun was beginning to set and looked amazing reflected in the surface of the slowly flowing river.

We have another long day of riding ahead of us tomorrow as we head north to Umea, where we will meet our friend Finn.

Crasher goes North: A damp start followed by a hot day in the saddle

Map of Day 4

Saturday 18th July 2015

Having dropped off to sleep after a long hot afternoon of riding, I am woken just after 1am by the sound of rain on the roof of my tent. At 6am it is still raining. Light, persistent rain. The kind of rain that clings to every surface. We were offered a two bed Hytte ( camping hut: think garden shed, with a couple of beds and a student hotplate )and we should of taken it.

I can hear Greg is awake in his tent next door. After a bit of a discussion, we decide to break camp, get on our way, and stop for some breakfast somewhere up the road.

The view from my tent. Not a bad scene to wake up to

Packing up wet tents is never fun first thing in the morning

Our plan for today was to head North East. As, I had arrived a day earlier than planned due to the ferry debarkle, we now had two days to get to the first planned meeting point in Mora, on Sunday.

I should explain at this point that there are a few of us planning to meet up at a couple of campsites on the way up to the Nordkapp. We are all travelling from different parts of Europe, and on different ferries. When planning the trip, Greg suggested a couple of places where we could meet up to form a convoy. The ultimate aim being to take a group photo at the Nordkapp.

We head towards Skotterud on some country lanes. The riding is good, with empty roads and lots of sweeping curves. It's just a shame I can't see any of the countryside due to the low misty rain stuff.

We stop at a petrol station for some fuel and breakfast. Scandinavian petrol stations are normally equipped with a fast food/ pastry counter. Hot dogs ( polser ) are the staple snack. There is usually a meal deal of some sort. The big offer at this one was 35NOK ( £2.80 ) for a coffee and an icecream. The woman behind the counter says she is having trouble selling icecream due to the weather. I buy a nice looking Danish pastry and a coffee. Greg buys a meal deal of three boller ( a cinnamon spiced fruit bun ) which are a popular treat, and a coffee. The coffee is really good. I never encounter a bad cup of coffee throughout the whole trip.

There is a lounge area in the shop. Greg tells me it is normal for Scandinavians to stop, have a coffee and a snack, and sit for a while before carrying on with their journey. He says I will see over the next few days why this is important, as the towns are quite a long way apart.

As we sit there sipping coffee, an old man comes in to buy a newspaper and pay for his petrol. He wanders over, says hello, and starts chatting to Greg in Norwegian. He has spotted my bike with a UK plate and wanted to say hello. He starts to talk to me in perfect English. So much for panicking about being able to communicate with the locals!

We chat for a while about our trip, and also about how he had travelled around in the UK. He then made his excuses and left, as he had his wife waiting outside in the car. Greg told me it was unusual for people over 55 to speak good English, as it was not taught in schools at that time. When they do speak it though, they like to practice it with any travelers they meet.

It had stopped raining so we set off again. Greg had looked at the weather forecast. As it didn't look too good the way we were heading, he suggested heading straight to Mora, and spend an extra day there exploring. We headed for Arvika, in the direction of the E45 which would take us up to Mora.

It was good to be riding on dry roads again. The woman in the petrol station had suggested a scenic back road to get us to Arvika. Her instructions were a little vague, and we ended up taking a few missed turns.

But, we soon found our way on some great roads. We joined the 61 at Charlottenberg, after heading in completely the wrong direction for a few miles due to the road signs disappearing. Both Greg and I clocked on to this fact pretty quickly, so no real harm was done. We even managed to find a short cut on the 238, through a village called Skog which cut off about 20kms from the journey. The views were also getting better.

At the junction where the 238 joined the E45, Greg pulls over at a roadside dinner. It must be lunch time then!

We were greeted by a nice lady who asked what I would like. I attempted to order a hamburger in Swedish. She spoke back in perfect English and thanked me for trying! Greg ordered the beef stew and dumplings which the nice lady recommended.

The hamburger was amazing. Served in a freshly baked bun, with homemade pickles, chunky chips
and a salad. Greg's stew looked good too. It was great food, and seemed cheap. I kept reading about how much eating out costs in Sweden. But, this only cost us about £6 each. The view from the window was pretty good too.

With full bellies we hit the road again. The E45 is the road I would of taken all the way from Gotthenburg to Mora, if I had not decided to meet up with Greg. I am so glad I didn't choose that option.

Mile after mile of straight featureless tree lined road. Greg had warned me that it was a necessary evil to come this way if I wanted to get to the Nordkapp in a reasonably quick amount of time. Some of the straights were hundreds of kilometres long. When a corner or a crest in the road appeared it was a welcome distraction.

As we entered the town of Torsby I could smell burning plastic, and assumed it must be from some kind of industry, as we were riding past some large factories. I had a cursory glance at all my luggage just in case one of the straps had caught on the exhaust.

The smell disappeared a few minutes later as we left the town and headed back into the wilderness. About another 50kms up the road, Greg's bike slowed, his engine died, and he pulled over off the road. He was trying to start his bike but it refused to turn over. His battery was flat. Now I knew what the burning smell was!

Greg removed the seat from his Caponord. His right hand seat panel was all scorched, and the wiring loom had burnt out.

Aprilia wiring looms are a common cause of breakdowns due to the cheap build quality and components used. Greg had upgraded his regulator rectifier a few months earlier so that his bike would be more reliable for this trip. His wiring crimps had vibrated through, and earthed on the frame causing a small fire in the loom! The battery was no longer able to be charged. And so the bike ran until the battery voltage ran down to a critical level.

Removing the seat panel revealed the full horror.

We were now stranded in the middle of nowhere with a cremated Caponord, and no spares. And, it was starting to rain.

Luckily Greg had made the wiring connections with quite a bit of length left on the loom. I decided to cut out the burnt wiring and try and join the good wiring back together again.  We had nothing to loose.

I got busy with the tools, while Greg held his jacket over us to shelter us from the rain. We had no joining crimps, so I bared back some of the wire and tightly twisted the wires together. I then wrapped some insulation tape round the wires as tight as I could.

The connections seemed strong enough. Now to see about starting the bike. There was just enough life in the battery to turn the engine over, but not enough for it to fire up. And, there was no way we were going to be able to bump start it. I had what I hoped would be the solution though. For this trip I had purchased a micro power pack to charge my netbook. It also had the function to act as a jump pack to start a car. It was supposed to be able to start a diesel V8 several times from one charge. Well I was about to see if it would start an Italian V twin stallion!

I connected the jump leads, and turned on the ignition. I pushed the start button and without any hesitation, the bike started. The risk now was that the bike would die if I disconnected the jump leads. With a firm 14.2 volts showing on the dash mounted voltmeter, I disconnected the leads. The bike not only kept running, but was running and charging well.

Greg and I hurriedly put the bike back together and he got going. I packed away my tools and took off after him. If his bike kept going, we both had enough fuel to get to Mora. We would then be in a bigger town, with more repair possibilities.

We got to Mora, and stopped at a petrol station just before the campsite. If the bike didn't start again we could push it from here. But, it did start again like there was nothing wrong with it.

We booked in at Mora Camping which is a large municipal campsite in the centre of the town. The site was huge with lots of motorhomes parked up. After finding a nice spot we put up our tents; just as the heavens opened. It rain hard for ten minutes and then stopped as quickly as it had started. It would continue to shower for the rest of the evening. We sat around talking and reliving the events of the day, as we listened to the live music coming from the far side of the site. It turns out this is the last night of a three day Swedish dance music festival. That is why there are so many motorhomes full of line dancing middle aged couples. It was a strange musical genre. Less Swedish House Mafia, and more Country and Western meets 1970's Eurovision! Luckily it stops at 11pm. I retire to my tent, and I am out like a light.

Here is the next vlog:

Crasher goes North: Hello Sweden

Map of Day 3

Friday 17th July 2015

I had a restful night aboard the good ship Begonia Seaways. I woke up with the dawn at around 5am, and laid in my bed for a while looking at the empty horizon out of the window. I got up just after 6, and went out on to the deck for some air before breakfast. It was nice and sunny as I sat in a pleasantly warm sheltered spot I found, out of the cool morning breeze.

The sea was flat and calm ( it had been like this for the whole crossing ), and I soaked up the feeling of solitude. It was very relaxing, slowly chugging towards our destination.

Breakfast was very welcome this morning. Sitting out in the sea air had given me an appetite. Freshly baked bread rolls, cloudberry jam, muesli, orange juice, and lots of the lovely strong coffee went down a treat. There was bacon and eggs too. But, I am not really a cooked breakfast person.

The ship was due to dock in Gothenburg at 1pm, so I had plenty of time to pack up my overnight bag. As I was sitting in my cabin, and sorting through my tank-bag, I began to panic as I thought about the trip.

I have never really travelled abroad. Certainly not on a motorcycle. And, not for the length of time that this trip would take. This was the first real holiday since I had left school. I had always been working, or spending my money on fast cars and motorcycles to have been able to afford a real holiday.

I started to worry about everything. Would my credit and debit cards work? Would I be able to communicate with the people I meet? How am I going to cope on my own in a foreign country? Will I be eaten by a herd of reindeer when my bike leaves me stranded on a remote mountain pass in a blizzard? For f#cks sake man get a grip! You've been to Ikea and survived. You will be fine.

Just then my phone rings. I found this a little strange, as since we left the sight of the Lincolnshire coast I have had no signal.

It was my mum. " Hello. Where are you? Are you nearly there yet? " Her voice washed over me and brought with it a feeling of calm. " I'm fine. I think we are sailing around the top of Denmark. I've got a couple of more hours to go yet". And, after saying our goodbyes she was gone. And, so was the phone signal.

We were sailing past the north coast of Denmark and the Skagen peninsular. There is a phone mast there, so I picked up a signal as we sailed past. The sea was beginning to get busy, with ships of all sizes heading in all directions. We seem to be having a race with a tanker off our starboard side. After about twenty minutes, we have pulled out a slender lead.

As, the ship is due to dock at 1 which is normally lunchtime, the chef has prepared a meal for us slightly earlier. Roast chicken, potatoes and salad. It was a pleasant surprise, as I was not expecting it. I was planning on grabbing a bite to eat when I met my friend Greg later.

The passage into Gothenburg port was very pretty. Lots of little rocky outcrops with little wooden buildings on them. Just before turning into the port itself was a castle fort.

At 12:45 the captain started to reverse the ship into position on the dock, and we were allowed down to the cargo deck. I unstrapped my bike, and prepared to disembark. The bow door opened at 12:58, and we slowly made our way off the ship, right on time. Waiting for us all were two very Swedish looking Policemen, stood next to their Volvo V70 patrol car ( what else would it be! ). Seriously, they looked like they had been recruited by the Swedish Tourism Board from an ABBA tribute act to welcome travelers into the country. They were passport control.

After checking my passport they inquired about my trip. And, after telling them about going to the Nordkapp, one of them turned to me and said " It's a very long way. Have a good trip".

There was nobody manning the exit barriers to the port when we all arrived at the gate. After a few conversations with some men in high-viz, the paperwork was done and we were all released in Sweden in our different directions.

My satnav decided to throw a fit as we made our way out of the port, and the road signs were playing mind games too. So, after a 10 minute detour where I passed the same junction three times, I made my way out on to the E6 towards Oslo.

The E6 started off as a fast single carriage road, but with a 80kph speed limit. I had read that speeding in Scandinavia can have serious consequences,  so I would stick to the limits until I could figure out the rules according to what the locals were doing.

The E6 became a 110kph dual carriageway about 15kms out of Gothenburg. There are quite a few speed cameras, but they are all forward facing. They are like the bases of street lamps and painted dark blue. There is also always a warning sign 100 metres before the camera, so they were easy to spot.

I soon settle into a 120kphish cruise. This seems the norm with the locals. Although, some of them are travelling a great deal faster.

It's about 220kms to the services where I had planned to meet Greg. As, I pull into the carpark, I spot his bike parked up. Second later, Greg appears and we start chatting like a couple of old women. After catching up, I fill up with fuel ( cards are working: phew! Which is just as well, as most of the pumps all over Scandinavia are pay at the pump. Especially the ones out in the middle of nowhere ), and we set off through the countryside towards Harstad.

It is a very warm afternoon, 22C, so we stop at Elgafossen to take a look at the falls. Greg takes off his jacket and helmet, and leaves it all draped over his bike. I find it a bit unnerving to leave everything on my bike at the side of the road. Greg assures me that in Scandinavia, people have more respect for each others belongings. I take my backpack with all my passport, cameras, wallet and other valuables in it with me and we set off into the woods to find the falls.

Due to the recent warm weather, the falls are a bit of a disappointment. Less of a raging torrent, and more of a trickle! I decide to take some photos anyway, as it is the first one I've seen. But, as soon as I whip out my camera a very attractive blond lady steps into the shot. She turns around and looks in my direction, and sees that I am wanting to take a photo. She is taking ages to move out of frame, so I just take a photo with her in front of the falls!

Not a bad view

Not much water flowing!

Once back at the bikes, and checking that all of my stuff was still there, we mounted up and headed for Norway on route 21. This was an amazing rollercoaster of a road with an excellent surface, and very little traffic.

We make it to Ore, and head for a campsite Greg has found. He checks we are on the right road with the guy in a local service station. We are just a few kilometres away. It is a basic site run by an old couple who live in the farmhouse next door. With the tents up and some food on the go, we sit talking and watch the sun go down before retiring for the night. The trip is looking good so far. But, we have a few long days ahead to get up to the Nordkapp.

Here is the second installment of the vlog: