Nordic travel plans August / September 2017

[DavidG58]

Sorry lost internet hope that tidies things up

 

[jumartoo]

So now you have to go back down .

We parked there overnight only three nights ago. Bad timing or what!

 

[andy63]

fantastic photos David... just a touch envious...
hope your weather stays good ...safe travels and ill look fwd to seeing your photos..
andy

 

[Jenben]

Love the Lillehammer photos David, jealous you got to see someone doing the jump. Glad you got to the Trollstigen, great photos.

 

[Debs]

evening all, thanks for your concerns Stephen but we are for now mission accomplished, more or less on the coast, now ready to start our tour for real, we were always concentrating on the northern bit, the sacrifice was long driving to get here and potentially missing lots on the way. we see it as a reccae for next time

Today we have only done 150 miles and this will be the longest for a long time, short hops now up the coast, hopefully some 2 nighters on the way, then the Lofoten Islands, now we know for sure we have got here we can now plan the next few weeks

the last part of todays journey in from Lillehammer gave us increasingly bigger and bigger scenery, stopping at the visitor centre for the trolls valley, took these

View attachment 181653 View attachment 181654 View attachment 181655 View attachment 181656

while Debbie by accident scared the beejeezus out of Bev, not helped by you Stephen either, or me I guess for reading it out Bev was proper terrified and wanted to stay down in the valley while I went up, but my plan was to overnight at the top

we had a chat I calmed her down and we agreed to set off and have a look from the bottom....

Glad you've all survived

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[Dave K]

It doesn't take much but I'm a bit confused, last I heard all these travel plans were shelved and you were off to Scotland .
Hope you're both having a great time, take care

 

[big map]

It doesn't take much but I'm a bit confused, last I heard all these travel plans were shelved and you were off to Scotland .
Hope you're both having a great time, take care

Oh @Dave K you are so out of date!!!

 

[Jasz]

Only just managed to catch up with all this David. Sorry I missed saying happy birthday to Bev.
Great photos, it looks worth the journey. Hope you see the lights before too long.

 

[DavidG58]

morning all, we parked overnight with np disturbance other than the river cascading by alongside

Bev had said though that she really wanted to be back down before al the coaches started coming up, we woke up early as we are anyway, going to bed much earlier, so when at 7:30 2 coaches belted past us heading down Bev says right hurry up I was allowed to finish my coffee and walk Lola, but at 7:55 we set off, immediately chased by 2 more coaches

Took this in my sneaky walk before setting off looks like another nice day in the making

this was similar view last night when we had lost internet, I think the visitor centre shuts down everything when it goes home, cheek of it

and breakfast stop this morning close to Andalsnes, where cruise ships dock to send passengers up the trollstigen

We are safely down met one coach on way up already but a nice easy drive down, once I had let the 2 pursuit coaches by, only to see then parked in the car park at the bottom

Off to Bud today a la Mr and Mrs C from 2 years ago, a beach site for 2 nights we hope if not too busy / expensive, then the atlantic road

 

[DavidG58]

Any Norway experts out there please??

Yesterday driving from Lillehammer to Andalsnes, on the main road we passed lots of speed cameras, we are driving in proper holiday mode no rush, but as the limit for us is 80kph anyway its just as well (we are over 3.5T)

My need for an expert in this, I noticed that the cameras indicate a small red or green light as you pass, I now fear the red one may indicate over limit despite sticking to 80 kph on our Mercedes dash (which is digital) I mean numbers not dial, on Tom Tom this equates to 47mph, my quick sums for 80 kph would be 49 / 50. I would think our highest possible speed would have been 48 / 49 mph so no chance of over limit

I did spot a couple of 70 kph limits and am confident it wasn't those we got the red light in, now slightly worried I might face a pile of speeding tickets, knowing the Norwegians hit hard in the pocket for speeding

I hope there is a height trigger and we have been identified as larger with possibly a lower limit maybe when reviewed on camera it will be disregarded

What will be will be, but I hope not to be fined mainly because I am confident we haven't gone too fast

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[moulin 87]

Any Norway experts out there please??

Yesterday driving from Lillehammer to Andalsnes, on the main road we passed lots of speed cameras, we are driving in proper holiday mode no rush, but as the limit for us is 80kph anyway its just as well (we are over 3.5T)

My need for an expert in this, I noticed that the cameras indicate a small red or green light as you pass, I now fear the red one may indicate over limit despite sticking to 80 kph on our Mercedes dash (which is digital) I mean numbers not dial, on Tom Tom this equates to 47mph, my quick sums for 80 kph would be 49 / 50. I would think our highest possible speed would have been 48 / 49 mph so no chance of over limit

I did spot a couple of 70 kph limits and am confident it wasn't those we got the red light in, now slightly worried I might face a pile of speeding tickets, knowing the Norwegians hit hard in the pocket for speeding

I hope there is a height trigger and we have been identified as larger with possibly a lower limit maybe when reviewed on camera it will be disregarded

What will be will be, but I hope not to be fined mainly because I am confident we haven't gone too fast

I think large HGVs are the same 80kmph speed limit. Basically all vehicles are 80 Kmph.. I know what you mean about the cameras, I thought a few times that something untoward had happened but haven't received any notifications. More than likely a range finder for their anti-MH missile for persistent speedsters...

Sometimes the cameras are at the entrance to tunnels which may have a reduced limit and I found if there was one camera then there were likely to be a few in a line perhaps a km apart...

 

[Robert Clark]

Looks like the weather is being kind to you David.
Is Lola enjoying it?

Edit;
When will you be in the right location to see the northern lights?

 

[DavidG58]

Looks like the weather is being kind to you David.
Is Lola enjoying it?

Edit;
When will you be in the right location to see the northern lights?

Hello Robert, funny you should pop up now, we have just been talking about you , drove to Bud today for our first proper view of the sea, need to check what sea it is, North Sea possibly, Norwegian Sea maybe, used our first ferry on the way, very nice man didn't even ask how long, just how many people, glanced down the side and asked for 240NK £24, gave us the ticket, MH size 6 - 7m possibly saved us another 24 NK

Then on the Bud and the reason for talking about RC, TT programmed for 'Bud city centre' arrived in village and saw sign for Bud Camping, decided this must be the one and drove in, pretty much immediately decided this isn't up to Mr C's standard but stopped and had a wander, then agreed this was definitely not where R + L stayed, far too many statics and not enough sea view. Out comes iPad, Campercontact, local finds where we are and next nearest, look at reviews, who pops up Mr C reviewing a place luckily only a mile or so away, so off we toddle and here we are

our ferry crossing earlier

just turn up join a lane, based on how many lanes there are the queues might get quite long but a ferry every 20 minutes or so, never long to wait 5 minutes for us and on, 10 mins later off again

we have also tried our hand at Norwegian shopping, bit like Lidl with much higher prices, although some things seemed very good prices, but we still spent £50 and came out with next to nothing, but Bev does now have her flowers I promised not good on fresh meats though, maybe need to find a butcher

decided on one night here then off to the atlantic road tomorrow which starts only few miles away

 

[Robert Clark]

Have you been into Bud yet?
The waterfront is quite pretty

 

[DavidG58]

Sun just going down here now, days drawing in really quickly, but still 9:00 here and we go further north next so should stay about the same for a bit

couple of pictures to close to day, the bay where we are parked with my bit of nature for the day, then the sunset which will be too far round to see much better for us, didn't really think about it but the later in the day it sets the closer to north it is as well rather than west

then a little tribute from me to Judith and Martin, possibly the ridge they walked seen from a good few miles away but as close as I am going to get, this week at least

One more drink then bed for us

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[DavidG58]

evening all, a day of mixed thoughts, a beautiful day weather wise, we set off from the site around 10:00 for the atlantic way, I have read a bit about it on the internet (well more looked at the pictures) I am now convinced it has been an excellent marketing campaign to get tourists in, which it does big style

before we left site I did a trip with recycling, really disappointed so far not to find any plastic recycling, I really would have thought Norway would take recycling very seriously, but there may not be enough to worry or make it worthwhile maybe. but I did find this amusing

a bin for fish guts next to glass and tin

a quick pop into Bud, quaint little harbour with loads of colour, a lot of red houses, but this mustard colour seems to be coming in

stopped just up the road technically the beginning of the atlantic road, although it immediately turns away from the coast just after, pretty layby with no overnight parking restrictions as a lot of nice laybys have along this section

then the 'feature' of the road

looks odder than it feels to drive over, now noticed a lot of their bridges are bent, not really sure why

this road was followed by a huge tunnel leading to Kristiandsund, 138NK £13 the sign did sat 450NK for over 3.5T but we had said if they asked for that we would drive round

then a similar massive tunnel to get back out the other side, these tunnels are over 2 miles long and really steep down and back up, I presume the fjords are that deep, but it is quite a slog getting back up, and not easy to keep speed down on the way in, we definitely prefer the bridges

We have now driven on a few more miles and parked up beside the road with a view across the water, sun virtually all day, but forecast after tomorrow looking more like what Judith and Martin endured but heading on further north tomorrow while we have sun

the mix of emotions is the reality that it is pretty much the same as the Western Highlands and Islands in Scotland

 

[Robert Clark]

David

There is one BIG difference between Scotland and Norway

Furthermore there are no glaciers in Scotland

Keep heading north, and with luck you will see the Northern Lights - rarely seen in Scotland

 

[DavidG58]

this is us tonight beside a road but nothing is exactly busy here

 

[moulin 87]

Don't feel too despondent, plenty to see as you go North just keep off the main roads.. Where are you at the moment?

We found a scenic route to bypass Trondheim.. And if you feel like a walk on a Glacier let me know...

 

[DavidG58]

Thanks Robert, staying positive, it is really nice here, the arctic circle crossing is a major tick on my list, the aurora will definitely swing things in favour of Norway. just hope the forecast for 10 days rain is wrong, the aurora alerts have plummeted since we got near, but picking up again mid week

I did get a moon photo last night to console myself

and the sunset is developing nicely for tonight

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[jumartoo]

David I didn't want to post our thoughts on the Atlantic Highway knowing you wanted to drive it but we found we were across it before we knew it and were slightly!!! disappointed.

However after our disappointments earlier we have found our type of places. No mass tourism just like minded travellers, either trekkers or motorhomes.

This good weather helps though. When it breaks we may get itchy feet and head elsewhere!

 

[DavidG58]

Don't feel too despondent, plenty to see as you go North just keep off the main roads.. Where are you at the moment?

We found a scenic route to bypass Trondheim.. And if you feel like a walk on a Glacier let me know...

We are on the E39 heading due east about 1/3 way from Kristiansund to Trondheim near a village called Rodal any input gratefully received although we might use tomorrows good weather to get some miles in

 

[jumartoo]

There was cheap fuel and LPG at Orkanger when we came through. We didn't use the E39 where you are, we went on the islands and the 680.

 

[DavidG58]

Heres the best news today, found an open but unmanned weighbridge

we are only just illegal

It's partly Judith's fault we were and are carrying excess gin

This is literally just refuelled and refilled clean water, but empty black and grey

 

[DavidG58]

LPG update, filled in UK, have had a couple of nights with hook up but only 3 so far. all water for coffee done on hob, all meals cooked from scratch on hob still on first cylinder, will refill when we have changed over (manual change), we leave Alde on permanently (lazy I know) keep water ready and heating set on thermostat to cut in if below 16C has done twice so far but one was on hook up

edit - 8 nights in so far

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[moulin 87]

We are on the E39 heading due east about 1/3 way from Kristiansund to Trondheim near a village called Rodal any input gratefully received although we might use tomorrows good weather to get some miles in

The route we took is below.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/'...5d!2m2!1d9.6623489!2d63.6862525!1m0!3e0?hl=en

The marker at the end is a little campsite we've stayed at on a couple of occasions, where you can go salmon fishing if you wish...

David I didn't want to post our thoughts on the Atlantic Highway knowing you wanted to drive it but we found we were across it before we knew it and were slightly!!! disappointed.

However after our disappointments earlier we have found our type of places. No mass tourism just like minded travellers, either trekkers or motorhomes.

This good weather helps though. When it breaks we may get itchy feet and head elsewhere!

We didn't actually bother going.. we were moving in that direction but the weather wasn't good so ignored it and moved inland....

 

[DavidG58]

Hello all, new day, new attitude

Another stonking day weather wise, high teens temps, blue skies and sunshine, we opt to head north and move some miles due to weather forecast for Trondheim area looking poor from Monday on, TBH doesn't look any better further north either, but they could be wrong

Decided on the main road for ease, nice enough route although rather odd how it goes from decent plenty wide enough 2 lanes with clear marker down the middle to 1 3/4 lanes at best and praying not to meet anything big coming fast the other way , but we didn't and came out close to Trondheim to a few more tunnels. When I first saw the amount of tunnels I was sort of excited at the idea, now we are bored with them already, no views at all, often steep descent and exit if under fjords, and some of them are really long, not quite Judith's 25km one the other day, but we do all we could to avoid that now

Another thing we should be avoiding are the very frequent auto toll sections, little green cross light appears, to confirm we have been recognised typically only about 20 - 40 NK, but we must have gone through 15 at least so far, but I have lost count

The other cost is ferries, inevitably there are bridges (a lot with tolls a lot free) but if not there are tunnels (some free) or ferries (none of which are free) I did do some research before we left and already knew that the MH length was the main factor, other than hiding Bev in the loo and declaring one passenger. So far the first ferry with a very nice young man put us down as 6-7m without asking, the next one started at 6.5m then increased to 7.5m before asking so we accepted, that goes as 7-8m, we are actually 8.2m although technically that is @Kim H fault, I was quite happy thinking my model S800 meant 8m, but 4 years later we learn it really is 8.2m

The cost nearly doubles at each 1m change in length so we are wary of ferries, but don't expect to be charged for the real length based on experience to date

Looking to park up for the night, now driving on the E6 the main road north / south, although don't imagine the A1 or A6, this is still like a small country road by comparison, a lot of laybys have notices saying np overnighting, even in three languages so no excuses, suggesting we use a campsite, but then 1/2 mile away another layby has no signs

Lovely end to today, pulled into layby but were very aware of traffic noise, moved on 1/2 mile noticed a track off left, ventured down proper little track I could feel Bev's face glaring at me without turning left luckily just room to turn round, not really ideal to stop and midges all round us as we were well in the trees, but not much traffic noise opted to drive on and literally 400 yds on found this, which I will describe as we found it in photos

Pulled in to layby with superb view, but only where it is too narrow to park, even for a selfish git like me

so pulled forward, where it was wide enough, but view was only of trees

then my co pilot and truly most loved person I know spotted the gravel track at the end of the layby

drove down, turned right, pulled in and got the worlds biggest scream saying no further eased back a bit

sat outside in near 20C sun drinking beer

waiting for the steaks to defrost for tea

maybe Norway isn't so bad after all

 

[Robert Clark]

@DavidG58

Very much enjoying the new attitude
Much more FUN

 

[DavidG58]

tomorrow we head towards but don't think we will get this far

I swear Judith and Martin brought in military help to get air lifted further south

we are currently north east of Steinkjer, where we put in some more fuel today, I have been rather remiss at updating fuel stops but in Norway we stopped at the border to refill, then north of Lillehammer at Dombas (credit card ) another 50 litres, topped up in Kritiansund (cash) also did water and dump there ( might have stolen / borrowed their small size hozelock adaptor ) hopefully it was someone who has left theirs, like I have so many of the next size up

can't believe how easy it is to refill clean water and dump waste at almost every service station , cant do that in Scotland

Arctic circle here we come

northern lights get ready (please)

 

[Robert Clark]

Apparently Bodo is the most southern point to consistently see the northern lights

You're nearly there !

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