More of Norway

It was going to be impossible to beat the Trollstigen - Geiranger road but Norway had a lot more to offer and our appetite had been well whetted. We decided to leave Geiranger via the fjord on a one hour ferry trip to Hellesylt. Unfortunately the weather was not playing ball and the views of the fjord and the many waterfalls were hampered by drizzle and low cloud. From Hellesylt we proceeded to Stryn and around the Innvikifjorden on our way to the third of our National Tourist Roads - the Gaularfjellet. The weather had cleared making the run along the fjord beautiful - very little traffic and reflections on the clear waters of the fjord. As we climbed the Gaularfjellet road we dipped in and out of valleys, past waterfalls and snow filled ravines. The road swept across the plateau before stopping at a lookout where the full extent of the snaking descent could be viewed. There was no traffic as we lapped up the twisting descent, pure motorcycling heaven. We got to our next ferry crossing point at Dragsvik late in the day and decided the hotel on the fjord was too tempting to resist. A room with a view across the fjord was just the tonic we needed at the end of another incredible day.

One of the beauties of the ferry system on the Norwegian fjords is that they are regular and run to time. We had an easy morning and left Dragsvik on the 10.45 crossing to Helle. From there we tracked around the fjord to Mannheller for our second ferry crossing to Fordnes. Our route this day was to take us to the world's longest road tunnel - the Laerdalstunnel at 24.5 Km long. Our dilemma was that we also wanted to cross the Aurlandsfellet (snow mountain) under which the tunnel passes and we wanted to end up on the southern side of the mountains - three crossings would be required. The Aurlandsfellet was the fourth of our National Tourist roads. We arrived at the northern approach and with the weather fine we decided to tackle the mountain first - a wise decision in hindsight.

The road climbed above the snow line to a viewing area where the path led to a man made cave. There was no signage so we crouched low and proceeded to an inner sanctum where we were confronted by a large 'sleeping' brown bear resting on a pile of Nordic Trash & Treasure. The Norwegians do have a sense of humour. Still smiling we crossed the mountain past snow drifts, lakes and waterfalls - the terrain was barren but beautiful. At the crest before the descent there is a viewing platform with stunning views to the Aurlandfjord far below. The descent was tight and blocked with several RV's trying to negotiate the tight turns. We had lunch at Aurland before entering the tunnel. Because of the length of the tunnel the designers introduced three caverns at approx 6km intervals to break the monotony of the tunnel. The caverns have blue lighting which is meant to represent daylight. We stopped in one of the caverns for a photograph and when we exited on the northern end went around the roundabout and re-entered rthe tunnel  - approx 50 km underground. The wisdom of doing the mountain crossing first was evident as we exited the tunnel in heavy rain. We stopped at a hotel by the lake at Oppheim and dined on trout caught fresh from the lake. Another great day in Norway.

It was still raining when we left Oppheim heading for our 5th National Tourist Rd - the Hardanger. This route requires two ferry crossings as you follow the shoreline around the Hardanger Fjord. Unfortunately this was to be our wettest day in Norway. The road was also under heavy repair in many places so we had a somewhat slippery day with the bike covered in mud splatter. All was forgiven however when we settled for the night at a beautiful hotel on the fjord at Eidfjord. The service manager at the hotel gave us a free upgrade to a fjord view room when we commented on the slightly Aussie twang in her accent. She had worked in Cairns for a few years. There was also a group of Norwegian Harley riders from Oyer staying at the hotel so a good time was had. Next morning one of the cruise ships we had seen at Geiranger Fjord docked in front of the hotel blocking our beautiful view.

Our last full day in Norway took in the Hardangervidda, the largest mountain plateau in Northern Europe and our sixth National Tourist Route. As we climbed out of Oppheim, leaving the tour coaches in our wake, we happened on the Voringfoss falls and a tragedy that unveiled in 2011. An Austrian couple in their early sixties were visiting the falls when the husband toppled to his death from the unguarded cliff while taking a photograph. His wife either overcome with shock or love for her partner followed him over the edge. A very sobering story as we wandered around to photograph the falls. The falls are 182 metres high and spectacular even though these days the water flow is controlled for electricity generation. Must have been truly awesome in its natural state. The plateau is beautifully barren with views across to glaciers and snow capped mountains. It is home to the largest population of reindeer in Norway but alas they did not show a red nose for us. It was also home to a very sneaky police mobile radar - disguised as a campsite. This was our coldest ride since the early morning blast across England in June. The air temperature was six degrees but the wind chill with a stiff breeze blowing off the glacier made it much colder.  We arrived in Larvik late in the day and stayed close to the ferry terminal for an early morning crossing to Denmark.

There is a one day train/boat/road tourist trip around the fjords called 'Norway in a nutshell'. Our 'Norway in a nutshell' took eight days took us as far north as Kristiansund, east to Oyer, west to Alesund and south to Larvik and we had only touched the surface of this vast and magnificent country. We had three fine days, three mixed days and two wet days and the locals told us this had been an unusually wet and mild summer. Riding temperatures had generally been excellent in the high teens. Yes it is an expensive country to visit but the beauty of the place repays you in bucket loads. Go there.

Introduction to Norway

Norway was the great unknown to us, uncharted territory. We had read a lot on various bike forums but did not know bikers who had been there. The forums were full of stories of wild weather, fantastic roads, beautiful scenery, over zealous Policing and the cost of everything especially beer. Our landlady in Copenhagen had added to the intrigue by warning us 'they are a bunch of Pirates up there'.

So it was with great excitement but some trepidation that we lined up to board the overnight ferry at Copenhagen bound for Oslo. Our luck was in as we joined two Norwegian bikers in the queue who were returning home from a BSA rally in Sweden. Both were mounted on 1960's BSA  bikes, a Spitfire and a Lightning. These two friendly guys spent some time on the crossing setting us right as to the realities of touring Norway on a motorcycle. There are severe penalties for speeding and the roads are policed by 'civilian cars' - unmarked cars. There are also fixed and mobile speed cameras. Fuel is 15 NOK (Norwegian Kroner) per litre which equates to about $2.40 AUD and beer at a hotel/restaurant about $10 AUD per glass. A main course meal at a restaurant will set you back about $40 AUD and a hamburger about $10 AUD. So yes it is expensive.

Our plans were pretty loose. Norway has marked a series of 20 roads as "national tourist roads" and our plan was to string together as many of these as we could in the week that we had allocated. We were concentrating on the south-western part of the country - fjordland. There is something very special about arriving at a new place by boat, especially overnight. We always enjoy our trips to Tasmania and the crossing to the Isle of Man is very special. So it was that we woke to cast our first look at Norway as our vessel the Pearl Seaways quietly made her way along the long inlet leading to Oslo. Old fortifications and cute as a button little rust coloured houses set amongst the greenest landscape on a fine morning presented a very pretty picture.

We loosened the rear wheel of the Gray Ghost from her very secure wheel cradle (the best form of bike security we have encountered) bid farewell to our new Norwegian friends and set off into the traffic of morning peak hour Oslo. We do not particularly like cities but rather than ride straight out of Oslo we had chosen three destinations to visit to give us a taste of what the city has to offer.We had set each point on the GPS but best made plans were thwarted as Oslo is undergoing some major inner city construction works (much as we found in Copenhagen) and the GPS mapping did not have some of the new roads included. Both issues had us going back past the ferry terminal after about 15 minutes of riding in search of our first destination, the City Cathedral.

The Cathedral was nothing special, surrounded by roadworks and Gypsy beggars, so Jane took some photos while I hovered in a loading zone and we sought out destination No 2, Vigeland Sculpture Park. The way here was also thwarted by road closures but our perseverance was rewarded as this place is truly spectacular. The sculptures were constructed over 100 years ago by noted local artist Gusrav Vigeland in whose honour the park is named. It contains 227 Bronze and Granite statues celebrating humanity in its most simple playful (naked) forms. The statues and arrangements are just beautiful.

Norway and Oslo in particular is the home of Museums. There is a museum for anything you can imagine and we had chosen one as our third destination. The Kon-Tiki Museum houses the balsa wood raft, the Kon-Tiki, that Norwegian Anthropologist and adventurer Thor Heyerdahl had sailed across the Pacific Ocean in 1947. We had both read and studied the book during our school years and this was a chance to see the real thing. The museum also houses the Ra 2, a reed boat from later adventures, as well as much memorabilia from Heyerdahl's life. A very interesting place and well worth the visit.

Our three goals achieved we headed north out of the city to the venue of the 1994 winter Olympics, Lillehammer. We had booked into a remote hotel some miles behind Lillehammer that was set on a lake in the rugged mountains, just what we were looking for after our stay in Copenhagen. Reviews had alerted us that 'the last 16 kilometres' were on gravel road but the way our GPS took us to the hotel co-ordinates was through some very basic farm tracks. The hotel was old and a little run down but the setting was beautiful, the hosts warm & friendly and the food excellent. One of the workers rode an old Jawa so the Gray Ghost had company in a warm garage. I had commented on the ride in that this road would be 'fun' to ride in the wet and as tempting fate so often happens, it rained overnight and as we were leaving. There was an alternative route out via Oyer albeit down a steep slippery incline and this was recommended. It was a very careful ride out with low cloud, rain and the greasy road surface which left the bike a dirty mess. The run north-west alerted us to the slowness of travel in Norway. Not only is the open road speed limit 80kph but what appears like a short trip can become a major journey as you have to negotiate your way around the fjords. The scenery is spectacular so we didn't mind the extra time in the saddle.

Our home for the next 2 nights was the small village of Sjoholt about 30 km out of the popular seaside port of Alesund. On another wet day we headed north to tackle the famed Atlantic Road with its bridges and causeways allowing us to 'Island Hop' all the way to Kristiandsund. We passed many bikes returning from a big Biker Rally further north. The Atlantic Road is well chronicled and maybe we were expecting a bit more after all of the hype but we found it a bit 'ho hum'. Nice but not spectacular. We then entered a long undersea tunnel before exiting at Kristiansund. We returned via a tolled road bridge out of Kristiansund which surprised us as we had to pay additional toll for Jane as a passenger and we noted they even charged pedestrians a toll to walk across the bridge. The tunnel and bridge at Kristiansund were the only tolls we had to pay in Norway as motorbikes are exempt on all the other tolled roads we encountered. With the late twilight we had time to go into Alesund for dinner and again we were a bit underwhelmed by Alesund. It is touted for its spectacular harbour setting and old Architecture but we found it to be a bit neglected and the Architecture compromised by unsympathetic modern intrusions.

Next day dawned fine as we headed for the most famous of Norway's National Tourist Routes - the Trollstigen to Geiranger Fjord Road. This road is simply stunning as first you climb the Trollstigen Mountain on a series of switchback bends and are rewarded with magnificent views back down the valley. The road then tracks across the high plateau along a beautiful flowing road before you hit the edge of the plateau and descend past waterfalls to the Nordals Fjord and a ferry crossing. Climb again, not as steep this time, before you hit the outlook above the Geiranger Fjord. The view simply takes your breath away. We dropped down through a series of tight switchback turns into Geiranger where three cruise ships were negotiating their mooring at the head of the fjord. There is no cruise ship terminal at Geiranger, passengers are ferried to shore. We booked a cabin overlooking the fjord and rested after one of the most spectacular rides you could imagine. This is Norway at its best.

Farewell Germany welcome to Scandinavia

After some consideration we decided to catch a ferry from northern Germany (Puttgarden) to southern Denmark (Rodby) and then proceed onto Norway from Copenhagen. We picked the city of Lubeck as our overnight stop en-route with no expectations other than a place to sleep. We were more than pleasantly surprised when we arrived following a boring day on the German motorways. Lubeck is a magnificent medieval city well sited on the river Trave and a major German port on the Baltic Sea. The extensive Brick Gothic Architecture throughout the city has earned Lubeck a UNESCO World Heritage Site listing. We spent several hours wandering the streets and barely touched the surface. A must see place if visiting this part of the world.

We had pre-booked our ferry and left Lubeck with time to spare - that was until the German Dept of stuffing up Highways intervened. Whole sections of the highway were closed down and turned the place into a carpark. Lane filtering is illegal in Germany but we 'bent' the rules along with a couple of Finnish bikers and a German local. Still missed our allotted ferry so had a short wait. The 45 minute crossing was smooth and then we were in Scandinavia. First impressions were of flat well kept rural lands, plenty of road bridges, different Architectural style of the farm buildings and all cars have their headlights on during the day (this is a law in Denmark and Norway). We proceeded onto Copenhagen and to our prebooked suburban B&B. The suburban shopping area was a sea of bicycles with double storied bicycle racks at the rail station. The rural tidiness we had first observed unfortunately did not carry over to the urban area with graffiti an ever present eyesore. There was also a general air of untidiness which really surprised us - we had expected Denmark to be as neat as a pin.

Copenhagen itself has taken on the air of a construction site - apparently the Danes have decided they need a subway system and have been building one for the past decade with no end date in the foreseeable future. The locals have become conditioned to the disruptions and changes to bus routes etc. Whole sections of the city are 'under construction' and even in the most populous tourist areas dumpsters and demolition work compete with the retail sector. There are some lovely parts of the city - we watched the Changing of the Guard at the Amalienborg Castle and that was performed with the expected degree of pomp and ceremony. The Marble Church, the old wharf area (Nyhavn), new Opera House, Rosenberg Castle and Gardens and 'the Little Mermaid' are all noteworthy sites to visit. Also notable after so long in Europe is the increase in prices in Denmark and only to get worse in Norway. The home of Carlsberg and Tuborg has the most expensive beer we have encountered so far. Food, fuel, accommodation and public transport are all much more expensive than what we have left in Germany. We had a chance meeting with a local riding a Danish built Nimbus motorcycle from 1949. This in-line 4 cylinder military model with shaft drive and exposed overhead valves was as simple as a hammer and still giving reliable daily service to its owner.

We left Copenhagen late afternoon on the overnight ferry to Oslo. We had spent the day along the coastline north of the city where the Danes were enjoying the last days of their summer holidays in the sun and along the beach. It is a very relaxed area away from the bustle of the city.