Ever Northwards to Alta

Its seems funny to be still heading north and away from home. Today we reach a milestone as I have done just 2000 miles since leaving home and we still have about 150 miles to the Cape. A great day today. Bit of drama with my camera so we started the day by buying a new one in Bardufoss. Then we headed north following the E6 again which incidentally is also called the Northern Lights Way. I doubt we will see any this time of year and certainly not tonight as it is grey, overcast, misty and raining as I write this. But all day long the weather has been great.

Tim finally zipped in his lining in but was a good 400 miles north of the Arctic Circle. Good effort. The sign in the other picture gives  a hint as to how far to go! We stopped a couple of times for coffee along the way and had a nice lunch (had take a second mortgage though - boy is this one pricey country!!) We saw our first wild deer today as three of the little dears (sorry) crossed the road. I would hate to hit one in a car never mind on a bike. Doesn't bear thinking about.

A lot of our route today was along huge fjords and the road wound round a bit. Again we did some tunnels which were poorly lit but a couple of more modern ones too. The road generally continued to be fantastic. Every biker should do this trip. The E6 has to be the ultimate road.


Late in the day, we came across the fjord where the German battleship Tirpitz was moored ( for two years) during WWII. There is a museum which is worth a look of your interested. The ship was attacked by the Royal Navy twice - once with midget submarines which did damage requiring 6 months repairs and then again by the fleet airarm which did another 6 months. It was final sank by the Lancaster bombers near Tromso. The actual fjord of the mini sub attack is pictured here. Amazing stuff.

The shot above is Tim and I enjoying  a "grassy bank" arctic style. Well, we are getting on and need a break now and then! We arrived Alta about 1930 and had dinner in the hotel as the weather has turned grim. Let's hope it clears for tomorrow.

Morning campers!

Its a beautiful morning here in the area of Bardufoss and we are staying in a cabin on a kind of nature reserve. It is very nice albeit farily rustic. Last night we arrived here about 2030 and popped down to the local Spar - 10 mins away on a bike - and bought some supplies for breakfast. We also bought a large frozen pizza for dinner which we thought would be nice and easy to prepare. There is a kitchen but there is no oven or grill. So we fried it with a bit of fat from the salami!!! The bottom was black but we scrapped the top off and had a feast. That said, anything tastes good when your hungry.

This hut comprises two bedroom each with four bunk beds, a lounge, a small kitchen (no grill!), a loo and a shower room. Incredibly, the shower room also has  his and her's sinks. How about that?!

Remembering a couple of points on travel, the tunnels are barely lit. They are narrow and dark and need respect. Car headlights seem quite bright due to the darkness and you can't see the road surface. Definitely worth slowing down. We have hardly seen any police cars but there are a lot of forward facing cameras. The E6 north of Mor i ana is single carriageway and mostly in great shape. There are however quite a few resurfacing operations as this is the season - can't lay tarmac in the winter. The surface can be bumpy particularly it seems and the approach to corners probably due to trucks braking and "moving" the tarmac so flying in a high speed on two wheels is probably not a good idea. I only had one major wobble.......!

The picture was from last night some 50 miles south of Bardufoss. We crossed a few bridges like that and saw so many great views but it wasn't practical to keep stopping a photographing them all. You'll have to come and see for yourself..........

The Road just ended....

Unexpectedly, the E6 just stopped and we had to get a ferry for 30 mins. It ended up being a nice rest and actually we were very lucky as it was every hour and was sailing in 5 minutes.  Tim took the opportunity to check the map and figure out exactly where we were. On the road, we kept passing the same cars and trucks as we kepted stopping to take photos. I sure they all think we are these mad English bikers who ride too fast. But the roads were really fantastic.

Eventually we made our destination for the night.....Bardufoss...were we rented a cabin. Sally arrived by plane and set off tomorrow as three.

Lunch by (yet another) fjord

Found a great place for lunch. Under this building was attempted railway tunnel built by the Germans in 1943 using Russian POWs. It is now a kind of  underground dinner area.

I aslo spotted a local - its true - they really exist and live in the woods.

Fuel station with garden

The fuel station we missed in 2004 when desperate for fuel was just 2 km north when we turned south. Note the crazy roof with grass growing on it. The roads to the north of the Arctic Circle were brilliant and as the rain stopped we cracked on and did a few fast miles. The scenery was amazing and beyond description.

The Press follow us to the Circle

As we were packing to leave Mor i ana, we were inteviewed by the media. Fantastic. We are going to be in the Mor i ana Times hee hee hee. A few miles later we were at the Arctic Circle and had a coffee at the visitor's centre. We also bought replacement tee shirts ( we bought the same ones in 2004.

 A few miles later we reached the road junction were we joined the E6 in 2004 having crossed the mountains from Sweden and then turned south. At time we were desperate for fuel and guess what...2 km north was a fuel station.

Magical Mystery DeTour

The E6, which is the road which takes us all the way to the NK, is in parts narrow and twisty now. It also has gangs working on it relaying the tarmac asthey can only do this in the few short summer weeks. Mostly, you just ride between the workers but on one occasion, the yesterday the road was closed and we were sent over a nountain range. "No worries", the man said in Norwegian, "10 minutes, that's all". Perhaps I misunderstood. It was however, fantastic as we climbed up and we stopped near the top to take stock.

The snow was still there but I guess we weren't that high and still 100 miles south of the Arctic Circle. Tim figured the water looked get great so insisted we both drank some. (Mum - if I die, its poisoning from the dead deer floating up stream.)

The detour was great though as we saw wilder terrain and even more great roads. Whislt, passing time there we saw our first police car too. He was going our way and after another 30 minutes we caught him up and he kindly gave us an escort into Moriana.

Ironically in Moriana we pulled up at randon outside a hotel and both suddenly realised it was one we had stayed at in 2004 the last time we rode here. It was full so we had to stay elsewhere but all was sorted and we watched Brazil dazzle Chile in a pub. Well, we were in a pub  and they were in a stadium but you know what I mean.

And finally, this shot was taken whilst stopped at yet another road works. What a backdrop!

Heading north from Trondheim

The E6 has been one big building site and were it isn't, it is frustrating as even the single carriage ways have concrete dividers. But after about 100 miles, the road turns into a motorcyclist's dream. Fantastic. Not too much traffic and amazing scenery. Had a coffee after 120m or so and Tim marked it on his map

After that we went even faster - well why not?! Great roads and great views. Having lunch now. Earlier we past a place called Hell and not far from there was a business called "Rent a Wreck". No idea what that was about.

Ok, so we lost but

..it was in pub called Dirty Nelly's and here is Tim and Nelly.

And he's me with a German supporter. We decided not to trash the place after England lost.

All good fun and we did enjoy the game. It was in a place called Dumb As but we rode on to Trondhiem and cover 425 miles today. Off for dinner and a beer. Cheers

Come on England

We rode 300 miles before stopping at 1545 to find a place to watch England v Germany. We are now sitting in a pub called Dirty Nelly's in a place called "Dumb as". Come on - you couldn't make it up. Anyway, signing off to watch the game.

Come on England !!!

First Night

Had a wonderful night at Jorgen's and Elizabeth's in Sandefiord south of Oslo. Didn't arrive until late so had dinner about 2300h.

They were wondeful hosts. Breakfast on the terrace at 0800 and then we said our farewells and was back on the road at 0900.  (Elizabeth - Tim really enjoyed the horse - something new for sure!! Many thanks for your wonderful hospitality)
 Crikey, its warm today!! On our way.

Big jet foil thing

This "little" jet foil thing ferried us from Denmark to Norway. It was ram jam full of cars and trucks and yet did 36 knots. Amazing. The other shot is Tim texting home after our mad dash across Denmark to make this ferry. It was close.

Send off Event in Hull (out f time sync I know but....)

Here's a couple of pics from our send off "do". The first one shows a couple of likely lads tucking in the spread which Sally had prepared. To be fair it was fantastic. And the second pic is Tim and I posing for the press with our bikes. I doubt that one will make the paper - look in the background on the left! Even when they are not with us they are making us laugh.....! Cheers boys.

Drama across Denmark

We didn't know a little Transalp would go so fast! The ferry into Esjberg was later than expected and it looked tight to get to Hirtshal. We did a swift 40 miles then stopped for fuel. Heading north and by passing Aarhus (sorry friends in Aarhus - not time to call in ) we realised that we were not going to make it. Either we rode slower to save fuel and thereby avoid another stop or nailed it and risked running out of fuel. We did the latter and indeed found fuel lights flashing well short of Hirtshal. The problem was a strong head wind combined with working the little bikes so hard.

Anyway, we filled  up and and then absolutely nailed it for the last 30 miles and arrived at the port just in time. Actually we were 5 mins late for "last check in" but by luck the very big jet foil ferry was running late so we were ok. Phew! On board now on a 2 hr 15m crossing. Sea is a bit rough but not too bad.

Going to sit back and relax now. Heading for Kristiansand at about 20 knots with and ETA of 2015. Then 150 miles to Jorgen's house and a beer.

Heading out to Sea

Made it to the Harwich ferry with 30 mins or so to spare. On board now and trying to stop sweating - its been a hot ride down here. Heading out to sea so will lose signal soon I guess so going to keep this short. Done about 240 miles today after leaving MKS at noon. Great send off from family and friends - a memorable day. Thanks to all you came to see us off. Time for a cup of tea now or maybe something stronger.
Cheers

Oh dear!

Just checked 7 day weather forecast : rain everyday in the north of Norway. Day time temperatures vary from 7 to 12 degrees and rather chilly at night.  But the good news is no snow forecasted ha ha! Remind again: why aren't we going to the Atlas Mountains in Morocco?

Fuelled, packed and ready to go!

Finally, the hour is near. We set off in the morning. Tim is riding to mine for a last check through our gear tomorrow morning and then we are riding over to Miles Kingsport together (I think Tim wants to make sure I don't crash on the way to the start!). After coffee and cakes with friends, we will be heading for Harwich. Bring it on!!!

Friday is Day Zero

Nearly time to go. We set off on Friday. We are setting off from Miles Kingsport on Witham in Hull at 12 noon and friends are welcome to join us at 1100 for a coffee and a bun. My wife is going to do some home cooking Alabama style. Fund raising has reach a staggering £10,000 so we are delighted with the many generous donations. Thanks to everyone - we are blown away with the support. Now all we have to do is ride there and back!!!

Getting ready - not long now

Not long to go now. Bikes nearly ready. Might treat myself to some new thermals just in case.

Fund raiser in the KC Stadium

What a great opportunity! Tim and I were invited to make a short presentation at the opening event of the Yorkshire Business Week held 7 June in the KC Stadium, the home of Hull City Football Club. With Tim's bike parked in the entrance area, when the time came to explain what our trip is all about, he wheeled my bike through the doors into the conference venue, parked it near the stage, and I gave a 10 minute talk on the trip and our fund raising event.

In case I haven't mentioned it before, it is for the LOVE U 2 appeal in aid of Dove House Hospice. See link to the left of the page.

I am guessing there was about 200 people in the room from the Hull business community and I sincerely hope our effort raises a few pounds either through our charity giving site or directly to Dove House. We both really enjoyed the morning and I would like to thank the organisers for fitting us in on what proved to be a very busy day. Thanks too to John Spencer who had prepared promotional stickers for our bikes which are now plastered all over the bodywork!!! Now at least we look like we know what we are doing!