Groningen, Netherlands
With our heads in the clouds, we left Nordkapp and headed south. When we knew that we would be coming to Norway, we asked a Brisbane-based friend of ours, who happens to be Norwegian, what we should go to see in Norway. In her words, “Capital cities are the same everywhere. Oslo is nice and has some good museums, but… Go to the Lofoten Islands.”
And so we did. But I’m getting ahead of myself. I need to write this blog chronologically or I will lose track of where we’ve been and what we’ve done. From Nordkapp, we overnighted at a small place called Storslett. At this campground, we met a group of 7 German Campers from Saarland (look it up in the atlas). And then, when we got to Tromso, they were there too! They were a friendly bunch. And Tromso was great. This city is traditionally the final stop-off point for North Pole expeditions. We immediately noticed something different – when people saw our car as we drove around, they waved at us.
And so we did. But I’m getting ahead of myself. I need to write this blog chronologically or I will lose track of where we’ve been and what we’ve done. From Nordkapp, we overnighted at a small place called Storslett. At this campground, we met a group of 7 German Campers from Saarland (look it up in the atlas). And then, when we got to Tromso, they were there too! They were a friendly bunch. And Tromso was great. This city is traditionally the final stop-off point for North Pole expeditions. We immediately noticed something different – when people saw our car as we drove around, they waved at us.
We had a Polar Feast, with a visit to Polaria and to the Polar Museum. As you walk around Tromso, you will see statues of Roald Amundsen everywhere, and another thing we discovered – he just couldn’t keep still! He was involved in expeditions to the North Pole (not successful), to find the North-West Passage and the North-East Passage, and to find the South Pole (successful). And when you visit the Polar Museum, you get a very in-depth display of his life and his achievements. The Polar Museum is a really interesting museum with lots of information about exploration and living in the Polar region, but we learnt about another really interesting guy, Fridtjof Nansen, who was another over-achiever. He had a theory that if you could left a ship just drift (at the right parallel), you would get to the North Pole. So in 1893, he had a boat built for the expedition (‘Fram’) and after putting together a team, he set off. After nearly 3 years at sea, the boat reached land, but Nansen wasn’t on board. He had decided to set off with a companion and a number of sled dogs to attempt to reach the North Pole. Sadly he failed, but he did reach the most northerly latitude at that time (86°13.6’N). But he did survive almost a year on the Polar Ice and later produced books that were the reference material for future Polar explorers. Wow! Sorry for the history lesson – but what he did and achieved were amazing!
Another high point of our visit to Tromso was a visit to Polaria. Now this museum is really just about the geological stuff, the wildlife, etc within the Arctic Region, but at this museum, they have an Aquarium, with two Bearded Seals and two Harbour Seals. We were there for their feeding/training session and MJ got to High-5 it with one of the Harbour Seals! She was absolutely buzzed by it! Sadly, most of the photos weren’t much good as those blasted seals just wouldn’t keep still. But it was a fun afternoon. Also, whilst we were in Tromso, we met a Kiwi who has been living in Tromso for 12 years and he gave us some good tips about things to see after the Lofoten Islands – but you’ll hear about those later. So thanks to Kyle.
The splash is the seal after re-entry.
Now, getting back to the Lofoten Islands – To begin with, let me say that neither of us had even heard of the Lofoten Islands but as we were driving north, many people recommended the Lofotens to us, so we thought that maybe Eirin knew what she was talking about!
Driving down the coast of Norway, we discovered firsthand how twisty the roads are and when you talk about the roads following the coast – they do! Sometimes not even a metre from the water (in altitude or distance). We also discovered that Norway doesn’t have Highways – at least not what we would call highways. And we were amazed to discover that Norway has spent millions of Krones (they don’t have the Euro) on replacing ferries and building either bridges or tunnels between the islands and the mainland. But this hasn’t done away with all the ferries, so to get to the Lofoten Islands from Tromso, we could either drive an extra 150 kilometres or catch two ferries. So the ferries won the toss. BUT, at this stage we weren’t aware of how expensive ferries are! O.M.G!
Enough whingeing about the cost of living in Norway – the Lofoten Islands are great, once you get past the smell of Cod drying everywhere! And we mean everywhere!! Everywhere you go, you see masses of commercial racks where the cod (heads & bodies) are hung out to dry, and then you will see lots of houses with their own private drying racks!
There is also a great reconstruction of a Viking Long House there – it is the longest Long House that they have found evidence of, and whilst there we met an Irishman who is working there as a Bowyer and evaluating how bows were made in the Viking era, and who made the bows. And we found that one of the benefits of visiting a place early in the season, is that you are ahead of the crowds! Though Norway has a serious problem with when summer starts – as in NOTHING is open before the magic date!
On our first full day on the Islands, we had great weather – lots of sunshine, but this also meant that we encountered an unusual weather phenonomen – with the warmth on the eastern side and the cold from the western site, the mountains produced a tablecloth effect (similar to Table Mountain in Cape Town) and it was truly amazing. Also, whilst in the Lofotens, Nick tried the local Norwegian “delicacy” of Dried Cod! We aren’t going to worry about the lack of availability in Australia – because he reckons that it tastes pretty bleah!
This was the view of the mountains from our campground near Kabelvag. Pretty amazing!
When we were leaving the Lofoten Islands, we caught a ferry across to Bodo. Why were we visiting Bodo? Because they have an amazing demonstration of a natural Maelstrom there. Apparently, in the year dot, some Dutch sailors saw this natural phenomenon off the bottom of the Lofoten Islands and gave it this name. There are a few maelstroms to be found, but one of the easiest to see is in the river near Bodo at Saltstraumen.
It happens four times a day on each incoming and outgoing tide, and bonus is that there is a really nice Campground within walking distance (even if you aren’t into walking). We were there for the morning outgoing tide and it was pretty cool to see. And then Nick got a bonus because he met a Danish guy who had a BMWF650 fitted with a sidecar. He had a lovely chat with the guy and took photos. The funny thing though was that when we reached out next campsite that evening, the same guy arrived there too! Mosjoen was another nice campground and we are starting to meet lots of travellers. We met a Dutch guy on a Yamaha XT600, an Austrian couple driving a Land Rover 110, a Swiss guy cycling to Nordkapp and a Dutch couple driving around in their Campervan.
Onwards to Trondheim where we stopped for a couple of nights. With all the travelling we are doing, and visiting so many new places, we are doing lots of reading and learning heaps, like – the capital of Norway used to be Trondheim, but, in those days, it was called Nidaros. On a side note – the Cathedral in Trondheim is the only cathedral in Norway! And, as the kings of Norway are still crowned in Trondheim, we got a chance to see the crowns, etc of the Norwegians Kings & Queens.
Again, at Kyle’s suggestion, on leaving Trondheim we headed to the Atlantic Ocean Road. This is an engineering feat – a big tunnel and a number of bridges that join some islands to the mainland. We were lucky because on the day that we drove the Atlantic Ocean Road, it was good weather – no wind, no rain, no storms. But it also made the drive rather boring! In our opinion, the Great Ocean Road in Victoria beats it hands down – for beauty and also for being a much longer drive. Anyway, have a look at the website for yourself – http://www.theatlanticroad.com.
After one more night in Norway, we decided to leg it back to Sweden – just to get ahead of the calender. Once we hit Sweden, we decided that Copenhagen was achievable in a day, so we had two days (consecutive) where we drove 600+ Kms. Which is a lot in Scandinavia!
But we got to Denmark and now we can sit back for a few days and relax. We stayed at a summer Campground about 5kms from the heart of Copenhagen. It is a campground for 3 months over summer and the rest of the time, it is just a green area in the suburbs. But it was an easy cycle into town each day. I’m sure I’ve mentioned how bike-friendly it is in Denmark, but the local cyclists are just a few steps short of mad, with their overtaking manoeuvres, pushing to the front of the queue, etc.
But in Copenhagen, we had a great few days cycling around, we did many of the typical touristy things – saw the Little Mermaid, did a canal tour, found the BEST ice cream shop in Copenhagen, visited the Fortress, the Cathedral, the Naval Museum, cycled in ever-diminishing circles, bought souvenirs, tried to visit the Danish Resistance Museum, but it had been burnt down!! The weather was glorious and did wonders for our tan. And we finished our three days here with dinner at a Hercogovina restaurant, overlooking the Tivoli Gardens.
This fountains depicts the creation of the island of Zeeland according to old Norse mythology.
After a night in Germany, near Bremen, in a campground that we have visited on our way north (nice spots, lots of grass, clean facilities that are gradually being updated, lots of nice hot water) and then doing a big shop to restock the larder (& get more beer & wine), we were back into Netherlands for one night. We had a great afternoon catching up with Nick’s cousins – thanks for a wonderful time & a great meal, Karen & Dick, and not to forget playing with the inexhaustible Bram! Tomorrow, we get to “deal” with the people who were supposed to be making a made-to-measure bicycle cover for us. And then… Ypres, here we come!
northern Norway
Love the external staircase around the steeple, but my knees weren’t up to the climb, so of course Nick couldn’t leave me downstairs on my own!
This is one of four identical palaces that form the four sides of a square in Copenhagen and is the winter residence of the Danish royals.
It’s hard to believe that sailors of olden days got confused when they saw Dugongs (or Manatees) and thought they were seeing a Mermaid! How long had they been at sea – or was it just too much rum??
We fed this swan some bread – he was quite greedy and wouldn’t even share with his partner. But when he finished, he put on the most beautiful display for us.
Nick & MJ On The Road 
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