Welcome to the land of the trolls...
Norway awaits us and we are anxious to discover and experience this adventure to the most norther point of Europe that can be reached by road.
All good plans begin with a little organisation...
For example a welcome briefing, complete with an illustrated depiction of a fascinating country and the wonders that await us on the days to come...
As they say... one picture is worth a thousand POIs (Points of Interest)
Paul's morning briefing
A few safety tips, a little confusion, a couple of laughs, and then off to the bikes -- anxious for what awaits us today!
Ready... Steady... Go...
Riding Day 1 - Ålesund to Sunndalsøra
The adventure begins by heading east, then north for the next 12 days. Breathtaking scenery and views that tempt you to forget you have to keep your eyes on the road. Straigt off a challenge! Narrow and windy and wet...
As the ceiling of clowds begins to rise, our first furtive camera shots of the half hidden peaks and the lush fertile valleys between.
Gemütlichkeit and tranquility
And then suddenly a magical stawberry valley, with veritable bushes of plump juicy fruits. The cake and ice cream was so good, I couldn't get the camera out quick enough, before it was eaten.
What about TROLLS? If anyone thinks they don't exist.... THEY DO...!
A rainy start is a sure fire measure for hightening the mood and wet the appetites for what's to come: a stunning abundance of nature is awaiting us with Reindeer, Bears, Wolves, Elks and much more... Forests, rivers, lakes and fjords. Mountains and valleys and water falls that plunge from high plateaus - which beg the question, if that water is coming from the top, how did it get up ther to start with. Trollstigen we did in the fog. Trollvegen we gazed at through the clouds. Ledgends that remain for the day even more of a mystery.
Riding Day 2 - Sunndalsøra to Trondheim
The second day takes us away from the Fjord through the mountains and up to Orkanger. This is where the Orks come from. In the afternoon, we took a nice little walk around Trondheim with weather that seems to have been sent from an angel. Look at the colours, the light, the happy faces... Norway at its best!
Many happy Bikes at a coffee stop.
And many happy riders too...
What`s this for a group of posers popping out of the bushes...?
Oh.... it's our group! Toni, Karam, Barry, Larry, Gillian, Roy, Rudolf, David, Hector, Ming, Anita and Joe. What a gang.
Finally... that iconic view of the famous royal city of Trondheim. Waterfront warehouses from former days, today expensive trendy apartments and lofts. Norwegian gentrification...
The Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim. 1000 years of history.
Riding Day 3 - Trondheim to Overhalla
The first ferry! This is always a nice little break, to put your bike on an boat and let others do the transportation while enjoying the scenery. Wonderful weather with 30+ C°! Yes, in Norway. Some took the chance to go for a short adventure but reunited at the dinner in the hotel again.
Morning briefing with all the highlights and the route of the day.
Hector feeling the groove of being free and on the way of our first ferry ride...
From quaint picturesque landscapes, to delightuf little alpine sprprises...
A wonderful lunch spot on the fjord
Toni and Rudolf having a moment together
Riding Day 4 - From sunny Overhalla to sunny Sandnesjoen
Imagine coming to Norway and the summer is already here. 32 °C! A perfect day for the beach and the Torghatten. We had wonderful views, nice dry roads and nearly no traffic.
This is riding at its best.
Preparing, checking the bikes and getting in line, as everything is fine. A great day.
The first ferry of the day, 2 more to follow...
Arrived at the beach at Torghatten and had to try the water.
Torghatten from a distance...
And Torghatten, if you zoom in.
Some more zoom
All the way through
The other side - like a fantasy!
There and back again...
Arriving at Sandnessjörn
Riding Day 5 - Sandnesjoen to Bodö
Crossing the Arctic Circle at 66°33′ today. What a scenerie! The highest point is 692 m. above sealevel and it is still snow to be seen up there.
Ready to ride?
Now we ride!
Anita and Paul hitting the road...
Larry is close after them
Karam on the Afica Twin
Joe is checking the road to take off
Rudolf - rolling Thunder
Hector - greeting the masses
Gillian and David - on their red Ducati Multistrada
Toni - Swiss Racer
Ming - getting it on on his BMW GS 1200
Barry - English Man in Norway
And there comes Roy as our sweeper...
Anita & Ming enjoying a moment of posing with a magnificent landscape behind them.
Reaching the arctic circle. A momentous achievement!
From 35° in the shade just a day ago, to a full hit of the nordic winter as we enter the arctic circle... Ha Ha Ha! If you look closely, you can evern see that four of our colleagues were frozen stiff by the cold.
Day 6 - Bodö to Svolvaer
Starting off late, as we had to wait for the 3-hour-ferry-ride over to the Lofoten. So a very relaxed day.
On the Lofoten, we visited A, a nice little Fishermens town and had the famous cinamon rolls. After a short stop at Reine, we went on to the beaches. Sometimes it felt like in Italy, as there where people everywhere. No wonder, it was still more than 30 C°. After the beaches and some very nice riding, we visited the Viking Museum and learned a lot about them. In the evening we took a nice ride of some 60 km along the coast line to the hotel, where dinner was waiting for us. A great day on the Lofoten and we used until the last minute.
Ferry Ride 1
Approaching the Lofoten
A glimpse of things to come
A at beautiful weather
Coming back from the Bakery
A peek through the woods
Reine, a Norwegian Post Card in Reality.
Some locals with a very interesting Viking dialect.
And at the close of the day, a romantic cabin at the seaside
Riding Day 7 - Svolvaer to Harstad
Today we dabbled a bit into Norwegian history by visiting the famous Hurtigruten ship Finnemark and then on to Harstad where we visited one of the few remaining Mega-Cannons that Hitler had built to form th so-called "Atlantic Wall".
Here some romantic posters of the Hurtigrute in her hayday as a tourist ship
The communication room
The captains deck
Dining quarters
The game parlour
The Finnemark, preserved and accessable for visitors to get a feeling for the early days of this luxury cruise enterprise.
Mirror shot... sometimes the best views are the ones you see in the mirror
Then we went on to visit the Adolf Cannon in Harstad - an impressive display of engeniring and willpower.
Munition Stockpiles in the underground support structure of the cannon.
Riding Day 8 - Harstad to Gildetun
Riding the North Cape Edelweiss tour feels like spending 12 days riding in a screensaver! This glorious day started of with a 2 hour ride along the coast on very small and narrow roads with without any traffic.
We visited a Polar Animal Park where we saw some great animals, and then had our lunch break at the food of the Lyngen Alps before arrived in Gildetun just around 7pm. It felt like somewhere really special in the middle of nowhere.
Here the whole group together for a little pose
Bridges... an omnipresent occurance in Norway. And always aesthicly pleasing if not sheer stunning!
A visit to the arctic park gave us a close hand look at some Bears
Wolves
Moscux
Reindeer
Look at these roads
Finally in Gildetun.
And this is your view out of the room.
Riding Day 9 - Gildetun to Alta
A relativly short riding-day awaits us with some great museums to visit and and a brush with the nomadic Sami culture by shopping at one of their road-side markets. All this in the middle of a once-in-a-century Norwegian summer. Following a streatch of 30+C° days, today we are rewarded with a cooling moderate 13 C°. This feels nordic.
Starting off into a new day. This is one of the best ways to start in the morning.
Words can't describe the feeling this landscape inspires.
Finally a propper shot of Toni with his mult-national pendant collection.
Hector gets a Sami-Souvenier for himself.
And here a wonderfull small private museum based on the infamous battleship "Terpitz"
Then it's off to the Alta Museum with pre-historic etchings in the stony slopes descending gently to the ocean.
Riding Day 10 - Alta to the North Cape
This has been the goal of our journey, and now it is papalbly near. 300 km north but on a day which starts out wiht quite dodgy weather.
Riding over the first plateau of the day...
Watching us closely
The first reindeer of the day.
Some more
Right along the Fjord...
Nice bridges and curves throughout the whole day.
A view to the North just below the North Cape. The next thing to come in the North is ice.
Arriving at the North Cape center. A little foggy.
Over there, the famous globe at the North Cape.
Paul trying to get the perfect picture.
The way, the North Cape could also look like.
Rudolf waiting to go on back over this perfect roads.
Some more reindeers along the Route.
By the road and on the road.
A lot more...
These roads are breathtaking.
Toni´s BMW 1200 GS
And the last reindeer of the day.
At the end of the day, peeking out just below the clouds...
Riding Day 11 - Lakselv to Enontekiö
We are going to Finnland. Starting of with some rain in the morning, visiting a Sami Museum and also Juhl´s Silversmith. Today is really riding the outback of Norway.
Here we are, entering Finnland. Back to the sunny side.
The roads and the landscape are completely different over here.
Riding Day 12 - Enontekiö to Tromsö
The Final Chapter
Back to Norway, and in one day a kind of review of the triip condensed into the few hours of riding from Finnland back to the mountains and coastline of Norway. A special day of great riding lots of remembering!
Getting ready to start.
Short juant to the local Finnish souvenir shop where we met some new friends
At the point where Sweden, Finnland and Norway meet, we pondered where to go. The roadsign didn't make our decision easier...
Hector hamming it up again at the border
What remains of this stunning trip is a sense of immense beauty and tranquility...
It was a great two weeks together. Hope to see you all again somewhere down the road somewhere on another Edelweiss trip. Paul & Uwe signing off...
What a great group!
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