Monday 22nd June

An early departure from the hotel so we could get to the ferry for the 8.40 boat. Our first hurdle was getting past the myriad of coaches waiting for the tourists off the cruise ship which had just anchored. There must have been over 20 coaches parked at the side of the narrow road. Then it was onto the ferry terminal where, much to our amusement, the Norweigans waiting for the ferry were extremely finicky about which lane you had to queue in, resulting in a frantic reshuffling of places when the 8.30 ferry left.

Our first ferry crossing of the day took us from Eidsdal to Linge, our second from Afarnes to Solsnes. We also had two long tunnels and several bridges, and all of this before lunch.

Mark and V's car was still not behaving, and after the first ferry we caught up with them at the side of the road with Mark changing his fuel pump. They definitely picked a lovely spot to break down in.

Shortly afterwards we came to a magnificent viewpoint. We got there just in time to photograph several of the other cars making their way down the hairpin bends.

After the second ferry we reached the Atlantic Road, happily not as covered with surf and sea water as some of the videos of it we have seen.

Lunch was at Haholmen Havstuer, a small island reached by Viking boat (with motor). A delicious fish meal, followed by a brief look at the original boat (we had been in the replica) which had been sailed all round the world by a Norweigan and his family.

After lunch we made our way to our third ferry, this time from Kanestraum to Halsanaustan. For the first time I think all the cars on the tour ended up on the same ferry.

We then drove our final section of the day, along the side of a beautiful fjord before turning inland and following a valley to Orkanger and our hotel for the night, the Bardshaug Herregard. It was a lovely drive all day, and we saw thousands of wild lupins, and many huts (hytter) and houses, by the water or among the trees, with turf roofs. Even most of the bus stops have grass, flowers and the occasional tree growing on their roofs.

Total mileage today - 231 miles.

 

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Sunday 21st June, Oslo to Geiranger

Today has been a 'wow' day as we have driven through some amazing scenery. We left our hotel this morning at just gone 8.30 am and drove to Nes where we had a quick coffee break. Then it was on north to Beitostolen for lunch. Food was a simple BBQ at the side of the road (reindeer sausages, burgers and salad) next to a down hill cart track, the use of which was included in our tour.

Most of the men thoroughly enjoyed trying to get the fastest time, whilst the only woman to attempt it was Mary! I pleaded a bad back and just took photos.

Then we carried on driving, passing first through the Valdreflya area where there was snow piled high on both sides of the road. Spectacular views all around us.

Our afternoon stop was in Lom where we indulged in an ice cream, then walked a short distance to see the church. We did a quick circuit round the building, then crossed a local market of food and handicrafts (only because the public toilets were in the middle of it) before returning to the car.

Soon we were climbing again to another area of snow and mountains. We stopped for photos, then some of us paid to drive up a steep road, full of hairpin curves, to a viewing spot at Dalsnibba. From there we could see the valley we had driven through, and the road down to Geiranger, the fjord and our hotel.

We arrived at the hotel at 18.20, checked in then went for a swim. Mick took the offer to go and see the hotel's car collection while I had a leisurely shower. The car collection is the result of tourists arriving by boat and wanting to be taken up to the viewpoint in the period between the two world wars. The hotel,owners bought several large American cars for the purpose, and same of these are now preserved in the collection. The hotel manager not only gets to show people the collection, he also gets to drive them!

The view from our room!

Dinner was a buffet, including whale meat, then Bjarne gave a short presentation about the rest of the tour. It boiled down to: "I've done as much preparation as possible, now it's up to you to follow instructions. If you miss a ferry that's your hard luck, find a solution yourselves." Even Bjarne has not driven the most northerly sections of the route, so he just has his fingers crossed that all the information he's been given by the hotel and ferry companies is correct! It's going to be an interesting few days!

Total distance driven today: 282 miles.

 

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Saturday 20th June - Oslo

Mick and I did different things today. I stayed in the hotel nursing my back, while Mick went for a tour round Oslo. He visited the ski jump (just at the back of the hotel), a sculpture park, downtown Oslo and had lunch at an Italian restaurant. The Viking Ship museum was particularly interesting and he also enjoyed the many forms of public transport that the group used.

Meanwhile I had a swim and a sauna, then walked slowly up to the ski jump and enjoyed an ice cream. It was interesting to see people practising cross country skiing using small wheeled skis on the track all around the jump area. It was obviously specifically designed for the purpose, and the skiers looked Olympic standard.

The other thing I have enjoyed seeing is the wild lupins! They were all along the road sides as we drove through Sweden and into Norway, and are in all the rough ground round towns. Mostly purple, but some are pink or blue.

 

Mick, Mark and V came back early from the tour and we enjoyed a drink in the hotel bar before Mark and Mick went for a test drive in Mark's Stag to see if his intermittent running problems of the day before had been cured by fitting a new coil. Dinner was pizza in the hotel dining room. Nice pizza but the service was incredibly slow. An early night - tomorrow we need to leave at 8am with a lot of driving to do!

 

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Friday 19th June - Norway!

Our ferry arrived on time in Gothenburg at 9.15, after an uneventful journey and a reasonable buffet breakfast. Our group them split into two groups, three cars going to visit an old scrap yard/museum of 1950 cars (via a 20km dirt track road!), and four cars setting off for a mini visit to the city centre. We started in the old part of the city, Haga, then walked up to an old fort on a hill. Quite nice views, but nothing spectacular. On the way back to the cars we walked through the fish market, the top recommended site in Gothenburg, which gives you an idea of the level of excitement.

We then set off for lunch by the sea in Fjallbaka, a town recommended to us by a nice Sewdish girl we met in New Zealand earlier in the year. It was a good recommendation - a very pretty town with nice restaurants and a marina. As it was a bank holiday in Sweden for Mid Summer's Day it was very crowded, and many of the girls were wearing garlands of fresh flowers in their hair.m we had a lovely meal, only marred by my back deciding to throw a serious wobbly. I hobbled back to the cars with the others, then Mick and I set off alone to visit Emma and Eskil at their home in Drobak.

 

It was lovely to se them, and the children, and we ate pizza before getting a tour round the site of their new home (one day, when they get all the building approvals they need) and the centre of Drogbak. It's a lovely place, full of charm and has a strong community feel. The it was time to drive into Oslo and to find our hotel for the next two nights. Navigating in Oslo was trickier than expected as our Tom-Tom kept deciding to reboot, putting our location back to Donington, then having to re-find our location, by which time we had missed a crucial turning! However it looked a lovely place and Mick will be seeing more tomorrow whe he goes on a tour with Bjarne and Tove. I am going to stay in the hotel and hope my back improves before we set off on our trip north early on Sunday.

 

The hotel seems lovely, though a bit disorganised, and is in a spectacular location. Just below a ski jump, it has an amazing view over Oslo and the harbour. Here's the view from our room, at 11pm. Still light, and we still have a long way north to go!

 

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Thursday 18th June

Last night we slept on the ferry after a reasonable meal (washed down with plenty of red wine) and woke just before the ship arrived in Rotterdam. Breakfast on board before disembarkation, then it was off for the long drive to Kiel and our next ferry. We lost contact with the TRs of Alan, Dave and Roger as they got off the boat well before us, so we drove nice and gently in the company of Ian and Mary. Along the way we met up briefly with another Brit on this trip, Andrew Saville, in his yellow TR6. A couple of stops for fuel, and several stops in numerous roadworks, and we eventually arrived at Kiel at 5.30pm, just as the heavens opened. A rapid raising of the roof while I checked us onto the boat, then we were on board and in our cabin. No problems with light waking us too early, unlike last night, as this cabin has no windows!

 

Now it is time to wander off and find the bar where, doubtless, the rest of our companions are already firmly ensconced. Then food and bed ready for a much more gentle drive tomorrow. Ah yes, here they are!

 

 

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Wednesday 17th June - The Grand Trip to Norway!

We're off! Left Donington at 1pm together with Roger and Bob, then met up with three other cars at the Woodall services. We've got as far as Hull, and are now sitting in a pub (surprise, surprise) before driving to the ferry terminal for our overnight trip to Rotterdam.

Only four cars shown here - Roger decided to park at the other side of the car park!

 

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Thursday - home again

We got up at 3am on Wednesday and were, thanks to Robert and Stella, at Auckland airport by 4am for a 6am flight to Sydney, flight time only 4 hours. We then had an 8 hour wait at Sydney for our next flight to Singapore. Fortunately we were upgraded to World Traveller Plus for this 8 hr flight which took off at 15.30 local time.  The upgrade was very nice, much better leg room but the video system wasn't working. A quick 2 hour transfer at Singapore, then off on the final 13 hour leg to London (also in World Traveller Plus, but we had booked that one).  We flew on an A380 for the first time, amazing space and so quiet. We arrived at Heathrow at 5.30am this morning, having been travelling for 37.5 hours - New Zealand is a long way away!!

Another 3 hour wait at Heathrow for our bus, and we finally got into Donington at about 12.15 today. Home again, and now in the throes of unpacking.  Holiday over, but what a great time!  We'd recommend NZ to anyone.

No more regular updates of this blog, though I might put up a few more photos later when I manage to sort them all out, I've taken about 9000 in all.  We have trips planned later this year to France and to Norway so I might start blogging again then - watch this space.  Thanks for reading!

Mick and Linda