I arrived in Norway on July 30, 2019. The sun was shining and the temperature was pleasant. Unfortunately, this did not last long, after half an hour clouds came up again and it was cooler. In between, it rained a bit and the further north I drove, the more wind came up. I drove on a slight incline, enjoying the breathtaking scenery as much as I could, and suddenly found myself in front of the tunnel that leads to the island of Magerøya. The board said "Norkapptunnelen 6870 m" and "212 m.u.h". An almost seven-kilometer-long tunnel that leads under the sea. This was my first time underwater, I had a little queasy feeling at the first crossing. Imagine driving 200 meters below sea level and a tunnel, escape routes are only one way or the other. And in depth, the tunnel can probably be flooded fairly quickly if there are cracks in the wall. But everything went well, out of the tunnel it went with crosswinds on, I passed Honningsvåg to Kirkeporten. From there it was only 15 kilometers to Nordkapp. I checked in at BaseCamp NorthCape. It barely winded there, which was really nice.
The next day I left early for the Nordkapp, I hoped I could ride the motorcycle to the globe and shoot some photos there. The center there opened only at eleven o'clock, I was there at eight o'clock and someone was already sitting in the paycheck. There was no chance to persuade the lady to come in for free or for a reduced price and to drive to the globe was forbidden anyway. So pay the expensive entrance, parked the motorcycle and continue on foot. I have to say, the whole center there is a bit disappointing, of course I went by myself to the Nordkapp on a motorcycle, this alone is a challenge, but in the center there is just a coffee shop, a souvenir shop and a small exhibition and for this you pay disproportionately a lot for entry, unless you travel on foot or by bike, then the entrance is free.
I drove south again, because there was no way to go further north, again through the Nordkapptunnelen on the Norwegian mainland. My next destination was the northern point of the Struve Arch in Hammerfest. The Struve Arch was built from 1816 to 1852 to measure the curvature of the earth. It starts in Hammerfest (Norway) and leads to Stara Nekrassivkaa (Ukraine). I discovered its existence during my research for my journey. I searched for things and places that are worth seeing on my way and found it on the website of the UNESCO World Heritage Site the Struve Arch. The destination for this day was Alta. When I had pitched the tent two Germans arrived by motorcycle, Michael and Wolfgang, and we started talking. They were on the way to Nordkapp and had all kinds of camping food in their bags. Michael said "Come on, look in the bag and pick something out. Here, you can take that too". It was like Christmas. Guys, you remember my disappointment for the Santa Claus village in Rovaniemi? Santa Claus exists, he is German and his name is Michael. xD
The next day Michael and Wolfgang drove north and I drove to Tromsø. I wanted to take a quick look at the Ice Cathedral and then continue. And there I met an Italian couple, that I have met several times since the Nordkapp. Shortly before Kirkeporten we stopped at the same campsite to ask for the prices, as I drove down from Nordkapp, they drove to the Nordkapp, as I continued from Hammerfest, they drove again in the opposite direction. So we decided to go camping together and have dinner. The day was long, they wanted a hut for the night and for a long time we did not find a campsite. After 550 kilometers we finally found a campsite in the middle of nowhere and the view we got there ... just fantastic. We were at Malsevfossen, a waterfall, which is worth to visit.
When I was at BaseCamp NorthCape, I received the message from Robert that he was stuck in Harstad, waiting for parts for a motorcycle. So I decided to meet him there. We met at the motorcycle dealer who told us that the parts were not there yet. It was Friday and they would not arrive before Monday. We looked for a cheap hotel, went to Rema1000 shopping and spent the evening together. The next day I drove on to the Lofoten, Robert stayed in Harstad and continued to wait. Since the beginning of our travels to Nordkapp, we have been in constant contact and informed each other about our locations and what we had seen and experienced, this was soon to change.
On the Lofoten I stayed a few days in Ballstad in a hostel that was cheaper than a campsite. I worked on my website, drove around a bit and visited the Viking Museum. The weather was good. When I was walking around and taking photos next to Å, I heard a girl saying to her mother, "Maman, il y a un homme qui fait de photo", "Mom, there is a man taking photos". As I approached, the girl came a couple steps in my direction and said "bonjour, tu veux un poisson?", "hello, you want a fish?". She could say to her father, who was just fishing, that he should catch a fish for me. That was so cute of her. I would have accepted the offer gladly, but unfortunately I had no possibility to take the fish with the motorcycle. In the meantime Robert had received the parts for the motorcycle and was back on the road. He had lost a week and his vacation was coming to an end. So he did not visit the Lofoten and "overtook" me again on the way south. In Saltstraumen, I looked at the tidal vortex, a truly impressive natural phenomenon. I had seen such whirls in Norway in the last few days, but not in this size. Huge amounts of water flow into the fjord at low and high tide and out again. Already at the sight one knows "I do not want to jump in now", the power, which has this current, can be felt from the shore.
I drove down the E6 over the Arctic Circle, stopped at the short polar circle center and drove on to a small museum that exhibited WWII motorcycles, the Arctic Circle Motorcycle Museum. A small, fine museum that I had found by chance on the Internet and that I had recommended Robert. In fact, he had been there a day before me and I found his guestbook entry.
For the next two days I drove on to Trondheim, hoping to find new tires for my bike there. The rough roads in Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, the long straight stretches in Finland and the 14,000 kilometers driven had made the tires square. It was Sunday, 24 ° C and sunny. I took a walk around Trondheim and enjoyed the warm day. Trondheim is a beautiful town and of course a lot of tourists visit the city. For the next day I had planned to go to the Honda dealer to ask for new tires. When I woke up in the morning, I received a message from Tobi, a common friend of Robert and I. Robert had an accident at Helsingborg in Sweden and did not survive it. The news was a shock. After so many kilometers we drove together, just a few hundred kilometers before he was back home, stop, the end, off. I had not received any news from Robert the last few days and I thought he was with friends he wanted to visit and then this message. I chatted with his girlfriend, who asked how this could happen. I told her that I can not say that either. It may have been the new tires, the new brake shoes, dirt on the road, an animal running across the street, maybe Robert was tired after the many kilometers he has driven in recent days. I myself had a bad motorcycle accident a few years ago and know how fast it can happen. In contrast to the car one has no crumple zone and airbags which protect one against bad injuries when riding a motorcycle. A moment of carelessness and you are gone. Again my condolences to the family and friends of Robert. Robert will always be part of my journey.
Nevertheless, my journey continued, in Trondheim I did not get new tires. Before leaving Trondheim, I called the next Honda dealer on my way, he also did not have tires and it would take a week to get them. So again, nothing. I decided to drive to Bergen and try my luck there. I drove south along the Atlantic Road and stopped at the foot of the Trollstigen in Valldal. I would leave Norway in a couple of days, so I sp
ent my last cash on food. The next day the sun was shining, perfect weather for the Trollstigen. I drove up to the pass, stopped at the lookout above and looked at the u-turns from above. The sight was impressive. The ride down was great, just little traffic and I could enjoy the good weather. I drove to Lom, where I visited my first stave church. At the beginning of 1990 one of these churches was set on fire. The band Burzum printed a picture of the remains on their album "Aske".
My way led me through Jotunheimen to Bergen. The mountains offer really great views, a dream for motorcyclists. With rock walls left and right, the road snakes up and down the mountains. You can find such routes also in Switzerland, but there they are 20 kilometers long. In Norway 80 and more. The weather was getting worse. When I arrived in Bergen, it started to rain again. I went straight to the Honda dealer. Asked for tires and zack, I had new tires mounted. The next day was rainy, so I drove very carefully with the new tires. I did not want to risk landing somewhere in the ditch.
The last days in Norway were marked by a lot of driving. I had planned to travel from Bergen via Stavanger to Sweden in four days. It urged me to the next country, but without rushing. In Stavanger I stopped by the swords in the mountain. A memorial reminiscent of the Battle of the Hafrsfjord of 870. The swords are embedded in the stone so that they are no longer used and encourage people to live in peace.