Holland to Norway 2010

The Story

The Drive Back to Norway

“Sure I'll move back to Norway to teach!” Its amazing how a little phase like that has consequences. The rightfully furious dutch girl friend for a start. I had lived in Steinkjer Norway for a year just enough time to import my two Midgets from the states then figure out my boss was a crook and going to screw me. So I sold the Red 72 and keeping the custom 71 with the Austin Powers Shaguar paint job, “Shaggy”. And had driven by myself to exile in southern Holland.

A call to my high-school buddy Josh in Germany and I had a co- pilot. Even with the truck rack, Shaggy has limited cargo capacity, So we puzzled how to get my stuff back. I put the website together about the trip hoping to find sponsors, sent it to my classic car friends in Norway, Mats (2 MGBs and a Model “A” hotrod) said we could stay with him, so we had destination, and surprisingly Bjørn Erik, volunteered to drive down with his van to be my safety car. What a relief. This also meant that I didn't have to have the hardtop on the car. The three issues with the drive to Holland in 2008 was the hardtop and the fact that I was alone driving a solid 15 hours with a failing radiator and broken temperature gauge.

T Minus one: Wheels in motion

Bjørn Erik and his girl friend Marit were on the road south of Oslo. I spent the morning trying to find a short in the electrics, the left blinker light on the dash wasn't working, fixed it! then the headlights wouldn't, got the headlights back, left blinker light dead, after Josh showed up, finally got everything working. Bjørn Erik arrived at 8:30 P.M. and by 11 the storage unit was clear and the van over filled.

Day One: Late expectations

Woke up early all my dreams, hopes and fears were about to start. I had to sit in a forty year old car that I built and wired from a bare chassis, halfway across Europe. Josh and I started loading Shaggy with supply's and strapping the emergency tent and sleeping bags to the back. We should start 8:00 AM.

At 9:30 AM Bjørn Erik showed up and declared he need new tires so after wrestling with the Sat Nav for a half hour, that couldn't find it two blocks away, he wandered off chirping “it will take fifteen minutes” 2 hours later, he returned. After a packing frenzy at 1 in the afternoon we took photos and were off.

Under blue skies we pulled onto the highway, and established the pace. Shaggy seemed to like about 53mph and feels stressed at 60 mph. One of the joys of a convertible is that you really experience the wind mills turning The first leg was a hour and a half and lucky Josh remembered the sun tan lotion even my knees were getting a sunburned. The German boarder was demarcated by a 80 kpm construction zone. We had one slow down in Germany for a multi tractor trailer crash the second trucks cab seemed totally crushed and the third the driver was clearly pinned and talking to the cops. Not the thing we needed to see from a tiny sports car.

Even after that we decided to tag along in a train of trucks out of the way of the faster cars. Most notable of which was the Aston Martin Vantash with a Nuremberg Ring sticker on the tail. Around 6:00 we stopped for dinner , gas and two liters of what we decided to call Red Bull substitute. The driving was unremarkable, people do slow to look at the car, some take photos, and tiny pairs of eyes peering from the bottom edge of rear windows was common sight.

The summer late sun set and we are still in Germany Bjørn Erik kept pushing back our arrival time in first over night at a friend of Joshs in Arhus Denmark. We stopped for gas on restarting the car the headlights didn't go on when I hit the head light button, then popped on when I hit the marker light button with a spark under the dash. Not good. While bopping along in the Dark at 53mph a German cop pulled in front of us and a digital read out directed us to pull over. Josh translated as they asked me to hop out of the car the officer pointed to my dark marker lights so I hit the switch on the dash the lights popped on and the cops popped off.

The next stop, somewhere in very dark northern Germany, after water and a bit of jumping jacks to get the blood circulating, I started the car and hit the head lights and....and ... no marker lights, I started going through the dash electrics, because of the spark, I knew it was something close to the switch, I exchanged switch and tried rewiring but no luck after a half hour, I gave up, Bjørn Erik would have to drive close behind. We kept a steady 60 , the engine was a content drone but the oil and the water temp stayed steady. With the top up we were warm and could hear the Ipod.

The Denmark boarder was dark, and un ceremonious, Due to the satNav, we missed our exit and had to circle around through cat filled fields of rural Denmark. The SatNav did a stellar job of taking us up a dead end street at 3:50 am. I don't care what the SatNav says if the street sign says dead end that Wins! Just after 4:00 am we pulled up to our destination, we were done. As I went to sleep Bjørn Erik was messing around on line.

Day Two: Oh North

Up at seven a lite dew was on the car, I checked the coolant and the oil was just below “Min” so I topped it up and started playing with the lights as the kids started to filter past to school. I got the marker lights on briefly but no headlights, then I got the headlights back and buttoned everything up. after for coffee, Few photos,we are off on a short sprint to the ferry Hirtshalls Denmark to Stavanger Norway then a long rest. Denmark had nice rolling hills and the sun shown bright on the golden wheat fields. We were thrilled to see big windmill blades being trucked to port. Around 10:30 the speedometer needle had started to bounce, And I knew that the cable would ... SPRROOOING! The needle dropped... dead. After a small burning smell it was done.

With a half hour to spare as we pulled into the port, but I wasn't seeing the signs to Nordlines ferry, I followed Bjørn Erik into parking lot and he said he didn't know were our ferry port was. So after ten minutes of standing around debating asking for directions. we tried to follow the Navigation system to a dead-end dock instead of following the sign to the ferry. Then more standing around saying its not here, finally went down to the signed ferry port. A couple pulled up behind us and I asked where we were ? We were in Esbjerg. Esbjerg!

At this point Bjørn Erik admitted we were in the wrong port, in the wrong city, on the wrong coast, south of where we had started the morning! At 4 am Bjørn Erik had re-programed the Nav system and then just followed it left, right, left, right in the wrong direction.... South in fact! Steve flipped out for a bit.

Then it was a mad struggle for who had signal?, battery?, texts to Germany, Denmark and Norway, Netherlands, trying to find a ferry and hotels. The ferry to Stavanger only went twice a week so we would have to drive the southern Norway stretch, after the two hour ferry to Kristianstand, I wanted to grab a hotel Kristianstand Norway, but Bjørn Erik need insisted he had to get to Stavager that night so his girl friend could get back to Steinkjer 3 days later, we might be able to make the 4 O'clock ferry so we sprinted across Denmark through lovely “B” roads under low cloudy sky's midway through I saw a car with a four foot rig on the roof and I said

“Josh do you know what that was ?”

“what? Was what ?”

“ the car with the camera rig on it?”

“nope didn't see it”

”it was the Google street view car! we will be on Google street view!”

It was hard driving, short on sleep, plans shot to hell, engine screaming, no speedometer but if I could get two hours of sleep on the ferry it would be ….Ok. We could make it to Stavegner with just 3 hours driving. We were almost the last on the ferry.

Norway

First stop in Norway, I fiddled with the lights for an hour, still no luck, I let Josh drive for the first time, I was exhausted but happy. Near sun set it started to rain a bit so I took over driving and we put the top up Josh finally understood how tiring it is to drive a tiny classic sports car in modern traffic. I was focused on the twisty roads but got great little glimpse of the views of bright towns tucked in between black fjords and dark mountains. If your wondering what it sounds like to drive through a Norwegian tunnel in a convertible top down or up, it sounds like the 2010 world cup stadium full of VuwVuw Zalas.

At midnight we pulled up outside the hotel in Staverger we booked in and went out to the cars , Shaggy was parked facing up hill, and stalled out as I turned around and at the traffic light, and it kept stalling out till I rolled down the ramp into a parking spot. A bunch of high-school boys popped from the lift and hopped on their skateboards for nine story ride down the ramps of the underground parking garage. It gave a us a great laugh at the end of the long stressful day.

Day Three: Roller coaster

Up at 8 showered and packed at 9, headed down for breakfast, I went strait for a coffee, and I tucked into an astounding breakfast of smoked salmon, poached salmon, pickled herring, eggs and bacon! Then I headed down to work on the electrics again.

10:30 Everyone started to filter down to the garage I was with my head under the dash feet in the air. Bjørn Erik tried to conduct a video interview with me. At about a 11, the marker lights to flash on for a moment so I kept going , but no luck. So at noon we got on the road in a light rain. After yet another miss direction down a steep driveway by the SatNav we got out into the beautiful rolling green fields of southern Norway. The road hopped over picturesque bridges from little island to little island. We came to the first ferry of the day as we head north into dark gray clouds.

We twisted our way through the bare rocky hills along the E39 then the Ferry over to Stord and this is where we took a deviation from the E39 For the sheer fun of driving some of the smaller and twistier roads, sun out, top down winding along steep roads just barely wide enough for Shaggy. From the drivers seat, I could see down to the emerald green fjord below. The best bit was the fantastic cork screw where the road dropped and twisted like a roller coaster. It was even fun in the van, although Bjørn Erik had to drop the camera and put both hands on the wheel. Back on the E39 though Bergen, Bjørn Erik suddenly dives across 3 lanes of traffic to an exit ramp. I said to Josh “he must be taking us through the picturesque port” but after 20 minutes of wandering though Friday afternoon traffic in downtown we were back on the highway, the insane SatNav had struck again!

As we were leaving Began on one of the bridges over the highway was a little boy watching the cars, I we both waved at him as we went under, I could hear him gasp with delight that we noticed him. Its moments like that , which makes me love my car. I don't care if it impresses any adults but just making little kids smile is.... Fantastic!

After dinner Bjørn Erik laid out how we had three more ferry's to make that night at a pace of 80KPH. The sunset while we crossed SogneFjord the mountains turning a soft blue in the calm evening light. we pulled off the ferry following a big rig into the narrow twisty roads, I encouraged Josh to soak up the astounding view as I focused on the taillights just ahead. High in the mountains, the roads flattened out and the speeds increased in the enveloping blue darkness, I struggled to keep up, the engine screaming the stereo blasting. Somehow Josh was getting some shuteye during all this. Bjørn Eriks tail lights Suddenly swerve. I slowed and then I saw the yellow eyes in the dark, I braked hard and steered to the center of the road...... slowly I picked my way through the sheep. Funny... Josh was wide awake again. Then we were off again at break neck pace on dark mountain valley roads, then we came to a steep decent through hair pin turns. The roller coaster terminated in Førde. We slowed through the sleepy Friday night town, a drunk staggered in front of us. That was it for Josh, he was too stressed by the trip. And I wasn't having fun either. This was the exact thing I did not want to do after have survived such a drive in 2008.

We pulled over at the gas station it was eleven o'clock, the idea of a 4 hour sprint through the dark mountains seemed silly so we booked a hotel and Bjørn Erik and his girlfriend, who had to be at work 2 days later, headed off into the night. Josh and I recovered in the hotel bar. Bjørn Erik's SatNav tagged a one lane cow filled mountain road as 100km so they had a slow hellish night getting to Ulstainvik at 4:30 am.

Day Four: In the Clouds

Breakfast was good with many types of herring and many cups of coffee. We felt very relaxed and set out under a high cloud cover towards Ski Jolster without Bjørn Eriks unrealistic time table the pressure was off, we stopped and took photos and drove at a safe speed. The road along the lake was twisty and spectacularly beautiful. Just after the Ski Jolster hotel, we entered a magnificent valley and I just started laughing a deep laugh, the valley has high steep sides with clouds sitting on top of the mountains waterfalls pouring out from the high plateau and cascading down to the milky blue river bubbling along the valley floor. We pull into one of the pullouts full of goats. After few minutes just enjoying the splendor and the sounds and smells (thankfully not very goat'y) up the valley came the Google Street view car! I gestured to Josh to take a picture me with the car but the goats started to swarm around me like groupies! I shewed them away as best I could! We followed the river as it went into a lush farming valley, sadly we don't take the turn for the Briksdalbreen glacier.

I took over the driving though the mountain passes and valleys each more wonderful and deposited us at the astounding ferry crossing to Volda. Where we turned off the E39 to Ulsteinvik, where Bjørn Erik had gotten us a deal on a hotel, I should have just gone on to my original destination of Alesund the most beautiful city in Europe. We came across a stunning view of the Ørstafjorden fjord, then we plunged into a steep tunnel under the fjord, a horizontal blue perabula of neon light demarcated the waterline. Lucky the traffic was lite as Shaggy struggled to get up the other side. On emerging we were in the lower hilly coastal land scape of conjoined islands and peninsulas. At about 4 we rolled into the rainy ship building town of Ulsteinvik.

Day Five: Last leg

Break fast was magnificent as usual, we did the final pack of the car, I checked the fluids with English cars we fill the oil and check the gas. In spite of the gray sky we put the top down and pulled out heading north on the 61. We just missed the 9:30 ferry, the mountains were wonderful with white fluffy clouds clinging to the tops casting deep shadows the bright morning sun. As the ferry approached family arrived all in traditional Norwegian dress to greet the ferry.

After the wonderful Molda ferry ride, the landscape started to change again as we crept into south Trøndolag the steep drama was gone, the mountains were lower and greener the roads were surprisingly empty for a Sunday afternoon. On Vinjefjorden, we talked to some German tourists who were circling the Baltic country. As we approached Thondhiem a steady stream of classic American muscle cars came the other way Josh was over the moon. Somehow we navigated the very confusing road signs through Trondheim.

The sun was going down the air was cool as we traversed deep into the farmlands of Trøndelag, little hilltop towns doting the landscape with tiny white pointy churches. The golden light painted the road as Steinjker came into view. I took us though the center of town and across the river. I pulled up to my friend Mats Model “A” hot rod and the engine went silent, we had made it.

Epilogue

The SatNav got returned. We didn't achieve all our goals of seeing Alusnd and the Trollstigen but we arrived safe. Things to do better next trip, maps, and compass, a solar battery charger, Plus two days flexibility in the schedule. See if you can find us on google street view!