Wandering Sebastabator: 07 July - 12 July : Stockholm and onto Norway

07 July
Up early today
Big Breakie - Bacon, Scrambled Eggs then ride up to Uppsala To check out the viking Museum and the viking graves/mounds. What an awesome place. Then into Uppsala to check out the Cathedral. I never realised what a cool place this is.

After Uppsala, we headed Back to Stockholm and more specifically Gamla Stan (the old town). After parking, we headed to a nearby restaurant for lunch - Swedish Meatballs. We were totally Spoilt for choice, so many restaurants. After lunch we went hunting for the Iron boy, Järnpojke.

"Järnpojke or Iron Boy, in English known as the "little boy who looks at the moon" is a sculpture in Gamla stan of Stockholm by Liss Eriksson, which is only 15 centimetres high and therefore is the smallest public monument of Stockholm. The sculpture was created in 1954 by the Swedish artist Liss Eriksson, but was inaugurated at this point only in 1967."

We eventually found him, in a courtyard hidden away from the touristy areas. Then it was off to the Vasa Museum. Great Ship, but a shame it didn't last too long. Guess that happens when your ego is bigger and better than your ship builders'.

Then we headed back to camp, via the supermarket for some supplies. I cooked Chilli this evening, We than paid for the camp as we were getting up early tomorrow. Heading for Oslo.

08 July

Big ride day today. Got away early. From Stockholm we headed across Sweden, direction Oslo and then onto Kristiansand (Christiansholm), the southern tip of Norway. An uneventful but good ride.

We rode into Oslo and had lunch at the central train station. There was nothing we wanted to see in Oslo and with all the roadworks and construction happening, we were glad to see the back of it.

In Kristiansand we found a camp by the water. Elevated camp spot and well appointed. I guess the place is a Family camp with loads of cabins and caravans. Plenty of areas to eat out, not much in the way of beer.

Although we only covered a total of 829 km in 13.5 hours. As we'd lost a day waiting for the tyres we wanted to make a bit of time up.

09 July

From Kristiansand, we set off for Haugesund to visit my mate Olav. I'd met Olav the first time I visited Iceland. He and his wife ride a Harley, and the butt of all my jokes. But a great guy with a very generous heart. He and his family opened up their home to us.

He took us on a bit of a tour of Haugesund and the surrounding area, up to an amazing vista with a great view of the area. Then to visit Lady Liberty and the mine. We discovered that all the copper for the Statue of Liberty were mined here and there are actually 4 such statues. One is obviously standing on Ellis Island, in Upper New York Bay. The Second is in Paris, the 3rd right outside the mine. But I forget where the 4th stands.

After checking out the local sites and Olav's storage for his bikes it was back to his for a BBQ and some beers. We all sat out on the Deck but it was still a bit chilly. So much so, that Guthrun (Olav's wife) came out with two Sweaters that She'd actually knitted, from Icelandic wool. As no one in the house could wear them anymore, she gifted them to us...WHAT? Whoa, we were blown away by such an amazing and personal gift.

10 July

We slept well, in an actual bed. Up early as Olav offered to take us on a bike tour of the Fjord and into Bergen. Unfortunately, being a Harley, his bike refused to start. So, after a short time he decided he needed to take his wife's bike (also a Harley). So, Olav jumped into his car and we headed for the storage unit to pick up the bike. Once he got it out of the shed, it actually started and we were off. We rode into town and then headed to Bergen, around the Fjord. Along the way, we stopped at the waterfalls at Matland. Usually the falls are in full waterfalls glory but as it had been a dry year they were somewhat less than normal. Olav said it was the least amount of water he'd ever seen.

Then it was into Bergen. We managed to park at the harbour and headed to the local markets where we grabbed some lunch and found a stall that sold Sausages. Not just any sausages - Whale, Moose and Deer. Believe me, the taste was something else...Yummy.

We thanked Olav for everything including the tour. He was heading back home via the Ferry and we decided to head to Voss, it was still early.

We arrived at the Campsite in Voss to find it completely full, over-full even. But as we were only 2 bikes with small tents, the owner said if we could find a spot, we could stay. We managed to find enough room for 2 tents, behind a cabin, and set-up camp. Next to us was another biker, Charles from the Netherlands. He was riding a GSA (2008 I think).

Before dinner, before it got too cold, we decided to jump in the lake for a dip. It was so cold, I jumped in, wet my head and got out. Not for me.

11 July

From Voss we to head to Laerdalstunneln, at 24.5 km it is the longest tunnel in the world and something that we just needed to do. An amazing engineering feat.

LÆRDALSTUNNELEN - The world's longest road tunnel is 24,5 km long and situated between Aurland and Lærdal. The tunnel opened November 2000. Lighting is a central factor - every 6 km the area is widened and these rock chambers are fitted with special lighting. Safety equipment and monitoring are installed in the tunnel.
Building period: 1995-2000.
Project costs -2000 value: Nok 1050 million.
Tunnel cost: Nok 930 million.
Price per metre for finished tunnel: Nok 38 000.
Turning points: 15
Breakdown lay-bys: 48
Heaviest traffic in an hour: 400 vehicles
Average daily traffic over a year: 1000 vehicles

NO TOLL.

Awesome experience. Then from the Tunnel it was onto Geiranger, via the outlook at about 2400+m. Then it was onto Trollstigen, yes that amazingly, famous, serpentine road. Unfortunately, the Lambo club of Italy were staying in the town and wanted nothing more than to go up and down, multiple times. Almost wiped me out...wankers. We had lunch in Trollstigen town near the harbour and then onto the Atlantic road with it's awesome bridges and onto Trondheim. Little did we realise, up and down the serpentine roads of this area and with all the traffic, the 730 km to Trondheim took us till midnight. But what a day of riding. Upon reflection, both Scott and I were of the opinion that the roads of Geiranger were far superior to the more famous Trollstigen.

12 July

We were to meet up with some friends of mine who were travelling south from Tromso. Isa and Linus. But first we spent the morning attending to the bikes, wash and oil. Then the rest of the day checking out Trondheim. Many, many beautiful wooden buildings lining the canal with a groovy vibe. Bakklandet is the more relaxed area and we stopped there at a cafe/bar. The people there broke out into spontaneous, live Caribbean music, about half the guests were playing and it was quite something. Then in the Evening we did catch up with Isa and Linus in a Mexican Restaurant. The food was great and it was good to catch up. Then back to camp.