Adventure North Cape 2023 (ANC2301) - A rollercoaster of impressions
On Saturday, 15th of July this years (regular) Adventure North Cape started in Alesund. The tourguides Stefan, Trummy & Nico met some guests already during breakfast, before they headed out to prep the bikes for the next 12 riding days. After the official Welcome Briefing in the afternoon, which was held in a very loungy conference room in our Tour-Start-Hotel, everyone was keen for the handover of those bikes. On this tour, we have a variety of different touringorientated motorcycles ranging from about 70 to 170 horsepowers. But there was still enough time to check them out before a nice Welcome Dinner in the hotel restaurant.
Ålesund to Sunndalsøra Because of the later breakfast on sundays at the hotel, we had already planned to move our schedule a little bit. While Stefan was loading the luggage into the van, Trummy and Nico presented todays route in the daily briefing. After splitting up into two groups, we started the engines and left Alesund in the direction of Trollstigen. While Nico started with the faster riders in Group 1, Trummy and the other guests were only a few minutes behind. After the first 100 km on different kinds of roads, ranging from the main road to leave the city, to coastal roads along the fjord we reached our first stop of the day. Gudbrandsjuvet is a ravine in the Valldalen Valley, where the water masses coming from the mountains left their marks. Afterwards we continued up the mountain towards the famous trolls lader or "Trollstiegen". We enjoyed the spectacular view from the two viewpoints and took plenty of photos. Tourguide Nico and the guests Joe and Randy where more than happy to experience the view once again in nearly perfect conditions. Last week on our Touring Center Norway we weren't as lucky. The excitement of the view was harshly dampened by the traffic down the switchbacks. But that was expected during the vacation season. In the afternoon we enjoyed the rest of our journey on easy roads along the fjords and over some smaller mountains before we reached todays destination Sunndalsøra where the guests had a bit of spare time before dinner at the italian restaurant next to the hotel.
Sunndalsøra to Trondheim The second riding day started with a daily briefing next to the bikes. After everyone got an overview over the next 245 km to Trondheim, we jumped on the bikes and rode through the Sunndalen Valley towards Oppdal. On our along he river Driva we saw a alot of waterfalls and the sun peaking through dark, heavy clouds made the scenery magical. Afterwards we had to follow the E6 (Norways main road connection from South to North) a little bit and used that opportunity to make a litle coffeestop at a really nice rest area & motel. For the next stretch of the day, we had the joy to ride upd and down the winding mountain roads to our Lunch stop in Lokken Verk, one of the oldest mining towns in Norway that stopped operations in the 1980s after more than 330 years of mining for ore, copper, zink and silver. If I would have loved to visit the industrial museum next to old railway - maybe next time. In the afternoon we had another pleasant ride through the countryside and along the water, before we entered Trondheim from the opposite coastal road with a nice view of the harbour and the city. And due to our arrival we had plenty of time left for a city walk. But let the pictures speak for itself.
Trondheim to Overhalla After a great breakfast and the daily briefing we had a short ride to our first ferry from Flakk to Rørvik. We’ve been on time, so as soon as we drove on the ferry, it already left - that’s what we call timing. Yesterday, we had a talk to Thor and Donar and ask them for good weather. So there must be some misunderstanding, because they send us a lot of liquid sunshine. But riding a bike in nice conditions, everybody can do. As soon we stopped, the rain was gone - back on the bikes - and so the rain was back too. Anyway, we didn’t care, the nature was stunning and the road conditions where perfect. After some photoshops we get to Nordmeland Gardshotell, where we had our lunch break and than just to continue a beautiful ride through the marvelous countryside of Norway. Without rain we reached our Hotel for the night in Overhalla…….. So far, so good…..more about our ride tomorrow. Stay tuned and ride on.
Overhalla to Sandnessjøen What a Morning! After the rain yesterday, we woke up to a beautiful, sunny sky. Well, actually we slept with a sunny sky most of the night. We are still south of the Arctic Circle and the sun hides below the horizon for, which technically means we have a night. But with dusk turning directly into dawn and a sunrise at 3:30 it surely doesn't feel like that. Back to the tour: Trummy rocked the daily briefing once again and everbody was quickly ready on the bikes. Today, Trummis group left a few minutes earlier and Nico's group caught up before we reached the first photostop at Foldabrua. This bridge goes over a narrow straigth in the inner part of Foldafjord. After a set of nice curves through the countryside we reached our first ferry for today and had to wait for a little bit. At that point the sun was already strong and heated up the ground and our heads. Time to get a fresh breeze on the ferry. Shortly after we arrived on the other side, and after fixing a small incident on one of the tourguide bikes, we had lunch in the Garden of "Hildurs Urterarium" between trees and plants. The Afternoon was a mix of waiting time for two other ferries and the beauty of the Fv17, the coastal road following the whole Coast of Helgeland. Before we arrived in Sandnessjoen, we also had a spectacular view on the seven sisters mountain range.
Sandnessjøen to Bodø Welcome back Stefan! After another day in the Van, our Swiss-German Guide was back on the bike. Even though it was cloudy and windy near the docks of Sandnessjøen, we did the daily briefing outside at the bikes once again. And of course we had to joke around about the weather and curse if Stefan is riding with the group. Is it true? Let's see. We left Sandnessjøen over the enourmus Helgeland Bridge, but not without a photo stop of course. Afterwards we had to go through two long tunnels (10km and 8km in length) away from the coast and back to the inland. Our plan for today was to cross the Arctic Circle on the land way, which is much more exciting than on the ferry. And guess what? As we left the coast and passed the industrial town of Mo i Rana on the E6, the weather got better and better. Curse banned! Around lunchtime we reached the Arctic Circle and had over an our to walk around the premise, take photos, buy some fridge magnets in the visitor center and have lunch. The ride in the afternoon was one for the books. On the north side of the arctic circle we rode down to the Valley with incredible views of small mountains and great woods. On of the guests told me later, that it reminds him of Alaska. Then we left the E6, Norways main road from South to North. We passed little farms, encountered lots of sheep and had a blast on the mountain roads back to the coast. The last stop of today, a few kilometers away from Bodø, was the Saltstraumen, a whirpool of water powered by the sea every 6 hours.
After spending a wonderful night in a very authentic hotel in Svolvaer, we set off to explore the rest of the island. The weather forecast isn't rosy at the moment, but what isn't yet can still happen. Shortly after we left we make a stop to look at the beautiful landscape and then take the ferry from Fiskebøl to Melbu. In Stokmarknes we don't miss it and visit the Hurtigruten Museum. The shipping company has existed for 100 years and has always connected communities and cities. Before this part of Norway even had rails and roads, it was the only connection, especially in winter. The mail was and is still brought to the islands by ship. Of course, we also went on and into the MS Finnmarken to get an idea of what it looked like on these ships in the past. The Finnmarken is from 1956 and was built by the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg. With a MAN 4-stroke diesel engine with 10 cylinders and 3600 hp, which by today's standards seems very little. After the lunch stop, we quickly went into the water to cool off and then to Harstad, where we are staying today. More about our trip……again tomorrow.
Our short trip to Finland, or rather Lapland, begins with a good breakfast and similar weather to the day before. The locals make fun of it and say it's a warm summer, well, 9 degrees Celsius isn't exactly warm right now. Nevertheless, our motorcycles are saddled and off we go to the first highlight of the day. The boarder crossing into Norway again and the Juhls Silversmiths. Founded by adventurers, just like us..... In the 1950s, Kautokeino was an isolated community with no roads, where the Sami people still lived their traditional way of life. A young Danish adventurer, Frank Juhls, was working here as a handyman, while a young German girl, Regine, had taken a job as a maid with a reindeer herding family. The adventurers found each other and became part of this unique community. Sami silver Frank Juhls began to take on work repairing Sami silver jewellery, none of which had been made by the Sami; it had found its way north through trade. Sun wheels from Siberia, silver spoons and Catholic crosses, filigree brooches from Bergen — an assortment of items from different traditions, now united in eclectic beauty on traditional costumes, bringing new meaning to the items. Silver with a new meaning Since nomads are always on the move, they do not have silversmiths. However, nomads find silver a good way of saving wealth and capital. It is easy to carry, and you can use it to display your wealth. Since nomads don’t build fine, richly decorated houses, it is silver that they use to demonstrate their prosperity. After sightseeing and shopping, we made our way to Karasjok, where you can marvel at the life of the Sami in various museums. Since we haven't had lunch yet, we decide to eat in a traditional Sami hut, which is set up as a restaurant. A simple kitchen, but super tasty. Then we drive the last few kilometers to Lakselv to check in at the hotel by the Porsangerfjord. Once again we were lucky with the weather and arrived in sunshine. Another wonderful day comes to an end and we are already looking forward to tomorrow when we will reach the highlight of our trip - the North Cap. Next up is tomorrow......
Yesterday we reached the big goal of our mission. So what is left for today? Well the Adventure North Cape officially ends in Tromsø, so we have another long riding day ahead of us. Tromsø is considered to be the getaway to the Arctic, but we are coming from the North. Todays route will take us about 250 miles (400km) south to our final destination. After we left Alta, we rode along the Fjord where the german ship "Tirpitz" was sunken in 1941. The museum was still closed early in the morning, but our history geeks didn't miss the opportunity to take a foto at the Fjord. We followed the coastline on the E6 for the whole day, with coffee, lunch and icecream stops inbetween. It is amazing, that after two weeks on the tour (or after even 5 weeks in Norway for Tourguide Nico) the scenery is still spectacular and never gets boring. Unfortunately the E6 is partly under construction now and after the new tunnels were build, canceling the little roads directly at the water, another great riding road over a mountain will be straightened till 2024 and much easier to ride. The whole group really enjoyed the last day to conclude the tour and arrived happily in our final hotel in Tromsø, where we had a nice farewell dinner and some of us enjoyed the last "sunny" night a little longer, while others had to say Goodbye and catch an early flight in the morning...