NTC 2401 Touring Center Norway

Today was preparation day. It started of with me, Lars, the tour guide, preparing the motorcycles for the trip. Taking them out of the garage and parking them close to the hotel, and making sure all the brakes are up to par, the tanks filled and so on. After a short drive to fill up one of the bikes and test the GPS devices to make sure everything is working as it should, it was time to go over the routs, and back ground information in preparation for the trip. Than around 5 o clock the fun started, because we had our welcome briefing. Before we started, we had a pleasant surprise, as Nicole was a last minute addition to our tour. We went over some specifics of the tour, as well as the safety aspect of the edelweiss trips, to make sure we all get back safely from having an amazing time in Norway. Briefing was followed by the bike handover, so we can all meet the bikes we will be riding for the next few days. The day ended with a lovely shared dinner in the Hotel with some very nice food. all in all, a great way to start of the first day.
The original plan was to go to the Island of Runde today and do a boat tour around Bird Island. The captain said the weather wouldn't be suitable today, and he recommended doing it on Monday, so we swapped two riding days. Based on the fact that the weather was very mild today, our guess is that he didn't want to do it on a Sunday. Luckily for us, this meant that when we stopped at the first church, the modern one used since 1907, we got there right before the service. The people were very friendly and let us have a look inside. The organ player even gave us some information about how the instrument works and what all the knobs and buttons do. From the modern church, we made our way just a minute down the road to the Rose Church. It was built in 1789 and was painted over the years after that. The church is still in great condition, so we had to have a walk around the outside and look at the beautiful floral-themed paintwork on the inside. After our church visit, it was time to head on to the Gudbrandsjuvet Waterfall, where we stopped for a view and lunch. They built beautiful metal stairs around the trees in front of the waterfall to give you a beautiful view of different sides of the powerfully flowing water. After taking some pictures of the water, it was time to head into the beautiful modern building directly next to the waterfall. Here we had some deer stew, cinnamon buns, and other nice lunches, whilst enjoying a view of the waterfall. From there, we made our way back towards Ålesund and crossed our first fjord on a ferry, giving us an introduction of what is to come in the next days.
Because the forecast for the south seemed to be better than the north, we decided to he'd towards Nordfjordeied today and do a round which was themed Fjords. During our morning meeting, it still seems like it would be a very wet day. Luckily we got reminded that that Zoolander once said, 'wetness is the essence of beauty!' so we expected a beautiful day. Luckily for us, it wasn't beautiful in that sense, and the Rain was very mild, and only in the morning. After a short ride from Alesund to the first ferry, taking us over to Barstadvik, we rode for our morning ride along some small roads past beautiful fjords. Early morning it was still a little foggy and we couldn't see the top of the mountains, later in the day it cleared up more and we had an even nicer view. The last kilometres before lunch took us on some sweeping roads along a lake, a perfect opportunity to enjoy the bikes we are on, whilst riding past a very nice view. Lunch was at a Restaurant called Cats (sadly they didn't have or serve any..) in the town of Nordfjordeid. This marked the furthest point of our tour and we made our way around the other side of the area we were on, taking us passt other fjords and more scenic views. The second Ferry of the day came with entertainment. A buss full of very sweet children were very interested in our bikes. A little shy at first, the came over with mom first, asking if they could touch the bike. Soon after they were all over our bikes. Big smiles all around. From here we drove some roads we already had taken in the morning. Now coming from the other side, it always looks very different, especially since the weather had cleared up and we could see further down the fjords whilst on the ferry back towards Alesund.
Today was going to be all about the Gieranger fjord. Listed on the UNESCO world heritage list for its natural beauty. After just leaving our hotel this morning, we did a little drill to see weather the whole group paid attention during the welcome briefing. There were some cars splitting the group, so I made a turn at the roundabout, and waited directly after. One of the little sheep out of our flock got away and went another way, but they acted perfectly by stopping directly after, as they didn't see the bikes in front or behind them, so they could be shepherded back to the rest. A perfect drill of how it should be. Especially the morning very rainy and cold, so after about an hour of our brave journey trough the Norwegian rain, we stoped at a lovely cafe for a well deserved Hot chocolate to warm us up. after the Hightlight of going to the bathroom with the cheeky signs, it was time to continue our adventure on the bikes. Having made our way to the Gieranger ferry, we were lucky we could sneak ourselves some last minute tickets and go directly on the boat. It was very full inside, so most of us started of braving the Elements outside, but slowly the group drooped off to go inside. All but one brave soul that never went in. The boat trip provided us with some beautiful scenery, Mountains, waterways, trees and waterfalls, a true beauty to behold. From the boat, we went op a pass to the viewpoint. A very nice road with some cool views, but sadly am impatient bus driver made the endeavour a little more stressful than it needed to be. Due to the weather, we decided to take the short way back from here. That luckily still took us through some stunning scenery. After come well deserved pizza, we started having some problems getting one of the bikes started. Luckily We got ut running very fast, and were on our way again. At least for a bit.. After the last picture stop, we couldn't get the bike running, and had to result to some handy work with tools and swapping batteries, but we got it done. If you ever wondered how many guys it takes to swap batteries on 2 bikes, its 4.. From there we made our way back to the hotel without any further problems, besides from more rain coming down. Now it's time for a well deserved hot shower and some nice Italian food afterwards.
The Sun dance finally really paid off and we had a beautiful day with lots of sunshine! combined with one of the most scenic roads in the world on our schedule for today, what's not to love? The day started off with some swapping of bikes, a tired one for a more lively one, and a Grey Fox for a Fox Red bike. From there we rode outside and I think we all wondered what that weird orange thing in the sky was.. We made our way towards the Atlantic road over some very scenic roads, some narrow and flow trough the forrest. On the ferry in the morning, we made friends with an Austrian woman who was familiar with Edelweiss, and she was on a solo ride from Austria to the north cape and back. Off the ferry, and strait up the hill, to a viewpoint overlooking the town and the fjord. The Coffe-house was closed, but it still made for some nice views. We got to the Atlantic road and were treated with some stunning views of the road, arching high above the water, hopping from rock to rock. We made some drone videos of driving over the road, and sadly ended up driving the road 2x, because we were heading for lunch on the other side, after we made it back to the start. Lunch was at a cute yellow house, directly on the water. And the cray thing, we ate outside... Some burgers, some salad and not to forget, we got to try a bite of a whale steak.. After dinner, we spoke to a man from Poland, who explained us why we have seen so many classic cars with stickers of a certain rally on them. They started with 550 cars from Poland and drove all the way here in about 2 weeks. The rally is to raise money for a children's charity, and according to our Polish friend, they have been very successful. With our bodies filled up with vitamin D and our belly filled with good food, we sadly had to make our way over the Atlantic road once again. We really felt sorry for ourselves.. Since we enjoyed the sunlight so much, we decided to make the most of the weather and take the long way back. Some very lovely roads, taking us along the coast with some great views. We really made the most of our sunny day and were rewarded with some great sights. Luckily we sill have the pictures to help us cherish the memories. Now on to another lovely day tomorrow!
After days of trying to plan a boat trip with the captain, today was finally the day where the weather was playing its part. Sadly, due to the backlog of guests, we could only get a place for 6pm, so no boat for us. We did driver to the island however, and it was a beautiful place non the less. Cute little houses along the shoreline, lush green rolling hals going up to a rough mountain. The seaside road around part of the island was Whinding down along the cliffs, making for a cool drive. After some cake, coffee and some apple juice to get the vitamins going, we made our way back off the island. The island is connected to the other little island with a very high arching bridge. A perfect spot to take the drone out and make a cool video of everybody driving over. It almost ended badly, as some seagulls decided they did not like the drone and started circling is over the open sea. In the end it was all fine, and we ended up with some very cool video of everybody driving over. From here we made our way to the Larsness view point (obviously the nicest place we been al week, just due to the name..) And got on the ferry with not even seconds to spare. The could just squeeze us in. From here on, it was time to keep our eyes open for a restaurant, to feed our appetites. We thought we found a nice place, but it turned out to not serve any food. This was good for us, as the lady referred us to another plays a little ways back to where we came from, and this turned out to be a lovely place on a pier, in the sun, with beautiful views all around us. No Funky meats for us today, but still a very pleasant lunch. From here we drove on to catch the next ferry, that just slipped trough our fingers when we got there. This meant we had to wait for 55 minutes for the next one, so it gave us enough time to get some souvenirs and snacks in the supermarket, watch a man catch a big fish, and almost fall in the water thanks to a wobbly stone. Once the ferry arrived, we made our way over, drove some more lovely roads in the fading sunlight (clouds, not sunset) And slowly were saying our goodbyes to beautiful Norway. I hope I can speak for all of us and say that we are all happy we made it all back in one piece, and that we had a lovely time. Great company, great food, great rides!! Thank you for reading along, and safe rides to all of you !