August 23, 1998 Trondheim, Norway R100GS 36606 R80G/S 48046 Sharon looked outside this morning and said, "Dave! I can see a patch of blue sky!" She sat down and finished eating her toast. "We have to hurry up and pack before the rain comes." She was squirming in her chair, and smiling while she quickly finished eating. We packed the bikes and were on the road shortly after. The sky continued to clear and we felt sunshine on our backs for the first time in what seemed a long time. 15 minutes down the road at the ferry crossing, I jokingly complained, "Man, this sun is too hot, I'm starting to break out in a sweat". Sharon flared, "Be quiet or you'll tempt the fates and it'll be cold!" I asked her if she was feeling superstitious. She said "Yes", obviously willing to try anything to keep the weather favorable. Today was the first day in Norway we didn't get rained on while driving. Moments after we stopped in Trondheim it began raining, and continued through the night and into the next morning. We drove on scenic E39 the entire way along the Kornes fjord and Vinje fjord which seemed wider and choppier than the fjords we have been cruising along lately. As usual, the scenery was gorgeous. We checked into a cabin on the out skirt of Trondheim. They had cabins ranging in price from 475-950Kr ($63-$127). About twice the price of everywhere else we have been. At these prices it's still necessary to provide ones own bedding (sleeping bag). >From the Norwegian newspapers, I had a clue something was up with the US and the Arab world, but didn't know what. I got out the shortwave and tuned into the BBC, and Voice of Russia. I heard for the first time about the bombings of two US embassies in Africa that happened 2-3 weeks ago, and the subsequent launch of 75 tomahawk missiles at sights in Afghanistan and Sudan earlier this week. I heard about several of the nine or so Congo surrounding countries sending in troops influencing Congo's civil war. This is upsetting since this leaves only Egypt and Kenya unaffected along our planned path through Africa. In Russia, Boris Yeltsin just sacked the current prime minister and parliament putting back in the old one he sacked a couple of months ago. The ruble is currently at 6.5 to the dollar, but is being devaluated. It's estimated bottom will be 9.5 to the dollar. Possibly good for us since we plan to be passing through St Petersburg in a about 5-6 weeks if visas aren't a problem. I heard on a Chinese broadcast that they are "reconditioning" 10,000 chickens to hunt locusts as a method to combat insect problems. I can just hear the Chinese minister of agriculture commanding in a slow low evil voice, "Release the chickens!" August 24, 1998 Trondheim, Norway - {cabin camped} It appears that it rained all night, and continued through the morning. We drove into Trondheim ~10 miles North... We attempted to get Sharon's boot zippers repaired. We tried the only three shoe repair shops listed in the yellow pages. Two were closed for vacation for the next couple weeks, and the third was out of business. We visited the BMW dealer. Unlike the two we visited in Denmark, this one was pleasant. I picked up a replacement timing hole plug for 3kr, and found a front tire which I had no way to carry at the moment as Sharon and I rode two up on the R80G/S. We got a good deal on some Swedish made goat skin winter motorcycle gloves we bought for Sharon. She had been using some cheap Chinese vinyl winter gloves we bought in Patagonia that were now deteriorating in the palm where they stuck to the heated handgrips. We picked up an 81B (cloud) filter for the camera to reduce the blue tint from the sky which should warm up otherwise dreary photos. Perfect for Norway...Also, I started looking for a Cokin 120 or 121 filter which is a split neutral density filter for high contrast scenes. I figure it will help the clouds from being washed out when the exposure values are much higher than the ground subject especially when shooting positives. We stopped in two Norwegian army surplus stores to check out boots for possibly using as motorcycle boots. While the winter clothes look functionally most excellent (not much for style), I wasn't impressed with the boots. We didn't pick up anything. For some reason, I was expecting an unattractive town, and was pleasantly surprised. Trondheim is a college town with many students. There's an attractive old church, and since it's a port town, there are old water warehouses built up on stilts over the water kept up and now adding attractive character to the town. We picked up an International Herald Tribune... Still the best newspaper I have seen for world news and world economics. It's the best of NYT and Washington Post. They now offer same day delivery within the US. 800-882-2884 (www.iht.com) August 25, 1998 Brekkvasselv, Norway - {cabin camped} R100GS 36721 R80G/S 481xx I rode into Trondheim, found a motorcycle shop that had a rear tire for the R80G/S, a Cheng Shin street tire for 560Kr + 23% tax. I picked up a a Michelin MT66 front tire for the R100GS at the BMW dealer for 844Kr inc tax. I picked up two bottles of semi synthetic 20W50 oil for 86Kr each. The tires are for later when the current tire wear out North of the Arctic circle. I strapped both tires on the bike and rode back out of town to our cabin where we packed up and headed North on E6. We passed through the Hell tunnel leading to Hell of which we drove on through. Strangely enough, I noticed it was warmest tunnel of all that we had been through in Norway. Near a tiny town called Brekkvasselv, we cabin camped again. We were the only people staying, and got a 10% discount at a nice place with a scenic view of a slow moving river. It was strange in that we were still in Norway, and it appeared as though it hadn't rained here in the last 24 hours. The owner of the grounds spoke English with a Scandinavian lilting accent that independently reminded both Sharon and I of the Swedish chef on the Muppet show. As has been the nightly ritual in Norway, we turn on the cabin heater, place the clothes to dry, and then put the R100GS on the 600ma non-overcharging trickle battery charger until bed time. Afterward we put the R80G/S on the charger until we take off in the morning. Scandinavian countries driving laws require headlights to be on all of the time. The alternator on the motorcycles does not put out enough to sustain the battery with headlight, heated handgrips and electric jacket liner on max. We haven't had any problems yet, so I consider the nightly charging preventive maintenance. This allows us to run our electrical equipment on maximum worry free. Without the heat, progress and moral would wain. The cold rain creates significantly more need for heat than just the cold air alone. I suspect the electric starter on the R80G/S could use a rebuild as it has hard starts even when the new battery is fully charged. Twice I forgot to ask for new brushes for the starter when we visited the BMW dealer. Note: The owner of the first motorcycle shop I went to today told me there are something like 20k-30k Harley Davidsons in Norway. 500 new Harley's are registered each year in addition to 500 used Harley's shipped from the US. That's a huge number considering there are only 4 million Norwegians. August 26, 1998 Krokstrand, Norway (17km South of the Arctic Circle) - {cabin camped} R100GS 36893 R80G/S 48336 At 2:00am and again at 3:30am, Sharon and I noticed for the first time the sunlight coming from the North. It looked like twilight. After sitting outside on our porch for a while this morning, my Casio watch read 45.2 degrees Fahrenheit at 9:06am. These cold mornings aren't very motivating. We didn't get on the road until 11:00am despite setting the alarm for 7:00am. We drove through a terrain of rolling hills covered with pine trees. When we passed 65 degrees North Latitude, we passed under a large snow painted sign marking the port to North Norway or Trondelag depending on which way one is going. We've been looking forward to this for a week now... only because three Norwegians who told us that in Southern Norway they have been having more rain this summer than in memory, while in Northern Norway (where we were just now), the weather has been unusually nice. At that moment it was overcast but not raining, making conditions better than usual. We stopped at a grocery store in the town of Mosjoen which looks to be like a lumber town. The last hour of our riding, it rained hard and continuous, and the clouds didn't give the slightest hope that it would abate. 17km by road, 9km as the crow flies, from the arctic circle we stopped pulling into a camp ground. We had our choice of four different cabins. While the smallest would have been adequate, the owner offered us a discount on his nicest, which was a spacious quaint very nice log cabin with a view of the river out front. First thing we did is crank up the heater and place all of our damp items in front of it. >From the ingredients we picked up at the grocery store today, I made a pot of chili from scratch which we ate while listening to music coming in over one of the three FM radio stations. It's amazing to me how fatiguing riding in the cold is. Both Sharon and I are wiped out after 4 hours of driving. While driving, our torsos and hands are warm, legs slightly cool, and only our faces where the wind blows is cold. August 27, 1998 A, Norway - {Oddleif's rorbuer} R80G/S 48523 R100GS 37076 We woke up late, had a lethargic morning in our nice cabin and got on the road by 12:30pm. By noon, the overcast sky had turned sunny. We drove up the road 10 miles to the arctic circle where there are photo shoot landmarks, and took our we-were-here-photos. We met some Italian motorcyclists on TDM's, and later two Germans, one on a BMW, and the other on a Harley sportster she bought in Toronto and toured the mid-West North America. All of them had come from the North. We asked about the Bod0 ferry to the Lofoten islands, and both groups pulled out schedules that said it left at 4:45pm today, and there wouldn't be one running on Saturday (tomorrow). It was now 2:25pm, and the Germans said it took them 3 hours to drive this far including a stop off for a cheese burger and a warm up. We hopped on the bike and road 100km/h to Bod0 (speed limit throughout the country is 90km/h). The weather was the best yet in Norway with sunshine the whole way. We arrived with 15 minutes to spare including a stop to fill up with gas. The 4 hour ferry cost 175Kr ($22.73) for each motorcycle. This was the first ferry in Norway where we had to strap down the motorcycles. The vehicle deck was so packed that it was like a maze with dead ends and fat man squeezes everywhere. I was the last to leave the deck, and actually got locked in, since they lock the doors. It's a good idea since the swaying of the boat might squeeze an unfortunate person who was between vehicles. Fortunately one of the crew ventured down and I was able to escape after five minutes. Above deck, Sharon said she would have come down to rescue me if I hadn't turned up in another 10 minutes. The approach to the islands was a sight. Out of the calm sea, the rock faced mountains shoot up, with misty clouds filling their valleys. The sunset back lit the mountains lighting up the hovering ribbons of mist. very cool... Within a couple kilometers of the ferry route is a maelstrom, or great whirlpool. This one is one of the largest in the world is said to have first been described 2,000 years ago by Pytheas, a Greek historian. Oddleif, a fisherman I later talked to, who had been living here for the past 50 years said, "it's not so bad in the summer..." He said the severity is tied to the moon. During a full moon it's strong, and at other times it peaks during high tide. He shook his head while looking down and said "During a storm, it's the worst.." , sometimes with waves four, five and even ten meters. He said one time he was a little close, and had waves coming over the side. Looking at his boat, I could see he'd have to be met with at least a three meter wave for that to happen. A tourist pamphlet offers a boat ride to see the maelstrom for 290Kr ($38) each, minimum of 6 people. Since it's not done in a helicopter, this seems like it will either be lame or crazy. Talking with Oddleif, I gathered the next tour goes at low tide (at it's weakest), and only during the summer, also it's weakest. We currently have a waning half moon. From Oddleif's description I imagine being able to see a choppy area on the sea. With much deliberation, I decided this would be best visited by my imagination, if not by accident in a storm. --- We landed on the island of Moskenes, the southern most island of the connected chain of the Lofoten, pronounced "low-Foeton" islands. We drove along the scenic shore to the Southern most inhabited town called A. Just "A". However since it's an A with a circle over the top, In Scandinavian tongues, it's pronounced like "Oh". A was a quiet quaint beautiful little fishing village. All of the buildings are made of timber, and almost all are painted red with black roofs. This is a common color scheme throughout Norway, however here almost all of the building are painted this way. I assume the red is for visibility in the snow, and black roofs are so the snow will melt off quicker and absorb heat. On Lofoten, the places to stay are called rorbuers, which are a step up from cabins. January through April when the non-permanent fisherman come to the islands to fish for mostly cod, they rent out these rorbuers to stay in. The rest of the summer, they are rented to tourists. I drove off looking for a rorbuer as Sharon waited. I went down a narrow road following various arrows, and was waved over by an older man wearing clean blue coveralls. He said something to me in Norwegian, and I replied to him in English, "Do you have any rooms available?" He said yes, and showed me a nice rorbuer with two beautiful views of the bay from it's second story windows. This rorbuer came equipped with four beds, kitchen area, dining area, living room area, small bedroom, private bathroom with shower, private ante-chamber, and three other ante-chambers/undressing areas, I suppose just in case we happen to come in filthy, covered in fish guts. Despite being built in a traditional former warehouse, the entire inside was modern, and our walls, ceiling and floor were recently panelled in knotty pine typical in Scandinavia. He charged us 150Kr each, 300Kr total ($39). Except for a missing fireplace, the interior reminded me of a typical ski condo rented in Colorado. I retrieved Sharon who was sitting on her motorcycle about a minute away. She asked Oddleif, the fisherman who owned our rorbuer, where was a good place to buy fish. He said he had some fish in his warehouse caught this morning. Sharon went off with him to see what he had. He pulled out a large cod with the head cut off from his refrigerator, and asked "will this will do?" Sharon said "Yes." He asked if she would like it fillet'd. She said, "yes." Like a professional who had been doing this all of his life. He took down a knife from a rack of knives containing a large selection, rapidly ran it over his sharpener a few times, and with elbows flailing was done filleting in seconds. He asked if she wanted the skin on it. She said "No", and with one quick rip, the skin was gone. He put it in a bag, and she asked how much. Oddleif said it was caught this morning by some tourists who went fishing with him. He said it didn't cost him anything, and so it was a gift to us. We fried the cod up with some butter, olive oil and garlic, and had some pasta as a side dish. I can't remember eating cod so fresh... It's a far cry from the salted baccalao we were eating in Portugal. BTW, Here they say baccalao is made from klip fish... in Portugal, we were under the impression it was salted cod. August 28, 1998 A, Norway - {Oddleif's rorbuer} We walked around A taking pictures of this quaint fishing village inset in a bay surrounded by steep mountains. It was sunny and warm which seemed strange until we remembered it was still summer. During the past two weeks of bad weather we had forgotten. There are fish drying racks everywhere. There is something like 4 million square meters of drying racks on these islands. I think it's impossible to take an inhabited landscape picture without getting one of these in the picture. The Lofoten islands account for over 16 million kilograms of cod each year, according to the sign in front of the cod museum. We hopped on the R80G/S and toured the island. Since A is at the Southern end, there was only one direction to go. Several times, I would stop, and Sharon would hop off and take a photo. "Postcard pictures around every corner" is what our guide book said. It's true. We picked up some fresh salmon steaks at a fish outlet store 79Kr/kg ($4.66/lbs), and fried them up for dinner in a little butter and olive oil in our Norwegian cast iron fish frying skillet provided for by our rorbuer. They were incredible! Sharon said, that other than at Tall Grass (a 3/3 star restaurant near Chicago), she's never eaten such a delicious Salmon. Side note: $4.66/lbs for the most delicious fresh salmon steaks was the same price we paid for ground beef per pound that we had in our chili the other day. Note: Tourist web sight for Lofoten- http://www.lofoten-info.no ---- In the afternoon, when Oddleif came back from taking the tourists out for their fishing trip, we stopped in and told him we were interested in staying another night. Always friendly and enjoying to talk, he talked to us for a while. We talked about the fishing in the area. The cod chase the herring up here, Sometimes another type of cod from the Barents sea converge on the herring here. The season goes from January until April peaking in April. In March and April all of the drying racks are full of fish hanging up to dry. I can imagine the Lofoten aroma. Oddleif caught 67 metric tons of cod this season with his boat. Prices are regulated by the Norwegian fishing union. This year they sold for 10Kr per kg ($.59 per lbs.) This makes his total before cost gross worth US$87,000. He said, "I work every day in April... mmm, except on Sunday of course." They send the dried fish heads to Nigeria and other African countries where it's typically used in high protein soups. Large fish are often sent to Italy and Catalonia, Spain. Usually the lesser expensive medium size cod get sent to Portugal. The Norwegian kronor has been slipping against the dollar recently. Norway is expected to raise their interest rates from it's current state around 5% to close to 10% in an attempt to bolster the kronor. As Oddleif says, this is a bit difficult for young Norwegians taking out loans for starter homes. He says he has two sons, one which is 2 meters high and 100kg, not short like him and his wife. He drinks a spoon full of cod liver oil every day which is something he has been doing since he was a kid. Every Norwegian grocery sells this. Now they have lemon flavored, and a more expensive gelatin coated pill containing the oil. After yesterday's wonderful fresh salmon steak dinner, we asked him if he had any salmon for sale. He didn't, but gave us a rather large haddock free of charge which he fillet'd in front of us. It was the first time I had eaten haddock. It was delicious. It's a very clean tasting white fish. It was quite different from the fresh cod or salmon we had just eaten. Sharon made some delicious fish cakes with half the haddock. (Onions, bread crumbs, mustard, egg, garlic powder). The other half we fried in some olive oil and butter. Excellent dinner. We had so much haddock we had a difficult time eating it all. -------- Later Note, The village of A was our most favorite of the Lofoten islands. It was the most scenic, laid back, and retained much of the old rorbruers and old ware houses. I think staying there first spoiled us for the rest of the islands. However it might be different during high tourist season. One day, two tour busses full of Spaniards arrived. After their one hour time limit, the buss horn honked to collect them which could be heard throughout the entire village. The only restaurant in town managed to feed all 100+ of them. I'm certain the local delicacy of cod lips were fresh out after that... ---- Dave Thompson thompson@pdnt.com www - http://sdg.ncsa.uiuc.edu/~mag/Thompson Net-Tamer V 1.09 Palm Top - Registered