Dublin to Nordkapp

[syncropaddy]

Well the plans are well ahead now but a few questions have popped up.

Is crossing into Norway as easy as crossing from France into Germany - no border controls?
Can someone give me a name of a good tyre centre in Sweden where we can buy Arctic spec tyres?
Is there an organisation (AA or police) to contact if it all goes wrong?
Is WiFi generally available in hotels etc?

Thanks

[Tæff]

Crossing the border is no problem. You could get stopped at the border for a routine(?) controll but that should not be a problem if your car is in generaly good condition and you dont have any illegal goods in your car (weapons, drugs etc etc)

If you get in trouble you could call Falken or NAF for towing you to the nearest garage. Not shure how expensive this is if you are not norwegian/a member og the above mentioned companies.

By WiFi you mean Internet? generaly most of the hotells have wireless internet of some kind

[ThorAlex.]

Expect controls to be more common than France/Germany, and in winter they'll be on the lookout for european cars and trucks that often has bad summer tyres. Also wach how much beer (and meat) you have with you when entering Norway, the prices in norway cause a lot of people to smuggle so they are on the lookaot for that too.

Some usefull pages to note:
Info about customs and border kontrol: http://www.toll.no/default.aspx?id=3&epslanguage=EN
NAF: http://www.naf.no/en/ Not sure if they will help non-members, but if you give them a call they will probably point you to someone that can. I know a guy that used to work for them (he rescued me once), I'll ask next time i see him.
Falken: http://www.falck.no/en/home
1881 http://www.1881.no/ phone number information that will help you with almost any information you need.

If you need wifi most hotels will have some solution, and so many people have usecure networks that you can usually stop in som random ton/city and find one (thats what i de when not at home (actually, i tend to borrow other networks at home too))

Good luck, and if you are in the steinkjer area and need something just give me a call, I'll be happy to offer coffee and whatever else you need!

[syncropaddy]

Thanks guys

He will be in Hammerfest, Tromso, Bodo, Trondheim and Oslo from around mid November on. He is going to see some friends in Spain first and then will head up to Germany and start his trip.

Andrew

[syncropaddy]

Well the tickets are booked, the route has been planned, the equipment has been bought and he travels on November 8th. He will buy his winter tyres in Malmo and he plans to spen about 1 month away.

Whats the weather like in you part of the world at the moment?
Do you have road tolls?
How much is diesel at the moment?
Do you have a good hostel system?

[ThorAlex.]

Weather sucks these days. Rain, wind, chilly and generally sucking. Probably better end more wintery by mid november.
Road toll, yes we have them. When/if driving through trøndelag tell him to try to avoid E6 around trondheim as there are 3 or 4 of them there in close succession. Most of them take cash and cards, some take euro i think.
Diesel was about £1-1.2 I think, someone else might come up with a more precise number.
As for "hostel" I'm not really shure what that transelates to

What route have you planned?

[syncropaddy]

I found diesel prices Norwegian Krone 11.50 or 1.32 euro per litre. Are these accurate?
I think he will be on the E6 all right but I will warn him. Is there an electronic type toll device you can buy?
A hostel is where walkers / young people stay overnight. Do you have guest houses?

[TaigAGreEn]

Diesel was 11.30 at my local Esso today. Seems about right.

Norwegian hostels: http://www.hihostels.no/english/

AutoPass: http://www.autopass.no/Visitors/Visitors'+Payment

[syncropaddy]

Great stuff thanks

[syncropaddy]

The route he will take will be like this as far as we know!!

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source= ... =UTF8&z=10

His car looks like this so if you see him give him a flash

[T3Racing]

why drive E6? If you drive E18 you will see more nature and stuff in Norway. And there are less Toll Road there But i'll will Flash if i see this car

Oh one more thing Speed Controls are very usual in Norway Automatic and mobile so hold the speed limit

[Bugman]

Hi, Andrew!

Your son is taking the Norwegian route from North Cape towards Oslo?

Why the 91 from Olderdalen to Ramfjord outside Tromsø?

On the not so positive side:
Two ferries, Narrow Roads and not very straight.
On the positive side:
A short cut on the way to Tromsø, more magnificent scenery! The Lyngsalps!

He should try NOT to fill the tank within the Tromsø community. Because here it is a unique form of Road Tax. NOK 0,65 i think, added to the ordinary cost of fuel.

And on this Northern leg of this trip, someplaces there are "fierce" price wars, which he may benefit from

Inside Norway, 175 is the number to call for weather, road-conditions, and ferries and such!

I suggest the following (even though most Shell/Esso/Statoil stations accept Credit and Debet cards.):
On the leg from Kautokeino towards Alta, plan on topping the tank in Alta, as there is a Shell station open 24/7 there.
(Between the Finish border and Alta, the terrain may be described as flat, but highly elevated over sea level, decending towards Alta. Between Alta and Skaidi there is one mountain-pass, "Sennalandet", and between Skaidi and Olderfjord he'll pass another one, "Hatter". May be windy at this time of year. EG: White-out if it's snow or snowing.)
When needed, top up the tank in the following locations: Honningsvåg, Olderfjord, Skaidi and/or Hammerfest.
When returning to Alta, top it up completely.
In various parts of Northern Norway, the Gas-Stations opens between 0700 and 0900, and closes between 1600 (0400pm) (not very many places) and 2000 (0800pm)

Most of them DO offer the possibility of using, Credit-/Debet Cards, but to be on the safe side, try to only buy fuel there when they're open for business.
IF there should be a problem, it is easier to get help in day-time.

Here he'll pass the rather steep mountain-stretch "Kvænangsfjellet", just north of Storslett.

Then plan to top up here:
- Storslett or Olderdalen (where the ferry towards Tromsø departs)
-Nordkjosbotn, outside Tromsø, on the leg towards Narvik. (Only if strictly neccessary, fill some 5-10 liters in Tromsø for the aforementioned reason.)
- Bjerkvik or Narvik
- Between Skarberget south of Narvik (after leaving the ferry) and Fauske, there is in reality only one place to fill her up. Innhavet.
A tip: IF the weather is bad on his way from Narvik towards the ferry. THEN re-route towards the ferry between Kjøpsvik and Drag in the Tysfjord community. He may be told to do so anyway. If windy, the ferry between Skarberget and Bognes may very well be cancelled.
- Ehh..Innhavet Shell closes about 1100pm
- Fauske, Shell 24/7, and even an ESSO right across E6.
- Bodø has got many, Both ESSO/SHELL and Statoil.

For the next leg, someone else may be able to help?

[syncropaddy]

Hey Bugman, that's a load of good information. Why do the gas stations close?

[martins.macs]

Sorry for going a bit off topic..
Today I read a story about a couple who did almost the same route just with Vespa
Impressive!

[syncropaddy]

[Bugman]

Hey Bugman, that's a load of good information. Why do the gas stations close?

Some explanations to why...some close early or even at 1100pm.

1 st expl/reason: Typically owned by a family or even a one-man business. Need of time off. Rural. Not that many customers in a given day.

2 nd: People tend to favour those service-stations that focus more on sellling Burgers, Pizza, Sandwiches, Hot-Dogs, Coke/Sprite/Fanta and Coffee, than light-bulbs, oil and even fuel. These tend to be located in the small villages (Polulation 500-1000)

3 rd: In Northern Norway som groups of pepole are far more religious than the rest. A crude comparison would be to describe them as a mixture between Calvinist and Amish people. Their belief or understanding of the Bible is called Lestadian-ism. (after the Swedish Preacher Lars Levi Lestadius, Mid-Late 1800s)

So when the rest of society moved towards longer opening hours, they didn't follow suit.

In the 80s opening hours was typically 0900am-0400pm (0200pm Saturdays) for grocery stores, and 0800am-0600/0700pm for service stations.(These even closed for the Saturdays and opened between 0200pm-0700pm Sundays)
In the midst of the 90s, fierce competition stretched opening hours to 0900am-0800pm (0600pm Saturdays)
Service stations closed later too. More and more open 24/7

Now in 2009, grocery stores typically opens 0900 an closes 0900pm/1000pm, or even opens 0800 and closes 1100pm. (Saturdays, typically 0800pm)

Service stations: More still are open 24/7, and those which closes due to little traffic etc. closes around 1100pm to 12am.

But in these religious areas, they follow the norm of the 80s.

The whole stretch between Alta and Storslett is such an area. Storslett-Olderdalen-outside Tromsø too.
Even if Storslett, Olderdalen and Nordkjosbotn has got Stations that are open until 1100pm or even 24/7, People here is a mix between ordinary Christians and Lestadians. Some is not that outwardly religious at all...But the whole of communities abide by the common rules/common ground.

Advice: He should talk to the attendants at these service stations about, weather, road conditions, traffic and such.

Allow some 3-6 seconds gap between you and the car in fron of you.
Drive "together" with another group of cars, that may set the pace.

Weather these time of year, may shift from sunny to windy and snowy in a matter of minutes. And then it may start to rain afterwards.

Beware of seemingly dry winter roads. In between the rumble/rocks in the asphalt/tarmac, there may be a thin layer of ice.

If it starts to snow and get windy, or the wind starts to shift/ move snow around. He may experience the roads being closed, and then being escorted/taken across the stretch or mountain pass in a convoy behind the Snow-ploug truck. This is a bad-case scenario, and is because the crew in these trucks are is unable to keep the road stretch sufficiently open/free of snow.
So bring water to drink while driving, and something hot to drink and warm clothes handy, if it gets this kind of tough weather. Also keep lots of diesel in the tank if it is bad weather or the weather shifts alot. Then he'll be able to keep the warnth inside his car, even if he's got to wait some time.

People in the various places will tell him about the current road and weather situations, and if roads are to be closed/opened and stuff, when asked about it. (A little bit hard to understand weather forecasts from Norwegian radio (NRK, P4 etc), I assume?

Hope my explaination makes sence!

[syncropaddy]

Fine explanation Roar. I am compiling a big list of things to do and things not to do for him and from your posts I will have to add a few things!!!

Thank you