Well, he kept that one quiet!

100 days since my last post and I've been quite busy with the planning for next July. Turns out I wasn't the only one though, as I've just learnt that Grizzly has bought himself a new bike. Check out the picture (down the page) of his new Shadow. Have to say, I really like his colour choice this time round.

For my part, I've got all the hotels booked up. That's not to say I won't look for something else but if I can't find anything more suitable, i.e. with on site parking, then at least we are guaranteed a roof over our heads. I was quite surprised, especially in Copenhagen, at how little hotel parking there is and quite frankly, how motorcycle unfriendly they are. Norway itself seems a little more relaxed. It's only really an issue in the cities, once we get out into the wilds, there are no issues with parking at all. In Norway, there are different issues, such as the cost. It really does seem to be an expensive country to visit. Maybe not so to live in, as wages are, I believe, quite high. I've tried to balance out the accommodation costs, so one one side there are some fairly costly chain hotels but on the flip side, we'll be on some camp sites.

With the hotels booked I've started planning the fuel stops. In the main this has been fairly easy, though the odd one or two in Norway do seem to be small and quite remote, so hopefully we shan't end up running on fumes and find they only open every second Thursday!

And that's as far as I got, before I turned my attention back to this year's trip, Route 66.  I'll pick up here again, once I return from the US.

Bye for now.

Roads are Open

Hoorah! Norway's mountain roads are finally open for business and I have been able to finish the route puzzle. With all the routes now open, that has shaved about 300 miles off the total distance, which means a shade under 3600 miles for the entire trip.

I've forwarded the route to Grizzly for him to peruse. This will be his first look at what I have in store for him in 408 days time.

Watch out for the route map, which should appear on the blog in the near future.

Short and sweet. Until next time.

Welcome, Fáilte, Bienvenue, Welkom, Herzlich willkommen, Velkommen, Välkommen

Think that covers it.

This then is the start of my blogging for what promises to be an epic trip, an odyssey, if you like, taking Grizzly and myself from my home in Chatham, Kent to the northern fjord region of Norway and back. Together we shall be traversing seven countries (eight if you include England) on our trusty steeds and covering something over 3700 miles. I'm unable to give a more accurate figure at the moment, as at this time of the year, many Norwegian roads are closed and my planning software, doesn't ignore the closures but re-routes. Already, in the last couple of weeks, the total distance has dropped by over 100 miles, as roads have re-opened after the winter.

This trip was 'born' way back in 2013. Bill 'Dudley' Walker and I were on the Wild West Tour, together with a lovely couple from Stockholm, Sweden. Discussing our tours and the European tour we had planned for 2014, the suggestion arose, that we might like to pay them a visit in 2015, and so the seed was sown. Sadly, Dudley passed away last year but the seed germinated and Grizzly and I agreed that we would undertake the Scandinavian trip, not in 2015 but in 2016.

I started my route planning last year. Initially it looked straightforward, ferry from Harwich to Esbjerg in Denmark, short drive to tip of Denmark, ferry across to Norway and away we would go. Unfortunately, shortly afterwards, the ferry route closed down and there is currently, no ferry to Scandinavia from the UK. I had in my mind we'd be away about 14 days. By necessity now, we have to use the Channel Tunnel and ride from Calais all the way, through France, Belgium, Holland Germany and Denmark, to get to the ferry to take us to Norway, a journey of some 800 miles. Needless to say, this adds a number of days either side of the time we shall actually spend in Norway/Sweden. I estimate we'll now be away for 18 days. One downside of this extra road time, is that we now shan't be able to get across to Stockholm, so the visit to Johan and Liz that spawned the trip won't take place, unless someone opens another ferry route between now and July next year. Fingers crossed.

Expect to see a route map appear on the blog later in the year, as the roads fully open and I'm able to map the exact route we'll be taking. Don't forget you can sign up for email updates, which means you won't miss a single moment of this exciting trip.

Till next time.