It took four days to get the parts and replace Bob’s clutch and as the odometer was showing exactly 100,000 km we decided to get him a full service as well – in for a penny, why not a bucketload more?!  This gave us plenty of time to enjoy Trondheim, a vibrant University city with a charming old centre and plenty of cosy coffee shops and winebars to relax in.  Nevertheless, we were keen to progress north, particularly to reach the North Cape (Nordkapp) and thanks to Oddvar and his truck we were now a lot further north than had we been left to our own devices and were starting to feel quite optimistic about reaching our objective.  It was such a relief to receive the phone call confirming that Bob was ready to go and we were able to get back on the road albeit much poorer but blissfully unaware that the mechanic had forgotten to tighten any of the battery connections!

There are two routes to the extreme north, the F17 Kystriksveien and the more direct E6 which runs up the middle of this narrow part of Norway.   The F17 hugs the much-indented coastline alongside the Norwegian Sea and given that the National Geographic has listed this route as one of the most scenic roads in the world and taking into account the not insignificant fact that we would get a break from all the mountain driving, the F17 was the route for us.

Not surprisingly, the scenery continued to awe and our conversation soon dwindled to a one word rally of Wow.  Being out of season, the road was quiet and, unlike further south, there was no sign of any touring motorcyclists, just a few Norwegian and German registered campervans.  The lack of traffic enabled us to take our time and we stopped again and again and again trying to capture the beauty of it all on a 6” screen.  We progressed through a rugged landscape framed by mountain peaks, weaving our way along a coastline that navigated endless fjords, some of which extended inland 200 km with depths of over a kilometre.  Off this 700 km stretch of road alone there are about 12,000 islands, many with frequent ferry connections and it would be easy to lose yourself for weeks on end in this area of staggering beauty.  Other highlights included the Svartisen glacier, the second largest glacier in Norway, an arm of which stretches down to almost sea level and Saltstraumen the world’s strongest maelstrom.  Six ferry crossings link the F17 across the larger sea inlets and the one hour crossing between Kilboghamn and Jektvik took us over the Arctic Circle putting us 2,600 km from the North Pole and 1,017 km from our objective, the northernmost point on the European mainland. 

Despite the rapidly cooling temperatures and shortening days we are still camping and whilst the sleeping part is ok, as with three of us inside and the use of a diesel heater we are warm enough, cooking and staying warm at the end of the day has started to become a challenge.  Rather than overthink the logistics going forward, once we reached Bodo, gateway to the Lofoten Islands and end of the F17, we caught the car ferry over to Moskenes, one of the five main islands within the Lofoten archipelago.  The islands are also accessible by driving from the mainland but this option only really works if you are approaching from the north.  The twice daily ferry from Bodo (1 am and 4.45 pm) crosses the Vestfjord, a 155 km long oceanic sea, and whilst it only takes around 3 hours to cover the width of 90 km, it was about 2½ hours too long as the vessel lurched and rolled its way across the choppy waters.  Glad to disembark we drove to the southernmost tip of Lofoten’s southernmost island and after a couple of navigational errors found ourselves in a cosy Rorbu, one of the distinctive red fisherman cabins that are an iconic part of this magical place. 

Tourism is undoubtedly the most valuable industry for the 24,000 or so people that live on the islands today but this isolated part of Norway has been inhabited for an estimated 11,000 years and has played an important part in the economy of Norway due to its location just north of the Vestfjord, a gigantic band of sea with a unique ecosystem.  Each winter, between January and March, literally millions of pregnant Atlantic cod/skrei leave their normal habitat of the Barents Sea, the body of water that separates Europe’s northernmost reaches from the polar ice cap, and swim about 1000 km southwards following the temperate waters of the Gulf Stream to the sheltered waters of the Vestfjord to spawn.  This annual phenomenom brings the cod close to the mainland side of Lofoten which, for centuries, has made for easy fishing with the use of small boats, nets and handlines.  Thousands of fishermen would arrive to take part in the annual Lofoton fishery and each red cabin provided a place for up to 12 men to sleep and hold up during the frigid winter nights.  Once caught, the majority of the large haul was, and still is, hung on huge racks for the 3-4 months that it takes for the fish to dry under the perfect climate conditions found on the islands.  This Stockfish of Lofoton is a unique product and has been traded since the early 12th century making it the country’s longest sustained export commodity.  The winter Lofoten fishery is still the world’s largest cod fishing but, of course, fishing techniques today are more commercialised and the little red cabins are now rented out as vacation homes.  Built on poles partly out of the water and gathered in clusters around small jettys, the cabins provide cosy and often luxurious accommodation for the influx of visitors that make the journey to this remote part of Norway.  And why red? – apparently it was the cheapest colour of paint available! 

We spent a week exploring the unparalleled beauty of what must be some of the most spectacular islands in the world, a place where human intervention has been minimal leaving the jagged mountains, deep fjords, clear blue waters and stunning coastlines relatively unchanged for thousands of years.  Reluctant to head back onto the mainland we continued in a north-easterly direction onto the Vesteralen archipelago.  The seven islands that make up Vesteralen are all connected by bridges and tunnels with further connections back onto the mainland.  Less populated, less known and less visited than Lofoten these islands are a lot quieter but just as beautiful. 

Our big ticket item whilst in Norway was to see the Northern Lights (aurora borealis) and to help us find them Ian had downloaded the Aurora Alerts app.  Whilst on Vesteralen the app suddenly came to life and showed a strong possibility to see the lights over the next few nights.  The Northern Lights are actually active all year round but generally only visible in the aurora zone between 65° and 72° North during a cloudless dark night.  The lights are caused by electrically charged particles that are pushed out by the sun, this constant stream known as the solar wind, travels at speeds of between 300 and 500 km per second in all directions.  Around 98% of these particles are deflected but those that enter the earth’s atmosphere collide with our atoms and molecules to create glowing rings of auroral emission around both magnetic poles.  Currently at 68° north and with favourable conditions, we wanted to give ourselves the best chance of viewing the lights and so we drove to a northern facing headland and set up camp.  Despite a decent sized campfire we were in bed by 8pm as it was just too cold to sit around outside and Ian set the alarm to go off at regular intervals during the night.  However, at 9.30pm he needed to pee and crawled out of Bob to do the necessary.  I was woken by a flurry of activity outside as, for once, Ian was attempting to multitask.  He had a few issues – he was half asleep attending to business when he suddenly realised that he was standing stark bollock naked in sub-zero temperatures and there was the most amazing light show going on above him, he desperately wanted to get to his phone, was keen to get me out of bed and… HE STILL HAD NO CLOTHES ON!!  It is not often that I get to see Ian in an excitable state or moving at speed, a memorable occasion only just over-shadowed by our first ever look at the northern lights. 

Heading back onto the mainland we made a quick stop at Harstad which is the northern gateway to Lofoton and Vesteralen and the second largest city in northern Norway after Tromso.   For a few days Bob had been temperamental and it was 50/50 each time we went to start him as to whether he would fire or not.  It was like the battery was flat which we knew wasn’t the case and after all the  problems with the clutch we were a bit concerned about getting stranded again.  It took the guys at the garage less than ten minutes to tighten up the loose battery connections which was a bitter sweet moment given the huge relief to resolve the issue so easily but definitely a bit embarrassing as we really should have been able to sort this out ourselves – Oh well!  The main thing was that we were now only 300km from Tromso where we had Bob booked in for new treads.  When we purchased Bob he was running on BF Goodrich Mud Terrain and as we had been more than happy with them we had continued to use them, but as we progressed further north it seemed that every time we had a conversation with anyone the subject of tyres came up.  It is mandatory in parts of Europe and Scandinavia for vehicles to have winter tyres between certain dates, the specific dates varying from country to country.   The definition of a winter tyre also differs from country to country making it quite tricky to navigate when you only want one set of tyres and don’t intend to be in the snowy areas for more than 2-3 months.  The BF Goodrich All Terrain T/A KO2 is not recognised in Norway as a winter tyre but is classified as a four-season tyre approved for winter use, whereas the Mud Terrain whilst good in deep and loose snow are not so good on ice and shallow or packed snow.  We rang quite a few garages before we found one willing to order the All Terrains and when we arrived to have them fitted we could see that the guys were not familiar with the tyres and were a bit unsure about putting them on.  Less than a week later we were pulled over by the police who showed an interest in where we were from and where we were going but throughout the exchange just kept staring at our tyres.  We assumed that they were just as unfamiliar with this type of tyre and weren’t sure whether it qualified as a winter tyre or not.  Ultimately, they wished us good luck and we were once again on our way to the North Cape with fingers crossed that we had picked tyres that would cope with the weather that we knew was not far away.

It would be impossible to visit Norway without coming across some of the many mysterious rock formations and mountains with their troll-like shapes and accompanying stories.  The mythical Troll creatures, that live in the darkness so as not to be turned to stone by the sun, are an important part of Nordic folklore with many legends weaved into the landscape.  We had already sat on Trolltunga, the Troll’s tongue that had been turned to stone as the cheeky Troll stuck it out at the sun and just off the F17 we camped underneath three of The Seven Sisters, a majestic chain of peaks that were once seven virgin daughters of a local Troll King running south to escape the unwanted advances of the son of another Troll King.  Not far from the Seven Sisters is the unusual rock Torghatten which was the hat of yet another Troll King (obviously many Troll Kings in Norway) which intercepted the arrow fired by the spurned Troll Prince which was aimed at the maiden in charge of the seven virgins.  Given all the excitement going on it seems reasonable to assume that no one was paying attention to the fact that the sun was rising hence the addition of quite a few new rock formations.  Meanwhile, further north a group of trolls carrying large chests filled with silver were on their way across the Finnmark plateau but were caught out by the high tide of the Porsanger Fjord at Trollholmsund.  So engrossed where they in forming a plan to cross the Fjord that they didn’t notice the sun rising and were also turned to stone.  Notwithstanding their ugly reputation and apparent stupidity, Trolls are very much a part of Norway and the souvenir shops are full of them.

The temperature has now cooled to the point where our olive oil is solid and we have drained our water tanks.  For our own peace of mind we also had Bob’s anti-freeze checked and were told that he would be able to cope in temperatures as low as -32°C?????? – Let’s hope we don’t have to put this to the test!  Snow and ice alerts have started popping up on our phones and camping is no longer an option.  We are definitely a bit apprehensive about being so far north but determined to reach the Cape.  The E6 north from Tromso crosses over the Kvaenangsfjellet mountain pass before joining Route 69 which follows the spectacular coastline through a smattering of small fishing villages and towns.  160 km before the Cape the scenery changes dramatically, the vegetation disappears and the lone flat road cuts through a barren tundra landscape dotted occasionally with small groups of seemingly abandoned rustic cabins.  We didn’t see any reindeer other than pictured on the roadsigns and really it felt as if all animals and people had packed up and headed south before the winter really kicked in.  The North Cape is a large plateau on the island of Mageroya, connected to the mainland by an underwater tunnel 6.8 km long with a gradient of 9% that takes you 212 metres below sea level.  The further north we went, the more dreamlike the experience became and it was hard to shake off the feeling that we were somewhere that perhaps we shouldn’t have been, a feeling probably intensified by the lack of other travellers on the road save for one or two Norwegian registered campervans.  Despite the snow forecast the weather was still clear which meant that we didn’t have to wait for the convoy that operates once the road is officially closed in winter.  The winter convoy is led by one snow plough whilst a second plough brings up the rear and operates twice a day for the final 13 km of exposed and winding road that heads up onto the plateau.   Although the convoy sounded like an adventure in itself, our timing was such that we were able to progress unaccompanied past the toll booth, through the barrier and into one of the car parks where we joined just two other vehicles.  It would be hard to imagine a less busy time to visit, the place was virtually deserted even though the visitors center, gift shop, bar/café, chapel and cinema were all open.  (The short film being shown was an excellent look at the North Cape through the seasons: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1735483/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk  There were various monuments and statues scattered around, including a seemingly misplaced, mystifying statue of the King of Thailand, but the most notable was definitely the Globe, the symbol of Nordkapp positioned on top of the cliffs marking the end point of Europe - the northernmost of the continental mainland.  Of course, we wanted to get a photo of Bob alongside this recognisable monument but a quick chat with a couple of members of staff revealed that the area was out of bounds to vehicles and to emphasise the point large rocks and boulders had been strategically placed to block off any access points.  Bugger!  Undeterred, we wandered around the center and struck up a conversation with a different employee who told us that once the centre closed and the staff left at 4pm there would be no one around to monitor any misdeeds.  Well, we hadn’t come all this way to return empty handed and so we hung around until eventually the staff all piled into a transit van and left, leaving the way clear for us to get our photo.  Not wasting any time, we quickly navigated the obstacles and got the proof that was needed to show that we had driven as far north as it was possible to go. 

We might have driven as far as we could BUT, strictly speaking, the North Cape is not the northernmost point of continental Europe.  There is a small, unspectacular pensinsula (Knivskjellsodden) right next to it that reaches 1.5 km further out into the sea. There is no road and to reach it requires a 9 km walk each way.  Two days later we were back and parked 2 km short of the Cape at the trailhead of the Knivskjellsodden hike.  The weather was a mixture of rain, sleet and small amounts of snow all driven by a strong wind coming straight off the Arctic Ocean.  We sat in the car deliberating on the sense of undertaking quite a long hike in such weather until we eventually agreed to head out for an hour or so.  Two and a half hours later and covered in mud, we arrived at the true northernmost point where a little white box was sat on a rocky shelf with a visitors book inside surely made the effort worthwhile!

And for all you purists out there, do either of these points count given that they are on an island and not the mainland?  If such details are important to you, the northernmost point on the European continental shelf would be Kinnarodden, which is 50 km or so further to the East, a destination that is a 7 hour car drive and 6 hour hike away – maybe next time?!