firstly, apologies if this post looks weird - i’m in a internet place in berlin and the keyboard has silly letters like ä ö ü µ ß on it and some of the letters are in the wrowg plase.
shipped out of dublin last fri to holyhead. got to immingham docks in good time. done my customs and boarded boat for 20:00 crossing. the boat was a cargo ship so i was the only driver on there. everyone at sea cargo made me very welcome and surprisingly i enjoyed the 33 hr crossing. I was tipping in naeorbo which is quite near the tananger port. i loaded in oslo for denmark and then from berlin (where i am now) for ireland.
i’m very sorry to those of you that like norway, but i hated the place. the roads were ok but not great. the food (and everything else for that matter) was extortionat (?) eg. loaf of bread, ham, cheese, small bottle of coke, choclate bar = equivalent of 14pounds. the people were very cold and seemed annoyed all the time (i suppose i would be like that if i lived there too). to be honest, i was relieved when i got into sweden. the road signs were not very clear and parking for trucks was scarce. no facilities ie showers were readily available and although it wasnt snowing, my truck turned black with all the grime etc. i did see some pretty impressive trucks and the boss said that they are legally allowed to carry 39 ton so i saw very few trucks with less than 8 axles in total. i got pulled onto a weighbridge and cards checked 3 times in 2 days - even the cops were weird. is that what living in a cold country does to you? not impressed. sorry.
sweden - great place. lovely people. motorways. clean. good facilties for trucks.
denmark - ditto
norway - none of the above.
Hi Kenny.It’s a shame you didn’t enjoy your trip as Norway is a fantastic country\people.As you say they seem a bit cold[like the country]but when you get to know them it’s ok.I think it has a lot to do with living a lot in isolated communities[it’s even worse up here,look on google]When i first moved up here i thought i had moved to the dark side of the moon.[which is what the Swedes call Lappland].I have driven a lot in Norway[and worked for them]and it has always been enjoyable,even with the long winters and bad roads.You have to change your mentality to drive in Scandinavia as you cannot compare it to Europe.There are less people in the whole of Scandinavia than you have in Ireland,Many of the people i meet up here have never even been to Stockholm[1500kms]so that has to affect your way of seeing the ‘‘outside world’’.
As you say the prices are high for almost everything,but you have to remember that their wages are high in comparison so the difference to them is not so noticeable.Like any expensive country the norgies do a lot of shopping in Sweden to save\make money and a lot of Swedes work in Norway for the same reasons.Mike
I know this threads 10 years old but we do a lot of work to Norway. The drivers love it, spectacular scenery in summer or winter… The food on the ferry from Hirtshalls (DK) to Kristiansaand (NO) is amazing and you can help your self to as much as you like. Drivers get there own cabin. (4 hour crossing).
On way to load fresh salmon for Boulogne Sur Mer fish market
Stunning views…
Check out the waterfall… When it gets really cold it freezes…
One of the little ferries to get to an island to load the salmon.
Norway is certainly one of the most scenic places in Europe,both summer and winter.I spent one winter driving from Oslo to the NATO base at Bardufoss.Even though it was one of the hardest winters i have driven i thor’oughly enjoyed it, in part due to the help of the Norwegian drivers i met.
Before i bought my house here i looked at North Norway for houses.The prices were comparable and so are the people.The only thing that stopped was the lack of forest,[in the north]and it was too warm in the winter on the coast.Also the Norwegians have more rules,here its more '‘wild west’'and no-one bothers you.
Glad I went to see what the place was like. Just not that keen on returning. But, as I’m relatively new to it all anyway, I’ll obey my masters and do as I’m told! (for now) kenny.
Ps I take loads of pictures wherever I go but wouldn’t know where to start on putting a few on here■■?
Why don`t you build your own website and put them on there?
There are loads of “easy page builders” on the net. The one I used, ukgeocities, was completely free, and if you know how to scan four photos onto your desktop, you know enough to build a page in under an hour.
