I’ve been busy, but today I have an easy day, so here you are.
IF YOU CLICK RIGHT ON THE PICTURES AND OPEN THEM IN ANOTHER WINDOW THEY WILL BECOME BIGGER.
Day before
Boss calls me and asks if I prefer to go to Norway or to Portugal. What a stupid question 
I should go there today and stay in aberdeen overnight, but I decided to cheat a bit, took a van home and left Glasgow saturday morning - these are benefits of not having a tacho 
Day one - Saturday morning
I am going up for the stuff. I am lucky to have brand new van which just arrived to our yard. (Not for long, as they dented it with a forklift while loading it. But it was nice to drive my new van as far as to Aberdeen).
On my arrival it turned that the load which my boss was afraid if it will fit into the sprinter, is just one 150kg europallet. Good for me
I had to wait for the guys to be ready and they were impressed about that I am going so far away. They were even more impressed that we go around, and not just take a ship from Aberdeen to the place (just north from Bergen). That’s actually a good question - why they don’t just put it on the ship, but send the van around? We had a nice chat and they invited me for a coffe. Very nice folks were they. Then the other guys went to finish packing and I was left with the one from the office only. He was asking me for some nice words in Polish which would help him to pick up some nice Polish girl who works there (not on Saturday, obviously). ■■■■, I think I should have a template on that, print a few copies and just have with me just-in-case. It’s getting boring. How many times you can tell people the sentences like “Bardzo mi siÄ™ podobasz”, “masz piÄ™kny uÅ›miech” and “uważam, że jesteÅ› bardzo sympatyczna”?
Finally it is ready. Loaded (with some adventure, as mentioned before) and strapped (after all we are going through Germany. They are as fixated on strapping things as British on traffic cones).
It was very nice day to drive, so I drove all the way to the channel tunnel. After it I stopped in Calais on the automatic shell station, but it was closed. I know there is an Avia station nearby, they also accept Shell card, so I drove there and parked for my sleep next to two Polish lorries.
That was a bit longish day, but I have plenty of time, as I have to be at the border monday morning (the agent is closed overnight) so I can get more rest on the way.
Day two - Sunday.
Woke up late morning only to see a tiny sign in the doors “Fermee a dimanche”. ■■■■, I am on my last fuel as boss insists that we don’t use Shell station just before the tunnel but refill on the other side.
Quick glance on my sat nav - there is Total station in a nearby town. It seems they don’t trust British people there, when she saw me trying to draw some diesel she called me inside and demanded payment upfront. This is first time I saw something like that. I gave her 40 euros cash and fuelled the van. Then on the road again.
Stopped for shower then visited my friends in Holand. I have to stop it, they always invite me “for a tea” and then don’t let me out untill they stuff me with 5 course meal. Typical Polish hospitality 
So I rolled to my van only to notice, that I don’t have so much time left.
On the motorway there was a column of vintage Bussing buses and lorries, but I did not manage to take any picture. But I have a Dutch rainbow for you:
Then onto the Fernham ferry. That place is brilliant, or I am always very lucky, but I always go onto the ferry straight away.
Then there comes boring bit: Denmark and over the bridge to Malmo. Soon I stopped for my night again.
This time I wasn’t using any hotels, the van is brand new and clean, the nights are warm, so I just took my karrimat with me and slept on the back of the van. That saves me some driving around looking for the hotel, which I hate.
Day 3 - Monday
Woke up in the morning. I checked the sat nav - there is no way I will make the delivery point in one day as there is over 8 hours drive from Svinesund. And even if I will be at agent’s at first thing in the morning, there is no chance that I will do it before they close, as they close early. So as it was no rush, I stopped on a nice parking I know and had my breakfast on a picnic table. And made a pic of Scandinavian truck for you:
Arrived to Svinesund about 10:30 and had a phone from my office “can we have a POD name please”. I told them politely to look at the big map of Europe they have in the office and rething if it’s a good time to ask that question. I asked if the customer is in rush, as I might try to do it tonight, they checked with him and called me back to tell me that there is no ruch and told me “to take my time”. Well, you don’t need to tell me that twice.
So:
Who wants to go via tunnel if he has time to see Oslo?
Back on the bypass
Another picnic time
On the way
OMG! There is actually some traffic here!
Typical farm
When I was a kid, I had a book by Astrid Lindgren “Six Bullerbyn Children”. This is how I imagined Bullerbyn. It seems I was pretty close…
Yes, it is a trunk road.
We got one of these churches in Poland. They split it into the parts and shipped over. They are amazing!
There is plenty of nice american cars in Norway.
This looks like a screen from “Northern Exposure” series… I guess our American members have more of views like that. Yes, there is snow in the mountains, but it’s middle of the summer
Grass roofs.
That SOME tunnel.
In that tunnel there were a big chambers, every 7 km or so, lit in very special way so they were giving impression that they are much more spacious than they were. I guess this is some kind of stop over for claustrophobic people. Very smart.
Yet another one. Actually tunnels are the only places to overtake, as only underground road is going straight. Other than that it’s all bends, bends, bends. There is 80 km/h speed limit in Norway and you could rarely go even as fast as these 80…
My sat nav is great for finding me a scenic shortcuts
Camping next to the waterfall. I stopped there for a coffee, and it was already too noisy for me. I don’t know how people can sleep there…
A closer look…
But it’s time to go - it’s already after 11pm…
This pic is made almost at midnight…
…so is that movie. It can’t be seen clearly, but it’s about 23:48 on my sat nav.
I received my delivery point shortly after midnight. It was a small kind of port, or maybe a dock - a jetty and a few warehouses in the fjord with two oil ships parked next to it. Sadly the ships were making a lot of noise, so I decided to move somewhere up the hill…
The road was getting narrower and narrower, and finally I had no choice as to go forward, hoping that there is enough space to turn. It was, and not only for a sprinter - there was a milk A-frame trailer parked on that farm.
I turned my camera on and started to go back, as I saw a place which can be my truck stop for tonight:
I guess it has to be fun to drive on this roads during the winter.
Day four - Tuesday
In the morning I had to wait, as due to customs we had to call the agent before commencing unloading and noone was responding the phone calls. So I was invited for a breakfast in the canteen.
Can all canteens look like that, please? (and provide free food to delivering drivers?)
Finally we had green light to unload the van. After that I used the shower and went sightseeing again as office told me to “sit tight”.
But first: a breakfast. I drove to a nearby village when I bought some fresh buns, cheese and milk. The milk had a smart feature to tell you how much of it is still in the box.
How did I survived without it before?
A short stroll to the nearby church…
This is the bridge I was passing about midnight. I noticed it all bounces when lorries go over it, I tried to make a movie of it, but I am not sure if you can tell anything from it:
I guess you have to believe me that it was much more fun IRL than on the movie
Can I have house on the bank of the fjord like this, please?
After some stroll I decided to move along to a next interesting place:
Another nice bridge
That one was a real gem
Very unusual construction
Same bridge seen from the other side
I bought myself a take-away pizza in that village…
…and ate it here.
Then I had a phone call to “head slowly back to Sweden.”
Ok for me. But I wont go the same way, there is alternative way of similar lenght, and as an old Scout, I would never take the same road twice (said someone who does M6 several times on usuall week).
What I like in these Norwegian tunnels is that they are not finished - you drive like through the cave, not like through the concrete tube.
Driving can be really relaxing there… Unless you got stuck behind someone who can’t drive on bends at all, but is very good at straight roads, so you have no chance to overtake him. Finally I gave up and pulled to the car park.
Mind you, these are the roads where 25 metre 80 ton lorries go on every day basis. And they say that UK motorways are too dangerous for megaliners…
So just after I resumed my journey I meet one of them:
It seems that I will be stuck behind that one for some miles…
Dear Yaris driver, you should not drive too fast if you can’t see what’s behind the bend!
Isn’t it cool?
Ferry crossing.
Some truck for Scania onanists…
Some people are studpid. They work hard all their lifes in stupid jobs that they can afford to have a cruise on one of these to see the places… Isn’t it better to be paid for seeing them while you are still young?
I can’t disagree with Calvin on that. Who needs bridges in such a nice scenery? Isnt it much better to seat on the open deck with your hot coffee and watch the scennery passing by slowly?
The ferry crossing is quite busy…
So we are through. I was let off the ferry as one of the last vehicles. So after I managed to overtake the lorry in front of me and seen how long the column is, I gave up on overtaking.
And that way the rear of that volkswagen was something I had to watch for another 120 kms…
Should I post that one in “old girls still working” thread?
Still following the VW.
Nice watefralls near the end of the movie.
The road was climbing up and up the mountains, so there was still more and more snow
Just before one of the tunnels I spotted a wee road signposted E134 Alternative. I took it and it was a good decision:
(at the end of the movie I stop to make a snowman - I never made one in August before )
Back on the main road. This sign is so Norwegian, isn’t it?
Somewhere on the way there were these roadworks. As you can see they don’t use too much of traffic cones either
Seems that I am not the only one van from our place in Norway at the moment. But not everyone is lucky to have brand new one to drive… 
I don’t know how these people can leave there, these waterfalls are so noisy!
And so on, and so forth. And then I was tired and went to sleep 
Day five. Wednesday
Boss called me and told me to go to Hamburg to be loaded.
Back to Sweden. Booooooring.
But here you have some long lorry again.
Did I mentioned loads of nice American cars already?
Over the bridge to Denmark.
Now THATS big.
When I was near Kobenhavn, boss called me to let me know that my collection in Hamburg is cancelled. I asked if I should park up where I am then? No, keep going to Hamburg was his answer.
So Fernham ferry again.
That ship was a bit too far for my zoom.
I know them! They started the war, ■■■■■■■■■■■
On the way to Hamburg I got a hitchiker. He was speaking very poor English, so I played some music and he turned out to be a Pole from Lithuania, member of the national minority there. He was telling me the stories, they are threated even worse than Poles on that forum!
Hamburg. Bloody Russians steal Lithuanian jobs by pulling their trailers for pennies!
When refuelling in Hamburg I got phone call from my office. Go back to Kobenhavn, you are loading there first thing in the morning.
Somehow I knew that…
So Fernham ferry again.
Messing around with my camera
And suddenly even this boring Denmark can look nice. It’s only a question of proper light:
Where is Don Quichote when you need him?
Ah, I am tired of this writing. To cut long story short, nice in Kobenhavn (hotel this time), Fernham ferry again, Germany, Holland, France, Channel Tunnel, delivery to England and Scotland. I was back Friday Evening. Nothing special, it’s Norway what’s a real fun.
I hope you enjoyed the reading.
