Mick Paskins Blog

2026 Norway Part 1

2026 Norway Part 1

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  • Tue 1st Sep
    Day one of a lot of driving.
    Left home just before 8am, first stop the vets to collect Josie’s animal health certificate and tapeworm confirmation, then remarkably clear drive to Eurotunnel – clearly M25 was having a rare day off.
    Completed Josie formalities, and were allowed straight onto a much earlier train than we had booked. Still no biometric check at the French customs, which surprised us both.
    The Josie documentation situation is bizarre, her EU pet passport is recognised by the UK, but her EU pet passport is not recognised by the EU!
    Departed Calais, popped into Dunkirk to the BioCoop for organic goodies, and then slogged round to Eindoven, where we are parked up in their park and ride.
    Convenient, but not exciting.

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  • Wed 2nd Sep
    The long drive day two. And it was a long drive. 383 miles. Currently parked up near Puttgarten, ready for the ferry to Rodby tomorrow.
    I had heard that the worst traffic problem was likely to be Hamburg, which was slow in places, but OK. The biggest problem was Bremen. I had set SatNav to leave the motorway at Bremen, to visit a Lidl. (Organic milk, we are a bit short, and coffee, I forgot Sue’s coffee, she was not sympathetic). As a bonus, uniquely for our forays into europe, also found organic cream.
    Approaching the Bremen turnoff, the inside lane of the motorway was very slow moving lorries, hundreds of them, for about four miles. The outside lanes were a a lot less slow, and when we turned off, we saw flashing blue lights going towards the motorway, maybe not connected, but probably were.
    So, after the successful foray into Lidl, we found a route through Bremen to an entrance for the motorway two junctions beyond the mess we left. We will never know if that was a waste of time or not.
    What is really surprising us is the price of fuel, diesel around €2.40 a litre, petrol around the same price.
    Our current stop is a lot greener than last night, and three times the price. €12.00 as opposed to €4.00 for the P&R at Eindhoven. What a bargain that was!

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  • Thu 3rd Sep
    Day three of the big drive. Woken by my alarm clock at 5.50 to find cloud sitting on the ground, and gently dribbling. After two days of relentless driving, and seen no hills after departing the M25 and the North Downs, today should have been a day of enormous excitement – a ferry and a long bridge.
    I like to watch ferry departures from the outside deck, to make sure they are pointing the right way, but today, I couldn’t tell. So, I went inside and munched a fairly revolting breakfast butty from the on board buffet.
    The bridge ( the Oresund Bridge, eight kilometers long) turned out to be a subterranean bridge for its first section.

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    Hmm, that didn’t work very well, looks like a tunnel.
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    Ah, a bridge looming out of the gloop.
    So, we started the day in Germany, drove across Denmark, and into Sweden. Driving west along Sweden’s southern coast, we couldn’t see much because of the persistent low cloud and drizzle. Then we reached Gothenburg, and crawling traffic.
    Having finally crawled out of the traffic chaos, we both decided we have had enough, and found a parking for the night, actually rather a nice place with two ice cream shops opposite each other. Both with a huddle of people wearing heavy coats eating ice cream.

  • Fri 5th Sep
    Thick cloud, some drizzle, as we drove into Norway. Went through the “nothing to declare” lane, no-one there. That was easy! And, didn’t have to explain why we were 2 litres of wine over our limit…..
    Decided Oslo was not worth visiting, as the Viking Boat Museum has been moved from its original building to a new one that hasn’t yet been built. Sounds like a complete cockup, and a real pity.
    Astonishingly, driving through Oslo was, I guess about half or two thirds in tunnels, very long. And quick.
    Popped out the other side, and made our way to Hønefoss. A town with a waterfall at its centre.
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    Then to a quiet site next to a lake, and a nature reserve. Very quiet, and an excellent walkthrough woods beside the lake.

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  • Sat 5th Sep
    A cold start and morning, but warmed up (and brightened up) in the afternoon.
    Drove to Bergund Stave Church, built in the early 1200, all wood, no nails or screws. Quiet an undertaking, and a remarkable survivor.
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    Lots of dragons ornamenting the roof, and 12 cats / lions inside.

  • The inside
    Unfortunately flash not allowed.
    A covered walkway round the outside, reminiscent ot a Roman temple. Not that the builders would have known that, the Romans never made ir here!
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    Inside the main body of the church.
    Looking up.
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  • Cont’d
    Another view from atop a hillock behind the church.

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    Thence, to a layby on the side of a minor road, for the night. With a view.
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  • Sun 6th Sep
    The plan for today was to drive over the “Snow Road” to the lookout point at Stegastein, then into Flam, and catch a narrow gauge railway into the mountain above Flam. Unfortunately, a lot of rain overnight, and low heavy cloud this morning persuaded us to abandon this plan. I looked up the route towards Trondheim, which took us through Lom, where there is another Stave Church.
    I am not obsessed with churches, but they are the best surviving examples of medieval architecture. So, off we went. After a short drice, the road suddenly dived up the side of a mountain, a series of very tight steep hairpin bends, until we reached a steep plateau, fewer hairpin bends, but still very up. Lots of cloud to spoil the view, and at the summit just under 4,500 feet – what an exciting climb!

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    The lonely machine in this picture charged us 150NOK, about £12.00. With dire warnings if we didn’t pay.
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    The route into Lom was a much more gradual descent, very spectacular, with huge snowfields, or maybe glaciers, to our left. And, a lot of up!!

    On the way down, we stopped at an interesting looking building – turned out to be a church!

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  • Cont’d
    Lom Stave Church, originally built in the 1160’s, but extended in the mediaeval period, and the inside remodelled several times.
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  • Mon 7th Sep
    Another long drive, not nearly as interesting as yesterday, under glowering skies. Now in Trondheim, and with difficulty, found the Tourist Office. Of little use, referred me to the (unfortunately poor) Visit Norway site. But, we now have a map of the city centre.
    Parked up on a muddy scrap of land, as we didn’t fancy paying around £60.00 for a campsite, offering facilities we don’t need and don’t want.
    Now evening, and it’s raining. Hope not too muddier tomorrow. Going to attempt a bus into town – had to download an app to buy a bus ticket.