Idling to Oulu…

It had been a long ride down the Fjords of Norway… By the time I had unloaded my gear, carted it up four flights of stairs, and found something to eat, it was almost 10.00pm. I checked my mail and began answering a few of the more urgent ones that I needed to… I was bone-tired and decided that the next day I would stay here in Bjerkvik and take it easy… Twenty four hours on the road out of the last thirty six hours has a way of reminding you that you are no longer a spring chicken…!!

On the mountains across the fjord from my hotel in Bjerkvik, the snow begins pilling up...

Bettina the receptionist who had managed to twist the owners arm into giving me a better rate the night before, was on duty again the next morning and seemed to be in charge of well nigh everything… She tended to guests arriving and departing, cleared away the breakfast dishes and ensured that the buffet was kept well-stocked…

Bettina, the "Jill of all Trades" at the Viking Hotel in Bjerkvik... Whatever she is earning, it isn't enough...!!

Hotels in the countryside are just as high priced as those you would find in any of the cities… My small room cost me R850.00 per night and was on par with a 2 to 3 star hotel back home… I did not have a view onto the Fjord that the bigger and higher priced rooms had, but being tucked away in a back corner on the top floor, suited me just fine…

"Holy Crap...!! We in Afghanistan already...??" exclaimed the Big Fella...

Oulu lay another 150 km beyond Lulea... Another long day on the road was on the cards...!!

There was a small convenience store a few hundred yards away, and a larger supermarket just beyond that… Things are hellish expensive in Norway. A 500ml Coke costs R24.00…!! And don’t get me started on the chocolates, without which I would shrivel up and waste away…!!

I took a few short walks along the fjord, trying to imagine what it was like when Killer Whales hunted right here in the bay…

A painting on the wall of the dining area in the hotel depicted them here in this very fjord…but that was many years ago… The fishing industry in the fjords has ensured that these whales hardly ever enter the waters around here anymore…

I left Bjerkvik as early as possible the next morning and headed for the Swedish border town of Riksgransen… Just before the border, I passed a massive statue of a Troll and turned back to take a few photos… It stood next to a deserted building on the side of the road… I assume this must have been a roadside diner or tourist stopover in days gone by… The Troll stood alone, a tree trunk as a walking stick…

Olav Kong the Troll, dwarfs the Big Fella... Thats a tree he is holding for Pete's sake...!!

Soon the swallows would find those nostrils, then Olav's hayfever would flare up again...

Roadsigns change from the yellow of Norway to blue as we enter Sweden, and Lulea is still far way...

Most of northern Sweden is sparsely habituated, and for long periods of time we had the world to ourselves… Not a living sould in sight…

I rode through Abisko National Park, which runs alongside the Tornetrask, a long and narrow lake… I passed some of the highest mountains in Scandinavia, and almost all of them had been dusted with snow over the last few days…

Not much to see besides Reindeer but the spectacular scenery more than makes up for the lack of wildlife...

An unbroken chain of lakes runs diagonally across the whole of Northern Sweden, emptying into the Tornea River, which in turns flows into the Gulf of Bothnia in the Baltic Sea… Along the way, this river forms a large section of the border with Finland… The hills are heavily forested, and around the edges of the hundreds of lakes, wild sedge-like grass grows…

After Moose, Reindeer, wicked wind, falling rocks, rain and the cold to worry about, I was now confronted with yet another hazard...!! And you thought Africa was dangerous...??

We cruised over the mountains bordering Sweden and Norway, and down into the valleys beyond, heading down the E10 to Kiruna… It was a great ride, with very little traffic and a road surface that the bike seemed to stick to… I sat back and enjoyed it all, letting the road run towards me, like standing on a bridge and watching a river flow under you…

I do not recall much about the ride; it seemed to take place on its own… I don’t remember any specific parts of it, or even being in control of the Big Fella… We just seemed to glide through Sweden…

I do remember marveling at the cloud formations above us… Wispy clouds changed shape all the time, being blown across the sky by winds that we were not yet feeling here on the ground… I snapped away on the fly, camera held up in front of me, and telling the Big Fella to keep to the middle of the road…

An avalanche warning sign had me sitting up straighter, looking up at the steep slopes above me, and picturing a wall of snow and rock hurtling down the mountainside… Scary thought… I gave the throttle a sharp twist to take us out of the area…

The clouds had me captivated...

This railway bridge crosses one of the many lakes west of Kiruna...

It looked as though they had been painted onto the brilliant blue of the sky...

I refueled at Kiruna, a large mining town where iron ore is brought up to the surface in this the world’s largest and most modern underground iron ore mine… Ore is being brought to the surface from more than a kilometre underground, making it also the deepest iron ore mine in the world…

Tired of seeing Lulea on every marker board, I changed course and headed for Overkalix...

Crossing the bridge over the Tornea River into Finland...

The sunny skies I had been riding under vanished, and were replaced by a solid layer of cloud, all the way to the Finnish border town of Overtornea… It was warming up nicely, the further south I rode, that is to say, that the temperature was getting into double figures at last…

The countryside was an endless procession of Spruce and Pine forest, with the odd dairy farm thrown in between them, just to break the monotony of it all… But I enjoyed every minute of it… Once into Finland, I rode south along the eastern banks of the Tornea River and stopped in the town of Tornio to refuel and get a bite to eat…

Yes, we are back in Wehavethelongestnamesland...!!

Country scene near Tornio, Finland...

"Liewe Jakkalas...!! Waar's my hoenders...??"

Peering over the Atasaari's hedge, Philemon spied a bigger and better lawnmower...!!

The last 150 km to Oulu seemed to flash by, and not because we were speeding… The bike and I were in such a “groove” that there seemed no effort involved at all…

We just floated down the E4, and arrived in Oulu on the far side of the Gulf of Bothnia (Sounds like once of those effeminate Spaniards trying to say Bosnia, doesn’t it…!!) an hour and a bit later…

The Big Fella suppressed a snigger as we passed this guy on the way to Oulu...

Surely that can't be good for you...!!

The first hotel I tried had a single room available, and was a bit like a hostel… The Turisti Hotel is directly opposite the Oulu Railway Station, and close to most amenities… I chatted to the guy in reception, who did his best to try and sort out the very weak internet signal, by offering me the hotel boardroom to work in, but even this did not help…

I told him I was on my way to Helsinki, and he then advised that the city would be rather busy that weekend as a little Irish band known as U2 were playing two gigs in the Olympic Stadium which held a mere 110 000 people…!! My eyes flew open at this bit of info…

“Are there still tickets available…” I nearly shouted…!!

“There were only 1000 left for tonight’s concert, but I am not sure if there are any left for tomorrow…” he replied, taken by surprise at my excitement…!!

“Well, I think I’ll just amble down there tomorrow and see for myself, shall I…? How early are the traffic officers out on patrol…?” I asked nonchalantly…

“It’s over 650 km from here, and will take you at least seven or eight hours to get there, and then you will have to pray hard to find a hotel room…! The city will be crowded with people from all over this part of Europe…”

“Ah…but not all of them have a Big Fella under them, do they…??”

I headed back to my room to plan the next day’s ride…

I was Hell-bent on Helsinki…!!

GBWT 2010