Unfortunately, we have to get our rain gear out straight away on our big day. It's not raining too hard, but the roads are wet. The first thing we do is drive straight into a roadworks, which means we have to stop.

As in Norway As usual, we are guided through the construction site. There we again meet friendly construction workers who admire our machines with an interest in technology before we continue.

Our first project is the search for a good Breakfast. We are not yet entirely optimistic that we will be successful. For now, we continue north on the E6, eyes wide open for a coffee.

Of course, we can't really get going without our breakfast!

After 40 kilometers we arrive in Sørkjosen drove in. The first thing we see is a Coffee with a view of the sea.

The name „På Taket Kafé AS“ is unpronounceable, but the breakfast is really perfect.

We are lucky and find the perfect coffee for a good breakfast in Sørkjosen

You can find the location of the coffee on our Google Tour Map. It looks really cozy with a white rose on the table.

Freshly invigorated, we continue our journey, and over breakfast we think about what we want to achieve today. It's just a shame that we always talk so much at breakfast and, above all, for so long - an hour is nothing. We would like to get to the North Cape today. Hammerfest is considered to be the northernmost city in the world, even if that's not entirely true, but you really should have been there.

In terms of time, this is not a problem, if we arrive late at the North Cape this would be more of an advantage. Many tourist buses and camper vans drive up there during the day, especially when the harbor of Honningsvåg Cruise ships or the ships of the Hurtigrute there is a lot going on at the North Cape. But for now we are determined to get to Hammerfest, we want to see the town. 

We are on our way to Hammerfest

The Norwegian trucker really amazed us when she took off with her truck and trailer.

Now we've done well, 2 1/2 hours for 175 kilometers and we make a fuel stop in Alta. The Harleys look pretty filthy, the road dust really eats away, it can't even be wiped off. Now we take a selfie at the petrol station, and suddenly a pretty young Norwegian woman comes to my side and has her picture taken.

A short small talk and she walks on, there is only a tipper with a trailer at the filling station and no car, where is she going? Right, she's driving the big tipper, we were quite astonished, the Norwegians are pretty tough. We continue on, a little distraught, as we still have 140 kilometers to Hammerfest, which we can certainly do in just under 2 hours. We experience a beautiful landscape, sometimes a little sober and then suddenly everything is green again behind the next mountain.

Breakdown: Ernst has a problem with the gearshift

It can happen, the screw on the gearshift has come loose, we have to tighten it again first. This is the moment when we realize how dangerous it can be at the side of the road, the trucks know no mercy here and keep on going.

We are well equipped with tools, if necessary we can dismantle the whole stove by the road, little things like that won't stop us. It doesn't take long and we can drive on.

Ok, not exactly far, the screw has a defective thread and the rocker switch is about to lose. When we stopped for the third time, the problem was solved with cable ties (these are compulsory on a tour), they last forever and they did.

The first reindeer cross our path

Polar bears are not to be expected in Hammerfest.

We approach the island on which the city Hammerfest is getting closer and closer. When we reach the bridge to the island, we see a sign for the first time that reads Reindeer is warned. Breeding herds run free on the island, as they do in the rest of the country. They can and do appear anywhere in the north. Sometimes they even run through tunnels, so you always have to reckon with them. The only bad thing is that you can't see them very well, they are very well adapted to the Environment adapted.

In the middle of the construction site is a herd of reindeer

As soon as we drive over the bridge, we come to a construction site and right in this construction site a Herd of reindeer relaxing around. They are beautiful animals, but we want to continue and a little further on we see the next sign, which makes us think for a moment.

The sign says that we are now in the Hammerfest Municipality are, but what is the Polar bear with a red background on the sign. In any case, it does not mean that here Polar bears In the past, polar bear hunters set sail from Hammerfest to Spitsbergen in their boats.

Hammerfest now appears behind a mountain in front of us, the Fog is above the Harbor, The weather is pretty rough but it's not raining at the moment.

In the harbor are a Offshore supplier and a few smaller ones Boats. The city doesn't offer much, we actually want to sit somewhere nice and finally eat something, apart from breakfast we haven't had anything yet and it's already 7 p.m. again.

I have no idea where we left the time, but darkness is not an issue here, so we take a relaxed view. What we don't see as relaxed, we don't find any Restaurant, Either they're closed or it's not something we like. Luckily we do find a Chinese restaurant, which is always fine and the food isn't too heavy on the stomach.

The menu in the Dickson Kinesisk Restaurant is good, we're really lucky. What strikes us particularly in Hammerfest is that we haven't seen any migrants or refugees anywhere before, maybe it's because they all live in Hammerfest. In the fall, it's over here with the sun, you have to get used to that.

Well fortified, we now head for the North Cape

You only recognize the reindeer very late!

It's clear to us that we've been here and now we have to get going again! Our next destination is the North Cape, which we should manage by midnight. We're in a hurry to get back down from the island, the fog is hanging low over the gray city and the weather can only get better.

The further we get, the more the weather loosens up, and in places the surroundings even turn green again, which is really strange, it gives you the feeling of driving through four seasons.

Suddenly the sea eagle flies over me

Suddenly the sea eagle appeared above me

After the green landscape, it slowly becomes more monotonous again, with the 6.87-kilometer-long North Cape Tunnel, it connects the island Magerøya with the mainland. Behind the North Cape Tunnel The surroundings and the weather change again promptly, we get to see snow on the sides again, mountains and the rough sea.

We are on the Island of Magerøya at the tip of the island is the North Cape. We drive along the coastal road and suddenly, above me, a sea eagle It really is a mighty beautiful animal. It moves over me to the North Sea and flies a little next to us at my height, the moment had something mystical, because I wanted to go to the North Cape 30 years ago with my buddy Lars, unfortunately he can no longer be there today and we used to watch sea eagles.

Don't put your dreams on the back burner!

That's why you shouldn't keep postponing your dreams and that's one of the reasons why we're going to the North Cape now. There's really nothing here, it's a rough area, rain, cold, fog, but it still has something special. It is a pure A matter of the head, when you make your way to the North Cape.

We are coming to our Goal and the route is really breathtaking again, the vast expanses open up before us, the road disappears somewhere in the valley, simply fantastic. My Navigation shows me that we are almost there, now we are going up the mountain and we have arrived at the parking lot of the North Cape.

We have arrived at the North Cape with our Harleys and it is as bright as day.

And we are lucky, it is Midnight and none of the staff who normally collect and regulate who is allowed to drive through are still on site. We can go straight to the Globe and take a look from the North Cape out to sea. Overjoyed and a glance at the odometer tells me that I have ridden 4892 kilometers on the tour so far.

We meet a few other bikers, but none of them Harley rider, but that doesn't matter at the moment. This is where all the BMW GS riders go, I would almost say that everyone who rides a GS drives up here. At the very least, they're sure to sign their purchase contract stating that they have to ride their GS to the North Cape at least once. Because we really have seen a lot of them up here. I'm probably one of the first with the new Milwaukee-Eight Motor at the North Cape. Now that's something!

We camp with our Harleys near the North Cape

We've been here for another two hours in a frenzy, but now we have to find our camp at some point. I've booked a hut in the Midnatsol Camping booked. It was only at the last minute, but the key should be ready for us. Now we have managed to tear ourselves away from the North Cape and drive the few kilometers to our intended cabin. Well, the key box was empty, either they thought we weren't coming or someone had just helped themselves.

Okay, it's getting pretty stormy, but somehow we manage to get our tents pitched. At least we have access to the bathroom and washrooms, which is really good. It's now half past two in the morning, it's been an exciting day, we've covered a good few kilometers, experienced a lot again and somehow it's cool that it's still light. Good night, the last one turns out the light!

Accommodations:

Midnatsol Camping

Further accommodation at North Cape

Many thanks for the kind support of our tour partners, Visit Norway, Color Line, The Rokker Company and the Tallink Silja Line. 

More pictures from part 8 of the tour from Olderdalen to Hammerfest and the North Cape

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