Bucket List – Trondheim – Arctic Circle – Lofoten Part 2

Bucket List – Trondheim – Arctic Circle – Lofoten – Part 2

The daily stages

Day 3: Today's destination is the industrial town of Mo i Rana

In the second part we go from Trondheim to Mo i Riana in Northern Norway and across the Arctic Circle to Bodo, where the ferry port to the Lofoten is. My arrival in Lofoten and how moody the weather can be, especially on the archipelago off the coast of Northern Norway.

My escape forward and out of the hospital hotel

After I obviously ended up in a hospital hotel, it was now time to move on. The hotel isn't bad, but it's a bit strange. If I ever need a room without a carpet so that the rainwater can drip off, then maybe. But it is no longer my first choice.

Today I'm dressed for the weather, with 10 degrees and rain that's the uncomfortable side of Norway, it doesn't help. Unfortunately the Lord (ME) dilly-dallied a bit. The weather is really bad, I would have loved to wait until it reached at least 10 degrees.

Take a quick look at the Harley dealer in Trondheim

But here we go, a short trip to the harbor in Trondheim to take a photo and immediately afterwards we go to the Harley-Davidson dealer in Trondheim. T-shirt from there , I left it out on my last tour, that's actually not possible.

Today's daily stage is approx. 500 kilometers

My tour today is about 500 kilometers, I estimate the journey will easily take 9 hours. Fill up the tank, take photos, look at nature, you shouldn't be surprised at how time goes. I really enjoy it when the landscape changes over the course of the day like it does on the route I'm about to take today.

The E6 is one of the most beautiful European roads, especially the upper third of my day's tour today is quite challenging when it goes along the Lomsdal-Visten National Park. Simply great, unfortunately the weather conditions are not ideal and who would have thought it. There are also construction sites in Norway, today a tunnel was closed directly behind Trondheim, the first detour is coming up.

There are rarely traffic jams in Norway and waiting times are usually manageable.

After the first few kilometers behind Trondheim, I surprisingly see the clouds breaking up in front of me and the beautiful blue sky comes through. That motivates you directly, only the temperature doesn't really want to rise, but it's moving towards 15 degrees, which would feel like the comfort zone.

I cruise towards the north at just over 80 km/h, the cruise control, or rather cruise control, is in use, I enjoy the ride in a relaxed manner on the luxury tourer. The luggage roll in the back replaces the backrest, the feet use the full length of the running boards. People actually don't talk about it enough, but I wouldn't want to be without it on long tours.

Now the landscape changes again, I drive along the long lake Snåsavatnet. At the end of the lake on the left side you can see the beginning of a mountain range, unfortunately you can't really see it in the photo, I only had eyes for the Road Glide ST again.

Another 130 kilometers to Nordlandsporten, the gateway to Northern Norway

I'm already excited, about 130 kilometers left and I've reached the gate to Northern Norway. It's not the first time I've passed here, but it's still exciting. The Road Glide ST takes me straight north to the first destination of the day.

The first step is done, I have the Namsskogan archway to northern Norway in front of me. The sign says Nord Norge, there is also a wildlife park here. If you haven't seen a moose before, you'll be in luck here. As a rule, it is better not to encounter them; if such a colossus wants to cross the street, it has the right of way.

I'm not the only wolf in Norway

What many people don't know is that there are free-living brown bears, wolves and wolverines in Norway. But I don't have time for the wildlife park, there are still a few hundred kilometers to go. On this route the nature changes again, there is a lot of forest and in between beautiful plains open up in front of you.  

Norway is simply beautiful, especially when the sky is blue on the horizon.

I relax until Mo I Rana , the city isn't really anything special. Around 18,000 people live here, I'm not really sure where they all are, it seems like it's been completely empty. I'll be staying in a hotel where I've slept before, always good to know what to expect. Above all, I need a good breakfast, if that's not right, you won't see me again.

There are other bikers in front of the hotel, and I wasn't the only one who made the hotel selection.

Mo i Rana is located on a foothills of the Northern Sea, I have a great view of the sea in the evening, the sun only scratches the mountain peaks, but doesn't really go down.

In the evening I walked into town, today a pizza and a small beer will have to be enough, then it's off to camp, as we say in the north.

The next morning the fog rolls through the city

The next morning the fog from the North Sea drifts through the town, so I put my rain gear straight back on, that's better. 

Today I'm going to Bodø, where I'm taking the ferry to the Lofoten Islands, so today will be the big day for me! I definitely want to be there on time, practiced as I am, I'll pack up my mess again, have a decent breakfast, coffee and we'll get going again.

Other European bikers also park in front of the hotel

The other bikers, who seem to come from different countries, also set off again. Putting on my rain gear again, I finally want to reach my goal today!

But what a surprise, I only drove a few kilometers and suddenly I saw blue sky in front of me again. If you're in a good mood, the 80 kilometers to the Arctic Circle are easy.

I'm crossing the Arctic Circle

After about an hour I arrived at the polar circle and it was tingling again.

Arctic Circle Center, Saltfjellveien 1850, 8630 Storforshei, Norway

The last time I drove up here was in 2017 with the Harley-Davidson Road Glide Ultra . This was one of the first Milwaukee-Eight versions in Germany that were delivered with the 107 engine. I drove 30,000 kilometers across Europe in 6 months in that year, and the steamer really took a beating. As you can see, there was still snow there in the background at almost the same time in early July.

We continue to Bodø, the ferry isn't waiting for me

Now there are 150 kilometers left, and due to the route, I will need at least two hours. It's awesome again, from Rognan you take the E6 again along the sea. These small, beautiful towns that you drive through again and again have something, at least when the weather is good, otherwise I can imagine life being very stressful, especially in winter.

I use my coffee mug again and again, it doesn't keep the coffee warm for hours at these temperatures, but that's fine.

I'm making good time, I show up at the ferry port and already see a group of Swiss pensioners with their motorbikes waiting for the ferry. They want to go to Lofoten and have been traveling for a while, so the motto is, they have time 🙂 .

They had already tried to find out how the ferry was going, but it didn't help them. I didn't have a ticket and there was nowhere to buy one. It doesn't take long until the ferry docks and unloading begins. Now one of the boatmen came, he asked me something and took a photo of my license plate, that was all. I haven't paid anything to date, God knows how things work here. I mean, we easily take the ferry across the sea for 3 1/2 hours until we arrive in Moskenes, on the Lofoten. In the end it doesn't matter, get on the steamer and off you go. As usual there is food on the ferry, so I had lunch first.

Ahh, there was something else! I hadn't even booked any accommodation yet! Hoping to have a little luck, I found an offer in Ballstad during the crossing. I thought it was good and booked it, everything was right in terms of price, that was a good start, let's see what kind of accommodation it is.

I'm docking in Moskenes, the big moment is coming! It's tingling again!

As soon as I drove from the ferry over the steel plates onto the land, I had to stop at the sign and take a deep breath.

Finally at your destination! The Lofoten Islands in Norway!

Crazy, after a few kilometers I see the Reinehaben mountain in front of me. Not only does it look very impressive, it is actually very dangerous. Here visitors often die when they climb the mountain. The problem is often when the weather changes, which can happen very quickly here, it becomes dangerous.

What I hadn't noticed yet was that I had brilliant sunshine in the Lofoten Islands. This is really very unusual! The view from Reinehaben of the small town of Reine must be very special. I preferred to photograph the beautiful Reinebring mountain from the town of Reine.

I drive to Ballstad to my last minute accommodation

I'm now making my way to my accommodation and I'm excited to see what awaits me there. This extraordinary landscape is really awesome, the deep black asphalt is just the thing for cruising.

Before I went to Ballstad Harbor on the other side, there's supposed to be a kiosk there somewhere. The kiosk actually exists, but it was closed today. Well, that happens, I can already see the red wooden houses from my accommodation, it looks somehow romantic.

I drove up to the reception, in front of the shop the boss was putting together a small trailer. The construction of the trailer looked strange, I'm just a guest, I thought. And then we started, a really friendly guy, a bit strange, but just laughing. He couldn't find my room booking at first, I was probably faster than the email and the reservation comparison. Anyway, I got house number 7.

Great weather and great accommodation, nothing more is possible!

At first I thought I could brush up on my old school English because I understood House, but yes, I got a whole house, just a little cheaper. And the icing on the cake was that the good man had a fridge with a few beers. Ok, that was his beer, he didn't actually want to sell it, but he gave me two anyway, a very nice move on his part.

You have to know that beer is not cheap in Norway. We first had a drink together and then I briefly touched the trailer and then I went to my house. Crazy, what a hut, I had a holiday home for 100 euros a night on the Lofoten. It was all very unusual, but I was happy.

There was a nice table in front of my accommodation, I sat down there and let everything sink in. Great weather, great accommodation, what more could you want. A good moment to be grateful and now I can enjoy the sunset on the Norwegian Sea with a can of Norwegian beer!

Now I can check the box on my bucket list, what an emotional moment, it really meant a lot to me.

It's tingling again!

The trip isn't over yet, I'm still on the archipelago for three more days, you'll find out more about this in the third part of my Lofoten tour.

Text / image credit: Harleysite Volker Wolf