On the Road Again!

So quickly following up the last blog entry. Looking way into the future to 2024. Has anyone done Norway in a campervan or motorhome?  Advice or links to blogs in the comments please. Our Elddis Moho in 7.2m long and about 2.25m wide. So we need to be able to get across to Norway and navigate the roads once we are there. Getting there? Ferry from Denmark or drive across the Øresund Bridge and then turn left (north)? A trip that far would need us to go for longer than the traditional two weeks away. We'll have the dog with us and so we'll need to find dog friendly places on the way and when we get there.  Tips? Advice?  Please comment. It's over a year away so things can change before then.

At last another semi-final of a major championship again. This time England had made it unbeaten in the group stage and this far without conceding a goal. The Danes had lost two group games and scraped through. They were the lucky recipients of a wrong decision against the Czechs in the quarter-finals when the linesman gave a corner when the ball clearly came off the attacking player. Some complaints at the time but "it's football" was the excuse. This of course will come back to bite our arses. After some early domination, what we call "huff and puff" England failed to score. Another dodgy decision gave Denmark a free kick and they scored. Apparently the first goal from a direct free kick of the championship. England hit back quickly. Kane split the defence and Saka took the ball and crossed low towards Sterling only for the defender to slide it into the goal. Into extra time. Sterling's run into the box brought a penalty. A slight touch of legs...

Such a terrible thing to see in any sporting arena. Today Christian collapsed during the first half of the game. After being given CPR on the pitch he was taken to hospital. He has been stabilised. Whoever you support we wish him and his family well, and a safe recovery.

It looks as though DFDS are axing routes all across Europe.   Firstly we knew that the LD Lines ferry to Spain had been chopped, then in the email exchange I had with them I found out that Tilbury to Gothenburg had gone too. Earlier I had a look on the public website and the only alternative for us in southern England, Harwich to Denmark was also finished. The options now are very limited thanks to this and Scandinavia is getting to be difficult to get to! Valhalla in  '15 is doomed. That's unless the propsoed Norwgian Seaways crossing to Bergen finally materialises and if Regina Lines actually gets off the ground next year.

I toyed with Denmark and Norway for 2014, but the ferry fare across to Denmark from the UK was prohibitively high for August, and although cheaper in our other holiday time, October, I doubted that the weather would be that good for riding. So I booked a Spanish trip instead. Why Norway? We did a cruise to the fjords in June 2013 and the weather was superb. Mostly sunny and warm. And most importantly for bikers; dry. The locals did say that they hadn't had any rain for quite a while.   The fjords are spectacular and scenery is like Scotland, only much bigger. The number of passenger sailings across the North Sea to Scandinavia have been reduced over the years and now only one remains, Harwich to Ebsjerg in Denmark. Back in 1987 or 88 my (then) partner Audrey and I went to the FIM Rally in Kuopio in Finland. We used the DFDS service from Harwich to Gothenburg, but sadly this service has now gone. But, whilst googling ferry crossings I found the DFDS Freight website.  A limited ...