Arctic Circle

[wyvern]

Well its itchy feet time again and we’re looking at taking our wagon off up to Tromso in the north of Norway to view the northern lights from within the arctic circle in the spring 2014. 😯
I’ve only got 3 weeks off to do the trip so we are having to use ferry’s more than I would like to cover the distance in the time scale of my off work time.

So far the ideas for the route are to sail direct to Denmark, drive up to the Northern point and then sail again to Bergan, catch the Hertigruten coastal post boat to Tromso, and then drive the coastal road south, stopping to take in the views and sites on the way. Returning through Demark and driving across to Holland and back across the channel. Total driving distance will be about 2800 miles over 16-18 days.

It’ll not be a cheap trip as its my partners BIG birthday so we are taking the water routes north to get some distance in quickly with some relaxing times on the way.

Planed upgrades for the wagon include an Airtop diesel powered heater for warming the cabin, heating insulation for the battery box and cab floor, silicone grease on all the door seals to improve the draft protection, adding an extra battery & spilt charger to manage the power for the heater, new roof rack boxes, and an extra jerry can or 2 for fuel. (plus the odd box or 2 or 3 of wine for my partner !) 😀

Any advice on fitting the Airtop heater (or similar) would be fab before I start drilling big holes in the wrong places the wagon ! 😳
I know that most of the modern Dormobiles with the heaters are fitted under the 2nd row seats – any pics would be great.
More info to come as we put the plans into actions!
Any advice on the trip would be gratefully received 🙄

[wyvern]

OK, its getting close to the trip time now so have been busy setting up the wagon for the next adventure !! 😯

I have spent a week fitting the new Airtop heater to the vehicle, mounting it under the left side rear seat, which meant drilling holes into the floor for the air in, exhaust out, fuel in and power for the fuel pump. Then had to cut into the main tank fuel filler line to fit a fuel feed to the heater from the main tank. Exhaust silencer and fuel pump were fitted on the chassis with no extra drilling.
The job was within my limited skills and even started first time!! 😛
The results are fabulous, we went camping out on Bodmin Moor and despite the night being cold and foggy the heater kept the home area toasty warm. The timer even brought on the heater about 30 mins before we woke up in the morning. 😀

Am now going to be fitting a 2nd battery in the bottom of the wardrobe with a split charge voltage sensitive relay system to keep the ancillary powered items off the main battery. I was going to fit the battery in the under seat box but when I found how much work was needed to disconnect all the cables and then re-route them I had a change of heart and looked were else the battery could be safely fitted. 🙄

I’ve got a lovely custom made aluminium roof box to take the bulky things. At long last I’ve fitted a table as well, which stands between the rear seats and has proven its worth all ready. why I havent fitted one before is a mystery to me! 😳

Due to the costs we have slightly changed the route for this trip and are going from Harwich to the Hook of Holland, then drive to the top of Denmark and ferry to Bergan, and we are not going to use the Hertigruten, rather drive north from Bergan towards Tromso, and get as far as we can whist on a meandering trip up and back over 18 days, trying not to spend repetive hours driving, but enjoying the work of Slartibartfast along the coast.

Wine has been bought, maps and books are being perused by my navigator and tour guide, ferrys booked and cameras cards cleared ready to be used!
Bring it on!!
😀

[wyvern]

Have safely returned from a great trip and it all went well.
As planned, we took the overland route to Bergan via the Danish Hirtshals ferry.
From there we drove north taking in the coast as much as possible admiring the work of Slartybatfast, up to the Atlantic Coast Road (with the famous bridge to nowhere as seen on many car adverts )
We then meandered up till we crossed the 66th latitude at the arctic centre. We continued north till we reached the Lofton islands just south of Tromso and then made our way south the same way.
The whole trip took 17 days UK to UK with us driving about 3400 miles in total from Cornwall.

We saw several defenders – most were touring but one or two were local plates. Lots (and Lots!) of campervans and motorbikes, many tunnels and ziz-zag mountain roads to drive on – with a max speed of 80kph on most Norwegian roads there was low stress driving and plenty of time to admire the views.
as an aside we were getting about 480 miles per tank, which was probably due to the high quality fuel and the low speeds. the engine was rarely over 2k revs

Costs were kept down by taking all our own food (and my partners Wine! ) as well as having no accommodation costs (Dormobiles are wonderful!!). There are tolls to be paid on the roads which may equate to about £150 and local ferry crossings as and when required (about £10-15 )
Fuel was cheaper than in the UK, (about £1.20 per ltr) and bread (just about our only regular purchase) was about £3 for a good quality Scandinavian loaf!
Camping was free and water etc was easily available in the numerous rest areas.
All in all it was a great trip as we were very lucky with the weather – having only 1 wet day and one foggy/misty day when up in the mountains.
After all the work fitting the heater for the trip we only used it once and that was in the UK before we sailed – but we used the Aircon most days – including up in the Lofton islands !!

Many thanks to all who gave help/advice – all I can say is go !!!
The roads were quiet, the people lovely, the views Spectacular, and Slartybatfast gets a 10/10 from me!!

(I’ll post some photos when I remember how to make them smaller )

[attachment=4:3sgqvpfw]bridge falls.jpg[/attachment:3sgqvpfw]

[attachment=2:3sgqvpfw]sitting with wine.jpg[/attachment:3sgqvpfw]

[attachment=3:3sgqvpfw]fyord view.jpg[/attachment:3sgqvpfw]

[attachment=1:3sgqvpfw]The Arctic Circle.jpg[/attachment:3sgqvpfw]

[attachment=0:3sgqvpfw]ice road.jpg[/attachment:3sgqvpfw]

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