Day 47 - Oslo (3 kms) - " The land of the Vikings "!

I knew H's 18 hours of sleep in the past 24 hours had frazzled hid brain when his first words upon landing in Oslo where "we'll Litchy how does it feel to be in Sweden" !

With the customs guy given us a wry smile when H asked if it was flat cycling to Bergen and our countries sorted out we were in need of a map and a suitcase full of money to help fund our 2 weeks in Norway !

With map gained after cycling down to Oslo's amazingly designed Opera house we crossed the road to the central Railway station to load up with heaps of Norwegian Krona to add more currency confusion to our seriously overloaded money belts.

Our map showed a route to our hotel by way of the Royal Palace so off set passing through what appears to be a lovely city with significantly less cycle and vehicular traffic than Copenhagen

We posed for a shot or two at the Palace noticing the Norwegian "cutbacks" with only a few guards visible compared to the many at other Royal establishments.

Moving on we found ourselves standing outside the US Embassy - probably not the best place to stand with a loaded bike while checking directions on a Tablet !

With H on the lookout we finally established that our hotel was just around the corner !

Off loaded and checked in we ventured out on foot on a very mild overcast day to the nearby waterfront and the scenery of a fair bit of Oslos day to day activity.

Here we visited the nearby Arkershus Castle grounds to take in the Norway Resistance Museum with its powerful story of the impact of 5 years of German occupation.

Wandering back we checked out first hand the prices of restaurant meals with the most affordable being a place that sold $30 pizzas !

Thankfully we found a nearby supermarket that had some more affordable hot food options loading up for a return to our hotel with an amazing selection of English speaking TV channels.

We have just enough time in Oslo to play the tourist tomorrow. Before setting off on our arduous cross country journey of 550 kms including 4x 100+ km days that has one KH very nervous indeed !

Cycling in Copenhagen - H's word !

One could become extremely accustomed to the comforts and benefits of flying in business class providing your bank balance contains lots of zeros, mine does but there are no figures in front of them.

After checking in with the rest of the cattle at the Tulla holding pens we set off and after what seemed like 3 weeks I emerged bleary eyed and a smidge tired at Copenhagen to meet up with the 2 Mike's!

They showed me no mercy as D Mike had a familiarization ride of around 50 kms panned for the next morning.
The first thing you notice about Copenhagen is how incredibly cycle friendly the city is with an extensive network of lanes even with their own traffic lights. Melbourne has a little way to go but we do have Wellington St ..Wow !

When walking in Copenhagen you need at least 4 sets of eyes looking for cars and gazillions of cyclists and the regular yobbo roadie who thinks he's Mark Cavendish going 3 times the speed of other riders !

I came very close to reducing the population of Copenhagen by 2 when I stepped out on to the road to visit the little house on the other side of the road aptly named the "Pissoir"!

I turned 180 degrees to give Mike my cameras when I heard a bell ring followed quickly by 2 wheel blurs in front of me and at my back.

The first cyclist gave me the dirty look of the century obviously no humour !

The huge number of bikes in Copenhagen might have something to do with the Govt taxes imposed upon cars. The Govt wants people to buy small economical 1.2 litre cars or below and if you want anything bigger you pay the cost price of the car plus a tax penalty of 180% plus 25% vat and any safety extras also at 25%. No wonder the Danes say there are one of the highest taxed nations on the planet !

I needed some small gear adjustments on my tourer and was told there was a bike shop very close to our hotel. In I went but they were too busy, another shop 100 metres away too busy, another one 300 metres away same story. I walked the main road for about 3 kms and had called into 8 bike shops before finally reaching the 9th (yes there are heaps) who was thankfully able to do my adjustment.

We are currently on the ferry to Oslo and noticed a wine list with an Australian wine which we thought wasn't that bad at $27 a bottle until we realised that it said $27 a glass !!! - i don't think there are too many wine alcoholic's in Scandinavia !

We are about to dock in Oslo and the weather looks a frag miserable. D Mike has planned our Swedish (H meant Norway but keeps saying Sweden) leg and has included4 days over out of 8 over 100 kms with lots of hills, doesn't he realise he's dealing with one lard arse geriatric (H put 2 but as editor I have the right to ignore). Hopefully the weather will be kind to us and we can thankfully enjoy the spectacular scenery on offer in this region.

P.s. the above as you realise was typed under duress by M after H spat the dummy when he originally wrote his post and didn't save it as a draft !!!

Many Thanks !

Would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who passed on their heartfelt condolences to myself and my family on the recent passing of my Mum.

It was really appreciated and helped me through a tough time.

Kind Regards Kev

Day 46 - Copenhagen en route to Oslo (10 kms) - "Travelling the Nth Sea"!

H was not in a great mood after waking bemoaning the fact that he'd slept fitfully the night before, most likely having something to do with my threat to insert the TV remote up an ill fitting fitting orifice after he'd refused to turn the TV off until nearly midnight !

Breakfast was a little more orderly this morning with hostel revellers obviously enjoying a lie in or maybe deciding to simply avoid H having heard that he was once again heading for the coffee machine !

Well fed and with little to do till midday (ferry departure late afternoon) Kev went in search of a bike shop in this bicycle mad city to adjust his slipping gears which if left unfixed had a pretty good chance of turning him into  a eunuch !

Amazingly Kev found 9 stores in a short distance but frustratingly for him it wasn't until the 9th that a mechanic agreed to have a look first thing. This city really does give Amsterdam a run for its cycling focus !

With bike fixed and a late checkout all we could do was wait in the hotels sunny outdoor area for 2 hours till departing - H (as pic shows) taking advantage of the lovely conditions to get up close and personal with our outdoor table !

Finally came time to negotiate our way through busy Copenhagen to our Nth Sea ferry some 7-8 kms distant at North Havyn !

Cycling in Copenhagen is quite amazing. Bike lanes duck and and weave alongside the main roads and come in many cases with their own traffic lights and pedestrian and car cross over points meaning that you are constantly on the lookout for traffic signals, path directions, imminent hazards as well as overtaking cyclists !

With our vast ferry travelling experience we boarded without a problem finding our way to our large cabin (about 3 times there size of our recent hotel rooms ) before heading to the upper deck to watch our scenic exit from Copenhagen.

Our ship is amazing not only in terms of its number of restaurants, cafes & bars but also because of its exorbitant prices - a glass of Heathmont Shiraz costing an astonishing $27 and an ordinary bowl of Spaghetti Bolognese (H's favourite) the same !

At those prices we were mighty glad that we raided the Hostels fruit bar this morning !

As for the ferry crossing it looks like H was way too exhausted from having slept so much at lunchtime and is back in Disneyland once again !

Roll on Norway !!!

Cycling in Copenhagen

One could become extremely accustomed to the comforts and benefits of flying Business Class just as long as your bank balance contains lots of zeros , mine does but there's no figure in front of them .
After being herded in with the rest of the cattle at the Tulla holding pens we took off and after what seemed like about 3 weeks I emerged bleary eyed and a smidge tired at Copenhagen to meet up with the 2 Mikes .
They showed me no mercy as  DMike had a familiarisation ride of around 50 km planned for the next morning. The first thing you notice is how incredibly cycle friendly Copenhagen is with an extensive network of lanes and paths , even with their own traffic lights . Melbourne has a little way to go but we do have Wellington St  - wow .

When walking you need at least 4 sets of eyes looking out for cars and gazillions of cyclists and regularly a yobbo roadie who thinks he's Mark Cavendish going 3 times the speed of the other riders .
I came very close to reducing the population of Copenhagen by 2 when I stepped out onto the road to visit the ". Little House " on the other side , aptly named the " Pissoir " . I turned 180 deg to give Mike my camera when I heard a bell ring followed quickly by a 2 wheel blur in front and one from behind . The first cyclist gave me the " Dirty Look of the Century " , they've got no sense of humour . Didn't need to visit the toot after that .

The huge number of bikes in Copenhagen might have something to do with the Government taxes imposed on cars .The Government force people to buy small economical cars of 1.2lt or less and if you want anything bigger you pay the cost price of the car plus a tax penalty of 180% of that cost plus 25%VAT and any safety extras you order also attract 25%VAT . A car costing for example  KR10,000  plus extras could cost upwards of KR35000 , may not catch on in Australia .

I needed some minor gear adjustments on my tourer and was told there was a bike shop close to our hotel .  In I went but they were too busy , another shop 100 Mt away , again too busy ,another 300mt away , same story  . I walked this main road for about 3km and had visited 8 bike shops , the 9th one i had success . This proliferation of bike shops is apparently the norm all over the city .

On the ferry from Copenhagen to Oslo we noticed a wine price list on a restaurant wall .There was an Australian wine on the list which we thought wasn't that expensive at A$27 , that was until we looked closer and saw it was per glass . Don't think there would be too many wine alcoholics in Denmark.

We are about to dock in Oslo and the weather looks a frag miserable . DMike has planned our Swedish leg and has included 4 days out of 8 of 100km plus with lots of hills . Doesn't he realise he's dealing with a couple of lard-arse geriatrics .

Thank you so much to everyone who expressed their condolences to myself and my family on the recent passing of my Mother . I know everyone says their Mum is the Best and I'm no different, my Mum was up there with the Best of the Best .

Days 46-47 - Copenhagen (42 kms) - " H in form "!

The team bonding session went well on Day 46 a glorious sunny Sunday in Copenhagen, as D Mike led the Aussie boys out of central Copenhagen towards the coast and some of the fashionable Danish beach side resorts

We'd by now just about got used to the Copenhagen cycle lanes complete with roadies that provided challenges to the unwary (read KH).

Kev had become particularly proficient in saying "sorry" in Danish after wandering wide into the path of fast overtaking cyclists

Thinking there'd be less chance of an incident off road D Mike took as through beautiful forest land to the former hunting reserve of the Royals, an historic lodge that gave great views of the forest, Copenhagen's oldest golf course and wandering herds of protected deer.

After a coffee at the seaside we headed back to D Mikes place to load up our bikes with panniers to cycle in to our newer accommodation in central Copenhagen at the Urban House alongside the main Railway station.

The Urban House unfortunately came with smaller rooms than those we'd experienced meaning that co-ordinated sleeping was needed if we didn't want to take up the space saving "spooning" option !

The plan worked well until 3.00a.m. when a security check showed H infringing on my territory (bed) and dangerously close to giving me a "toungie" !

The threat was resolved with a deft elbow to H's still tender ribs which a) nearly gave him a heart attack and b) sent him back 6 inches to his side of the bed!

I'd forgotten how dull things had been without Kev around so enjoyed the entertainment during our hostel style breakfast next morning when H wandered over to a fairly complex looking coffee machine to get himself a latte ! When I checked back 15 minutes later H was still in place with now a look of exasperation still trying to work out the coffee machine with by now a tailback of people waiting patiently behind !

Breakfast done we chose to wander around the city making our way to the Royal Palace in time for the changing of the guards and then along the sparkling harbour towards the Little Mermaid just in time to see a Japanese photographer fish himself out of the harbour after slipping on a mossy rock attempting to get a closer photo !

The afternoon was perfect for a canal boat tour providing for interesting insight into Copenhagen's history both old and new caught only occasionally by H as he emerged from his sun induced coma !

Walking back to our hotel though provided the days scariest moment for H when standing in the middle of a cycling lane contemplating the direction to the aptly named "Pissoir" across the road.

As I watched in horror cyclist number one bearing down on H at great speed rang their bell which startled H enough to move him into the path of cyclist no.2 also travelling at a similar startling speed. In a scene reminiscent of the Keystone Cops both cyclists flew past H on either side of him nearly spinning him around like a revolving door because of their close proximity !!!

After battling the days rays and H now looking like a sunburnt panda we took a short rest before reuniting with our expedition leader D Mike for a meal of you H's least liked food Indian !

Like the trooper he is though H battled through unharmed although it's predicted the nights sufferer might be me rather with his rear end after burners now super charged !

We said goodbye to D Mike looking forward to meeting up with him again in Oslo in 4 days time !

Days 44 - 45 - Copenhagen (52 kms) - "The boys are back in town" !

It was almost good to have him back ! You could not help but smile at his infectious "ocker" like demeanour or his  sentences loaded with unique "henleyisms", he'd even made an effort to cut down on his methane emissions with only an occasional deep sea rumble coming from underneath the doona but then I remembered all to clearly why he can also be a serial pest - it wasn't so much his high volume yawns that suggested because he was no longer tired nor should I be, but the pulling of my leg hair at 6.00a.m after only 5 &1/2 hours sleep that indicated that normal hostilities would soon resume !

Our separate arrivals in Copenhagen had gone without "too" many dramas. Self flying in from Bristol UK on " Squeezy Jet" while Kev had also used the same airline from Hamburg.

H did however have an issue the day before in Hamburg after his long journey from Melbourne when he picked up his bike box noticing a) it was upside down & B) it was upside down because of a titanic sized chunk of the box was missing from the box's bottom !

Sensing another Venice incident with lost bike parts, H immediately went on the rampage giving the poor baggage attendant both barrels before an Emirates Airline Rep turned up to try and calm the veritable raging bull !

H explained that as a frequent Emirates flyer (once) and a regular business class user (once) he was appalled at the rough handling of his baby ! After much debate about the virtues of cardboard box use the rep finally told H that they would reimburse any loss / damage to any non loose items meaning not Kevs wardrobe that had been placed inside !

Roll on Copenhagen to where we were both separately met by Danish fellow adventurer and friend Mike (now referred to as D Mike) who was gracious enough to ferry both of us to our hotel while talking the bike boxes to his house.

This gave Kev and self time to catch up on Kev's recent tough journey to OZ, have a few hours sleep (thx H),  pillage the hotels breakfast table the following morning and regale ourselves in laughter over an incident when self trying to turn on our bathroom tap for a glass of water  somehow activated the shower unit in our tiny bathroom closet successfully drenching myself in the process !

The new day started slowly when the 2 Mike's sat outside in D Mike's car waiting for H for 10 minutes before finally noticing that he was standing next to the car oblivious to our presence - when questioned what be was doing H looked surprised starting that he was sure D Mike's car was black the night before !!!

Across at D Mike's place we reassembled both bikes and took to the road for a magic ride around the whole of Copenhagen that took in this lovely city.

Copenhagen is right up there with Amsterdam as a world leader with its bike friendly infrastructure. Not only bike lanes but in some places even bike super highways with traffic countdown lights and even bike lane overpasses.

On a glorious sunny day D Mike had us cycling past nearly all of Copenhagen's main sights including the Royal Palace, House of Parliament, the little Mermaid and Copenhagen's beautiful canals.

After a river side lunch which acquainted us to the expensive cost of living in Scandinavia we headed out along the coastline for distant views of Sweeden before then unsuccessfully spending the next 30 minutes looking for a public toilet for H's urgent bladder condition - don't ask where he went !

Taking to the outskirts we were treated to beautiful countryside views before re-emerging alongside still waster lakes and the more familiar Copenhagen canal system.

After a great days warm up D Mike deposited us back at our Hotel allowing us to have sandwiches and fruit for dinner courtesy of the huge nearby Bilka store.

With bikes now in order and the team back together we take 2-3 more days in lovely Copenhagen before ferrying across to Oslo to start our tough 600 km ride to Bergen on the west coast - for me a delight with D Mike taking control of our route and accommodation !

PS - thx to those that accommodated H on the freeloader circuit in OZ recently and successfully fattened him enough to make those 8,000 metres of Norway hill climbing just that bit tougher !