Norsk Land
Rover Klubbs landstreff, Setermoen 2016 .
In 2016 the Norwegian Land Rover
club had pointed their annual summer meeting to Setermoen in
Northern Norway. During the winter we discussed in our family and
decided to try to go with our Series One. “We” are my wife Gunnhild
and my youngest son Konrad. The two older sons had other plans for
this summer. The car is not all original but close to. Engine,
gearbox and axles are like they were in 1957 when it was new. This
means it is no highway racer and comfort speed is 70 km/t or less.
We had to pick the smaller roads to have a comfortable trip up north
and this again means the distance up north will be even longer than
it is along the main roads.
The 8th of July we started “The Slow Way Up” from our home south
of Oslo. We had 12 days before the meeting at Setermoen started.
Our calculation was based on maximum 300 km per day, some days
down to less than 150 km per day. And we had a day or two for
eventually surprises regarding the car or whatever. The first day
we ended at Lillehammer where Gunnhild has some family. We had a
nice barbeque out in their garden that evening. The next day we
passed mountains more than 1000 meters over sea level, to the
valley north east of Lillehammer. We were also visiting some old
mines in Folldal before the day was finished.
On the third day the oil lamp started to lit… Was it all over now? I
stopped and called a friend with even better knowledge to old series
Land Rovers than I have. After a discussion we agreed that it most
likely was a faulty oil pressure switch. The startup and the next
kilometer were a bit exiting. But the car sounded and behaved as
normal except for the red light. We concluded our assumption were
right and continued our “Slow Way Up”. Later this day we had a small
sightseeing in Trondheim. The weather was beautiful and we finished
Trondheim with an outdoor dinner on a restaurant.
Of course we are connected to social media even when touring
with the vintage car. We had announced the need of an oil pressure
switch and a bit north of Trondheim we got a second hand switch.
The two switches were swapped and now the problem seemed solved.
The lamp was lit when it should be lit and dark when it should be
dark. For an hour or two… In the end of the day it was not lit at
all. I tried to conclude something but again it had to be the
switch.
We were going as little as we could on the main road E6 which leads
from south of Norway all up to Kirkenes close to the Russian border.
From Steinkjer road 17 leads out to the coast and follow this up to
Bodø. This is a nice but slow road with 6 or 7 ferries depending on
some alternatives along the road. One of our overnight stops was at
mountain Torghatten where there is a hole in the mountain possible
to walk through. That evening we spent a couple of hours walking
this nice walk with a marvelous view.
The following morning at Torghatten the weather had changed. The
sunny warm weather from the day before had changed to a wet gray
day. So is Norway. We cannot do anything about it. Anyway, we vent
to the island Vega just a few kilometers north of where we camped.
Vega is on the Unesco World Heritage list and is a nice place to
be even if the weather was not perfect.
Two days and some ferries later we reached Bodø. We had decided to
go by ferry (again) to Lofoten which is four hours on the boat. This
is a very popular tourist route and many of the ferries were fully
booked. In the summer there is daylight round the clock up north so
it does not matter what time of day you do things. This ferry is
also in service at night, so we boarded at 00:45 at night, arriving
Lofoten at 04:30 in the morning. It was time for some sleep so we
put up our tent and had some hours rest in the sleeping bags, close
to the harbor.
Lofoten started good but the weather sooner got wetter. The clouds
hung on the mountains and we were not able to see the mountain tops
through the rain. Lofoten is that nice in sunny weather but far from
nice in such wet and cold. That’s Norway… On the tourist brochures
there is always sunny but in real life there are other days too.
I had noticed oil on the ground where the car was parked and
suspected the oil pressure switch was leaking. In the wet weather I
did not feel for creeping on the ground and added some new oil now
and then instead. When we passed Sortland I met a fellow Land Rover
recognized as a member of a Norwegian Land Rover forum. Luckily he
stopped and offered a visit to a workshop to check the leakage. It
seemed to be a loose oil banjo close to the switch, not the switch
itself. And what was worse, the starter hung loose. One of the
starter bolts was lost and the other bolt was loose. I had not
noticed any problem, but now the both cases were closed.
We continued up north. Andøya was next night stopover. This is also
a really nice island when the weather is good, but the weather was
rather bad with rain and wind. The day after we was waiting for a
ferry from Andøya to Gryllefjord located at the island Senja. When
queueing for the ferry the car was waving in the wind and the rain
was pouring sideways. The sailing was even more bumpy but we
survived. Senja is also an island with some nice scenic roads but
again we only saw the bottom of the mountains.
The twelfth day we arrived the Land Rover meeting at Setermoen
after about 2.200 km driven. The meeting is open to all kinds of
Land Rovers and our Series One was the only Series One at the
meeting. We met new and old friends and in total there was about
70 cars registered at the event. Andrew Cross was representing UK,
there were a few Swedes and the rest was Norwegians. Activities
were guided tours in the area, by others around Senja. We took the
Senja tour this time in beautiful weather with all mountain tops
available and lunch / sea bathing stop included. We also joined
one of the midnight sun tours, of course in the middle of the
night with the sun still on the sky.
Five days later the meeting was over and I continued “The Slow Way
Up” heading further north. My wife and son had returned home with a
plane from Bardufoss airport and I took the car up to Tromsø. My
holidays had ended and I was going back to work. Normally I work in
Oslo but there is also an office in Tromsø where I was working a few
days waiting for a boat to Bjørnøya where my first duty after
holidays waited. Bjørnøya is an island at 74 degrees north where
there is a meteorological observation post.
“The Slow Way Up” ended in Tromsø for the Series One and on
Bjørnøya for the driver of the car.
Klikk for større bilder.
Turen startet med en
tur innom Østfold.
Einavannet.
Ned mot Gudbrandsdal.
Det var grått over
Venabufjellet.
Ingen bensin å få
på Grimsbu.
Vi har begynt på Rv 17,
Kystriksveien.
Gjennom hullet i
Torghatten.
På Vega møtte vi
kjentfolk.
Camping på Vega.
Verdensarv...
Svartisen.
Kanelsnurr fra museums-
bakeri på Å.
Stranda ved Flakstad i Lofoten.
Bleik og Bleikøya
på Andøya.
Nasjonal turistvei
på Senja.
Gunhild, Gunnhild og Anne
rundt grillen på Landstreff.
Dag og familien var også
på tur nordover i LR.
Samme utsiktspunkt over
Bergsbotn, i finvær.
Bøvær på Senja.
Lunsj og badepause ved
"Gulldassen" på Senja.
Far og sønn Vassbø.
Midnattsoltur til
Andsfjellet.
Midnatt.
Det ble så varmt at vi måtte
på flere badeturer til en vann
ikke så langt unna campen.
Fellestur til Andsfjellet
på dagtid også.
Det var shortsvær de fleste
kveldene ved grillen.
Etter treffet gikk turen
videre til Tromsø.
Ishavskatedralen.
Anne og jeg hadde en tur
til Sommarøya.
"The Slow Way Up"
har nådd sitt nordligste
punkt på Bjørnøya.
In 2016 the Norwegian Land Rover
club had pointed their annual summer meeting to Setermoen in
Northern Norway. During the winter we discussed in our family and
decided to try to go with our Series One. “We” are my wife Gunnhild
and my youngest son Konrad. The two older sons had other plans for
this summer. The car is not all original but close to. Engine,
gearbox and axles are like they were in 1957 when it was new. This
means it is no highway racer and comfort speed is 70 km/t or less.
We had to pick the smaller roads to have a comfortable trip up north
and this again means the distance up north will be even longer than
it is along the main roads. 
