Stockholm to Kolbu
I covered about 700 km riding my motorcycle from Stockholm to a farm near Kolbu in Oppland, Norway, where I will be volunteering for a month.
Saturday was uneventful, I rode in the rain for 4 to 5 hours and got completely soaked. I barely took any photos to avoid getting the camera wet.
After trying couchsurfing for the first time in Karlstad (which was a great expereince, just like sleeping over with a friend), I continued on Swedish gravel roads. Had some issues with my GPS having wet contacts and acting up, as well as a strangely loose chain on my bike, but both were easily fixed.
Some obligatory stops at abandoned objects.
The views got better the closer I got to Norway, and despite threatening clouds there was only light drizzle.
I took a shortcut and skipped some gravel going over the border, but turned around and went for the dirt road anyway, imagining the border crossing on this road would be a carved runestone in the forest. It didn’t turn out like that…
People told me Norway would be great, but I didn’t really realize how much more beautiful it would be than Sweden until I got there.
There was a bit less choice in terms of gravel roads, but I took the last stretch on a great little road through Totenaasen park. My GPS suggested it was totally off-limits, but save for the toll to get into the park it was much shorter than its suggested road.
Reaching into Oppland was a pleasant surprise. The perfect rolling hills and farmland dotted with small roads and houses was excellent for the last 20 minutes of riding.
My bike was extremely dirty from all the rain and dirt roads so I spent quite a bit of time cleaning and unpacking once I got there.
I then spent quite some time talking to Nils, the only guy here until others arrive from tomorrow onwards, watching the sunset.
The farm itself is really interesting, I’ll dedicate a post to that later, it’s getting late after battling computer problems and slow internet
Beautiful shots dude. Totally jealous. Enjoy your freedom!
OMG pet, echt mege goed!! I love the pictures 🙂 En goed dat je direct ook al aan het bonden was met nieuwe vriendjes op de boerderij 😀 Yeay! Good luck met de modder van je bike te kuisen… Rather you than me! ^^
Ik lees een beetje mee.
prachtige foto’s Laurens, mooie blog! Succes!
Frans