Norway 2006 [superally]

[hippy]

Norway 2006 The road to Valhalla[Vinstra really]
Well karen and me set off to this years superally at 10.30 am a half an hour late after a frantic rush to get the dogs in kennels and wait for karen to finally finish packing her side of the panniers[women what is it with all this i must take everything with me]
We had arranged to meet up with John and Ann [northwest region]at Durham services on the A1M,well i took the normal route ie M6 and A66 to Scotch corner and then up the A1m to Durham sevices and i'am only 3 mins late John informs me,now Lawnmower Mark had seen my posting about filling up at Durham services and decided to jion us on our little sojourn to Valhalla[i mean Vinstra] so after a relaxed coffee and chat we headed off in the direction of Goerdie land and the Tyne tunnel,we arrive in plenty of time and pickup our tickets,which we had booked through the club scheme[cheers Wurzell]me and john get a sticker on our headlamps with the letter K for Kristiansland on it ,its only when John pionts out that i notice that Lawnmower Mark has a big letter C on his headlamp,now the first thing that springs to mind is has Mark upset our touring rep and is Wurzell getting his own back by sending our Australian loving Paul Hogan look a like [and i mean paul Hogan look a like in the very loosest of terms] off to Australia about 4 months early on a convict ship,no Mark has booked into a commordore class cabin ,i always said that Roadking riders were posh
We all get loaded and everybody aggrees to meet at the Mermaid bar at the stern[now i'am not one for dropping it in that i worked at sea for a while on the worlds largest Dredger and that i'am familiar with all the nautical terminology,but the stern is at the rear of the ship]oh by the way the Dredger was called the Leonoardo de Vinci and it sailed out of Rotterdam and i worked on it for 3 months and i sailed off Barrow in Furness never said i had a great career at sea or that i had seen the world anyway we all meet up at the Mermaid bar and Mark promtly pulls out cans of beer for everbody after empyting his mini bar from his cabin[cheers Mark]We have a chat with some of the other Harley riders on board and wave goodbye to blighty[why do all of us Brits get patriotic as soon as we leave this septic isle or should that be sceptic ]
We head indoors for a meal and then hit the Admiral bar and spend a pleasent evening singing along with the resident guitarist/singer who decides to sing" oh Carol"well i point to Karen and he thinks she's called Carol and starts singing to her ,well she protesting that her names not Carol even as he finishing,well i shout out that she's really called Alice,well you all now whats coming next and it was'nt "who the fuck is Karen" we all had a great night in the company of some crazy Norwegian lads who had just been over to England to buy a Ford Capri.apparently Capri are the Dogs Bollocks arround Norway,me ,Karen ,John and Ann crash out and leave Mark in the company of these crazy singing Norwegians ,its no wonder they never win the Eurovisions song contest as the were crap but good fun
Day 2 to follow

[lawnmower]

u forgot the free beer they bought us and the ensuing arguement between them (who say the 2.8 V6 was the best ) and John who says the 3.0l is better.

[hippy]

I hadn't forgot the beer but i did want to forget the chat about ford capri engines

[hippy]

Day 2 Friday 2nd June
Up early, quick shower and up on deck for a quick weather check[brilliant sunshine] and then head for breakfast £6.70 for as much as you can eat.
Head down to the cardeck for a 9.15am landing in sunny Kristiansand,mine and john bikes are jammed in by 2 bikes that must be going to Gothenberg[me and john cursing the owners of said bikes for turning up late at Newcastle and tying their bikes up right behind ours,we later find out on the return trip that these bikes come from Leeds and their owners got so pissed they missed the landing at kristiansand and ended up going to Sweden ]
Me and john are the last bikes off the ferry ,we clear customs without a hitch and Mark is waiting in the layby just outside the ferry port.We head off on the road to Valhalla,sorry Vinstra on the E18 towards Oslo,our plan was to stop every 120 miles for coffee and petrol,now i know ive said it before but the scenary in Norway is out of this world it truly is a bikers paradise,now maths never was my strong point so we pull in for coffee after 100 miles instead of 120.We keep up a resonable rate of knotts [well by Norwegian standards anyway]you dont want to get stopped for speeding in Norway it can be very painfull on the wallet.
Coffee drank and bikes gassed up ,gassed up god i'am taking this riding a yankie bike far to seriously,next i'will be wearing leather chaps,anyway we're off again our next stop somewhere north of Oslo,we hit Oslo and the Friday afternoon rush hour traffic[we later find out that its also a bankholiday weekend and everybody is heading off for the weekend]is really busy,the E18 takes you through the centre of the capitol and the traffic is stop, go stop,we get caught in a traffic jam in the middle of a tunnel,not right nice,what bit of Oslo i saw looked ok and the harbour looked really nice with all the boats tied up.We hit the E6 and we're on the road that takes us right to Vinstra.We get caught in more traffic on the motorway section of the E6,the traffics at a standstill and the bikes are getting hot,now i dont know if going up the middle of the traffic is legal in Norway and i'am thinking i dont want to get fined by the Norwegion plod but my bikes red hot so decide, fuck it and just go steady through the middle of the traffic.Well everythings going fine when all of a sudden i hear a siren right behind me ,now straight away quick as a flash i think do i go on the defensive with the Norwegian plod and drop that old chestnut"thanks for the christmas tree and dont forget that we Brits liberated Norway or do i go on the attack and give it was your granfather called Quisling"when i look in the mirror and the Lawnmower man sounding his very legal i'am sure police siren. Well follow that man! as the traffic just moves over for Mark .
We stop for more petrol and a brew at a motorway cafe ,there are a few Dutch riders already inside having a coffee,now i know we are getting close to the rally.We set off on the final third of our journey about another 120 to 140 miles to go to the rally.Its getting a little cooler now as we head towards Lillehammer[famous as an olympic village about 70 miles south of Vinstra]just after Lillehammer we hit a cloud burst and pull into a lay by to don waterproofs as John and Ann had been the only ones to have the forsight to dress accordingly.We set off again and low and behold the sun gets out again,now i start to open the bike up and we're overtaking everything,the last couple of miles before Vinstra the local council had decided to plain the road ,whether this was genuine or just a ploy to slow the bikes down for the weekend,it certainly slowed me down.
We arrive in Vinstra at last its been a long hard ride 380 miles in 10 hours,we pull up and pay our entrance fee of £60 each or £120 per couple,we're at the rally now and you can feel the buzz and you know your going to have a great time partying with like minded people.Now where is everybody camped?We have a ride arround and come accross those well known party animals the East coast Harley club who promtly invite us to camp with them,we're just about to erect our tents on a slope when i hear that gruff vioce from down sarf ,its Wurzzel with a "we've saved you a camping space and its on a piece of flat ground ",so we wave goodbye to the East coast mob and move about 50 yds further up.Now by this time ive unloaded my tent,sleeping bags and panniers and ask Wurze to give me a hand and carry my panniers his reply"piss off you northen git"he's obviuosly still pissed off with spending all his money watching his beloved Arsenal lose in the European Cup to help a fellow football supporter,the fact that i like United and they have won the European Cup twice had nothing to do with it] The rally has started let the craic begin ,Frankie the Hammer [big west ham fan]had kept a space fur us along with Duncan they had blocked of a piece of ground for us with their bikes,cheers lads.
After setting up camp , its hit the party! ,we end up getting pissed in the beer hall watching Uriah heep and they were very good,we hit the sack about 2.30 am and its not gone dark yet in fact it started getting lighter
Day 3 to follow

[Driffta]

Great Diary Chris,

I hope the Bike did well for you (I presume you took the Softtail)

Driffta

[hippy]

Colin the the softail ran great
Day 3
Woke up about 8am with the sun already high in the sky and no hangover feeling hungry,left Karen in bed ,no suprise there then and went over and sat with some of the rainy city boys,John and Ann came over and then we set off for our free breakfast,me i get 2 as Karen dont do breakfast,the breakfast was your normal north European breakfast ie bread rolls ,cheese ,meats and marmalade washed down with coffee and a fruit juice and of good quality.
A few of us decided mid morning to go into town and buy a few essentials ie beer oh and food,it only took 10 mins to walk to the shops a sort of small shopping mall,well i had only just walked through the door when i spotted a cafe and promptly sat myself down at a table with 2 elderly Norwegian ladies,with a quick "snakker du Engelsk" "do you speak English "in Norwegian they both look at me with a blank stare,i then ask them if they spoke English and they replied of course,its not so hard to read Norwegian its very much like German but its hard to pronounce[i reckon these Vikings really did come to England in peace but no one could understand a word they said,so they all ended up fighting, each thinking the other lot was ignorant ]anyway i had a chat with these two ladies ,whilst drinking my coffee and eating a doughnut and what a pleasure it was,they said the whole town was looking forward to the superally.
With provisions bought it was back to the rally site get her who must be obeyed up and go and have a look arround the stalls and just chill out,it was while looking arround the stalls that i bump into Harry,the previous evening ,we always seemed to have just missed each other every time i asked anybody if they had seen Harry.Harry said the trip to the rally from Kristiansand had been great and the Wallace had been a great rally,but the weather had been not so good in Scotland,Harry was on a major 2 week tour of Europe going from Holland to Scotland to Norway and then riding home to the club Twente rally back in Holland.
We ended up back at the tents sat with the Rainy city mob talking Bollox and getting pissed on cans whilst huddled arround their campfire,now this weekend was the first time i had met these boys from sunny Manchester but they are a very friendly bunch,we stayed outside till about 9pm and then went to the main party hall ,me ,karen john and ann and ended up stood in the corner with Wurzell ,Duncan,Noddy, Lawnmower,some of the Eastcoast mob and a load of other reprobates from the uk Its at this moment that i would like to thank and confirm that Noddy bought a round and at £3.50 a pint it must of cost him a fortune as he bought pint for everybody sat arround our table and there was a lot of people sat there,Noddy was telling me that he has just bought a panhead,so he must of been celabrating getting it for a good price or he's won the lottery, I did hear a rumour that the 2010 superally is to be held in France at Lourdes,so if we're lucky our trusty touring sec Wurzell might get a round in ,after all Lourdes is famous for miracle's.
It was whilst we we're all having a great time that the 1 incident that spoilt the night ,but only for a short time, a fight took place not 10 feet from where we we're all standing between 2 Belguims i looked arround and there was a lass stood nearby only to see Wurzell,grab hold of her and pull her out of the way[well done that man]
We partied the night away till about 3.30 am and called it a night and it had been a great night ,i staggered back to my tent happy and content and it was still light
Day 4 to follow

[MacHarry]

You are to small I always look over you

Harry

[lawnmower]

on reflection chris you are right that would be a miracle

[hippy]

Day 4 Sunday

Wake up early and hear John talking to Ann about breakfast,Ann's not for getting up so it me and John again for breakfast,well another 2 breakfast for me with as much coffee as you can drink and its back to the tent and chill out.
Although its a bank holiday weekend there are quite a lot of people leaving,i know a lot of the Brits and quite a few Dutch are leaving together as they are heading to Holland and the club Twenty rally.
Its decided to head to the shops in the hope of finding somewhere open for a coffee and maybe something to eat,we find the cafe/hotel and as soon as we walk in i hear a gruff down sarf accent shout "its your round Hippy"its at that point that i was suddenly stuck down with deafness sorry Wurze maybe next time;) We have a bit of banter with Wurzel,Duncan and Mark .
Its back to the rally site as i had promissed to buy Karen a hooded sweatshirt from the shops,well strike me down if i'am not mortified ,the stall that was selling the hooded sweatshirts that Karen wanted had closed ,what a result well it was nearly £50,she settles on some new pants that are a lot cheaper,who said there was'nt a god
We spend the rest of the afternoon back at the tents [shock horror sunbathing ]on a newly founded double air bed that someone had abbandoned,a free for all took place as to who got to lie down on it. Its a this time we find out that Duncan is a Lancashire lad and he says he's only living down sarf to educate the southerners,well a pleasant hour or so is spent giving Wurze loads[fair play to Wurze he takes it well].
I had decided to take it easy in the party tent as i didn't want to be over the limit and to feel rough Monday morning,but the best layed plans and all,went out of the window and i got pissed again in the good company of John.Ann,Hover,wurzel ,duncan and mark ,the East coast mob ,Sid and a few others were also making the most of the last night.The band played till late and me and Karen crashed out in the early hours.
Another superally over ,but not yet the holiday[jion me in the next exciting installment of the road home]as we meander through the fjells and fjords of Norway.
The road home to follow

[lawnmower]

nice one mate its always so much better when someone else writes about it and i can just nod along ;)