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bpman

Member Since: 21 May 2008
Location: Oslo
Posts: 8069

2008 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 SVX Station Wagon Santorini Black

We are back safe and sound, 90gb of photos and 4gb of HD video. An interesting trip, there seems to be a lot of myth about what is essentially a road trip.

Norway is a l o n g thin country, we drove about 6000kms over the 2 weeks and over 5000kms on ice/snow untreated roads. The main E6 road, compares pretty much to an average "A" road in this country, with a little dual carriageways but not a lot. Mobile coverage pretty much 100%, even in tunnels. There is one E6 ferry (£13 inc car, 25 mins.) No need for fuel cans, fuel stations about every 20-30 miles. Diesel is cheaper in Norway than the UK.

Tyres:
- The roads are covered in ice / snow, some of it is graded, some areas grit, but you would not want to walk on it

- We ran on cooper snow/m&s tyres and took studs and chains just in case. Phoenix90 kindly let me know about road conditions further up and how his tyres (same coopers) were behaving. The coopers have holes for studs to be inserted and I have a special stud tool and drill to install them, it would have taken about 1 hour per tyre. Chains can be fitted in about 5 mins per wheel once you have practised it (with gloves on)

The ICE defender:

- No issues with the truck at all … ABS traction light flashed occasionally on roundabouts.
- Siliconed the door rubbers so they opened.
- We did not lock the fuel cap and has a defendoor (given to me by a forum sponsor) which kept the muck out of the filler recess
- The webasto engine heater … wow, set the timer and ping, bang on time, it starts up, warms the engine and cabin.. #1 recommendation for an arctic trip. (supplied by Derrick @ LRS)
- Twin Odyssey batteries and bluesea controller, no problems – just worked.
- The rigid industry light bar was awesome, there's so little traffic it could be used for longer periods without causing a problem, I was a little worries about the snow glare but it was fine.
- The dually D2s like Boodes worked well in the heavy snow.
- I insulated the foot wells and under the battery box. The tdci's heater is fantastic, even when it was -32c outside, it was toasty inside and we did not need to wear any outdoor jackets when driving. VW wiper mod was used alot when we had the light snow and the heated front screen on – the joys of XS spec defender! (We did not use the heated seats after the initial morning warm up)

Tent:
- We took the maggiolina roof tent and slept in it twice, the rest of the time we stayed in cabins and hotels. There's 1000's of campsites in Norway and are pretty easy to book because the Norwegian's speak good english. The hotels we stayed in were very nice too.

- The maggiolina tent was perfect, I insulated it under the mattress and also added a couple of reindeer skins on top of the mattress. the tundra pure&dry -40C rated sleeping bags recommended by Ian Wooley at Mudrut worked maybe too well, we slept in the arctic circle, it was -17/18C on the coldest night, and with the side door up gave us a fantastic view of the aurora both nights. We did not get cold, however waking up to frosted specs was a surprise on the first of the camps.

Other:
- I had a ali roof box designed by ZenOverland, this houses a eberspacher air heater, this decided not to work on initial testing in Norway but after a little tweaking, it started to work again. This is a diesel powered air heater, i have a 80mm air hose piping the warm air into the tent essential for changing for bed - central heating for my tent.

- TBH, Nordkapp ... there's not much there, but we did it along with 3 coaches full of Japanese tourists, a team of vehicle testers from VW and a woman in a nissan micra. I am planning on returning to Norway next year but travelling 5-6 hours up country and then heading over towards Sweden.

I am still working through the photos and videos but will put some up when done

21st Feb 2013 8:08am

sparkylee

Member Since: 06 Nov 2010
Location: surrey
Posts: 1455

2012 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 DCPU Santorini Black

Great write up

It's good to be back from the dark side

DC110 -2012 Black with black hood and black x-tech
FFRR 4.2 vogue
Renault traffic auto
PT crusier convertible
Laika x700 Motorhome

21st Feb 2013 8:32am

CR

Member Since: 28 Jan 2010
Location: Ireland
Posts: 947

2011 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 CSW Santorini Black

Looking forward to the photos, sounds good no drama

21st Feb 2013 8:57am

bpman

Member Since: 21 May 2008
Location: Oslo
Posts: 8069

CR - yes, no issues. We even ate out on a few nights. The trip is what you make it, it does not have to be camping and camp food, it would just as easy to drive hotel to hotel.

21st Feb 2013 9:01am

markalpha

Member Since: 23 Apr 2008
Location: Downham Market
Posts: 690

2013 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 XS CSW Santorini Black

One day...one day. Glad your trip went well. Cant wait to see some pics. We made the right call not to go. The dogs are performing extremely well this winter.

21st Feb 2013 10:05am

GUM97

Member Since: 05 Feb 2012
Location: Cheshire
Posts: 3555

1997 Defender 90 300 Tdi HT Stornoway Grey

Sounds like a great trip was had by all

An engine to TDi for!
"Land Rover- Proudly turning drivers into mechanics since 1948"

21st Feb 2013 11:13am

TJ101

Member Since: 30 May 2007
Location: Taunton Somerset
Posts: 3750

2015 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 XS CSW Montalcino Red

bpman wrote:
t does not have to be camping and camp food, it would just as easy to drive hotel to hotel.

Now that sound better !!!

California F1, 75th 110 "Kermit", 50th Ann V8, 90 V8 Hybrid, 55 Series 1

Main Brian James Trailer Dealer for South West UK

21st Feb 2013 1:30pm

boode

Member Since: 11 Apr 2012
Location: Devon
Posts: 434

Glad you had a good trip Steve - will look forward to seeing some of the photos
It is as you say - basically a road trip - especially if you stick to the E6, but it can still be an extream environmment and should be treated with respect.
You did a lot of research and took a lot of advice from poeple who had been before, so you were well prepared.

bpman wrote:
No need for fuel cans, fuel stations about every 20-30 miles.

I would dissagree with not taking spare fuel - We came across garages with no fuel and during the blizzard all communitations were down so we could not purchase fuel. If you were to run out of fuel your nice warm Tdci and its webasto would soon freeze - as would you inside. You do not know the conditions untill you are there and spare fuel could save your life - safety rant over.

Steve did you use the electric blanket or were the reindeer skins (which I would highly recommend for all camping trips) and the Tundra bags warm enough ? and would a roof tent have been warm enough without the Eberspacher providing warm air ?

PS please do not post any Good pictures as it will only make me want to go back .

21st Feb 2013 5:53pm

bpman

Member Since: 21 May 2008
Location: Oslo
Posts: 8069

hi Boode

like you say, we did research the trip and took lots of advice, we kept a lot of NOKs hidden, as we remembered the fuel station card machines have been known to fail with communication problems. we kept 1 gallon for the air heater. we kept the truck fuel tank 1/2 full or more all the time.

we did not get the electric blanket out of the packaging, we were fine with the additional under mattress insulation, the reindeer skins and the P&D tundra bags. The eberspacher air heater had a moment but I found the problem and it was great having warm/hot air blown into the maggiolina at the press of a button.

photos to follow ... still working thru them

and thanks Gavin for all you advice and help with the preparation .. as I said, we're going back but not venturing as far north next time, we found an area we would like to explore a lot more.

21st Feb 2013 6:56pm

GREENI

Member Since: 22 Aug 2010
Location: staffs
Posts: 10383

Looking forward to the pictures.

21st Feb 2013 7:06pm

bpman

Member Since: 21 May 2008
Location: Oslo
Posts: 8069

here's 3 for starters ...

crossing the arctic circle

Click image to enlarge

landscape

Click image to enlarge

the road to Nordkapp

Click image to enlarge

21st Feb 2013 8:14pm

Luismi

Member Since: 04 Nov 2010
Location: Cotswolds
Posts: 178

I think this is going to be tough, see all those fantastic pictures.

21st Feb 2013 11:07pm

GREENI

Member Since: 22 Aug 2010
Location: staffs
Posts: 10383

Luis, you'll be heading North, not South, later in the year!

Great shots, I'm trying figure out how the fishing boat works!

22nd Feb 2013 7:31am

Landlord

Member Since: 27 Oct 2009
Location: Hampshire
Posts: 582

Salmon Farm, I think, saw a couple on the way up. 2007 TD5 90 Hard Top

22nd Feb 2013 11:39pm

me@td5.org

Member Since: 16 Jan 2011
Location: Warwick
Posts: 856

BP Man, what are the orange lights, are they some sort of position markers? Are they a requirement in Norway?

23rd Feb 2013 10:47am

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