Riding my Motorcycle to Nordkapp, Norway
Update 71 (September 2024)
Türkiye into Scandinavia
It was time to officially leave the continent of Asia and enter Europe. Although the most western part of Türkiye is actually in the continent of Europe.
Leaving Türkiye and entering Bulgaria was a congested nightmare. Most people were driving through. The problem seemed to be the Bulgaria border being slow to process the large number of people. I began lining up with all the other cars but once I left Türkiye I rode to the front of the line. It was cheating but the Türkiye official encouraged me so I obliged.
I cut in front of a guy in a 4WD. The next minute he is out of his car and walking towards me, and I am thinking the worst. It turns out that he was Australian and his car was from Western Australia. We had a quick friendly chat before it was my turn to be processed into Bulgaria.
As happens on occasions, the Bulgarian border officer was not convinced about my printed motorcycle registration paper. They expect to see a proper officially printed document, not a printout of the electronic PDF file the Australian Government issues. This has happened quite a lot and I have my speech well rehearsed, although I don’t think she really understood me. She went away to confer with a supervisor and they eventually let me through. My worst experience was in Costa Rica, where it took over two hours to convince the officials I was the genuine owner and to let the bike in.
Third party liability insurance is required for all vehicles driven in the European Union. I had been trying to find some before I entered Bulgaria. Finding a company that offers such insurance to a foreigner with a foreign vehicle is difficult. There are websites but they maybe don’t get any favours from the insurance company and with their markup the price becomes excessive. Many EU insurance companies will only deal with you if the motorbike is physically in their country. So it is best to find a local insurance company within the country you are entering. No one asked me about insurance when I entered Bulgaria. And no one asked me in Romania, where for some reason I had to produce all my documentation again, including my International Driving Permit (which never happens to me in reality, maybe just Japan?). And no one has asked me in any other EU or UK country. But of course it all changes if you have an accident.
Fortunately I got the tip about a small business in a caravan just over the Bulgaria border on the outbound side of the road. There I was able to buy 90 days of third party insurance for the motorcycle at around 55 Euro. It seems legitimate and the insurer was part of the Bureau of Bulgarian Motor Insurers. As usual I have not needed to test it yet.
Bulgaria also marked my crossing into Europe’s Schengen Area. This agreement means that as an Australian I can visit the EU area without a visa for 90 days out of the preceding 180 days.
I was meeting someone in England but just had enough time to squeeze in a visit to Scandinavia and the most northern point of Europe at Nordkapp in Norway.
The city of Rzeszów in Poland.
I went through the eastern part of Europe fairly quickly, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. I took a rest from the photo taking, everyone knows what Europe looks like anyway. I picked up a new laptop in Poland when the old one died after a valiant effort at survival. It had been bouncing around on the back of my motorbike for 125,000 kms and was very bruised and battered.
My ferry arriving in Tallinn, Estonia. It was a little over two hours sailing time Tallinn to Helsinki, Finland.
I like Finland. The people were nice and I found some good places to stay for reasonable prices (for Europe). Like all of Scandinavia it seemed busy and I had trouble finding accommodation, so just picked up random single nights and kept moving. I did pass through Rovaniemi and Santa’s house but it was way too busy.
There are many lakes in Finland.
Finland wetland.
A close up of some wetland vegetation.
In Norway now. Sunshine coming through over Porsangerfjorden.
This is my second time into the Arctic Circle now. I had previously ridden up the Dempster Highway in Canada. The Dempster Highway was around 1,800 kms return of unsealed road and wilderness. Norway is quite a different experience. Don’t get me wrong it is a beautiful and worthwhile journey. But it is very touristy and civilised. In fact it is incredible the amount of money that has been spent on the road to the top. This includes the fun North Cape Tunnel which is almost 7 kms long and reaches 212 metres below sea level.
There were many small towns along the Porsangerfjorden.
It was a beautiful afternoon as I rode to my accommodation in Honningsvåg. The air was so clear and clean. The last time I had seen it this good was during my Japan travels.
Fluffy white cottongrass in Norway.
The view looking out my hotel window in Honningsvåg. It was a typical functional town for such an area. Although I gather they do have cruise ships come in also.
I stayed overnight in Honningsvåg and then packed up and rode the 35 kms to Nordkapp. There is a full on tourist facility at Nordkapp. You must pay for parking and can then walk to the Nordkapp Globe marker. There is also an optional display and shop with an entry fee.
This is Knivskjelodden Peninsula which is actually further north than the Nordkapp monument below but you have to hike there. It seems Nordkapp claims to be the most northerly point of Europe that you can drive to. Although it is not the most northerly point of the European mainland, as Nordkapp is on an island. You might also think Greenland as a territory of Denmark would count, but it is actually in the continent of North America….
The Nordkapp globe marker.
I finally had the chance to take a photo of some reindeer. I actually saw an albino reindeer by the side of the road in Finland but the photos didn’t really turn out.
Taking a detour into the town of Skarsvåg.
Nearby Skarsvåg harbour.
I think this was Kamøyvær.
After Nordkapp I began riding down the Norway coastline. The weather started as cold and fine but the forecast was not so friendly for motorcycle riding, less than 4 degrees Celsius and snow over the coming week.
Norway coastline.
After a couple of days I decided to head more inland and cross into Sweden where the weather forecast was more appealing. This is near the border crossing to Sweden.