Day 7 - 05/07/2013

Day 7 Nordkapp to Tromso. 2656 miles from home 355 miles + 2 ferries today. Leaving the world's most northerly campsite (of which we think is one of the best we've stayed in, due to the beautiful scenery, good facilities and suprisingly good weather), we left Nordkapp and headed Southward. The views simply got better and better as we kept riding, with the fjords beyond Alta being some of the most stunning views of the day and possibly the trip so far. Despite now truly feeling the bites of previous mosquito encounters, we pushed on toward Tromso grabbing two more hotdogs, some pictures and two ferries as we kept going South. The weather was suprisingly very pleasant in Nordkapp and near Alta- but it seems that our run of luck with perfect weather has finally come to a stop, with showers of rain making life miserable at times as we headed towards and into Tromso. Overall, today was another long, hard day, but we can say we are making progress back South from the top of Norway. The roads are superb but on a bike it's best to ignore speed limits and enjoy the bends. Only seen one po-lice car so far so some speeding should be OK. Lots of reindeer on the road though - they are fearless which probably explains the speed limits. Still looking out for Elk - seen the signs but no sightings. Tromso (Paris of the North) looks more like Slough. Will check it out properly tomorrow if the weather holds out. Overall: Mosquito Aggressiveness: 6/10 Ass Pain Rating: 7/10 Hot Dog Tally: 14

Day 6 - 04/07/2013

Day 6 Kolari, Finland to Nordkapp and the world's most Northernly camp site. About 2316 miles from home. About 400 miles done today. Yep we made it! Brilliant day of riding today on small roads, as we sped through Finland and into Norway. Within 50 miles inside Norway the landscape transformed - like Scotland now but way bigger and more stunning. The weather held out for most of the day but we caught a shower and now it's cooler than before (esp. in the tunnels). Went past Santa Land in Finland and have seen lots of reindeer on the road. Norway is a very special place. Tomorrow, we go to Hammerfest (most Northerly city) and hit West coast biking roads. We did well today - proud that Konrad survived it. Hopefully it will be downhill now (we are now turning South). Overall: Mosquito Aggressiveness: 8/10 (was 10 at Finnish Border) Ass Pain Rating: 7/10

Day 5 - 03/07/2013

Day 5 Docksta to Kolari, Finland. About 1916 miles from home. 412 miles done today. Another day of long riding, but this time on smaller roads, as we headed out of Sweden and into Finland. After quickly finding out about the effects of a very early sunrise (as a result of the higher lattitude in northern Scandinvia), we set out towards the north again, passing Umea among other small towns as we stayed on the now less boring A-roads of Sweden. The weather held out for us with it being very warm and pleasant as we approached the top of the Gulf of Bothnia. However, today's highlight was passing the Arctic Circle and the smaller roads that we chose to take towards the end of the day providing some respite for the long day we had. We crossed over into Finland at the end of the day, finding a nice campsite by a large river - the downside being it is infested with mosquitos. Had a minor panic as we couldn't find a cash point to get Euros out (German ones were all bust) and then the Finnish machine said my PIN was incorrect and rejected my pre-loaded Euro card. Luckily I have another Global pre-pay card so we used that. Finland is odd. People display no emotion and are straight to the point - a bit like us. Tomorrow, we should make it to Norway, Nordkapp, and possibly Hammerfest but the roads are much slower now. 23:00 and still bright daylight! Thank God for Virgin Atlantic blind-folds! Overall: Mosquito Aggressiveness: 9/10 Ass Pain Rating: 8/10 Hot Dog Tally: 12 (each)

Day 4 - 02/07/2013

Day 4 Nr. Stockholm to nr. Docksta - Gulf of Bothnia. About 1505 miles from home. Today was another long day of riding through Sweden, and it's varying scenery. After leaving our campsite south of Stockholm at approximately 11am, we made some progress to the capital itself where we simply rode through parts of the city in our whistle-stop tour of the city itself combining elements of what we saw in Copenhagen previously with lots of waterways, grand old buildings and modern buisiness districts making Stockholm a very intresting place indeed. Following this, we simply rode on passing yet not visiting Uppsalla and Gavle which were along the usual boring motorway route, with the roads between the two mostly a blur and passing reletively quickly. However, as the motorway network past Gavle ended, and half-dual carridgeway roads, half A-Roads began, the surroudings got nicer and nicer, with small sections of coastal/lakeside roads along with occasional hills and bridges at least killing the boredom we've experienced previously. The slower pace of the roads we have to take towards the north will in future make it trickier to make substantial progress. Tomorrow we head past the Arctic Circle, and head out of Sweden into Finland, where I hear it's awash with mosquitos aplenty- which doesn't make it seem pleasant bearing in mind we are camping throught our trip. Today wasn't anything spectacular- but it at least puts us closer to Nodkapp. Weather great. Ass Pain Rating: 7.5/10

Day 3 - 01/07/2013

Day 3 Copenhagen to nr. Stockholm. About 1150 miles from home (180 on day 1). Very long day (450 miles or so) - got up early but didn't leave the campsite until 9.30 (breakfast / general faffing about). Weather improved as we headed North but again I got really sleepy and had to stop a lot. We popped into Copenhagen far a flying visit. Had some nice croissants but didn't hang around too long. It's a nice city (looked like Warsaw in places) but was good to get out of the busy city and back on the road. Took the Oresund tunnel/bridge over to Sweden. Amazing feat of engineering - worth the 20 odd quid. Luckily the TomTom came to life after a good drying in a Dyson Airblade. Sweden is amazingly like Northern Poland so far. Motorways are dull but a necessary evil - we managed near 450 miles today but it was tiring. We've got a taste for the petrol station hot dogs - they are good and not mentally priced. Popped into Linkoping to get some money from the cashpoint. Nice city but roadworks everywhere (like Coprmhagen). Limited rough camping opportunities as everything is fenced-off but now holed-up in a quiet campsite about 30 miles South of Stockholm by the Baltic Sea (somewhere near Sodertalje). Lovely setting but the mosquitos are biting and rubbish Jungle Formula not working. Tomorrow 100% DEET. Just had Supernoodles with Stewed Steak for supper and we're off to bed. Long day. Ass pain level 8 out of 10.

Day 2 - 30/06/2013

Day 2 Hook of Holland to Rodby / Copenhagen. 672.5 miles from home (180 on day 1). Long day - rudely awakened by Bobby McFerrin's 'Don't worry be happy' at 6.30am. Hit the road and immediately got very sleepy. Stopped every 80 miles or so to start with as I couldn't keep my eyes opened. As we got closer to Puttgarden, the weather turned for the worse and we got a bit of a soaking... as did my TomTom. The ferry to Rodby was very efficient and we were in Denmark 45 mins later. Weather here is windy but dry so far. Rode on towards Copenhagen and now holed-up in a quiet campsite about 40 miles South of Copenhagen. Supernoodles with meatballs for supper and we're off to bed. Long day. Ass pain level 7 out of 10.

We made it to Harwich