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Things that keep me busy so far… getting my spare tire fixed again now in a little town called Gluckstadt. Crossing the Elbe on the ferry isn’t cheap, a total of €12 for a 15 minute crossing surely pays for itself. The view was nice though with sun shimmering over the water as we crossed over.

I was a little concerned about the service battery. It wasn’t getting any charge and so I couldn’t turn the cooler on. I peeked under the hood when we crossed the Elbe and found a loose wire. It was quickly fixed by replacing the connector and reattaching the wire. Started the engine and waited 20 seconds. Yes…full charge again. Turned up the cooler and ready am feeling it getting colder.

The boys got their last vet check and the last groceries were stuffed in the coolbox. A last round to check the house and switching off the unneeded electrics. At around 13:30 the trip has started with a glorious warm weather ahead the coming days. For now its slowboating towards Groningen to catch some diesel and make progress to Bremen Germany. Mascot Scotti stuffed with cuddles from my little girl leads the way. So far so good with very light traffic.

As we moved on some 50 kilometers further, the first bump hit us. We got a flat tire on the right rear. Thankfully it’s a rear tire and I stopped immediately so no damages done other then the tire. Breaking out the wrench, removing the spare tire. Lifting the car and putting things back in place in all only took 30 minutes. The cause was a shift in the pas if the inner tube to the outer tube causing tension on the inflation valve. It was allready an issue coming up so it was not a big surprise. Tomorrow morning im gonna have the replacement inner tube I brought installed to have a ready spare again and check the pressure of the replaced spare now on the wheel.

A nice surprise was the actual fuel consumption on the engine. I was under the impression that it would be using 1 liter of Diesel for 5,5 kilometers. I noticed my count on the speedometer wasn’t actually noting the right numbers and i was doing kore kilometers to the liter. It surprised me with an average of 1 liter to 9 kilometers which is a major benefit looking at the long fuel estimates. It will safe me 1/3 of the estimate fuel price which is a near €1000 on the budget. Very happy with that.

The overnight for the day is in a little coastal town called Nordenham just before Bremenhaven Germany. We arrived at a little harbor point where another car was gonna spend the night. Its not the coolest spot yet but after some food, some coffee and a little walk we crawled into the car and slept by eleven.

The date is now rubber stamped, the last preparations are arranged and the passage from Denmark to Norway has been booked.

Monday 4th of July I will be starting Hermes for it’s long and hopefully flawless journey to Norway. It will have to cover some 7000 Kilometers over a period of 6 weeks passing Fjords, Villages, Stream, Waterfalls, Nature Parks and hopefully giving way to some local widlife like reindeer, Moose, possibly wolf and lots of birds of prey and other wild life. Word is that otters and other animals are no exception either, so I’ll keep a sharp eye with a camera at hand to shoot what i can find on Digital Cards.

You can have an overview of the trip planned on the Myrouteapp site. I will attempt to have the track log updated as much as I can and send updates tought there as well.

Spare parts are in the top bunk, gear and additional helping tools are stored as well. Mechanically Hermes is now fully set and may only need some adjusting on the brake balances underway. The last things I have done recently was replacing the spring leaves with parabolic springs with new shockers on the front end. Last test rides make it a very smooth and comfy companion to have on a trip like this, so i am very happy as to how it now rides.

I do have one concern that is possibly makeing me need to cut the trip short and thats Fuel consumption and pricing. The old boy uses quite a bit of fuel when running only rewarding me 5 to 6 kilometers per liter. In it sefl that shoudl not be mch f an issue as this is an old-timer and could be expected. I did work on the consumption by reducing lag in the drive train and on the brakes. adding the wight of the cargo to it results in that consumption rate.

The second part of the concern is the fuel pricing levels in Norway. Norway in itself is not a cheap country to start with and one would say that it generates the fuel itself. Yes it does, however it rewards the profits back to the populous back by an incredibly well settled pension plan for Norwegians. This results in expensive fuel prices ranging at this time form €2,20 to €2,70 per liter of Diesel. Taking that into account and the consumption the result is a staggering €3200 on average on fuel for the entire trip not including ferryes and tolls. If the prices go up or the consumption is not in favor, this amount will rise quickly to a point where I will have to decide to make a turn back cutting some parts of the trip out. I allready have a plan B available but prefer of cours to not have to use that.

During the trip I will attempt to make a report of my venture with a Full frame Camera, my Drone and a Vlog camera to see if i can keep you updated on the events we will experience. Keep looking at this site and I wil regularly send links here to my Youtube Channel where the publishing of my videos will take place. See my video about the prepared vehicle Hermes here.

Will there be some issues? Of course there will be! That’s part of travel and the adventure of wild camping in Norway. Getting that full experience is part of the entire intent of off-setting one’s mind from the current reality to a new experience. It s only to be lived and learn form it again. As many many Landrover drivers state..

One Life, Live it…

Because I will most likely be putting the storage box on the front end of the roofrack, I will be using the bonnet more as my needed stand for loading and unloading equipment. Now to make sure im spreading the weight and not damaging the bonnet, I cut an aluminum plate in shape and added it to the bonnet.

Today I considered the amount of fuel Hermes will be using to bring me around the 6500 +kms on the Norway trip. Is a little stagering that i will be burning up to 700 liters of diesel. Thats is quite the amount.

Now when I then consider the 38 liter tank and the distances on a day, i wanted to make sure I can at least do 450 kms a say on one tanking. Yes the numbers wont add up on just the fuel tank. So i had to add another 20 liters to the current measurement.

The result adding a 20 liter lockable Jerrycan to the back. so I was iff to the local suppoier for some nuts and bolts. I allready had the Jerrycan and the accompanying bracket. Drill at the ready and pushing through the outer shell. The bolting the bracket with anti leak washers. Result is nice and solid see picture.

Yes it did happen today. My first Drone launch.

Had to get my first exams on Drone theory was completed the morning and in the afternoon I launched the first time on a local spot nearby. Once I had the Drone back down and downloaded the footage some more juggling took place to get the first publication launched and published on my new Youtube channel. (Subscribe please)

So far the link to the first launch is private and can only be shared by me to others or accesed through this blog. so here ya go on the first Launch. https://youtu.be/6wozBzGWk7k

Hello welcome to my renewed site. it was about time I started sending more of my presence into the digital world again. For now the site will mainly be aimed for use of my 2022 Norwegian trip.

Keep checking in on preparation updated which will follow…

I later added some more checker plating and some rubber padding.