I took the drone out of the bag for a view of a fjord in Aurland. It’s not the best weather for it, there are more clouds then wanted to make the colors come out better. Look for my capture of footage on the youtube channel.
So to see how far we have gone on fuel consumption and costs now, I’ve made a little summary post which I will be updating with numbers from time to time.
12th July 8 days in
2353 kms driven from departure
307 liters of diesel burned
€719 spent on diesel
Fuel efficiency 1l diesel to 7,94 kms
€0,30 to the km on costs
Estimated end total €2145
That is a big drop from my original estimates making this adventure all the more pleasurable.
Started at 06:00 today by being woken by a large windturbine starting up again some 50 meters away. So I didn’t need to set my alarm clock after all. Thankfully the area had public toilets and was very clean. A nice walk with the boys on the beach to give them some play opportunity. Seawinds and the smell of sand always helps in the morning to wake the brain. Lots of marsh birds around to a nice morning cheer from them when they panic seeing the dogs pass by and try to alert their little neighbors.
After some breakfast I got ready for the check-in and was lined up long enough to even make some coffee when waiting in line. The dogs were sleeping and having some chill time. Which is now good cause they will have to stay in the car for two hours when we cross over. I’ve planned to have some music playing during the trip and the car will be well vented. So they should be okay after the last walk we just did.
Boarding the ferry went smooth. Took a waiting period where I made some coffee and had the boys out for the last walk before boarding. 12:15 is the estimated arrival time so the trip only takes 2 hours and 15 minutes on the fast Fjordline. The trip was ordered with Lounge including a meal so it was time to scare away the queue at the buffet. The food was enjoyable enough and the luxury of a sleeping chair to take a nap on the way is was welcome.
Clearing customs was smooth and coming in was good enough with the dogs cleared. No check otherwise by customs so all good to go and away we were.
I had a bit of struggles at the start. Driving in an unfamiliar country for the first time present a challenge on reading the road signs and how people drive. Then i was somewhat surprised by the angle upwards some of the public main roads. Trucks in the rearview mirrors pushing, help with the excitement. Then on top off that one of the brakes decided to add weer with a little drag causing the engine to do some extra work. After a half hour and two buckets of water over the wheel, convinced the brake to give up it’s objections and it decided to play along.
First road was the E36 to get out of dodge (Kristiansund) and away from the busy traffic. Then after an hour or so i got to experience the wonderful RV44 southern coastal road. One word was invented for this road: miraculous. Lakes, rock formations, dams, estuaries, waterfalls an coastal villages. It was a wonder to ride and i can truly highly recommend the route. If this is a first introduction of Norway, then I wonder what else is jn store for this adventure.
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.