Day 119 | Problems in the middle of nowhere

Day 119 | Monday July 11

This night in the Fru Haugans Hotel did me really well, and the breakfast even more! A wide variety of Norwegian bread was waiting for me, perfect! I felt completely recharged this morning and the car was too.

I had a plugger 260km away from me in Glomfjord and I was not sure if I could make that especially because google maps told me it was a 5.5 hour drive. I contacted my possible host yesterday and asked him if it would be possible to stay there IF I would make it. In the morning I didn’t had a reply yet so I just started driving.

Driving in Northern Norway is so beautiful, I was amazed that it is so different from the southern part. It is really the country side and it feels a bit like driving through the Australian Outback. Next to the lake you will find many small cabins, lodges and piers. On the route I had to take 3 ferries, free for electric cars of course. On the second one I got recognized by someone, he had seen me on Facebook. This was the first time ever that I got recognized, starting to get a little bit famous 😉 It was just a short talk as we had to embark the ferry but on the third ferry I saw him again and showed him the car. He told me he was a salesman in electric cars so I was sure he was interested.

While waiting for the last ferry I received a call from my host, Vidar. He told me that he wanted to go to his parents in Brevik which was actually just 20 minutes passed the ferry. That was perfect for me as I was sure I could make that.

When I drove of the ferry some problems appeared. The car made a emergency signal and I couldn’t drive faster than 20km/h. I did not know where the problem came from, there was no sign on the dashboard. After I turned the car off a couple of times it seemed to be ok.
Right in front of the house of Vidar’s parents the problem re-appeared. I left the car on the street and introduced myself to the father of Vidar, a friendly man who explained about where the polar cirkel exactly was. Apparently I crossed the circle when I was on the ferry. His house was located on a hill with a view over the lake and mountains. I believe I have used this sentence a couple of times before but this was time it was really jaw-dropping. I took my camera and went for a walk over the shore.

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Around 6 Vidar himself arrived, he is a 38 year old man who still enjoys coming here where he grow up. He works for a hydrogen water company and has a background as electrician. I was lucky with that because he knew a lot about electric cars. I showed him some specs and drawings from the car and he understood the most parts. I still don’t. Sadly we couldn’t find what the problem of the car was. I had to make some phone call with the mechanic in Holland. He thought it was a problem with the optical wires. Which is a big problem as the are in the battery pack and almost impossible to replace. To be continued…

Pictures of today

Day 118 | Adventures in North Norway

Day 118 | Sunday July 10

My host Jarri has many jobs. He works as a tour guide, runs this B&B where I stayed, is a father and works on a few farms. He helps farmers while they are away. We walked to one of these farms nearby. It was a funny sight to see him in his big boots carrying his baby in a harnas while feeding cows. In Holland we got many cows but I realized that this was the first time that I got really close to them. They are a bit afraid when you approach them but when you stay calm and relaxed they come to inspect you, and start licking your pants.

When we finished feeding the cows we crawled under the fence and unfortunately by pants teared out. Now I got just 2 jeans left but I’m sure I can fix theme somewhere.

Jarri invited me to stay for another night and watch the Euro final tonight, a tempting offer but as I travelled through Norway slowly and still have to do a long way I decided to keep going. I am very grateful to Irena and Jarri that they where so welcoming and took care of me! I hope there new B&B Snåsa will get the succes it deserves.

I continued my way and didn’t know where I would end up today as I was still on the no-plan plan. I passed the Nord-Norge mark, the sign which is the ‘border’ to the North Norway province. When I had 20% battery left I passed a tiny village called Trofors. Quickly I found a normal charge point which I could open with the key I received from elbil.no. After a while a man came to me and said it was not allowed to charge here so I had to move somewhere else. At a gasstation nearby I could continue. As the village was really tiny and a bigger city was just 40 kilometers away I decided to go there.

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Around 8pm I got to Mosjøen, a city surrounded by mountains. As my experience yesterday with the B&B was so good I decided to try my luck at a hotel. Fru Haugans Hotel was the first one I saw and I walked in there and asked the receptionist if they could plug me in. He made a phone call with his boss and they were ok with it! So great that everyone is so eager to help me. The hotel was very modern and cosy and the room they gave me had everything I needed, including free wi-fi and a huge television.

The final of the Euro was at 9 and in the bar were some people watching it so I joined them. Finals of championships are mostly boring because both teams play very safe but this one was way beyond boring. It was so bad that I finished this blog already in the first half. I was supporting France as I don’t feel much for Portugal, especially after that terrible semi-final in 2004. Still I felt bad for Ronaldo when he got injured, a dedicated sportsman like him deserved to play the full game.

So congrats to Portugal but it was a good decision from Holland to skip this tournament as the quality of the games was low this year. That’s why we only do world cups 😉

Pictures of today