December 31, 2010 -

Just to clarify - Rudolf and his family are all Reindeer...!

December 30, 2010 -

Since this is the only road leading up to the North Cape plateu, its i bit of a given. But I thought Id put it in here with a few pointers.

The scenery up on Mageroya is some of the most breathtaking youll come across in northern Norway. The route up to the North Cape Hall will have you grinning from ear to ear - believe me! I worked up there and skipped staff transport and went with the bike every day possible!

The road itself is generally kept in good nick, but keep an eye out for gravel dragged into the road by all the buses and campervans that go up there. The campervans are mostly German and French rentals - meaning the driver is next to clueless about how to drive it. Overtake ONLY when you e absolutely sure theyve seen you. Ive gone past campervans where the driver is either gawking out the side window or even on a few occasions FILMING whilst driving (!!?)
The local bus-drivers, on the other hand, are mostly very understanding of our wish to go a bit faster than them and will let you pass when theyve got a clear stretch of road.

The most of the traffic comes during the high season from mid-June until mid-august, so if you e in it for the ride, Id stay clear of these times.

One thing that you should keep a sharp eye on is some of the biggest roadkill in Northern Europe: Rudolf and his (huge) family, that roam the whole of Mageroya during the summer. These guys travel in packs and don think twice about camping in the middle of the road if they feel like it. A collision will most likely hurt bigtime..!

The lokal policeforce is very small, and Ive very rarely seen them doing speed-checks up to the plateu. But twice during my time up the Higway Police (UtrykningsPolitiet) did laser-checks in both directions where the long stretches on the first plateu are. The fines that are imposed on speeders in Norway can have your holiday utterly destroyed - fines climbing past 700£ if youve been bad will have you crying all the way to the bank... If you want a bit of reassurance, just ask some of the locals - they are normally quite updated on anything that goes on in the community.

After you e done with the visitors centre and taking all those photos of the Globe, enjoy the ride down again and take a detour to Gjesvaer. Not so much a quick riding road, but beautiful scenery. Also the bird safari that leaves from here is something you shouldn miss whilst being this far north.

The journey up the Norwegian coast is a lifetime experience - enjoy!