Leg 1: On the 24th August 2000, mid-afternoon, I finished packing the car and set off for Dun Laoghaire where I had to pick up a passenger before catching the late ferry to Holyhead. The trip across the Irish Sea was uneventful, and hardly worth mentioning.
Leg 2: We arrived in Holyhead shortly before midnight, checked our maps and set off for Newcastle [Google map]. This was the most dangerous leg of our journey as during the six hour trip I just couldn’t stay awake and almost veered off the roads umpteen times.
We arrived at the harbour in Newcastle at about six am and tried to get some kip. After just a few hours of shut-eye we went into Tynemouth for some grub and a look around.
Leg 3: We caught the ferry at three pm bound for Gothenburg via Kristiansand. It was a long trip, about twenty-six hours. Of course the sensible thing for me to do would have been to get some rest for the next leg of the journey, but no, I ended up on the piss with a truck driver from NI, a Swedish girl and her Norwegian boyfriend. I don’t remember going to bed but at least I woke up in the right cabin. We arrived in Gothenburg at six pm. Customs officers were stopping all British cars coming through but waved us on.
Leg 4: Next stage was to head for Stockholm which was a little over 300 miles. We made it in six hours or so, including petrol stops, piss & burger breaks. We arrived at some ferry terminal just after midnight, I suspect that it wasn’t the right terminal, or even close, but it mattered not as we decided to keep driving.
Leg 5: Sweden & Finland are joined at the shoulder so we said we’d see if we could make it to Tornio (Finnish city near the Swedish border) in a reasonable amount of time. After just a few hours of driving we opted for plan B, head to the town of Umeå (only about half way to Tornio but still around six hours of driving) and take a ferry for Finland. The east coast of Sweden is gorgeous, btw, and I recommend visiting at some stage. We had one seriously scary moment on the trip though, we were heading down a hill, admiring the scenery when in an instant every window on the car went completely white, as if someone had thrown a can of paint over the car. It was a temperature drop which caused it, and it certainly scared the bejaysus out of us.
We arrived in Umeå at about seven am and tried to get a couple of hours sleep before the terminal opened. We then got our tickets but had a few hours to wait for the ferry so went in to Umeå town for a look around, which didn’t take long!
Leg 6: The ferry to Vaasa took five hours, if I remember correctly, and this was where I dropped off my passenger who had plans to head north to Lapland while I had to head east.
Leg 7: I crossed Finland in six hours, completing the last leg of the journey in the wee hours of the morning.
This night, five years ago, I first arrived in Finland to start a new adventure.
Sounded like an exciting trip!
Why did U go to Finland in the first place?
For a wee blonde with blue eyes … and I don’t mean Mika Hakkinen!
And how did you cope with that absurd language?
When you arrived back then, did you see yourself still being there five years later?
Antonio
I just cover my ears.
Gerry
I thought 2 at the max. Easy place to settle though. And with a grand job and nice apartment it’s hard to leave.
Did U find it hard to learn Finnish (with your hands over your ears)?
Would the wife ever want to move to Eire w/ ya?
Very hard, but I was just too lazy to learn it, that’s my problem. It’s a language you really need to work at to learn as the grammar totally sucks.
She (fiancé, we didn’t actually do the deed yet, even though I call her ‘the missus’) would move in a heartbeat.
Talk about taking the long way round! Still, there’s nothing like a long road trip to give you that sense of adventure.
I was offered a free trip to Suomi from Co. Down via haulage truck to Germany, Sweden and across the sea to Kokkola. Sadly, it fell through at the last minute – but I’d give it another go if I had time to speare.
I’d recommend it Deaglan!
The mistake we made though, was going hell for leather the entire time. Better to take your time and enjoy the trip.
We took a road trip a couple of years ago, from Lahti to Kuhmo in the east, then to Ivalo, on to Nordkapp in Norway, then Lakselv & Alta, then Rovaniemi, then back to Kuhmo. Took us a week, lots of driving but amazing trip. The scenery right across north scandanavia is fantastic. Such a trip should be in everyones top 5 of ‘things to do before you die’.
Here’s a map of the trip:
