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Arctic Explorer on 21 hp - A lifetime experience by Ansgar Olberding
Arctic Explorer on 21 hp - A lifetime experience by Ansgar OlberdingA promise is a promise! I learnt this since years and I always do my best to keep my promises. Just like the motto "A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do". It sounds quite like a macho talk, right? Anyway, I'm writing this, as a few years ago when I was 30 years old, I promised myself: When you'll be 50 years old, at the latest, you should have explored the Arctic in a vintage vehicle!
It was good that I made this promise early enough thus I had some years time to postpone this voyage to the next year. Such were things for years! I did postpone it to the next year and again to the year after. While time passed by and I kept on postponing the trip, I noticed that in two years, I would turn 50 yrs old.
So, I needed to start the plans for the super trip!
You surely know how that happens! Each time you plan to do something, there is always a situation popping up suddenly, avoiding you to do things as scheduled. I'm still young in my mind so I thought that I could easily do this trip in a
caravan or something similar.
As luck would have it, few days later I saw an H-Van for sale. It could be just a fortunate coincidence as if someone wanted things to be accomplished. I did not hesitate for long. I bought the H-Van, maintained it and prepared it for the exploring tour. That was the easiest part!...the most diffi cult one was to convince my dearest wife to accompany me on this tour in such condition. I had to bring forward all arguments that the H-Van is the ONE & ONLY appropriate vehicle
for the Arctic. We could make a break whenever we wish to and overnight in the van anywhere we want to.
My wife knows me for decades and tolerates often lots of my bugs but as I narrated her my project, her prompt reply was just "NO! We are no more 30 yrs old and I'm not keen to spend nights in a
camping vehicle!"
After all, she was absolutely right. Taking into consideration the status of my spinal disc, I should say that it would not be the right decision. At that moment, I saw all my projects
and dreams getting evaporated into Nirvana. And suddenly, she came back with the wonderful idea,"Why don't we take the 2CV and at each stage of the route, we could stay overnight in hotels?” I was just about to give her a big kiss when I imagined this route in a 21hp 2CV??!! Mountains
and 3000km? Two adults and some luggage on it? Sounds very brave. I would have never come to this idea, specially for that region... but anyway why not. I better not say anything about my concerns otherwise she might change her mind quickly.
I've been once in Norway so I know how the streets are over there. My wife has only been in Sweden up to now, so I knew what she did not know!
Sweden with a mostly fl at landscape and sometimes somehow some few hills whilst Norway, the contrary... predominantly hills, or I would say mountains with very very few fl at landscape!
The coming weeks, I was busy organising our route, looking for hotels, booking the ferry and all particular arrangements.
I would have loved to do this trip during summertime. But in summer, it is our main season at work in July/August. Autumn in that region can be quite rude at this latitude. So we decided to travel at the end of spring provided that we are back home latest on the 10th of June for the opening of the European Soccer Championship.
My wife insisted on it. I'm not kidding, guys... Seriously, she does not joke around when it 's about soccer!
A brief summary of our trip - Vehicle: 2CV (rouge Rio) with 21hp. Year of construction: 1973. Itinerary: Driving up to Kiel in Germany, ferry to Oslo and from Oslo up to the Arctic cycle by car and from there up to the Lofoten islands and further to Bergen with the Hurtigruten vessel. Return trip: drive from Bergen to Oslo and back to Kiel via ferry. Then back home at the latest early in the evening.
I don't know how you do it when you are on holidays. As far as we are concerned, we stick to the rules exactly like I propose it. I don't know how my wife managed it but she indeed took only the strict minimum stuff paying attention to the luggage weight to avoid pushing the car up the steep slope.
Wow, I will say “Chapeau, Mrs. Right!„ while considering all the stuff which I used to drag with, in other circumstances. Before our departure, I made a servicing on the vehicle, fi tted new tyres, of course the Michelin ones, and packed as well some few spare parts (only the essential ones) and some toolings (just in case of) which suit very well in the spare wheel recess.
And here we are! We can finally start! If you are actually thinking about what a poor guy, longing for some calmness and a time lag from all the modern digital world and so on, you are absolutely wrong. No, nothing like this. Actually, I was and I am still an old-school guy. At home, we neither
have an internet connection nor use our mobile phone, why shall we? We live in the middle of a plain forest far way from the city with such a poor mobile network. So, we are daily cut from the rest of the world as soon as we reach home.
In fact, our intention for this trip is that we only felt like doing something crazy! And, off we go: 300km up to Kiel. As I knew that we would have a tough drive up in the Arctic, so I thought to myself the drive to Kiel will be easy going, driving comfortably behind the trucks, remaining in the leeward side, just like the cyclists riding in the peloton at Tour de France. What an illusion! Thanks to the wind, the luggage and my spare parts, I can hardly drive up to 85km/h, thus even the
trucks were faster than us. The truck drivers were surely thinking that I might have missed the rural road and got on the motorway by mistake. Anyway, who cares? I'm on holidays so, no need to rush.
Arriving in Kiel, embarkation runs smoothly and as the cruise team was so fascinated by the Lady 2CV, she gets a particular place on the parking area. The ferry ride was calm, we slept well and enjoyed a nice Scandinavian breakfast before disembarkation. I'm excited about what is expecting us in the coming days. I've 21 hp mountains and 3.000km been once in Norway but at that time, I
drove with the Jeep.
So, the drive was quite easy going whereas this time with the 2CV, it's another cup of tea! The first slope is being done in the third gear, at 60km/h with a motor causing as much noise as a tractor. Two more tunnels to go with a slope of 7% and we would have managed our fi rst 8 km! Few meters ahead, I have to shift from the 3rd to the 2nd gear with a speed of 30km/h.
Wow, I better not imagine the next 2000 km ahead of us.
I will not give you a report of our journey but only a last thing, I would like to tell you:
That was the best trip we had so far. The Lady in red brought us everywhere we wanted to, we were cordially received at the hotels with a friendly service.
The people were warm-hearted and were all amazed by the Deux Chevaux. The construction workers waved cheerfully giving us the impression as if they saw such a spectacular vehicle in a street parade. We drove through the Arctic at 20 degrees above zero, though the whole landscape was covered with snow. The sun was shining mostly everyday
permitting us to even drive with an opened roof. The more we get in the north, the brighter the 2CV was shining like a ruby in the middle of the white lush scenery. Later on, we could admire the vast
and magnificent landscape from the vessel on the way back to Bergen while the Lady was recovering herself from the drive, parked between a Porsche and a Range Rover. The mountains, the Fjords, the slopes, the fascinating people, the drive itself with the Lady, the great food, the unique scenery,
the waterfalls, this solitude and tranquility, the instant sense of well-being, all these experiences remind us how precious life is and that we shall enjoy life to the fullest.
The voyage was much relaxed while doing it with a vintage vehicle and of course using the good old atlas map.
"Don't wait for the perfect moment, take the moment and make it perfect." (Zoey Sayward)
Go for it, guys!
Yours, Ansgar and Stephanie Olberding
It was good that I made this promise early enough thus I had some years time to postpone this voyage to the next year. Such were things for years! I did postpone it to the next year and again to the year after. While time passed by and I kept on postponing the trip, I noticed that in two years, I would turn 50 yrs old.
So, I needed to start the plans for the super trip!
You surely know how that happens! Each time you plan to do something, there is always a situation popping up suddenly, avoiding you to do things as scheduled. I'm still young in my mind so I thought that I could easily do this trip in a
caravan or something similar.
As luck would have it, few days later I saw an H-Van for sale. It could be just a fortunate coincidence as if someone wanted things to be accomplished. I did not hesitate for long. I bought the H-Van, maintained it and prepared it for the exploring tour. That was the easiest part!...the most diffi cult one was to convince my dearest wife to accompany me on this tour in such condition. I had to bring forward all arguments that the H-Van is the ONE & ONLY appropriate vehicle
for the Arctic. We could make a break whenever we wish to and overnight in the van anywhere we want to.
My wife knows me for decades and tolerates often lots of my bugs but as I narrated her my project, her prompt reply was just "NO! We are no more 30 yrs old and I'm not keen to spend nights in a
camping vehicle!"
After all, she was absolutely right. Taking into consideration the status of my spinal disc, I should say that it would not be the right decision. At that moment, I saw all my projects
and dreams getting evaporated into Nirvana. And suddenly, she came back with the wonderful idea,"Why don't we take the 2CV and at each stage of the route, we could stay overnight in hotels?” I was just about to give her a big kiss when I imagined this route in a 21hp 2CV??!! Mountains
and 3000km? Two adults and some luggage on it? Sounds very brave. I would have never come to this idea, specially for that region... but anyway why not. I better not say anything about my concerns otherwise she might change her mind quickly.
I've been once in Norway so I know how the streets are over there. My wife has only been in Sweden up to now, so I knew what she did not know!
Sweden with a mostly fl at landscape and sometimes somehow some few hills whilst Norway, the contrary... predominantly hills, or I would say mountains with very very few fl at landscape!
The coming weeks, I was busy organising our route, looking for hotels, booking the ferry and all particular arrangements.
I would have loved to do this trip during summertime. But in summer, it is our main season at work in July/August. Autumn in that region can be quite rude at this latitude. So we decided to travel at the end of spring provided that we are back home latest on the 10th of June for the opening of the European Soccer Championship.
My wife insisted on it. I'm not kidding, guys... Seriously, she does not joke around when it 's about soccer!
A brief summary of our trip - Vehicle: 2CV (rouge Rio) with 21hp. Year of construction: 1973. Itinerary: Driving up to Kiel in Germany, ferry to Oslo and from Oslo up to the Arctic cycle by car and from there up to the Lofoten islands and further to Bergen with the Hurtigruten vessel. Return trip: drive from Bergen to Oslo and back to Kiel via ferry. Then back home at the latest early in the evening.
I don't know how you do it when you are on holidays. As far as we are concerned, we stick to the rules exactly like I propose it. I don't know how my wife managed it but she indeed took only the strict minimum stuff paying attention to the luggage weight to avoid pushing the car up the steep slope.
Wow, I will say “Chapeau, Mrs. Right!„ while considering all the stuff which I used to drag with, in other circumstances. Before our departure, I made a servicing on the vehicle, fi tted new tyres, of course the Michelin ones, and packed as well some few spare parts (only the essential ones) and some toolings (just in case of) which suit very well in the spare wheel recess.
And here we are! We can finally start! If you are actually thinking about what a poor guy, longing for some calmness and a time lag from all the modern digital world and so on, you are absolutely wrong. No, nothing like this. Actually, I was and I am still an old-school guy. At home, we neither
have an internet connection nor use our mobile phone, why shall we? We live in the middle of a plain forest far way from the city with such a poor mobile network. So, we are daily cut from the rest of the world as soon as we reach home.
In fact, our intention for this trip is that we only felt like doing something crazy! And, off we go: 300km up to Kiel. As I knew that we would have a tough drive up in the Arctic, so I thought to myself the drive to Kiel will be easy going, driving comfortably behind the trucks, remaining in the leeward side, just like the cyclists riding in the peloton at Tour de France. What an illusion! Thanks to the wind, the luggage and my spare parts, I can hardly drive up to 85km/h, thus even the
trucks were faster than us. The truck drivers were surely thinking that I might have missed the rural road and got on the motorway by mistake. Anyway, who cares? I'm on holidays so, no need to rush.
Arriving in Kiel, embarkation runs smoothly and as the cruise team was so fascinated by the Lady 2CV, she gets a particular place on the parking area. The ferry ride was calm, we slept well and enjoyed a nice Scandinavian breakfast before disembarkation. I'm excited about what is expecting us in the coming days. I've 21 hp mountains and 3.000km been once in Norway but at that time, I
drove with the Jeep.
So, the drive was quite easy going whereas this time with the 2CV, it's another cup of tea! The first slope is being done in the third gear, at 60km/h with a motor causing as much noise as a tractor. Two more tunnels to go with a slope of 7% and we would have managed our fi rst 8 km! Few meters ahead, I have to shift from the 3rd to the 2nd gear with a speed of 30km/h.
Wow, I better not imagine the next 2000 km ahead of us.
I will not give you a report of our journey but only a last thing, I would like to tell you:
That was the best trip we had so far. The Lady in red brought us everywhere we wanted to, we were cordially received at the hotels with a friendly service.
The people were warm-hearted and were all amazed by the Deux Chevaux. The construction workers waved cheerfully giving us the impression as if they saw such a spectacular vehicle in a street parade. We drove through the Arctic at 20 degrees above zero, though the whole landscape was covered with snow. The sun was shining mostly everyday
permitting us to even drive with an opened roof. The more we get in the north, the brighter the 2CV was shining like a ruby in the middle of the white lush scenery. Later on, we could admire the vast
and magnificent landscape from the vessel on the way back to Bergen while the Lady was recovering herself from the drive, parked between a Porsche and a Range Rover. The mountains, the Fjords, the slopes, the fascinating people, the drive itself with the Lady, the great food, the unique scenery,
the waterfalls, this solitude and tranquility, the instant sense of well-being, all these experiences remind us how precious life is and that we shall enjoy life to the fullest.
The voyage was much relaxed while doing it with a vintage vehicle and of course using the good old atlas map.
"Don't wait for the perfect moment, take the moment and make it perfect." (Zoey Sayward)
Go for it, guys!
Yours, Ansgar and Stephanie Olberding
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