Californian Arctic

[SheffieldSteel]

The best advice will be "you can catch anything almost everywhere".
The huge advantage you don't need a license for sea fishing, but of course have to follow the local rules.
So one day in Geirangerfjord there were guys fishing for 4 hours with motor boats and got nothing. I caught these two from 2 first deep casts from my canoe 5 mins from camp.

Then tourists are saying there is no fishing in South Norway. But one day I've got these right from the shore of the camp in Kristiansand. It was insanely huge school of mackerel that got stuck in that Isefjærfjorden due to the tide change.
We actually got twice shown on this image and had to start releasing catch. My wife was angry she'll have to clean all that fish It was like each cast near the shore getting you a bite.

Again Sognefjord isn't considered good for fishing. It has over a kilometer depth in some places.
But still managed to get this over a meter long beast there but took 4 hours of fishing.

I've read that best fishing is in Western and Northern Norway. We still plan to go to Lofoten, which is considered one of the best places to visit and fish.
But again you might get no fish in most advertised spots and get a ton in those considered bad
So again you can seafish in Norway almost anywhere. Just get the basics when the fish is more active during tide changes. Lots of fish might be even near the ports or bridges.
P.S. I love eating fish way more than meat so these trips are a great fun.

Quite a few nice fish! Im heading to Sandbakken in a few weeks, ive been given a list of tackle that I need, I cant believe how big the lures are that the cod and haibut go for.

Did you see many people fishing from kayaks?

 

[Sp0_0k]

Not many. Also have to stick to fjords fishing due to the weather can change pretty fast on the open sea.
I actually have a pretty stable inflatable canoe with a board for mounting motor. Goes pretty nice with an electric motor.
Was fishing with a guy in a classic canoe once and it was getting pretty rough for him in higher winds. Mine was taking some serious bashing with waves around half a meter.
Also you might catch a pretty heavy fish, not sure how you get it on board kayak.
Got something huge once and after struggling for 10 minutes it just broke a pretty big hook.

 

[ArcticMatt]

I posted another shot of this on another thread but this one seemed to pop a little more when I was going back through my Lightroom. Theres supposed to be more aurora on the way so fingers crossed the rain stays off.

California Exclusive & Aurora by Matt Wilde, on Flickr

 

[briwy]

Fabulous picture Matt.
We have been fortunate enough to see the NLs in Iceland but it must great to be able to just pop out and see them.
Shame it's going to be light all night when we are in Norway later this year.

 

[ArcticMatt]

Fabulous picture Matt.
We have been fortunate enough to see the NLs in Iceland but it must great to be able to just pop out and see them.
Shame it's going to be light all night when we are in Norway later this year.

Cheers. Aye it's a sight to behold. I pop my head out every night just to check what sky is like. It's one of the few things that's good about the long winter nights up here. The long summer nights make up for it though. How far are you planning to go in the summer?

 

[525107]

The T3 is the father in laws old taxi bus. Its had no engine for the last few years. Its due for a TDI transplant when we get the time. No rust on it which is good. I've just sold my old T3 syncro in the UK. I was going to move it over to Norway but it just wasn't worth it so it had to go.

This was the two of them back in good old Yorkshire

IMGP6247 by Matt Wilde, on Flickr

This is the poor old T3

IMG_7775 by Matt Wilde, on Flickr

This was the lights last year

IMGP1308 by Matt Wilde, on Flickr

A handsome pair this morning

Untitled by Matt Wilde, on Flickr

Sorry to post on this so late on, just noticed the red T3 has an Inverness registration, I lived and worked up there '87 to '92. Either Hawco Inverness or Sutherland's of Broadford, Skye would have supplied that one. Sutherland's vehicles were easily identified as they were supplied with a small striking graphic on the rear that depicted an outline of the Isle of Skye with the Gaelic words "a' Eilean a' Cheò" meaning literally "from the island of mist". Great looking T4 and T3 together

 

[ArcticMatt]

Sorry to post on this so late on, just noticed the red T3 has an Inverness registration, I lived and worked up there '87 to '92. Either Hawco Inverness or Sutherland's of Broadford, Skye would have supplied that one. Sutherland's vehicles were easily identified as they were supplied with a small striking graphic on the rear that depicted an outline of the Isle of Skye with the Gaelic words "a' Eilean a' Cheò" meaning literally "from the island of mist". Great looking T4 and T3 together

Well spotted Its interesting they had those markings. I'm glad you can spell the Gaelic.
Aye, I bought it off the very nice man who runs the Butchers in Nairn. He bought it from a lad in Bristol but it was still german registered when he took it north. I bought it off eBay without ever seeing it and drove it all the way back down to Saltburn which was a bit of an adventure. It had a 2.5 Audi 5 cylinders engine in the back at it sounder awesome when you flawed it. Was going to take it over to Norway but the Toll was going to be al lot of money even though it could have been registered as a classic over here. I've still got the T4 syncro and i'll never sell that one.

 

[Hotel California]

Yeah yeah , that nothern light looks amazing....no need to rub it in...
Think i gonna fotoshop my cali over yours..... , they even got some glimps of it in the north of the Netherlands a few days ago !

 

[briwy]

Cheers. Aye it's a sight to behold. I pop my head out every night just to check what sky is like. It's one of the few things that's good about the long winter nights up here. The long summer nights make up for it though. How far are you planning to go in the summer?

We are coming up for about five weeks and currently going through guidebooks, internet etc to decide on a route to take in everything we want to see. Plan is to head north slowly seeing all the sights, doing some walking and end up at Nordkapp and walk to Knivskjellodden the proper most northern point. Not too fussed about getting to Nordkapp as we've been there before on a trip off the Hurtigruten boat. Depending on time then either leg it back down through Sweden for the Hook of Holland ferry or wander back down through Norway.
Can't decide whether to drive all the way round through Copenhagen and Gothenburg or get the ferry from Hirtshals up to Oslo or Kristiansand. Probably get the ferry to have a rest from driving for a few hours as we plan on going up from the ferry to Hirstshals or Copenhagen in one day. Any advice on that would be helpful Matt.

 

[ArcticMatt]

We are coming up for about five weeks and currently going through guidebooks, internet etc to decide on a route to take in everything we want to see. Plan is to head north slowly seeing all the sights, doing some walking and end up at Nordkapp and walk to Knivskjellodden the proper most northern point. Not too fussed about getting to Nordkapp as we've been there before on a trip off the Hurtigruten boat. Depending on time then either leg it back down through Sweden for the Hook of Holland ferry or wander back down through Norway.
Can't decide whether to drive all the way round through Copenhagen and Gothenburg or get the ferry from Hirtshals up to Oslo or Kristiansand. Probably get the ferry to have a rest from driving for a few hours as we plan on going up from the ferry to Hirstshals or Copenhagen in one day. Any advice on that would be helpful Matt.

Fantastic. I think you're right about Nordkap. My partner says there not that much to see there. I'd be more interested in getting around Senja just north of Tromsø which looks like another world!
We did both routes on the way up and way down. On the way up we went from Holland up to Denmark and Hirtshals over to Kristiansand late at night with Fjordline. The ferry was immaculate. You can book seats to sleep in but we just sat on one of the massive restaurants on board. On the way home we drove down through Gothenburg and spent the night there. The Volvo museum was great if you like swedish bricks. We took the ferry over to Denmark at Helsinborg rather than trek around malmo and over the fancy bridge. It was cheaper than the bridge too and you got a special offer if you used that ferry and the same ferry company over from Rødby. We spent the day in Lubeck which was amazing! It was like York with bells on. We did think about the ferry back from Esbjerg to Harwich but that was the same month they cancelled the service so we went back on the Newcastle ferry from Amsterdam again. Some trek but well worth it. I had some guff on the T4 forum here if it helps?
http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=400647

 

[ArcticMatt]

Yeah yeah , that nothern light looks amazing....no need to rub it in...
Think i gonna fotoshop my cali over yours..... , they even got some glimps of it in the north of the Netherlands a few days ago !

Haha! Yes I'd seen that on the UK news that they got glimpses in the south of england. We had cloud all that night but never mind. Check this one out from last night!
Smurf vs Nordlys by Matt Wilde, on Flickr

 

[Swissian]

Check this one out from last night!

I want to come visit you!!! ?

 

[Swissian]

Shot these last year in Tromso and been wanting to go back ever since. It was a full moon also

 

[MattBW]

Where is the love rating? That is fantastic.

I am in the Lake District at the weekend, hoping to get chance to do some star photography, if the mist clears for long enough. Small chance of stars, no chance of northern lights. I'm very jealous

 

[ArcticMatt]

Where is the love rating? That is fantastic.

I am in the Lake District at the weekend, hoping to get chance to do some star photography, if the mist clears for long enough. Small chance of stars, no chance of northern lights. I'm very jealous

Hey you never know. You could have a show like they had the other week. You could see them in Scotland last night. There's been a fair bit of activity recently. At least you're in the Lake District. Theres no better place to be in the whole world!
I was trying the get some shots of the milky way last week thinking there would be no Aurora but there was. I bought an astrotracer gizmo for my Pentax but I've not had chance to use it in anger yet. I'd be interested to see yours

 

[ArcticMatt]

Shot these last year in Tromso and been wanting to go back ever since. It was a full moon also
View attachment 12500

Nice Its even better that far north. The sky and the background looks almost like daylight. Lovely

 

[Sp0_0k]

Can't decide whether to drive all the way round through Copenhagen and Gothenburg or get the ferry from Hirtshals up to Oslo or Kristiansand. Probably get the ferry to have a rest from driving for a few hours as we plan on going up from the ferry to Hirstshals or Copenhagen in one day. Any advice on that would be helpful Matt.

Highly recommend Hirstshals-Kristiansand ferry. That long way around will cost more take too long and there is not much to see unless you want to visit Oslo.
You can get pretty low prices booking in advance.

 

[briwy]

Fantastic. I think you're right about Nordkap. My partner says there not that much to see there. I'd be more interested in getting around Senja just north of Tromsø which looks like another world!
We did both routes on the way up and way down. On the way up we went from Holland up to Denmark and Hirtshals over to Kristiansand late at night with Fjordline. The ferry was immaculate. You can book seats to sleep in but we just sat on one of the massive restaurants on board. On the way home we drove down through Gothenburg and spent the night there. The Volvo museum was great if you like swedish bricks. We took the ferry over to Denmark at Helsinborg rather than trek around malmo and over the fancy bridge. It was cheaper than the bridge too and you got a special offer if you used that ferry and the same ferry company over from Rødby. We spent the day in Lubeck which was amazing! It was like York with bells on. We did think about the ferry back from Esbjerg to Harwich but that was the same month they cancelled the service so we went back on the Newcastle ferry from Amsterdam again. Some trek but well worth it. I had some guff on the T4 forum here if it helps?
http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=400647

Thanks for the info Matt. Pretty much decided on the ferry then. Have to see how time goes on the way back and then might come back down the Gothenburg way.

 

[syncrostan]

Let's organise a group trip

 

[Hotel California]

@ArcticMatt ,
Miniature version of your smurftop....
http://www.kapaza.be/nl/miniatuur-a...classixxs-1-43-vw-t4-california-105595602.htm

 

[sidepod]

Bad ass pics

 

[ArcticMatt]

@ArcticMatt ,
Miniature version of your smurftop....
http://www.kapaza.be/nl/miniatuur-a...classixxs-1-43-vw-t4-california-105595602.htm

WOW! Fantastic. Thats weird you posted that because someone posted a similar van in silver on one of the facebook westfalia pages and I commented how nice those OEM alloy wheels looked which is the same as that model. I need them even more now. Cheers for posting that

 

[ArcticMatt]

Let's organise a group trip

Haha do it! Lets have a mass invasion of Norway! It'll sure beat the annual swarm of German motorhomes we get up here!

 

[ArcticMatt]

I've taken the plung and become a VIP member because I like this forum so muc. Here's another Aurora to celebrate

Nordlys Panorama 14/03/16 by Matt Wilde, on Flickr

 

[ArcticMatt]

Winter is well and truly over now! Time to go exploring and start a new thread. Cheers all

Untitled by Matt Wilde, on Flickr