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Posted by: Geo Aug 17 2009, 08:59 PM

Here is a quick summary of the trip. I'm a bit light on pictures as usual but I will add in some more as soon as I get them from the rest of the lads who weren't as lazy as me



Day Zero - Thursday August 6th - Dublin to Den Haag (The Hague) via Holyhead and Channel Tunnel



We were up bright and early and on the 8:45am fast ferry sailing out of Dublin Port, arriving in Holyhead shortly before 11am.

No time to hang around for the traditional MacDonalds as we had a train to catch at Folkestone.

Here are Team Martini Racing rolling in the Passat on the A55 in north Wales:



From there we drove to just south of Birmingham where we had a quick stop for lunch.

Then it was on down the M1 and onto the M25 where we hit traffic and roadworks (is it ever any other way on the M25 )

Finally got off the M25 and onto the M20 for Dover. Arrived in Folkestone in perfect time for our 7:20pm train.



While on the train we took the opportunity to complete the job of applying our racing decals.

Then it was straight off the train, put Den Haag in the sat nav and hit the road....... as hard as possible.

Next stop was a motorway service area in Belgium somewhere for a quick refuel and a sandwich.



At this stage we were running a bit tight on time if we were going to make Den Haag at any reasonable hour so we got the hammer down and managed to knock about 40 minutes off the predicted arrival time according to the Garmin.

But even so shortly after midnight when we got to the hotel we had booked the place was closed up for the night

So Mark went down the road to the next hotel which was open to see what the story was. They were booked up but he gave us the name of another place that had space. Unfortunately it wasn't on the sat nav so we spent the next hour or so driving around looking for it. It was only when Mark got stopped on suspicion of drink driving that we finally got directions off the cops

We found the place then and thankfully they had rooms available. The hotel was also about 1000 times better than the one we had originally booked. It is called the Bel Air hotel in case anyone is going to The Hague any time soon and wants a place to stay

We checked in at 1:30am or so and asked the guy at reception if the bar was open. His answer "If it is closed then we will open it" was music to our ears

We had a few well earned Heinekens and finally hit the sack at about 3am. Alarms were set for 6am as we had to register for the rally at 7 the following morning



To be continued....

Posted by: archie Aug 17 2009, 09:08 PM

ahh that story again
Get this pics sortet as soon as u can George ( we cant wait )

Posted by: Geo Aug 17 2009, 09:57 PM

Day 1 - Friday 7th August - Den Haag to Copenhagen via Hamburg



So next morning we somehow managed to get out of bed in time for a shower and (excellent) breakfast.

Then it was down to the seafront to complete our rally registration.

Here are some pictures of ours and some of the other cars at the start line:











ABF engined Toledo:




Yes that is a K-Series Rover, amazingly made it to the finish!




These guys had obviously missed breakfast in their hotel as they were cooking it on the bonnet of their car when we arrived

Incidentally this car won the prize for the best prepared car in the rally.





Similar theme to ours but using tape instead of paint




Tigger made it along




The turtle power team:




How could you look at this interior for a week?




Few final checks before the start:








At this point we also met up with the 3rd team of our convoy. Dec, Rob, Jon and Cov had travelled across from Harwich to The Hague on the ferry the day before and enjoyed a nice relaxed evening in Den Haag (sensible chaps)


Then it was time to hit the road for Copenhagen. We were soon into Germany and on the autobahn. Glenn managed to knock the ton out of the Jetta



It was a very warm day in Germany and the fridge was proving its worth



Well it would have been rude not to.......



We took the A1 autobahn as far as Hamburg then turned north towards Denmark.


After a minor detour (ok a major fuck up) we finally got on the right road and entered Danish territory.




Stuck in traffic again:



So towards the end of a long day we finally crossed the bridge onto the island of Zealand where Copenhagen is located.




We arrived at the hotel, headed into the city centre and had some food and a few (expensive) beers.

Don't think we have any pictures from that night, which is probably no bad thing

Posted by: Shane Aug 17 2009, 10:06 PM

Loving this George! i'd say doing the ton in the jetta was hairy?

Posted by: Geo Aug 17 2009, 10:14 PM

Bit hairy with Birney at the helm alright

Posted by: Shane Aug 17 2009, 10:15 PM

there is a lot of "vibration" in that picture

Posted by: WESLEY H Aug 17 2009, 10:17 PM

Thats some collection of cars at the starting line

love the turtle suits

looks like great crack

Posted by: Trevor Aug 17 2009, 10:25 PM

Keep typing Dalton.

Posted by: Glenn Aug 17 2009, 10:39 PM

I'd say those turtle suits where stinkin by the end Geo and a bottle of martini champagne all over them wouldn't have helped either.

Nice pic of the Escort George

Posted by: Brian47 Aug 18 2009, 01:14 AM

Loving this, Looks like an epic trip so far. First time I've seen a jetta at a ton too

Posted by: TGi Aug 18 2009, 02:05 AM

you going to give the jetta its 4th run next year?

Posted by: Geo Aug 18 2009, 08:06 PM

That remains to be seen Tom, not even sure if there will be a rally next year.



Day 2 - Saturday 8th August - Copenhagen to Oslo via the Oresund Bridge and Gothenburg




After a by now familiar early start we picked up our rally pack on the outskirts of Copenhagen and headed for Sweden via the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oresund_Bridge

The bridge actually starts out as a tunnel at the Danish side and then about mid way across the channel the road emerges seemingly from the sea onto a man made island and the remainder of the crossing is across the bridge.

Here is a wikipedia picture taken from the Swedish side:





And here is a picture of the Passat on the bridge, the man made island can be seen as can Copenhagen in the background.



Once off the bridge Swedish roads stretched out before us:



We made excellent time heading north through Sweden so we decided to stop off in Gothenburg for lunch. Gothenburg is a beautiful city and is definitely on the list of places to return to when I have more time. Here is a picture of the Jetta parked by the Quays:



We had lunch in one of the many restaurants in the pedestrian area, I have no pictures hopefully some of the other guys do.

Here are the Passat boys after refuelling:




Then it was back on the road north and into Norway. Once in Norway the speed dropped dramatically. A combination of low speed limits, high enforcement levels and massive fines mean that it is very difficult to cover ground effectively.


However there was a plus side. As we continued sedately up the road we were getting lots of attention from other road users, particularly 3 girls in a 206. Unfortunately Glenn couldn't get any sort of decent picture of them, this is the best he could do



Rest assured they were pretty hot




Anyway we finally arrived in Oslo:



And predictably first priority was drink and food, in that order

Here are 8 of the 9 thirstiest men in Oslo that night (not sure where Glenn was at this point)




After having some food (and one or two beers ) it was time to head into the city centre to check out downtown Oslo on a Saturday night.

It didn't disappoint so we decided to celebrate with some champagne

Unfortunately some of the lads couldn't wait for the glasses








Graham was literally the last person out of the place





I wonder what tomorrow would have in store..........

Posted by: paddy Aug 18 2009, 08:25 PM

ya di ya di ya... where was my choc ice ye promised me!!
good read though

Posted by: Shane Aug 18 2009, 08:43 PM

they look very interested in the pic alright



The Oresund looks the dogs would love to drive it one day.

Posted by: Geo Aug 18 2009, 09:07 PM

Day 3 - Sunday 9th August - Oslo to Bergen




Well the first thing the next day had in store was a shock when I woke up, looked at my watch and saw it was almost 11am (rally start time is usually 8-9am)


The second thing it had in store was a serious hangover which hit me after about 30 seconds


And then the third thing it had in store was that we had been abandoned by the Mondeo lads and on top of that we had been 'Das Booted'








Anyway we struggled along manfully. The route for the day saw us follow the main E16 road north for a time but then take the more scenic Route 7 for most of the day before re-joining the main road close to Bergen itself.

Route 7 started out scenic but unspectactular.



But improved



And improved



And improved




Now were are talking!





These tunnels were amazing, they basically were bored in a corkscrew shape through the mountains. Very confusing for the sat nav though


Couple more scenery pics:






Next up was a ferry crossing across one of the fijords. I tried to take a picture of a rainbow but pretty much failed





Just to prove we were still in the Jetta



View from the ferry as we crossed over





On the final run into Bergen we came across another Scally car, these guys were pretty hardcore driving a London taxi I think you'll agree!




Once we got to Bergen we were blown away, what a great place. Unfortunately my camera memory card was full so I don't have any pictures, hopefully can get a few from someone else.

In the meantime have a look at the pictures on the wikipedia page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergen

We found a restaurant and had some food and a few drinks. When we were finished and ready to move on we asked the waitress where we should head out that night for a bit of culture.


Erika (as her name turned out to be) suggested that we head up towards the theatre........ and then turn right into a bar called Ricks She said that she was heading there as well when she finished work


So up the road we went to Rick's and sure enough Erika was true to her word and joined us after a while. Needless to say a messy night ensued and we stayed out till closing time.

Posted by: razor Aug 18 2009, 09:11 PM

you got here number i take it??

Posted by: Geo Aug 18 2009, 09:12 PM

I have it here, do you want it?

She is coming over to Dublin to visit some time apparently. I could get you to take her out and show her a good time

Posted by: razor Aug 18 2009, 09:15 PM

QUOTE (Geo @ Aug 18 2009, 10:12 PM)

I have it here, do you want it?

She is coming over to Dublin to visit some time apparently

Posted by: Geo Aug 18 2009, 09:42 PM

How about Francie?

Posted by: DaveQ Aug 18 2009, 09:49 PM

Looks like an amazing trip.

40mins off the eta on the Garmin!!! they are pretty bang on too, you must have been, lets say "making progress"

Posted by: razor Aug 18 2009, 09:56 PM

QUOTE (Geo @ Aug 18 2009, 10:42 PM)

How about Francie?

Posted by: jetta Aug 18 2009, 09:58 PM

fantastic trip. fair play to you guys.

Posted by: Geo Aug 18 2009, 10:17 PM

Day 4 - Monday 10th August - Bergen to Trondheim




Well at this stage we were getting the hang of the late nights out followed by early starts and actually managed to get on the road at a proper hour the next morning.

Now I'm not saying everybody was 100% as these pictures prove







We continued on the E16 main road for a while before turning off into more interesting terrain.





Spotted the road yet?




This took us along the highest road in Norway:





Serious wow factor on the way for us on the descent:



Wait for it....



The money shot


Quick stop to let the brakes cool down:



From there we headed down the hill to cross the fijord in the picture above.










The day just kept getting better, here is where we stopped for lunch:
















From there we headed to Trondheim which was a serious distance. I have no other pictures of the journey.


Trondheim has a reputation as a bit of a party town but we hit it on a Monday night so it was pretty dead.



So we had to make our own craic


For example Graham and Mark found the menu in the restaurant quite amusing:




After that we rounded the day off nicely with a few drinks with the rest of the Scally Participants.

Posted by: floyd Aug 18 2009, 10:42 PM

Now thats scenery for ya great pics george enjoy the rest of it

Posted by: Brian.G Aug 18 2009, 10:57 PM

Very good George!! Any mechanical issues along the way at all?
What was the total mileage count in the end?

Posted by: Geo Aug 18 2009, 11:00 PM

Patience Brian, all will be revealed

Posted by: Brian.G Aug 18 2009, 11:21 PM

QUOTE (Geo @ Aug 19 2009, 12:00 AM)

Patience Brian, all will be revealed

Posted by: Ray Aug 18 2009, 11:30 PM

Looks amazing , nothing like a gud owl road trip. How many miles in total George?
Edit : Was that the Copenhagen to Malmo bridge? Done it , on a train with cold beers in hand

Posted by: Orla Aug 19 2009, 07:08 AM

Fantastic looking pics there George

Posted by: conord Aug 19 2009, 07:49 AM

savage trip and that jetta is just sooooooo cool. it just looks savage in all the pics.

Posted by: Dec Aug 19 2009, 09:54 AM

Good write up George!

Around half of those photos are really good.......looks like some sort of amazing professional photographer guy took them!

Posted by: Graeme Aug 19 2009, 09:58 AM

Serious pics George, great write up too...

Posted by: Geo Aug 19 2009, 11:07 AM

QUOTE (Dec @ Aug 19 2009, 10:54 AM)

Good write up George!

Around half of those photos are really good.......looks like some sort of amazing professional photographer guy took them!

Posted by: Mail_order_Mark Aug 19 2009, 12:19 PM

Im really enjoying reading this.

Some pics and savage tread geo, keep them coming:)

Posted by: Kevin Aug 19 2009, 12:51 PM

Lovely stuff Geo.

How did the passat hold up over the 9k. Really happy only a bearing went and not the head


Will you be sending the Jetta out next year

Posted by: Geo Aug 19 2009, 12:55 PM

The passat never missed a beat. The lads drove the absolute shite out of it with no major problems. Engine wise it used about half a pint of oil and that was it.

No decisions made yet as to next year.

Posted by: Kevin Aug 19 2009, 01:11 PM

QUOTE (Geo @ Aug 19 2009, 12:55 PM)

Posted by: Glenn Aug 19 2009, 01:14 PM

The passat is some car, real shame to break it. If you saw some of the roads it was on you'd appreciate how good a car it is. And the Jetta, a true legend of a car, happy at 80 on the autoban, or 80 on the arctic roads, some of which are like a road made of speed bumps.

Posted by: Conor Aug 19 2009, 01:58 PM

Epic journey, looks like such a good laugh.

Posted by: Geo Aug 19 2009, 07:16 PM

Day 5 - Tuesday 11th August - Trondheim to Bodo




The final day of the rally saw us heading north from Trondheim into the Arctic Circle and finishing up in a town called Bodo.

We stayed on the main 6 Route for the whole day. It is a scenic road but was filled with slow moving traffic, speed checks and roadworks.

Here we are stuck in traffic at one set of roadworks:



It got so bad that Mark considered going cross country



We stopped for lunch in a place called Mosjoen, the Passat lads had to stop in to a few shops for some bare essentials, namely new boxers and some champagne

About 20km up the road we got a call from Mark to say that there was a pretty bad wheel bearing noise coming from the back of the Passat. Must have been the extra weight of all the champagne

Luckily I had packed a couple of spare rear bearings and tools so they pulled into a layby and I changed it. I think Rob timed me at 13 minutes or so which I thought wasn't bad going

Note the look of bewilderment on Graham's face



Anyway with the Passat restored to full health we eventually closed in on the Arctic Circle:




Picture of the visitor's centre @66 degrees north:



Lots of other scallies in the car park:




About another 2 hours up the road we reached Bodo!
We gave into temptation and washed the Jetta




Then took a few celebratory pictures.














From there we headed to the official finish line, with a few stops to consult for directions....



Finally made it:







Parking for scallies only:




The view from our hotel window:





After a quick shower we headed across to the Rock cafe for the wrap party. I think it is best if some stories remain untold from that night

Posted by: Geo Aug 20 2009, 09:17 PM

Day 6 - Wednesday 12th August - Bodo to Sundsvall (Sweden)




Well the next day dawned bright and early (as it does in the arctic circle at that time of year)

Needless to say we didn't surface until a bit later on

We were a man down at this stage as despite the best efforts of Mark and Enda the night before, Graham had somehow managed to get up at 8am to catch a flight home

Anyway we checked out of the hotel, packed up the cars and headed round the corner for some lunch before hitting the road.

We went into a random cafe and it turned out that the woman working at the till was from the same part of Wexford as Mark

She and her husband got married in Ireland 51 years ago, went to Norway on their honeymoon and never came home!

Anyway, after Mark recovered from the shock of that we were back in the cars and on the road again.

We decided to cut across the mountains into Sweden and go home that way. There were 2 main reasons for this, firstly you can make much better progress on Swedish roads due to the higher speed limits and also the drive down the Baltic Sea would be something different to the route up through Norway.

So we continued down route 6 for a time, retracing our steps from the previous day, before heading across the mountains towards Sweden. There was a bit of a climb first:





From there it levelled off and opened up nicely:



The roads were great along this route, practically empty and with nice open corners to overtake the odd camper or caravan we came across.

The only problem was that they were a bit bumpy and we started to have some rubbing issues on the rear arches on the Jetta.

So we took a quick stop to transfer over some weight from the boot of the Jetta to the Passat.



Now we could really press on and we were soon in Sweden. Stopped for food around 5pm in a town that I can't remember the name of.

About an hour or so after that the battery light started to flicker on the Jetta. Now the alternator bearings had been a bit dodgy ever since I bought the car (and long before that in fact) and it had covered 30k since then so it had lasted pretty well. I had a spare in the boot for when the inevitable happened so we pulled into the next petrol station to change it:



With that sorted we pushed on into Sweden and eventually collected the E4 which is the main road running down the east coast of Sweden along the Baltic Sea.

At about 11pm we arrived in a town called Sundsvall and decided to call it a night.

Here is a picture of the car outside the hotel (taken following morning)





As it turned out the night wasn't finished just yet though

Mark and Enda's hotel room was around the side of the hotel and when they opened the window they could hear some noise coming from around the corner down a side street. Then they saw some nice Swedish ladies walking down the road and turning the corner heading towards the source of the noise.

So a quick phone call later we were walking down the road to see what it was all about.

When we turned the corner onto the road we saw 2 bars, one of which was busy and one of which was absolutely mental

Of course the mental place turned out to be O Leary's Irish bar

There was a queue of about 30 people to get into O Leary's so we went in across the road for a few first. After about half an hour the queue died down so we ventured in to see what the story was. Ended up staying out till closing time.

Apparently there was some kind of holiday on hence why everyone was out on the batter on a Wednesday night. So we had hit it at the perfect time.

End of day 6...

Posted by: Tony D Aug 20 2009, 09:40 PM

Brilliant report George!

I really have to do that rally sometime

Posted by: Geo Aug 21 2009, 05:44 PM

Posts updated with maps added to show the route each day.

Posted by: Geo Aug 21 2009, 11:49 PM

Day 7 - Thursday August 13th - Sundsvall to Odense (Denmark)



So as usual we were up early next morning and had breakfast in the hotel. Incidentally the standard of hotel breakfast in the Scandinavian countries is higher than in the previous countries we had visted on Scally Rallies (mainly around the Mediterranean) You get bacon and egg in most of them which is good enough for me

At this stage I was getting very lazy with the camera so I don't actually have any pictures of the road trip unfortunately.

The day was uneventful apart from a bit of stress on a Swedish motorway shortly after lunch when we lost the alternator belt off the Jetta. Luckily I saw the battery light come on, realised what had happened, switched off the engine and pulled over straight away (no alt belt = no water pump on the old 1.6D remember)

Even though I had stopped so quickly the engine had still overheated slightly and we lost most of the coolant out past the cap on the expansion tank. Just goes to show how much heat the engine is generating at 85mph +

The good news was that I had a spare belt, the bad news was it was in the boot of the Passat which was up the road ahead of us. It was in a box of tools and parts that I had transferred from the Jetta into the Passat the day before to help the arch rubbing

So the lads had to drive 30km to the next exit and then come back to rescue us.

Anyway the new belt went on ok, refilled with coolant and all was well again.

The original plan had been to stop at Copenhagen on this day, but we got there earlier than we had anticipated so decided to press on to the next city instead.

That city was Odense.

We checked into the Radisson (safe bet) and went looking for beer

The only place with any life in it was the Irish bar so that's where we ended up. I got the biggest glass of Hoegaarden I have ever seen:



It was muck though, nothing like the bottles so I went back to normal beer after that.

We got talking to the bar man and he was from Tipperary so it was a 'proper' Irish bar. Mark even tried a few pints of Guinness and reckoned they were grand.

On the barman's recommendation we rounded off the evening with a trip to a kebab shop around the corner. Few pints and a kebab on a Thursday night sure we might as well have been at home ffs

Posted by: floyd Aug 22 2009, 12:03 AM

Priceless!!! cant go anywhere in the world without finding an irish bar or barperson!!!!

Posted by: STEVEN T Aug 22 2009, 07:33 AM

An epic journey,lucky bastards

Posted by: Geo Aug 22 2009, 08:05 PM

Day 8 - Friday August 14th - Odense to Luton via London



The aim for day 8 was to get across the channel into England. That way we could make it home on the Saturday evening ferry.

So we got on the road early and made short work of the first leg of the trip which took us as far as Hamburg.

We stopped for fuel and then hit the A1 autobahn..... and some problems.

First problem was the traffic on the A1 due to the crazy amount of roadworks. The second problem was the horrendous knocking sound coming from the driveshaft in the Jetta

With those two things in mind we decided the best thing to do was get off the autobahn and take an alternative route.

We took the next exit and it seemed as though luck was not on our side, every road we tried to take was closed and/or dug up. Eventually we made our way back on to the autobahn and rattled along through the remainder of Germany.

Holland and Belgium I missed completely as I was asleep

We made it to Calais in time for the 9:43pm train.

Got off in Folkestone and Mark rang his cousin in London to see if him and Enda could stay with him that night and hit the town for a few drinks. That was no problem so up the road to London we went. Myself and Glenn considered heading out with the lads but thought better of it. Instead we decided to make it a bit further up the road so we could find a GSF the following morning to pick up a CV joint for the car. We took a spin through London city centre in the Jetta (surreal) and eventually ended up in Luton for the night.

Posted by: Geo Aug 22 2009, 08:13 PM

Day 9 - Final Leg - Luton to home via Dublin



The last day was an easy one, only 400 miles or so to cover, we had done that mileage alone in the middle stint of the previous day's driving.

First stop was GSF in Luton for a spare CV joint. I decided not to bother changing it unless the old one failed completely.

Got up to Holyhead in lots of time for the 5:15pm sailing to Dublin.

Ferry was slightly delayed due to bad weather but we got home anyway which was the main thing.

Graham met us at the port and took the wheel of the Passat for its last journey as we headed off down to my place where he had left his own car before the rally.

The Passat must have known something was up because on the way out of Dublin the heater matrix started leaking. Again this was something I had allowed for when packing so I had a bypass pipe ready to go so we were back on the road in no time.

Got home around 10:30pm and it was all over for another year.

That's all folks, without getting too official there are a few people I want to thank for their help either before, during or after the rally.

Thanks to Dec, Glenn, Graham and Rob for the pictures I stole

Thanks to Glenn, Graham, Mark, Enda, Dec, Jon, Cov and Rob for the company and the craic along the way.

Thanks to t.d for his help preparing the cars. If it hadn't been for him I can definitely say they never would have made it to the start line never mind the finish line and home again. And he wasn't even going on the rally!!

Roll on next year

Posted by: Geo Aug 22 2009, 08:26 PM

Few more interesting/useful links:

Scally Rally official site:

http://www.scallyrally.co.uk/index.html

Scally Rally Facebook group:

http://www.facebook.com/scally.rally



Here are some more trip reports and pictures from some other teams:

Dec's pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.com/topdeco/ScallyRally200902#

Rob's blog:

http://scally.beerburp.com/e107/news.php

Rob's pictures:

http://picasaweb.google.com/robcranley/ScallyRally2009#

Graham's pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=133581&id=576165038&ref=mf



Other team's reports:

http://www.drivewire.eu/road-trips/cars/1684-2009-scally-rally-arctic.htm#article_start

http://preston.no-ip.com/arctic-avengers.htm

Posted by: kadett 244 Aug 30 2009, 06:58 PM

jeysus that jetta was class!!!

how much did it take to prepare each car??

i might do it when i get a licence