We plan to leave the UK on Wednesday 14th February 2024 and aim to return on Saturday 24th February.
The website will be updated daily so you can track our progress.
Myself and a number of friends are planning a charity car journey from the UK to the Narvic in the Artic Circle to raise money for a number of charities that support veterans.
Here is the list of the charities we are supporting (please click on the links below to read more about the amazing work these charites do:
We will leave Dover in February 2024 and the plan is to complete the 4000 mile round trip in approximately 20 days.
Day 1
Morning all. Got some spare time to do an update.
Yesterday’s drive was a good one but with some serious delays thrown in, gent, Antwerp and Düsseldorf all conspired against me and collectively cost me nearly 4 hours of delays. This resulted in me getting to my hotel very late at 2230. Given that it’s a 6 hour drive to the second ferry, I decided on an early start and got up at 0330 with an 0415 departure. The drive through the rest of the journey was painless till I got to the (manned) Danish border. As I arrived at the checkpoint I was immediately directed to a search area whereby I was pounced on by about half a dozen officials. After about 30 seconds of questioning they came to the conclusion that I was harmless so the questions changed to what, who and why would some fool would want to do a drive like this in a taxi. After the explanation there was much requests for photos so in the name of Anglo Danish relations I duly obliged.
Day 2
Part two
The drive through Denmark was very much like Northern Europe but I couldn’t see much due to moderate fog with about 500 yards of visibility.
Fuel prices here are much the same as home maybe slightly more expensive but not much though. Arrived at 1035 at Hirtshals for the ferry to Larvik in Norway. More to follow later.
Evening all. Arrived in Oslo about 1900. The ferry was excellent as was the food too. No photos of the crossing as it was foggy most of the way. The drive into Oslo was relatively straightforward other than the odd pillock on the road. Got checked into my hotel and was chatting to the receptionist who had enquired as to what I was doing (something about barking mad was mentioned) she also interpreted the weather and she advised that it was ok as far as Trondheim and the roads were ok but north of that it gets more challenging the further north you go so let’s see how I get on but I do have time constraints on me so if it gets too silly I will turn back and call it a day.
Today’s report
Evening all. Just arrived at my hotel at Trondheim airport and thought I would do a quick update. The drive today was relatively straightforward if challenging with all the snow on the hills. But without a doubt one of the best investments I made was the winter tyres for the taxi, and for £35 each have proved their worth with minimal skidding when climbing the hills but with the snow and the requirement to maintain a reasonable speed the drive was a bit of a challenge, it was just over 500km(300 miles) to here and with that is a mandatory 50mph (80kph) speed limit, so in all it took me 8 hours Door to door. Tomorrow is the biggie. It’s 900km(550miles) from here to Narvik and with the weather threats may not be achievable but I will press on and see what happens.
Watch this space as they say.
Day 3
Afternoon all. After another early ish start to the day(0730) and with 900 km to go to Narvik I thought I might just crack it. The locals were telling me that the roads were ok all the way just frequent scattered snow showers….. what could go wrong says I? What I wasn’t banking on was the slow progress (I was expecting to manage at least 50mph) the best I got was 40mph and I needed a coffee and some diesel I pulled into a garage to refuel both of us. As I was at the checkout a police car pulled in and as it happened also needed a coffee for themselves too. At this point I asked them to join me and share some advice with me. I explained what I was doing and wanted to know what the roads are like between here and my final destination. The advice was that the road is fully open but driving speeds will be low. Go to Mo I Rana stay overnight and finish the journey tomorrow. I am now in my hotel room ready to visit the Arctic Circle visitor centre tomorrow morning (I do note however that it is closed for the winter) get some photos and carry on.
Day 4
Right everyone. Now for the event you have all been waiting for. The daily report and photos.
This morning we started the day in Mo I Rana with just over 300 miles to go. About 2 hours in we had the visit to the Arctic Circle centre. Unfortunately closed for the winter. I was hoping to get some souvenirs for the Arctic Taxi. After about 30 mins it was getting a little chilly so time to head north. It was from here on in that the drive was getting ever more challenging, the light dusting of snow was changing to pack ice. I did think that the taxi was going to struggle and I would have to fit the snow chains, but no apart from me being a little ham fisted with the throttle causing a brief loss of traction the taxi just kept on going. As time went on the terrain was getting ever more hilly but provided I kept a steady hand on the tiller the taxi just kept on eating the miles/kms. The ice was proving a real nuisance though. Because of the speed that I chose to do there was a resonance going right through the interior, any faster and I ran the risk of skidding and any slower and I wouldn’t make it in time. So I just turned up the volume on the radio and carried on. By the middle of the afternoon I arrived at the third and final ferry. This was just a 20 minute hop across the Fjord saving me a 200km detour that the trucks had to make as they cannot travel on the ferry. Once disembarked it was a relatively straightforward if very hilly and slippery 2 hour drive to Narvik.
Tomorrow will basically be a return by the same route.
Morning everyone. Got a day off today so a bit of a late start. Off sightseeing later. Anyway here is yesterday’s report. A bit of a long day travelling down from Mo I Rana to Oslo via Hell. It was a 13 hour day that was not so challenging as the drive was in the north. In the ‘south’ so to speak they use much more salt on the roads and therefore much freer of snow and ice. On the way down I took the opportunity to visit the micro village of Hell. Also I can confirm that it has frozen over as well. Not a great deal to see really other than a railway station and a few houses and factories oh and ice everywhere. It has however? Warmed up considerably and is a balmy-4c there. Given how little there is to see I couldn’t see any reason to stay here longer than necessary and gave up after 20 mins, continuing the drive to Oslo. As I said earlier there is much more salt on the roads in the south, as a result the taxi is now filthier now than at any time on this entire trip so I might have to investigate in the possibility of getting the car washed. Tomorrow will be a very early start as I am catching the 0800 ferry from Larvik to Hirtshals in Denmark. My thinking is to see if I can get to Bremen or maybe a bit further we shall see. So given that Larvik is a 2 hour drive from Oslo and I have to be there one hour before sailing it’s going to be an 0345 revallie to enable me to
Morning all. A relatively short report for yesterday.
After an o’h dark thurty reveille this morning (0330) I departed Oslo a gnats whisker before 0400 thus giving me the two hours needed for the drive to Larvik and check in at 0600 when it opens. Got checked in and was sent to a holding area to await boarding. This duly happened at 0720 and as I was one of the early ones I was right at the front so was one of the first off when we arrived at Horsfels in Denmark. Even though there was no wind as soon as we pulled out of the sheltered port the wind soon got up and we had a bit of a choppy ride for the next 3.45 hours. I had some breakfast followed swiftly by a cat nap, to be awoken by the tannoy announcement that we were about to dock. It was still dark and misty so no photos. The disembarkation process was quick and in no time on the main road heading south. Given that Denmark is much like the rest of Northern Europe I couldn’t see any point in taking any photos as it’s something that you all will be familiar with. The Danish police had set up a checkpoint a couple of miles from the border crossing and were randomly selecting cars for checking. Needless to say I was just waved through and didn’t even stop. The steady drone of the drive train of the taxi continued till I got to Hamburg, the roadworks I encountered coming north were just as bad going south. Having passed the docks it was time to head west for Bremen which was my destination for tonight. I duly arrived here just after 2100, the check in was speedy and painless. Tomorrow I will be having a leisurely start to the day as I am only going to Düsseldorf to meet up with the two friends for dinner.
Afternoon John and all the other colleagues that have been following me. After spending a lovely weekend in Düsseldorf doing my own thing during the day and then meeting the two Alex’s for dinner in the evening. I travelled up to Bremen at lunchtime today and got here just before 3. I then did battle with the tram system to find out where I get on and off. With no member of staff around to ask I had to make an educated guess with some help from Google maps. I then had a 30 minute walk to the garage. Upon arrival I was met by the owner who fed me a large coffee and gave me a full briefing on what’s going on. To cut a long story short the original starter is totally Donald ducked and is not repairable. A new one is on the way and hopefully will be at the garage by 0900 but more likely it will be mid day seeing me on the road by mid afternoon. So now checked into yet another hotel and awaiting a call in the morning from the garage in due course. So that’s it for now.
Stand by to stand by……
Afternoon everyone, so. I have finally arrived back home after on hell of a drive to Narvik in the north of Norway and back arriving home late this morning. It’s been a great trip and I hope it raises a decent amount of money for the three charities that I have chosen to support. If you haven’t donated yet then please consider doing so is the website and clicking on the link.
Would I do it again? Yes absolutely and I think that in about two years I should be ready. I have some modifications that I would like to make to the taxi to make it more suitable for these kind of journeys.
The question is and this is where you come in is to where? Please let me have your thoughts and ideas.
Thank you all for the interactions that we have had over the last two weeks thanks also to my friends in Norway for their help and advice in planning this trip, thanks also to DFDS the ferry company that helped me with getting my ticket changed at no cost when the taxi broke down. To Ian Piper a longstanding friend of mine that has been keeping the social media updated with my daily ramblings along with his colleague, Chris Stephens. And, lastly to you all for following this journey for your comments and support along with your donations going to three worthwhile causes. I have been invited to do some kind of interview in front of the cameras at a date and location to be confirmed. Once I have details I will share them.
Thank you all.
