UK is BEAUTIFUL - a breathtaking motorcycle trip from top to bottom
There's something special about the Brits. We've all seen the silly humour, the fish and chips and all this tea drinking. A cup of tea is when it's made by someone else. For me! They have James Bond and the Royals and even in music. Strange sports that make them thirsty. It's time to visit their island and see what's going on.
Let us therefore brace ourselves. So back in Sweden we get on our bikes as usual with only some clothes and toothbrushes in the luggage And as we set off we get straight into training for the UK weather. Getting to UK from Sweden is a bit tricky but we hopped on the ferry to Kiel in Germany And then we transported over to the Netherlands for our next ferry, all in pouring rain.
In the port of IJmuiden we got to the last ferry that would take us straight into the action. On the ferry! Cheers! But the five bed cabin was not what we thought. The ferry would take us to Newcastle in Northern England, not far from the Scottish border. First on the agenda, driving on the left side of the road.
This feels a bit like a beginner's level. The roundabouts are no problems. You just get in and out. And then you blink LEFT out of the roundabout. After a short stretch of highway we dived right into the lush countryside of Northumberland. Heading for the Scottish border we got a nice route from our friends at Adventure Spec Which routed us through the Northumberland National Park and the Kielder Forest.
The destination for the day was to reach our friend James in Edinburgh for a little get together. Going into Alwinton. Nice green hills here.
Beautiful, isn't it? Yes, very beautiful. Is it blue sky up there! That's where we are going! Don't run out into the road. They are calling each other. There you go. We are in Otterburn Ranges, the military training area with all the sheep.
Sheep? Soon crossing into Scotland. Get the passports ready. Kielder Forest, let's go. Kielder Forest is the largest forest in England and is often home to one of the many Rallymoto road book rallies. The roads here are actually felt a little bit Swedish.
How much do you pay? 5 pounds. Do you do it with a card? Yes, but how much do you pay? At the Scottish borders. Let's put a little Nomad Sweden sticker. Edinburgh, also called the Athens of the North, is where we would get our first real taste of Scotland, literally.
And with a little help from James. Shes waiting to cross the road Hello! James, the Swedes have arrived. Hey! You brought the sun with you as well. Yeah, we did. Nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you too. Yeah. Wow.
Yeah, we had a great ride. The gang! Hi, I'm James. Nice to meet you. What's your name? Stefan. And what's some of your names, Sven? Seymor. Tony.
Seymor. So when I was, when we first bought this house, I had a wooden garage. Okay. And I was knocking it down and it was a bit knackered one day. I just left the front door up and my bike, my Tenere 600 behind it, didn't lock it. Next day, because it was being on the road.
Okay. Muddy footprints and the wheels going. Everything is IPA.
I take this one. Loch Lomond Ah, Scottish beer. We do like this.
Our room! The big bed, guys. This is great right? Very good. Toilet. Living room.
In the middle of city center Edinburgh. And tonight, James will take us out on Haggis and whisky. Are you up for Haggis? Of course. We're in for some Haggis and whisky now. Nice. Okay.
Up a notch. Any other drinks? Yes, just a minute. Yeah, no problem. Hey. Look at that. Fantastic.
Should we start with a whisky toast? Well, yeah. Slàinte Mhath (Gaelic for "cheers") I'm tasting the pure thing first. It is so familiar. Yeah? Korvkaka! For all Swedes at home, this is "Korvkaka" Mm.
Yes. And I love Korvkaka We would have lingonberry with it. Lingonberry, wow. But now we're -- and this is -- what's underneath? It's turnip, or sweet.
Oh, yeah, yeah. We call it swede. Oh. I finished all before you.
I won, James. I recommend a draught mate. If you ask me. I prefer draught over a bottle. Let's have a taste on our whiskys, James. Slàinte Mhath (Cheers) Oh, wow.
Oh. What's happening, Seymour? What are we doing? Nothing. Nothing? Something you should have done before we left? Yeah, of course. Changing the sprocket. Yeah, it's time. But luckily, our James here had a sprocket lying around, right? That's right, yeah.
A spare Oh, yeah. Fantastic. Not only haggis and whisky in this guy. Break it loose. 90 newton meters.
Oh, my God. Oh. What? Or was it nine? My favorite is here, the 600. I'd like to have one of those.
Which way? Straight ahead? Let's go straight ahead Thank you. Okay. Let's go. To Sterling. Today we started riding up north, deep into Scotland, following some suggestions from James and the patches of blue in the sky. And on our first stop, we paid a tribute to Mr. Wallace.
Very lush and gloomy. Perhaps we will be assaulted by rebels. Yes a real rebels nest You are twisting the throttle I hear The weather is getting better Not as damp anymore But still 11 degrees We found a place to stay in Fort Augustus near Loch Ness, which would be on our list for tomorrow. But first, a visit to the local pub. Cheers! Skål! Slàinte Mhath And each morning we checked the map and decided where to ride today. Wait a little. I took a wrong turn. Let's turn around here. We started the day with the legendary Loch Ness and stayed on the east side where there's less tourists, just like Nessie would.
Loch Ness, behind some trees. Our first encounter was with a fellow adventurer. All the way to the north end of Shetland is where I've just been.
Okay, how nice. I need to film your solar solution. It's homemade? How does it work? Well, I have this thing called the sun. Yeah, but I mean, what are you powering? Are you powering the electric bike? Yes, at the moment, excuse my waist, I have an adapter to charge my phone and other things while I'm not riding. And then this plugs into here. All right, yeah.
And under here I have this thing here I can barely see, it's two big diodes. All right, yeah. So, Shimano battery, otherwise the Shimano motor won't work. Yeah. And then the two diodes say whichever battery is the fullest, that one drives the bike.
So I keep my solar battery full, I run entirely on solar. Awesome. So if I turn this bike on, Shimano battery switch on, in the lowest level of assistance, it will say I have 37 kilometers of range. It has said that for a week.
All right. Because I'm only running on the big battery in there which is charged by the sun. That's awesome. So, did you see anything, hear any splashes from the... From the Nessie? Yeah. There were four last night playing around.
There were? Oh, maybe they weren't Nessies. So, Loch Ness. There is something. Oh.
Well... Nothing to see here No Nessie No Nessie today. That's a shame. NC500. A little amputated version.
On recommendation. The North Coast 500 is a tourist route that takes you around the fantastic coastline of Northern Scotland. We decided to follow it, but skip the northeastern part by going diagonally up to Durness, the most northern part of our trip. To the right we have Loch... Nochen Loch, Loch, Loch, Loch, Loch, Loch.
Stopped for some rain gear. These are really vast areas. Heading up north west to Durness. A little special. A small island out there with some stone houses and stone peers.
Damn, how green it is. It's out there this light house. But I don't think you can get out there.
But there is that ruin down there to the left. Yes, it is. To the left down there. It's your birthday gift Yes, otherwise it's just a hill there. Private.
Now we are going to Ullabella, Ullapool. Ullapool. Ullapool. Ullapull, or Ullapool.
So we are at our most northern point now in Durness. And now we are going down to Ullapool to stay at the hotel. So, most northern point. Check. We arrived in Ullapool for the night in pouring rain. But luckily it was Seymor's birthday. Seymor, you are turning 20 today.
Yes. What are you going to have for dessert? I think I will take a Ullapool mess. A real Ullapool mess.
It's stirring. Ullapool is stirring. Yes, that's what I will have. Yes, then we take a Ullapool mess. Yes. Yesterday it was pouring down rain.
This morning, let's have a coffee outside. Good morning. Good morning. What a morning. What a morning, yes. Absolutely fantastic. How about five kilometers run? No.
Oh, look here. Oh, sweating. What a beautiful day.
In this perfect weather, we had a fantastic ride ahead of us on perhaps the most beautiful part of the whole NC500. The highlight being the mountain pass at Applecross. Majestic. And this ocean.
No, you're not going to get it out. Oh, wow. Oh, shit. What happened? Oh, okay. Straight ahead. So, you're getting out. Okay. Have a good ride.
No, no, no. If you don't carry it. [Music] Here's a little Stelvio pass I'll have to go down to you and turn. There's a pub up top.
Huh? There's a pub up top, isn't there? Yeah. I'm looking for my drone. That's why I'm going back and forth. Not here either. Yes, here it is.
Ah, there's my drone. Found it? Yes. Oh, good. Ah, brakes. That's what I was thinking, but it's just been an old van that we're following.
We're a bit panicked, but I'd like to ??? Yeah. Have you felt the rims? Are they very hot? As they say at the bar, you better cool off a bit. [Laughs] Give it a few minutes.
Yeah. Found it. You found it? Yeah. So, what's this project? I'm trying to walk the North Coast 500 the whole way.
So, that's your luggage? That's my luggage. I'm raising money for a charity back in Australia called Friends for Good. Okay. It's all about reducing loneliness. Yeah.
So, I'm stopping at every nursing home and pub to have some chats and yeah. All right. It's an adventure.
Where can we find you? There's a QR code, but on Instagram it's @scottishwheelbarrowadventure. @scottishwheelbarrowadventure. I'll recognise that.
Lovely. We're a YouTube channel, so I'll film you and I'll post that link also. Yeah, yeah. That'd be amazing. Beautiful.
What's your name? Robert. Craig. Yeah, nice to meet you. Nice to meet you.
Bye. All right. See you again.
Bye. So. This must be the place Looks cosy Should we park here? Is the entrance on the other side? A bit rainy today We take what we get The Isle of Skye Bridge. Over there is Isle of Skye.
We're skipping it due to bad weather and time. Heading for the lightest, brightest part of the sky. Waiting for the ferry, we stopped by this little café where the owner made Swedish cinnamon buns for the first time. She got really nervous when the four Swedes dropped in to evaluate.
Cute little shack. Swedish fika approved. All right, let's go.
He dropped his helmet Let's go. So we left the Isle of Skye with the ferry to Mallaig heading for the famous Glenfinnan Viaduct hoping to see the train made famous by the Harry Potter movies. Then continuing down south for some change in scenery. Here's the train engine and we need to beat it to the viaduct There is a steam train service going over this bridge four times a day. Unfortunately, we never saw the actual train.
Luckily, however, each day ends the same way. Charging, charging, charging, charging, charging. Let's go down for a pint. Oui.
Oui? That's not how you say it here Of course. In Scotland you say "aye". Scottish breakfast. Black pudding, haggis. Eggs Benedict. Eggs Royale.
A new day. Let's head towards Lake District The fancy mansion. And the filling station. With a new goal in mind, we transported out of Scotland heading for the Lake District where we had a breakfast date the next day. A lot to see here Lot's of outdoor gear shops Yes with all the mountains around there's a lot of hiking activity Four hiking shops close to each other So, Keswick Country House.
Now let's see. There is the Hotel Three beds? At the Hotel At the castle Let's slip into something more comfortable, shall we? I have a chair, I have a chair. Go do this, go do that. King in the castle. Where is Stefan and them now? Boardroom ladies.
Hi, are you alright? Yeah, hi. Have you seen two Swedes ordering a beer? They're outside. Okay. I assume you're the other two people that got Stella. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You have a pint of Stella waiting for you.
Ah, that's awesome. Here you are! In the garden! We thought you were Swedes. You get two pints of Stella waiting for you in the garden. Good morning.
Good morning. Leaving the castle, heading for the Lake District with Clive and Noel. That'll be fun. At the filling station we would finally meet Clive Barber and Noel Thom from the Trail and Adventure Motorbike podcast who would guide us around the Lake District. Alright, Clive Barber. TAMP.
The TAMP, the Trail and Adventure Motorbike podcast. Our host for today. The new TAMP podcast buff. This feels so big. Oh yeah, yeah.
But it feels like a proper motorbike. You know, it's big. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll share with you all the Swedish words I know.
Yeah. You will learn a few. Whenever you... The most useful phrase in Swedish is "Fy fan".
"Fy fan". You can use it when you're disgusted or when it's really good or awesome or really bad. Just whatever you just say.
"Fy fan". So go right back up to the roundabout. It's probably the most beautiful place in England at least anyway. Yeah, it does look stunning so far. And I guess it gets better.
There is my winter socks walking. Oh yeah. I mean, with scenery like this, I do understand why people drive their motorbikes off the road and down to the river. Look at that. "Fy fan".
This is bringing us out on the rhino's road. It takes us back to Borrowdale. The river of Honister pass.
Okay. Motor unable to rotate. I thought I could. But we're really close to it now.
Ah, there it is. Yeah, I tried to start the engine and I heard it. Border collie working. I love the dogs. Those dogs are fascinating I think. Yeah.
I have a dog just like that. The Swedes are having meatballs and that's for you. Yup. It's nice.
Is it really? Yeah, we went through hundreds of gates but they were all open. Hey, it's open. Yeah, it was open. A few jumps in for us. Little jumps are fun. Yeah, they're good aren't they? We actually go through a farm yard here.
It's a little gate. It's meant to be showers all day. Yeah, we were very lucky. This is what fame feels like. Someone snapping photos.
What a great day out. Yeah, it was fantastic with the weather, with the company, with the trails. And even asphalt but really adventurous asphalt.
Yeah, we did some trails, not many. Yeah, not many but they were fun too. Did some jumps. Ah, there's a brown horse for the illiterate. What a day.
But I use it all the time at home and in the garage. I think I'm just hanging on to the past because I take a camera away every time. Oh, pissing down. Pissing down. Cheers.
Now they are in tune There were a few different tones in them. This was the brightest tone. Leaving Lake District heading for north Wales Wales. Wales.
Yes. Goodbye horsey. During this trip we perfected the refueling routine to get all bikes filled on one receipt. You look good with a T7 too Next on our trip would be Wales.
So we navigated between the big cities Liverpool and Manchester to get down to a good starting point for the next day. Hello whales. Hello Wales. Wales. Where to now? Turn right down here Really nice. Looks better than on the pictures The Talardy And there's the reception. They speak Welsh here.
Time for bed. Time for bed. Wales is a great area for both on and off road and we could easily spend a lot of time here. But we were getting short on time and we had to keep it a bit short. So there's always next time.
Let's see what this Snowdonia area is all about We shall go over the bridge here The Skinners Arms. Open. Dogs, okay. We say the R like "rrr" like you guys. Robbie. My name is Robert.
I'm Robert. Oh yeah? I'm Robert. they call me Ruby.
Oh Ruby. Golfers and sheep. ("Fore" in Swedish). Do they shout Fore because of that? A little dam and some fishing boats This was a bit twisty Sheep poop! Let's see where this takes us.
Roller coaster among the Welsh mountains and sheep. I see the sign. Baffle House.
Already a few bikes here We go down to the right here yes? It's a workshop or what is this? I don't know. Let's park here. That's a nice rugged bike you have there. Lovely rugged, yes. Yeah. Well used.
Yes. That's a good one. Awesome. Here comes Tony. And as the channel comes closer, so does the end of our trip through the UK. Our destination is the ferry in Poole over to France and we'll take the small roads there.
He pointed that we should go down here Hi. You won't be able to go down there on them Sorry? You won't be able to go down there Okay, okay. On Hells Lane.
Yeah you won't be able to go down there Okay, it's too bad. Unless you've got a motorcross or something Okay, okay. Then we skip it and go back. No worries. Thanks for the advice.
Ok, let's go up there and turn around How cute Good morning. Are you going together? Yes. And we're all on British Ferries? Yes, to Cherbourgh. We need your passports when you get to the kiosk.
Okay. And so this trip comes to an end with a long transport back home to Sweden. We really enjoyed scraping the surface of the United Kingdom and hope to return again for more in the future. Thank you so much for watching all the way here and stay tuned in our channel for more to come.
2024-07-13 22:09
