Norway Discovery - MacGyver II
The Norway discovery part two as promised. I hope you'll enjoy the sequel just as we do, a few years after
During the last part of our trip after the "Finland-event" we were troubled with the engine running hot in our Hi-Lux.
We solved this several times by stopping and blowing engine coolant back from the expansion bottle into the radiator, but after a few hours it became impossible to continue in this way, we had to deal with it.
The engine blowing coolant out of the cooling system could only have one reason which wd did not want to be true, for I was app. 2000 mi. away from home.
As we passed Alta we visited a Toyota dealer who gave us the advice to try as last resort a can of Bahrdal pills to try to stop the leakage, but as could be predicted, it didn't work.
So after visiting the North Cape where we spend two days, we returned to Alta making camp at the local campsite and visited the Toyota dealer again on the advice of my insurance-company.
We were still in a good mood, not happy with the engine damage but in the assumption that our insurance would solve this.
Already the other couple (in the Toyota Landcruiser) spoke about a memorable trip when they travel with us, if they only knew what was to come.
As it turned out the insurance didn't pay for the repair on the car for the amount of 9000,- euros.
Furthermore their maximum amount to retrieve the car and persons was 4000,- euros, not enough to finish the holiday with our friends using a rental car due to the distance we traveled.
We had to break up our holiday flying home leaving our friends (first time abroad) to let them travel back home alone, on top of this I was to receive my car which I desperately need for work some three weeks later by train after which it needed to be repaired also.
I need not say that our spirits had sunk below see level we already had the women in tears.
We were brainstorming how to solve this otherwise, buying a special car ambulance didn't work out because both cars were two-seater leaving us sitting in the car on the ambulance, also buying a truck didn't work leaving us in Holland with a Norwegian-registrated vehicle in Holland.
Finally we came up with a very bold plan which when agreed needed to be speed up if we wanted to be back in time in Holland, for today it was Friday.
First we agreed with the insurance company they would pay our garage in Holland the amount of 4000,- if they where to retrieve us by truck-ambulance from Holland as long as we could show them an official bill.
After this we had to hurry down to a shipyard trying to find someone there willing to cut off my towing-hook and welding it to the front of the Hi-Lux, meanwhile we send the ladies to tool shops to find 2X the front end part of a trailer (in which they luckily succeeded).
When these were bolted on a 3mtr. bar, we were ready to leave for home. (saving the 4000,- euro for the repair on the car).
We would never have pulled this off if the other car had broke down, a 2,4 Hi-Lux would be no match towing a 4,2 Landcruiser.
After all we did finish our holiday together, the last day we drove for 18 hrs. after the police pulled us off the Denmark highway doing 70 mi/hrs, telling us to go slow on back roads.
I can honestly say that 2000 mi. looking at the back of a Landcruiser is extremely boring and leaves you exhausted, with no heater or defog on the windows, no windshield wipers, barely (tail)lights, but we made it. (in the end we took 12V from the Landcruiser to at least have some taillights).
So where there's a will to do something, there's sure to be a way, you just have to bend the circumstances towards you, and don't let the situation rule you.
Our friends are still our friends but when I suggest a new holiday idea or destination, they say they have to consider if their up a new adventure, in some strange way the oddest things have to happen to us. Anyway hope you enjoyed the story.
Lucas Sytsma
Netherlands
