FF2: Filling in the Suburbs

[krigl]

Today we wrap up this tour of SCS's beautiful Winterland map.


Delivering to the Mountain Resort.


I knew my time here was drawing to an end, so I decided to pop over to the restaurant to celebrate. The only food they served was Christmas turkey, so I ordered a portion. It arrived soon after, sizzling and smelling delicious, carried by the big man in red. ''So, you're done here,' he said. ''Time to return to reality. Any last wishes before you leave?'' Sure, I said, I want to take my truck ice skating by daylight. ''I think we can manage that,'' said Santa. ''We'll make tomorrow as sunny as we can get it, and you can go and do your thing. Then it's off to the portal with you, and back to real life. Don't waste your opportunities there - remember, family is the most important thing you have. One day you'll be a father - I know it's hard for truckers, but don't be too much of an absent one.'' And then he was gone, and I tucked into my turkey, and thought long on what he'd said. Yes, indeedy.


I went to bed in the Spa Hotel, looking forward to my last ever morning in Winterland.


The next day, after a delicious full buffet breakfast I left the Mountain Resort and headed for the lake.


It seems we're going to get the closest thing to a fine sunny day that Winterland can offer.




Sliding around on the ice was a blast.


Did a bit of skating myself, and watched the lanterns float skywards.




Winterland has been a great event from SCS - thanks for the fun times!!






Found that you can actually get onto the lake directly from Northstar.






Remembered my 'thank you' letter, which I'd forgotten to post. They said they only took such letters in the period after Christmas, but I could keep it as a souvenir, so I stuffed it back in my pocket. Well, that's it then. Off to the portal.


One last look at the sparkles, and then it all faded to black. I awoke not in some petrol station in Cordoba, nor in my own garage, but back in bed in hospital. Of course - it's time to check out!! My parents picked me up and drove me home in the car. After lunch, they said they had a surprise for me, if I felt strong enough to walk over to the garage. Well, of course, so we strolled over the waste ground to the garage, opened the sliding doors, and...


...there it was. My truck!! With the original green paintjob! They were so happy to have me back, that they'd gone all out to get me the exact same truck as I'd described dreaming about. They said they'd gone for the original green version because they didn't feel confident about getting the Xmas paintjob right. Wow... just wow... I was lost for words to thank them, but then remembered there was something in my pocket - the thank you letter from Northstar. I fished it out and gave it to them. It was a truly moving, tear-jerking, heart-warming, uplifting, gladdening, touching moment. In fact I'm still sobbing happily now, 3 1/2 years later.


Well, anyway. After spending a few weeks chilling at home and working in the garden, and so on, I was ready to take my first job. Innsbruck to Salzburg, nice and short, nice and easy.


We're carrying roof tiles, and all's well with the world. At least in the world of trucksim.


We passed the rest stop where the portal had been, but the sparkles were no more.


Lush greenery, blue skies...


A happy end.


Well, that was a really great story, wasn't it? Shame that MAN no longer sponsors the Booker Prize, it could have been in with a chance. Just think, 50K in the bag. Oh well. Perhaps Bethesda are hiring?


Anyway, here we are entering Innsbruck.


Roof tiles delivered! Time to move on. No more distractions. Next time - we commence the final part of my tour of ProMods' massive Fennoscandia region - we'll be visiting their amazing version of northern Norway. Very much looking forward to it.

Cheers! Krigl

[krigl]

In this set we start the final part of my tour of ProMod's humunguous Fennoscandia region: Northern Norway. We're kicking off in Bodo, which is perhaps more central than northern, maybe, but this whole part of the map is disconnected from the lower part of the country, so I'm calling it northern Norway and that's it, basta fidli.


And here's Anni, making her final preparations to leave.


Trying out the new baby DAF - the boss has no intention of purchasing any for the fleet, preferring to buy local - Volvos and Scanias - but why not humour the local DAF rep? We're going to take it roughly southwards from Bodo down to Mo i Rana, Mosjean and Trofors.


Off we go then.


Sea view from Bodo. Northern Norway is absolutely crammed full of coastline, fjords, mountains, villages, forests, windswept meadows... and from what I've seen so far ProMods have done a great job of bringing the spirit of the region to trucksim.


Bodo itself is a fine little town.


I made these screenshots a while ago, just after the newest version of PM came out, and I had no mods working.


I've decided to go with vanilla companies in SCS DLC tours from now on, but all-PM areas should have real companies to try to get them looking as realistic as possible. Once we start heading northeast it shall be goodbye vanilla, but first there are 3 sets with the popular food flavouring. Fauske is our first destination, and it's just down the road.


Still leaving Bodo.


A brief stretch along the side of a fjord (or something)...


...and we reach Fauske. Mountains rise up behind, but we're not going north-northeast today. We're heading south.


Drove around Fauske a bit, checking it out. Cool little place.




Off we go southwards, then. The cab of the baby DAF offers a modern display and a decent-sized GPS. Very nice. I like the looks too. A cool truck. Probably going to drive it when touring PM's Greece once Norway is done.


Looking back at Fauske.




Idyllic scenes abound. And unlike with Winterland, I'm not going to accompany them with torrents of insensate drivel. Most of the time, anyway. I can't resist the occasional puerile pun.


Yep. They've really pushed the boat out with this scenery.












This area is particularly atmospheric and lovely.






Next time we reach Mo i Rana and Mosjoen.
Cheers! Anna

[krigl]

This time we continue southwards-ish from Bodo, Norway down to Mo i Rana and Mosjoen.


Great sense of space in this area.


Taking a few months off after Christmas.












We've arrived in Mo i Rana.


Lovely spread of flowers.


Mo i Rana apparently means Mo in Rana - the town of Mo in the Rana Municipality. Distinguishes it from other Mos found elsewhere.


Mo seems like such a short name to me. I grew up in the south of the UK, where places are called things like Little Quackling, Trottenhampsett Fauntleroy and Tadpole Chutney-under-Lyme, so I totally get why they felt the need to add 'i Rana'.


Still a bit of a feeble effort, though. But another fine town anyhow.


The cistern needs to be dropped off here.






There's still some road to go below Mo i Rana, with the next town being Mosjoean - apparently meaning 'the seaside belonging to Mo'. Let's get something to drag down there, then.




Local steelworks, I guess.


Nice wide ventilation shafts. You never know when you might need to crawl down one to avoid partially deaf security guards / zombies / crazed robots. Good to have some room for your elbows.


And the prototype handheld railgun this guy's probably dreaming about.


Continuing southwards, we meet a picturesque village.








Not far beyond, we reach Mosjoen and our delivery point. Next time - down to the end of the road in Trofors, and back.
Krigl

[lipidano]

This is impressive

[krigl]

Re: lipidano - 'This is impressive'

Yes, northern Norway is definitely one of the best parts of the ProMods map. But there's plenty more good stuff in other areas all over Europe. If you haven't tried ProMods yet, then I'd definitely recommend it. Well worth the effort!!

This time - an atmospheric evening drive from Mosjoen down to Trofors and back.


It's getting a bit late in the day, but this far north summer evenings last almost forever.


Headed up a nearby hill to pick up a load to take to Trofors.


We're to take something not to but from a wind generator building site.


They still build these modern 'windmills' in the traditional way. To the left you can see the 'carpet' of wooden logs used by the druids' thralls to push the main column of the wind generator up the hill. Once the pillar has crossed the rearmost log, said log is picked up and placed at the front of the 'carpet' so the pillar may pass over it again. Simple, but clever. No wheeled transport used, not even oxen. Then, when the sun is in the correct alignment, they raise the column via an ingenious and practical system of ropes and pulleys. Some conspiracy theorists think that alien spacecraft might be involved, like with the Moai of Easter Island, but the locals simply guffaw at the very idea.


One concession to modernity has evidently been made - the rollers used to convey the pillars are no mere logs with the branches hacked off by primitive flint tools - they have been cut and shaped with precision.


I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be picking up from this site and taking away. Exhausted thralls, maybe.


In any case, it's a picturesque and fun location. Let's have a look around Mosjoen before we go - it will be dark when we get back.


Scistorm Arctic Cooling Systems. I looked them up online, didn't find anything. Maybe they're too cool to have an online presence. Arctic levels of cool.


Still in Mosjoen.


That DAF looks happy, but inside it's feeling conflicted.


A pleasant corner of the town.


Driving southwards now. Perhaps one day this road will continue beyond Trofors down to Trondheim. I read something to the effect that 'ProMods isn't done with Norway yet', and with the announcement of Greece as the next DLC I suppose they have perhaps 18 months at least to add something. I'm sure all the many people who love driving in Scandinavia would appreciate it. Well, we'll see.




Alright, here's Trofors.




So, let's just drop this cargo off at the local Co-op. I can't remember if this was a bona fide delivery or not. Probably not, methinks.


Great. Time to head back to Mosjoen, then. Just wanted to enjoy the superlong golden hour you get in these parts.


Visiting a local farm.


Not going to take anything. There's a nice hotel waiting in Mosjoen. It's been a long day. Both my copilot and I are pretty tired.








It's been fun driving the new DAF, but from the next set we'll be back to good ol' Scanias, as they just feel appropriate for the region.


The magic of these long golden evenings is just one of the many reasons why northern driving is so popular.


Our hotel. Roughly halfway between Bergen and the Nordkapp. Nearly 3000 km to the North Pole, though. We're going to considerably shorten that distance at the end of this tour, though, when we hop across the icy Barents Sea to Svalbard.


That's still quite a way away, though. But we're going to make a start next time, with a trip from Fauske up to Narvik.
Thanks for looking in!
Krigl

[krigl]

Today we start our trip north and eastwards across the top of Norway, starting in Fauske and eventually reaching Kirkenes.


Anna’s back in a Scania, resplendent in a new Christmas-themed paintjob that recently turned up in my list of options.


Decked out the inside a little in the Xmas style too, for that cosy feeling.


Leaving Fauske on the first leg of the tour, destination Narvik.


The heavy cloud was unwelcome, but it cleared up later on.


All the cargo options from Bodo and Fauske were for places to the south. I think the Mo I Rana section of the map was added relatively recently, so maybe the job offers have not been fully tested, or something? Or maybe I was just unlucky. Anyhow, decided to bobtail it up to Narvik for once.


This itinerant birder thought he spotted a white-tailed eagle, so he slammed on the brakes of his camper and leapt out to try and get a few shots. Not the safest place to park, mate, but I applaud your enthusiasm.


Plenty of tunnels on the first part of the route.


Quite a few little villages and hamlets too. And it’s great to get some sea views, so rare in this game.


Shall we? Nah, let’s press on. Got a ferry to catch.


Interesting style of signage.


The road north is long, winding and undulating, with ever-present mountains.


Blue skies at last.


Plenty of colour in this region. Well, in the summer at least.


Taking the ferry from Bognes to Skarberget. The whole area is a complex mess of fjords, islands and peninsulas, so there are probably a lot of ferries like this one.


Southbound passengers about to depart from Skarberget.


Rugged terrain.


I thought suspension bridges needed two towers, but no, single-tower self-anchored suspension bridges are a thing. Alright then!






That must be Narvik Havn, Narvik’s ice-free port 220 km south of the Arctic Circle. Right now we are still not as far north as we got when touring northern Finland. I remember crossing the Arctic Circle there.


This is, I think, Ballangen, just before Narvik. I don’t look up every place I visit, but the wiki for Ballangen has the following interesting detail: The first person living in Ballangen was Lodve Lange (Lodve the Long), who is mentioned in the Heimskringla as being one of King Olav Tryggvason's most trusted warriors, and being placed near the king in the famous ship Ormen Lange (long serpent). Lodve probably participated in the Battle of Svolder in the year 1000, and might have been killed there. He lived at Saltvik, which is near the fjord, east of today's village of Ballangen. Well there you go. Trucksim is not just a game, it's an education.


We’ve reached Narvik.








Very nice! Next time we grab some train axles and haul them up towards Bardufoss.
Cheers! Krigl

[krigl]

Today we pick up some train axles from Narvik and haul them in a vaguely northeasterly direction to Setermoen, before continuing to the colourful settlement of Bardufoss.


Narvik.


Security gates for the steelworks.


Container ships can pull up right next to the plant – handy.




Ready to go. Open the door!


First time meeting such a door at a jobsite, cool.




Alright, enough industrial architecture, let’s get moving.




Charming mini-harbour for private boats.


AI cars do U-turns here, looks kinda funny.






This is Bjerkvik, which lies at the very top of the county of Nordland. Looking at a map of the counties of Norway, Nordland and Trondelag + More og Romsdal below it could be argued to be ‘central Norway’. Troms lies above Nordland, and beyond that there’s Finnmark. Both of these are definitively ‘northern Norway’, I’d say.


Into Troms, and into The North!




Kirkenes is still a long way off, but the ‘capital’ of the Troms region (where we now are, I guess), Tromso, is getting closer. The whole of the Troms region is above the Arctic Circle. Brr.


Lovely summer’s day today, though – 15 degrees! Positively sweltering.


Would be great to stop for a while and take a dip. Maybe.




Approaching Setermoen.




Setermoen. Let’s deliver the axles.




Bardufoss is not much further. Boating on the lake? Sounds very pleasant.


Bardufoss. Next up are a couple of sets exploring the region of Troms between here and Tromso.
Cheers! Krigl

[krigl]

The next few sets are from the western Troms region of Norway. We set off from Bardufoss to Tromso via the western route, but got distracted by a 'secret road' on the way...


Bardufoss. No need to stop for fuel right now. The print on that cistern looks a bit wierd. It says 'Delivering fresh fruit and vegetables', but part of it is missing. A Jazzycat mod issue, I guess.


Couldn't find any cargo for Tromso - the options around here are kind of limited - and didn't feel like pretending.


So we're 'free as the wind' to enjoy another plentiful helping of great scenery. Just got to remember that we're not nearly as heavy as usual.




This is Finnsnes.




Our plan was to pass on through, cross the bridge and continue to Tromso.






When we got to the other side I found that we could continue straight on - no XXXXXX's.


We had plenty of time, so I thought, why not. What's down this secret road?


Some fine views!




There was a way off to the right here, but I ignored it and went through a tunnel ahead.


Crossed a bridge, turned left.


Ahead was a sign warning of falling rocks.


Shortly after, there they were.


Climbing the hill, we met some more.


The road continued along the hilltop, providing a view of the bridge we'd just crossed.


And then brought us down the other side just in front of the tunnel. Well, that was fun... what happens if I turn right at the end of the bridge?


Chaos, it seems. Nah, it's the same truck we saw from the top of the hill. The grey car was just sitting there, refusing to move. Managed to squeeze through, though.


Ah, okay, the road ends here.


There's a non-functional ferry.


I guess PM may still have plans for this region. Cool...


Well, that was a fun distraction.


Back to Finnsnes, and on with the trip - next time.
Krigl

[krigl]

Completing the journey to Tromso today, and checking out the town - a very cool place.


Driving from Finnsnes to the ferry at Botnhamn.




Will we fit? I think we'll fit.


They dropped us off at Brensholmen.




Oilseed farm down by the sea.




Light's not great, sorry... Is that an A380?!




Bridge to Tromso. A fighter plane streaks past as we approach.


Another zips by as we cross the bridge.


It IS an A380, wow. I remember watching the first flight, and seeing them sailing like zeppelins over London. Now they're being phased out already, sad.


That fighter plane again as we pass the end of the runway. A Saab Gripen, maybe?


Arriving in Tromso. The light's no good for touring - let's hit the sack.






Yawwwwwnn. Night night.


The next day was bright and fine, so we went to explore the town. A palm tree? Apparently Tromso is milder than many places at this latitude thanks to warmer winds and part of the gulf stream, but I'm not sure if it's THAT mild... I can see a greenhouse, but the local botanical garden is for Arctic and Alpine plants, so... yeah. Still, palms always look nice, why not?


One of those underground roundabouts they have in Norway.


Tromso has nearly 80,000 inhabitants, and it is the third largest urban area above the Arctic Circle after Murmansk and Norilsk. It also has a lot of historic wooden houses. Like, er, this one.




Not sure about the grammar here.




Particularly pleased with this shot.




The 'Arctic Cathedral'. We'll see a bit more of totally tropical Tromso next time, before taking the easterly route back to Bardufoss and Setermoen.
Cheers! Krigl

[krigl]

Back to complete the tour of ProMods' excellent Tromso, before taking the eastern route back to Bardufoss and beyond to Setermoen. During this short period I witnessed two accidents, one being my own...


Making the most of the good weather to get some final views of Tromso before taking our leave. We won't be back.


It's a really lovely town.




Okay, enough. We'll cross the bridge to the container terminal.


Oh my, what's going on here?


Wow... a split container full of noodles. Udon 't want to be under a container like that when it falls.


Packed with detail, just how I like it. It's been great, but it's time to get the hell out of Tromso.


Via a roundabout route, of course, just in case there's something we've missed.


Like this anchor!


Anchor what?


No, that's in Cambodia.


Bloody hell, Krigl, shut it.


A Gripen screams by as we leave the city. Their constant presence adds to the atmosphere of the place, and the countryside for quite some distance around it. Troms - land of the griffin.




A majestic landscape unfolds before us.


I can quite imagine this land being the haunt of griffins and other fabled beasts.






This little hamlet is Nordkjosbotn, I think. At this point the road from Tromso (E8) joins the road heading from Bardufoss to Alta, i.e. the famous E6.


We were driving along to Bardufoss, enjoying the sunlight and flowers, meadows and lakes, and snowcapped peaks, when suddenly the game minimised and a pop up appeared saying that I needed to restart my computer. Aaargh! I got rid of it, returned to the game...


... and found myself plunging through foliage as if I'd just crash-landed a spaceship on a jungle planet. Great. 12% damage, 12,000 Euros to pay.


Luckily, being a trucker 12K is small change to me, and more importantly, there was no impairment of any of the truck's functions so we were able to continue on our merry way to Bardufoss.




Our destination is Setermoen, however.


And here we are.


Next time we begin two epic trips through stunning landscapes through eastern Troms between Bardufoss and Alta.
Cheers!! Krigl