MOG 2014

Thursday morning i woke with a feeling of anticipation. This was the weekend that the Norwegian Morgan society would be meeting in Molde. The event was for 4 days at a luxury hotel, involving fine dining, and driving trips to maximize the senses. Although my wife and children couldn't attend the event as Morganeers they would be driving a separate car and be staying at the hotel. Due to new laws it wasn't legal to drive with small children in the back of the Morgan any longer.

At 10am i waved good buy to my wife and kids as they started there trip to Molde. The plan was to stop every hour and allow the kids out for a break and have an ice cream. Id start a little later with the rest of the morgans traveling from Trondheim.

 At 11am i drove to Stjordal to meet up with the other 2 Morgans, owned by Karl and Hans Kristian. When they arrived we started our trip to Molde. There now exists a very good direct motor way for most of the way but we decided to take the old road which runs by the fjord and is very twisty. The weather was blisteringly hot and we could drive in more or less shirts. Unfortunately i had forgotten to put on any sun cream and by the end of the day i was to end up with a very red face and a burnt noise but the drive was excellent.

After about 2 hours of great driving we pulled to a stop. There where two main reasons for this firstly we where lost and seemed to be driving over a mountain in the wrong direction. It was a great drive with fantastic views but we where adding a good hour to the journey. Secondly my breaks had basically stopped working. I could press the peddle all the way to the floor and only the last 20% actually gave any breaking effect and that was only light breaking at best. I examined the break fluid and checked for leaks both seemed fine. We decided to proceed but slowly, get down the mountain and to the ferry place where we would investigate further. Low gears and possible hand break where my back up. We eventually reached the ferry landing, the hood was popped and a thorough examination was taken but nothing could be seen that was leaking or wrong. After 20 minutes of poking around the ferry arrived and we had to drive on. Miracles of miracles brakes where back to normal with full pressure. I talked to a mechanical expert later that evening and the conclusion was the car had got so hot that water in the brake fluid had started to boil and reduced the effectiveness of the hydraulics, solution replace the break fluid as soon as possible.

Since we had driven the wrong way my wife and children arrived at the hotel a couple of hours before we arrived. This was the first time the children had been at a nice hotel and they where suitably excited about having individually packed, shampoo, soap and Toblerone available in the room. As we drove into the Morgan parking area directly at the entrance i was greeted by 2 children charging towards me screaming papa. Quite a nice welcome!

After investigating the hotel for an hour the children went out for pizza and i joined the other MOG members for a glass of wine and a chat on the patio next to the fjord. This was followed by an informal dinner at the hotel with a spicy Bacleoue. A couple of beers and i hit a brick wall, after driving all day the stress of failing brakes and a couple of beers i was dead tired and retired early to bed.

Next morning arrived and we where greeted with an overcast sky, the weather forecast was for sun later so all would be good. After breakfast  we prepared the cars and another check of the brakes showed they where fully functional. The drive started at 10pm and 50 Morgans drove out. Two buses decided to stop and let us all out so we could all drive together which was jolly nice of them. One unfortunate member (one of the 3 of us that had driven down from Trondheim)  had decided to  fill his car with diesel directly before the start and was waiting for the repair van to come and fix the issue. This unfortunately meant he was out for the day.

The first part of  the drive had us driving little country roads towards Bud. A little over an hour later we arrived and parked up. At Bud is an old fort with fantastic views out over the Atlantic ocean. A short stop allowed us to clamber around the fortifications and admire the views. After half an hour we clambered back into our cars and headed down the Atlantic road towards Hustad.

The next stop was a bit of surprise we parked up next to a building in the countryside that looked like an old farm.  A number or ancient tractors in various states of decay stood outside and we all stood around wondering what we where doing here. A short time later a coach arrived we all clambered in and where driven 700 meters into a mountain. At this point we found out that we had arrived at a working mine for marble. Inside we found part of the mine flooded with ground water and took boats out further into the mine looking at the various caves lighting and rock formations. This was just awesome and all my photos completely failed to produce anything reflecting the real marvel of this trip. After the boat trip we took lunch in a large cavern where we where served Sod, a Trondelag delicacy of soup with various meets and vegetables floating around in it. The whole mine experience was truly a superb experience and completely unexpected.

Once out of the mine we continued for a short time to a small village where we parked outside a shop that specialized in wool products. A cunning side trip, 50 odd Morgan drivers and passengers visiting a wool shop in a traditionally cold country. What proceeded was a frenzy and not to be sexist but it seemed all the wives and girl friends disappeared into the shop in a determined effort to empty the entire stock while the men stood around outside with slightly panicky expressions observing the frenzy with a cup of coffee and some cake. We where only there about half an hour but if that shop took less than $25k dollars in that time id be very surprised. Some of the braver men ventured inside to have a look and ventured out again with a slight shell shocked expression. Bags where loaded and stored and we where off again.

This time we drove the Atlantic road, one of the top 10 roads in the world classified as a must drive experience. The sky was now blue the views spectacular and the roar of 50 engines reverberated around the country side.  We drove over the most famous bridges to the delight of the tourists all parked up to take photos and then turned around and drove back over the same bridges. A short stop for a couple of photos and we started the drive back to the hotel.

Arriving back we had about an hour or so to relax take a beer and prepare for a formal dinner.



Everyone dressed up and we had a three course meal of smoked whale for starters, traditional cod for main course followed by cake and ice cream for desert. A decent wine menu accompanied the meal and the conversation flowed as did the speeches. My Norwegian although good still struggles when in a very nosy environment but it was an enjoyable evening and some time in the early hours i retired to bed.





The next day surfaced and started with a boat trip across the fjord to a little museum on an island, my wife and children joined me for this trip since there was no driving. The museum basically showed how people used to live and work fishing on the island. Ten men and one women living in a cabin smaller than one third my living room puts things into perspective and makes you really appreciate that a lot of the complaints and moaning i generally hear are really first world problems and we should wake up every day and kiss the ground we walk  on for how lucky we really are. We returned to the mainland to find out lunch was a hugh selection of shell fish. Unfortunately i'm very allergic to shellfish so it was just a giant table of poison for me. We decided to take the kids to a local cafe where we enjoyed a light lunch.

After lunch we took the second car and drove back to Bud so the children could have some time to clamber round the fortifications and ware themselves out for an hour or two. We had bought some massive cakes at the cafe and enjoyed munching through those perched next to some massive cannons and enjoying the view out over the fjord. Eventually it was time to return to the hotel. The kids went out for Chinese food and i joined the Morganeers for the final meal of the event. This time we clambered into coaches and where driven up a mountain to a little cabin with spectacular views over Molde. We enjoyed a good lamb stue and a few glasses of wine along with some final speeches. One particular entertaining speech was how fjordmog now had a facebook site. Conversation stopped at my table and several of the members scratched there head and wondered what they where going to do with that info. Taking this in context a lot of the members are pretty elderly and have no inclination or desire to start with facebook. I on the other hand immediately logged on and became a member of the group.

After dinner we started the walk down the mountain using a nature trail. If we walked straight down it was only 4kms. However half way down we stopped at a little cabin where beer and wine had been piled up so we could enjoy a final dram enjoying the endless nights with views over Molde and the Atlantic.The evening finished with a final tramp through the forest to our hotel.

Next morning greeted us with crystal blue sky's and blistering heat. Since we were in the area i decided to drive back a different way and drive a road called Trollstigen or the Trolls ladder which is an amazing road up a mountain. I thought it would only take an extra hour but my wife said it would take much longer. Being a typical man i scoffed at such a notion and pointed out it was only a little longer pointing at the map and explaining it was only an additional inch or so. In all fairness she was completely right and i was completely wrong as i turned up home 6 hours later than planned. It was however an amazing drive.  followed a few other Morgans that where heading back to Oslo that way and drove down to the local ferry. About an hour later i was greeted with the view of Trollstigen and what a road it was. Hairpin turns all the way up a mountain passing waterfalls and coming out on a plateau with mountain tops covered in snow.

I At the top of the road they had built a magnificent viewing point so people could look back at what they had driven up. A short stop to take photos and and admire the view and then i waved good buy to my fellow morganeers and



started the drive down Trollstigen. Due to earlier brake problems i put the car in second gear and rolled down the road until safely at the bottom. This i can say was very nerve racking but i returned to the base safe and sound and then started my way home traveling to Dombos, over Dovre Fjell and then onto Trondheim. I arrived home at about 9pm after a spectacular weekend. As usual there is only one way to celebrate such a great weekend, a glass of red wine and something good to read


MOG2015 will be held by the members of Mog Of Hell in Trondheim. Looking at the spectacular success where out of the 3 main organisational members one drove us the wrong way over a mountain, the second filled his car with diesel and the third drove over a mountain without breaks it should be a roaring success !

Cultural Sausage Trip

Most Saturdays start with a 4 year old running in at 6am and jumping up and down on the bed. My wife is generally in the middle of a symbiosis with the bed so it falls to me to remove the little devil from the bedroom and retire to watch children s TV, read MOG mag and of course become one with the coffee pot.

This Saturday was different though, MOG of Hell had organised a trip around the Norwegian ford with a stop for dinner at a farm to eat locally made sausages. Due to the lack of Morgans in the area the local Jaguar cars had also been invited to make it a classic British car tour. I was wondering if our progress around the fjord would be trackable by the oil trail we would be leaving with 9 classic British cars, none of them particularly known for retaining oil in the engine block.


At 9.30 Johnny a good friend arrived. Johnny would be accompanying me on the tour. We did a quick clean of the car to make it look extra sparkling clean, then waved good bye to the family and headed off to Stjordal the meeting point. In total 4 Morgans and 5 jaguars would be joining the trip. The Morgans consisted of a 2010 4/4, a 1982 plus 8 and a new Roadster. My car a 1997 Plus 4 meant that we where actually only missing the 3 wheeler and Aero for a full compliment of Morgan types.


 The Jaguars consisted of a truly spectacular red E type from 1962 and 4 XJS which seemed to be luxury cabins on wheels.

At 10.30 we headed south along the E6, we where short of time and had to meet a ferry crossing. At this point it started to rain. Roofs stayed down and we continued on our way heading through Klett and on towards Orkanger. The road soon turned into a very twisty road following the coast of the fjord. The driving would have been great apart from two minor details. Firstly the roadster and 4/4 decided that that driving at mark 1 and completely ignoring the speed limits in wet slippery whether would be a fabulous idea. My car being a good deal older didn't even try to keep up. Secondly the amount of pot holes in the road was just shocking, after a further hour bumping along the road at speed my spleen and kidney's felt as if they had swapped position. Norway being the richest country in the world seems to have problems filling in large holes. Maybe they should just fill them up with oil or something.

We continued west along the 710 until we came to the end of the fjord at Medholmen and the ferry crossing to Brekstad. We all pulled in to the second lane and found the first lane was filled with elderly American tourists. As i turned off the engine i was greeted by an American gentleman, saying "I always wanted to see a Morgan but never thought i would in this lifetime and then 4 turn up at once''. A row of Morgans and classic Jags  certainly raised alot of eye brows and got people moving up and down the waiting line with cameras snapping left right and center. The only unfortunate obstacle was that it continued to rain. It seemed the clouds where determined to follow us where ever we went!

The ferry eventually turned up and we drove on, the rain started coming down again and umbrellas where raised in an attempt to keep part of the insides of the car relatively dry. The trip over the fjord only took 30 minutes but a couple of coffees and some chocolate helped pass the time. The views weren't to bad either. Arriving at Brekstad we drove off the boat and took a short drive to Hovde Gard.

Hovde Gard was a magnificent old building used in the past to teach young women how to be good house wives. If it was still active in such a capacity I would seriously consider sending the better half for some training but sadly this was no longer possible.  The current owner had completely restored the building and now it was used for events and could have upto 50 overnight guests.

Considering the size of the restoration I doubt there was much spare change from 10 million dollars. Since we had such beautiful cars we where given pride of place right outside the entrance while all other cars where relegated to the Hotels parking place.

We where given an excellent tour round the building and the grounds by the owner before retiring to the bar to enjoy 3 types of sausage, mash, coffee and desert. The trepid but slightly damp drivers enjoyed the food and stories of trips taken in the past year.

After a good 2 to 3 hours at the farm we climbed back into our cars and started the drive along the North side of he fjord. We drove along some great  twisty and really narrow roads with the fjord next to us while passing through small hamlets. The weather began to clear up and we even saw some blue sky occasionally. At Follafoss we stopped and cake was wiped out of storage and we all enjoyed some along with coffee and chocolate. Again we started to drive and eventually hit the northern end of the fjord before turning south again towards Trondheim.

In total my Plus 4 drove 415km over 12 hours. It started off in pristine condition and returned in a very mucky and muddy condition. Close to 500 pictures where taken, we waved at dozens of people and had dozens of people wave at us and take pictures. In all a great trip if somewhat a wet one. Now I have a week to wash the car and get it ready for May the 17th, Norways national day. At the end of the month is the National Morgan meeting in Molde where a total of 50 Morgans will be attending. Life is good and it only gets better by owning a Morgan !