Seeing the light
A 300Tdi and a pair of Td5 Defenders plus six good friends discover the beauty of Norway and Sweden and the capabilities of their Land Rovers
Discovering Scandinavia by Defender
THIS Land Rover expedition had been in the planning for a couple of years, and in October 2018 I took the plunge and booked a return ferry from Harwich to Holland with the goal of travelling up through Norway, and back down through Sweden over the course of a month in my 1996 300Tdi 90. Joining me on the trip were Kate (my partner), and Sam and Emily, in his Td5 110. Once I had posted our planned trip on Instagram, Lachlan, a fellow Instagrammer, messaged to ask if he and Hannah could tag along in her Td5 90. Now, I’d been chatting to Lachlan for a few months about all things Land Rover, and although none of us had ever met, I couldn’t say no! This decision turned out to be one of the greatest that we made as they are now firm friends.
The connection between us was the draw to visiting Norway and Sweden as they have that certain kind of appeal for Land Rover exploration. Norway offers a wealth of mountains, amazing hairpin roads and epic fjords, to name but a few. Plus, it has been voted one of the greatest places in the world to take a road trip. Sweden similarly offers beautiful scenery, but has a vastness like no other, overflowing with trees, lakes and gravel roads – perfect for those on the lookout for wild camping spots to enjoy the peace and serenity this country boasts.
To enable us all to take full advantage of our trip, and travel in style and comfort, we endeavoured to modify our Land Rovers to the best of our abilities. I had been on a twoweek tour of Scotland in mine, and three weeks round Italy and Switzerland in Sam’s in years previous, so I had a pretty good idea of how I wanted things to work. I find that the more you travel and test things out, the easier it becomes to know what works. The most important piece of kit we all own is an expedition roof tent. To anyone who is considering buying a roof tent, I would highly recommend saving to do so. To add to this, we all had awnings of various styles, after all Norway is one of the wettest countries, and they certainly