Well, i posted from Greece, 2018. That was really the point of return for that trip, as we had to go back for work. My girl and I were on a tight budget and running out of time to explore.
I guess I should start at the beginning of this 13 country tour.
Ended up doing 13 000km. i think thats about 8100 miles. at least 20 000 smiles!
The planning started one night at work in the mountains, rebuilding an old log barn from the 17th century. I run this job, hiring in several other skilled guys and gals to get a big job done in a short amount of time. I love what i do, and we lived on that mountain farm for a few weeks, without power and a bad cell service, so you end up in a perfect situation to really get into the job, only working with traditional tools.
Job was nice, weather was bad. Worst month of weather in my life, just rain and cold, in june!
So my morale was dipping, i really struggled to keep good momentum after a long time in the mud.
One of the last nights, my handbrake and I discussed what to do for vacation. We had no plans, intending to roam and explore our region, north of the Arctic Circle.
But weather was bad, and forecasts were worse. Before we fell asleep, we decided the
Land Cruiser should just take us to new places, calmer weather, warmer seas. So south! and maybe a bit east.
This is first sight of sun, after going south for 8 hours.
So, job was done, we unpacked the cruiser af axes, chisels, wet sleeping gear and such.
Did an oil change on the cruiser, and set off. Only one night at home, and we were off! I had so much overtime at
work, so i had to calculate how long i could be gone. About 5 weeks turned out to be the max, as another job had to start up!
I had noticed my rear diff was making more sound than normal, a open diff that was in place of the oem cable locker diff, that one also needed service. I had new gear oil on everything, but i figured i needed a spare to feel good.
First stop was tracking down another cable locked diff with the same 4.1 gearing. Challenge accepted.
That route did not follow the intended good-weather route, more the opposite.
So we got stopped at the first bridge, could not pass due to heavy winds. As we were stranded on the wrong side of the bridge, we got to plan a bit ahead. First go west to Lofoten to pick up a good diff. then go back, and east to the swedish coast for better weather.
After a few hours the bridge opened, and I was afraid the rtt would blow off the cruiser as we passed the bridge.
-insert picture of me unbolting diff from donor-
