Ok everybody, apologies to all for the loooong delay in getting this up for viewing - you wouldn't believe the number of times Mr Murphy's law came into effect......
Still - here it is,  a condensed report on our experiences taking a fully laden 95 complete with trailer to the North Cape and back again

Tuesday, 1st July  All is packed in the old 95 V4 and we set off on the first leg of the trip of a lifetime; to the ferry port at Harwich.  Riding in the trailer is the tent, blankets, air beds, sleeping bags, spare gas containers, cool box (v. large) chairs and breakdown kit.  In the 95 are three adults, one 7 year old daughter, cooking stoves, water bottle and clothing bags.  This will be the first time the 95 has ever been so heavily loaded so the run up the A12 is approached with some trepidation.  Our fears are groundless, however, and the journey is accomplished without any problems.  The 95 performs faultlessly and we arrive at the port at 16:00 hrs.  Because of the trailer we are directed into a separate lane from all the other Saab's.  During the wait for the ferry Wally & Bridget Glander (96), Mike Palmer (96), John and Nora Ashley-Barker (96), Ian Studley (95 - of infamy!), Mark and Lorraine Dodsworth (96), Carl Mullaney (96), Keith and Angie Harding (9000), Ian and Hazel Hodcroft (900), Ken Dover in his 92 and Steve in his 95 back-up vehicle wound up in the queue  Time came to board the ferry and we sat there watching all the Saabs boarding and wondering if we would ever move!  Finally it was our lanes turn and we pulled on the quay where we were again pulled to one side whilst all the other vehicles went up the ramp.  we actually would up as the last vehicle on and they started raising the ramp whilst we were still on it!!  Once we were sorted into the cabins we headed up to the restaurant to book a table for the excellent smorgasboard.  Tuesday night most people did their own thing then on Wednesday every one met up and organized both dinner before landing and to meet up when we had all left the ferry.

. Wednesday 2nd July We met up with Tom and Avis Nelson who come from Colorado to take part in the NLC.  Negotiations on their part to hire a classic Saab from the UK had fallen through so they were had to do the run in a new 900 that was hired from Trollhattan.  After another smorgasboard blow-out we reported down to the car deck for disembarking.  Funnily enough this time we were first off after doing a U-turn on the ferry's car deck!   As soon as we cleared the customs area we pulled into the first space large enough to hold all the Saabs (just happened to be the area for the boarding lane queues) and flagged down every other Saab coming off the ferry.  Some people had made prior arrangements for en-route accommodation but 9 vehicles followed Ian Hodcroft to the overnight campsite.   The first one we tried at Liseberg was full so off we went to try a second one at Djelso.  This one had room for us but by the time we got there the 95's temp. gauge was firmly in the red.  We decided to camp the night then remove the thermostat in the morning to alleviate the cooling problems (note - if you plan on towing anything heavy in a V4 fit a twin-core radiator - its worth the expense)

Thursday 3rd July First thing after breakfast the thermostat came out and a replacement gasket was cut from a sheet of material generously donated by Carl Mullaney.  By the time we had finished everyone else had left for the museum at Trollhattan so we trundled off on our own route.  When we got there - there was no sign of anybody (other than a load of 9-5's on press road test) and parking space was at a premium.  We had just found somewhere to fit the 95 and its trailer when every one else suddenly appeared.  It seems Wally had found one of his famous "short cuts that aren't".  Still - they had a sneak preview of the country side!!   Whilst wandering around in the museum we met up with Tom and Avis again, they had just picked up their rental 900.  After we had all had one of the 50th anniversary ice creams we walked the Swedish mile down to the locks for a drink and a snack, watched some yachts go through the lock, then wandered back up to the cars for the drive up to Oslo.  The drive up to Oslo was fairly easy, no problems were encountered at all.  We arrived at the campsite at Eckberg at about 19:30 and put up the tent in the midst of half the Dutch contingent - the other half arrived the next day!!  Dinner that night, as was most nights, stewed steak and rice.  This night though the rice fell off the cooker so we had steak, rice and grass - different!

It was here that we finally got to see the gift prepared by the Saab Enthusiasts club for Saab 50th anniversary - a millenia old peice of welsh slate with the clubs logo and message engraved on it by Peter Edwards. In the photo it's being held up by the clubs membership secretary, Wally Glander, who picked it up from Wales the night before the ferry sailed - close timing or what!!

Friday 4th July This was a free day so we took a bus down into Oslo, and walked down the Koenigs Gaat pedestrian precinct investigating Norwegian shops and watching all the street performers before diving into a local pizza house for lunch.  After lunch at a great open-air restaurant called Pepe's (where we were served by a very nice young lady named Brede who wished us luck on the trip) we walked down to Aarhus castle via the back-lanes of Oslo to find the start point for the rally the following day.   We were amazed to find open squares every where with greenery and fountains playing - very nice to sit down and relax in - especially with the sun shine!  After establishing where the rally start point was and how to get there by road we spent sometime exploring Aarhus castle.

Unfortunately we never had enough time to it justice.  We then walked on down to the harbour to make our way back to the bus terminus.  En-route Greg and I had taken a guided tour of the USS Anzio, moored in the harbour on a courtesy visit; Greg almost got arrested as a spy for asking the crew too many of the "wrong" sort of question.  We caught the bus back to the campsite where we were introduced to the rest of Saab Club Nederland as well as Glenn and Doris Ellis from Alberta Canada, currently living in England where Glenn works for Trent Saab.   That night we packed up all the non-essential kit ready for the morning start.

Saturday, 5th July The day dawned bright and clear.  We had to be at Aarhus castle by 07:00 so we were up at 6am.  Everything packed down quickly due to the previous night's preparations so we were at the start point about 15 minutes early. The cars were parked up in two lines in order of arrival and a pagoda had been set-up as the start point; as we pulled in we were greeted by GammalSaaben members and aimed down a row of tables where we were given a bag containing the road books, fuel discount card (Texaco Hydro) participant's badges (to be worn at all times!) and then a black 50th Anniversary T-shirt each (unique to the rally participants).  Eric Carlsson and Peter Backstrom from the museum were on hand to wish the participants good luck and a safe journey - the trailer on the back of the 95 got an amused question from Peter as to how far we actually intended going, and where!  Shortly after 07:00 the first car was waved away and the others followed at timed 5 minute intervals as per a live rally.  We were No. 9 out and were greeted to the amusing - to us - sight of at least 3 of the cars in front of us going round in circles trying to find their way out of Oslo.   Fortunately for us Greg was an ace map reader and the previous days research also paid off so we managed to clear the Oslo precincts without bother. En-route to Oppdal we stopped at the Olympic sports hall at Hamar.  It looked like an upturned Viking longship, very impressive to see.  We had a breakfast/elevenses' type meal there before moving on.  About this time the car started making some pretty weird noises (other than the abnormal whining noises it had been making for some time!) so we felt it safer to stay on the main route rather than taking some of the detours in the route book.  It sounded like a loud clattering sound and I thought it was coming from the gearbox; only seemed to occur at around 30 mph though.  We made it to Oppdal without any further incident and set up camp.  At 21:00 (and every night thereafter) there was a drivers meeting where we were briefed on the next day's events and, on this night, introduced to the co-hosts for the journey.  After the meeting I spoke to Oistein who was in charge of the technical support during the journey.  He felt the noises we had were signs of the gearbox failing.  This made us very depressed as we felt it meant the end of the run after only 1 day.  We received a lot of moral support from the other participants that cheered us up.  Oistein came back later and said they had a spare gearbox and that arrangements had been made to fit it on the next day which really brightened us all up.

Tuesday 8th July The rotten weather of the previous day had blown over and the day was bright and clear.  We left the site at around 9:30 and drove up to Mo-I-Rana where we visited the caves at Grondliengrotto.   Getting up to the cave was an experience in its own right - there was quite a gentle slope up to the first, pot-holing,  station then a sharp right handed bend and  all of a sudden the incline went up to about 60 degrees on an unmade road.  As all the weight was in the back we found ourselves having to slew from side to side to get enough grip to climb the hill.  The caves were quite spectacular inside although Val and Tanya were quite frightened of the water courses in there - Tanya had an accident and fell in!!  When we left there we drove on to the Svartisen Glacier but found we had missed the last boat.  Oh well, thats another reason to go back when the bank account climbs out of the red...

Next stop on the days itinerary was the Polar Circle centre.  As we approached the centre the temperature dropped, even though the sun was bright in the sky, so that we had to wear heavy coats outside of the car and the centre.  This was probably due to the centre being on an open plain where the wind swept across with a very definite bite to it.  The centre its self was worth visiting - we saw the multimedia presentation "Norse Norge" as well as the general exhibition.

As can be seen from the photo we met up with Tom and Avis Nelson from Colorado again - funnily enough we kept running into them all fortnight  :-)   From there we drove on up to the overnight stopping place at Saltstraumen.  Yet again dinner was rice and stewed meat.  How suprising...........

Wednesday 9th July For a change today we had our breakfast in the hotel, it made a great change from cereals and coffee only.  When we had packed away and washed we drove into Bodo where Greg and I visited the Air Traffic Museum whilst Val and Tanya had a look around outside.  We spent 2 hours or so in the museum before returning to the car.  When Val and Tanya returned they had found the local Kingdom Hall, the only one we saw in the whole fortnight. Due to the load we were carrying we felt it best to stay on the main route so we carried on to the ferry at Bognes to Skarberget.  The crossing took approx. 25 minutes and we had to wait about 45 minutes for the next ferry.  From there we carried on to Narvick and the overnight campsite.  In the whole time we were in Scandinavia this was the worst site conditions wise.  The camping area was reached down a steep slop and the tents were pitched so close together that the cars had to be left on the feed road whilst the washing rooms were shut at night and not reopened until next morning.  Still - one duff site in 20-odd days is nothing to complain about.

Thursday 10th July After the shambles of the night before the campsite tried to charge us 100 Kr for the night but Val knocked them down to 80 Kr because of the cramped conditions. We left the site early at around 7:30 and stopped for breakfast en-route.  We picked up some danish pastries  when we refuelled, pulled into a road-side rest point and had them with fresh brewed coffee.   Then we carried on into Tromso.  After we had found somewhere to park the 95 and its trailer we walked down into the street market for a while , took a look at the bridge and cathedral then returned, picked up the 95 and moved up to the botanical gardens where we saw a sound and light show called "Northern Lights".

After taking a walk thorough the gardens we picked up the car again and carried on to Skibotn for the night.  This was an excellent site, right down beside the sea.  In the first picture you can see Mike Palmers white V4 with the tent annex on the back - neat!!  After we had pitched tent we went into town and got some instant barbecues.  Tom and Avis joined us for an impromptu "barbie on the beach", great fun!!  Tom provided a stack of grub and would not let us pay for it.  That was probably one of the most relaxing nights during the driving part of the trip.    Unfortunately - for reasons unknown - a lot of the participants went down with a bug that came to be known as the" Skiboten S**t's" that lasted for quite a few days and meant several actually had to pay a visit to local hospitals.  On the plus side this was the only bad thing in the whole trip.....

Friday 11th July Yet again we left the site early and had breakfast in a mountain-side rest area.  This is the only way to travel.  We drove on to Storslett where we tried to find the bird sanctuary.  Despite seeing numerous directional signs we failed miserably!!  After an hour or so of driving round in ever decreasing circles we gave it up as a bad job and carried on to Oskfjord to see the glacier.  However, once again, we could not get to the body of glacier as we had taken the wrong turning.  We did however see the peak of the glacier plus a run-down in a valley on our side of the peaks.   On the way back to the main route we saw our first reindeer on the side of the road.  Once back on route we carried on to Alta where we arrived with the low fuel light on and the fuel gauge not even registering.  I think we got to the fuel station ,after unpacking and erecting the tent, on fumes alone.  Erik was at the drivers meeting that night and Mark Dodsworth took his life into his hands by having his wife Lorraines birthday announced.   He's still with us though :-)

Saturday 12th July We left the site as soon as possible (we were plagued by midges and there were only 6 washing cubicles - 1 entrant was seen streaking back to their tent!) and drove straight to the Alta Museum where we had a look at the prehistoric rock carvings in the surrounding area and the indoor exhibits.  Then we drove straight through to the Kafjord - Honningsvag ferry for the 40 minute trip across to the island that the North Cape is sited on.  We arrived at the ferry at 14:30 but sailed at 16:15...  An interesting drive around the islands coast line found us arriving at the Kirkenporter campsite in the early evening.  Once there we pitched tent and got ready for the evening celebration which was scheduled for 7:45 pm.

We left the campsite at 7:00 pm and drove up to the North Cape Centre where we had a quick look around before we were split into two groups by rally number (0 - 83 and 94 - upwards) - one went in for dinner whilst the other saw a "super videograph" presentation about the cape.  As our number was 69 we went into dinner with the first group.   Dinner was a sea-food soup followed by reindeer steak with mushroom sauce, potatoes, carrots and brussels followed by a caramel and ice cream desert.   After we had finished the two groups changed over and we met up again for coffee afterwards.  During the evening a display of Norwegian folk dancing was put on for us followed by a ballet performance at 11:45 pm when the curtains at the end of the room were opened to reveal the midnight sun.  SPECTACULAR!!!    We met Geoff Ridley from New Zealand for the first time and discussed the possibility of a 2005  rally in N.Z.   We returned to the campsite at about 1:00 am and turned in although some of the Dutch contingent stayed up until 3:00 am talking and enjoying the view.

Sunday 13th July Today we left the site at about 9:00 am and returned to the North Cape centre for a group photograph in the car park.  We finally left the centre at about 11:00 am and drove straight through to the ferry where we finally made it onto the 1:45 pm sailing.   The time spent inI the queue further served to convince us that madness is an essential ingredient of any Saab driver - Jorg Wasser from Germany promptly put his warning triangle out in one lane and started sunbathing whilst Oren had the coffee pot on again.   After we managed to cross back to the main land we headed for Kautokeino.  En-route Mike Palmer had stabilizer bar problems with his 96 and one of the 9000's went down with a duff fuel pump.  More on this one in a moment.  As we got close to the hotel we went over the brow of a hill and descended into a "soup" of mosquitos.  They were so thick that at one point I was aiming the 95 rather than steering it.  Apparently Mark Dodsworth stopped to assist the 9000 with a duff fuel pump and virtually got eaten alive.  When we finally got to the hotel at about 5:00 pm all the others refused to leave the car so yours truly made a bolt for it and secured the last available room in the place.  Money well spent for the nights rest we had free from from bugs plus the excellent evening meal (NOT rice and stewed meat!) and breakfast.  When every one turned up for for the nightly drivers meeting Jorge was seem sporting a large sign taped to the back of his jacket that read "Don't Byte ME"  Like I said we're all slightly mad....

Monday 14th July We left the hotel at about 9:30 am, I checked the mosquitos hanging in a fringe from the wiper blades and the average length was 0.75 inches.  Fortunately they seemed to be dormant in the morning but the car was loaded up quicker than ever.  En-route we stopped at a Lapp souvenir shop, whilst the others went inside I readjusted the bonnet - and promptly got covered in mosquitos....   We finally emerged from the mosquito cloud at Pello to everybody's relief.   The route carried on via Overkalix to Lulea and Pitea.   On the E4 we passed Ken and Steve in the 92 and 95 at about 110 km/hr.  Shortly after the car began to judder badly.  I promptly dropped it into neutral and headed for the hard shoulder, as we crossed the line the engine gave a loud bang, a 4 ft jet of flame shot out of the exhaust and the engine cut dead.  We rolled to a halt on the shoulder and, as I pulled on the bonnet release the cable parted!!  I finally got the bonnet to open just as Ken and Steve pulled up along with a Dutch 95 and a Norwegian 96.  We all gathered around the engine bay but nothing seemed out of place, there were no holes anywhere, nothing was hanging out and there were no fluid leaks.  The initial thought was a fuel problem but the Dutch driver suggested taking the distributor cap off first and checking the points.  We did this and, lo & behold, there was no spark!! - not only no spark, but no movement period.  The heel of the moving arm on the contact breakers had sheared off because the cam had run dry.  Fortunately I had a new set of points or two in the car and these were fitted in quick time.  After this all was well.  We arrived at the campsite at 5:00 pm - the site was in a holiday camp on the beach of the baltic.  Pitched up next to us was a drag racing team and some time was spent in admiring each others vehicles.  We spent the evening on the beach and had a relaxed meal by the tent before retiring.

Friday 18th July The very last day of the Northern Lights Challenge!   In the morning we were all lined up in chronological order after which we drove in convoy to the Saab factory. As far as the eye could see in either direction there were old Saabs and new.  All along the route other drivers were pulling in and waving to us or taking photographs.  We arrived at the factory at 11:00 am where we formed a long line and, one at a time drove up onto the finishing platform to be greeted and congratulated by Erik Carlsson and Peter Bakstrom.  Once all the cars had gone through the gate a young, disabled, Dutch participant was pushed up in his wheel chair to thunderous applause from all those gathered there.  We all then proceeded to the works canteen where we had a smoked salmon lunch.  After lunch we returned to the car park where a series of 9-5's had been laid on for us to test drive.   We bided our time and managed to get hold of the V6 turbo version - what a car.....  I WANT one.    But, I guess, will never be able to afford it!  Val, Tanya, Mike Palmer and myself went out, accompanied by a Saab host, for getting for half an hour and the only instructions given by the host were left and right turns.  So I really put the 9-5 through its paces and I have to say it was a delight to drive.  The handling was extremely precise whilst the LPT turbo meant here was no noticeable lag when the loud pedal was pushed.  The autobox was another delight - the only time you knew the thing had changed gear was when the tacho. needle dropped a few hundred revs.  Build quality was, if anything, higher than Saabs normal levels.  It really hurt to give it back to Saab at the end of the drive.  From the factory we went back to the camp site to get ready for the evenings event.

On arrival back in Trollhattan we went into the central park and watched the falls being opened before going on to the Folkets Park for the evening meal.  This was, again, excellent.  After the meal many well deserved tributes were paid to GammalSaaben and, especially to Anne Anderson for having had the idea in the first place.

When Ian and Wally went up to present the UK's awards Tanya was chosen to present a bouquet of flowers to Anne.  The award from the Saab Enthusiasts was on millennia old welsh slate courtesy of Peter Edwards.  After the evening events had finished we all drove - very slowly and carefully!! - back to the camp site happy that we had finished the course but very sad the N.L.C. was over.   Still - Tom from GammalSaaben has promised they will do a "Fjords and Glaciers" run up the west coast in a few years time - 2 or 3 nights at each site and only a couple of hundred kilometres apart.  We'll be going!

Saturday 19th July The first day of the 50th jubilee!  We all drive back down to the factory again only this time we divert onto the test track.  As we enter we are diverted into differing lanes according to model type and engine.  Once every one has arrived the show begins on the track.  First of all a succession of historic Saabs are driven past the grandstands, these start with the "Ur-Saab" (AKA Old Number 1) and encompassed a 92/93, the Monster, Erik's old rally car, the first 99 and finished off with the Saab performance driving team.  Then we were treated to a restored Tunnan flying overhead and then a B25 "Mitchell" in RAF colours that was sponsored by Saab - actually had SAAB painted inside the bomb-bay which we saw when they bombed the crowd with 50th anniversary packets of sweets.  The commentator took great delight in recounting how this aircraft had scared the hell out of a couple of Germanys Kreigsmarine vessels last year by approaching out of the sun on a bombing run.  Apparently the crews thought it was a ghost from the past.  The end of this display heralded the start of the lunch interval.

After lunch the first of the cars went out onto the track for their laps, these of course being the 92's.  As we had driven in we had been given forms to sign which I did - and I'll swear to this day that it said the speed limit was 80 mph not 80 kph!  Anyway when it came to my turn I went out with Greg and by the 3rd lap we were touching 75- 80 mph at points and wondering why all these people in red hats were being so friendly and waving at us (and the cars passing us I hasten to add).  It was only when we drove back in from the track and a very nice man in a red hat shook his head at us, smiled and said we were not supposed to exceed 80 kph.  Perhaps it was the way the 95 always skipped side-ways on the broad, flat right hander before the straight....   If kept up it certainly could have developed into a good cure for constipation!.   After all the cars had bee round the track we returned to the campsite yet again and prepared ourselves for the evenings entertainment.

We reported back to Folkets park at 7:00 for the bar-b-q in the inner grounds and promptly got an idea of what 3,000 saab enthusiasts looked like.  There were people every where and an excellent band up on the stage (at one point in the evening we actually lost Tanya and, whilst going to the organizers table, found her up on the stage dancing with the singer!)  When we had all had a good feed it was time for the presentations again.  The original intention was to leave every thing on a table below the stage and have a mass presentation to keep the formalities to a minimum.  However in the best possible tradition of fluid arrangements as Peter and I walked across with the S.E. presentation it was  turned around and we found ourselves up on stage making a formal presentation to members of Svenska Saab Registret!!  So much for the best laid plans etc. etc. etc.  We left for the camp site at about 1:00 am but the party was still in full swing!

Sunday 20th July Off to the museum today!  We got there around 11:00 am, worked out where we were supposed to park and positioned the 95 according to the marshall.  I'd just got out of the car when Martin Bergstrand collared me and said I should be in the International Club meeting, promptly escorting me there.  He was, of course right - I'd totally forgotten!! During the meeting it was announced that Saab had appointed a permanent club liaison man who would have his own office and a set amount of time per week to handle club affairs. The discussions then went on to cover the location of future Internationals after England in '98 and the Czech Republic in '99 although there was a question mark over the '98 event as no members from the Czech republic were there.  Following on from this the question of having Internationals in the US and New Zealand/Australia was raised. After much discussion it was felt that the majority of people who attend Internationals want to do so in their own Saab which would obviously be a major exercise in logistics  to get to these countries.  It was finally decided that, rather than have a full-blown International these countries would host "Saab Festivals" every so many years to co-incide with their own nationals whereby any European Saab enthusiast could attend if they wanted.  It was further decided that the first of these would be in the US in '99 in Denver, Colorado and I got the task of organizing the trip for all those who want to attend from all over Europe.   Shortly after this the meeting adjourned and I returned to the 95 for lunch.

In the afternoon I wandered round all the assembled cars both original and modified (some rather extensively) before trundling around the swap meet making notes of prices and sources for when I get to start on the Sport.  All too soon it was time for the presentations after which everything wound down and we returned to camp for the last time   As always at an International it's a very sad, moving moment when we say "goodbye till next year" to all our Saab friends from Europe and beyond.  Back at the tent we make some initial preparations for departing the next day but otherwise lazed about taking it easy.   Shown below are some of the more unusual Saabs that were there...

A novel version of the New generation 900	One of many convertible 99's on display
This 900 was actually covered in walnut veneer to match the fascia - including the wheels.	A gull-wing door 900  It has to be seen to be believed!