This short post is to introduce a new member of our team: Lemon(ade) the dive-mobile. Our car hunt this time has been long and exhausting. Google Chrome translates Citroen Berlingo from Norwegian into English as Lemon Berlingo… despite the omens from the translation we were set on buying this undefined-color (moldy-lemon color?) vehicle with funky green interiors. We had grand plans to build in shelves that can then be pulled out as beds for our summer road trip. But since Lemon spent its first month in our possession in and out of the garage there was no time for grand makeover.
Couple of days before our trip we got him back, just in time to put in a small shelf from Ikea, Rudolph our compressor and all our dive gear, camping things, and food, lots of food and set of for our 5000km plus long road trip to Finmark. Despite the hurry in packing and organizing it proved to be very comfy. We still need to optimize the car for rainy days, perhaps with the aforementioned bed-shelves so that we can avoid building a tent in the downpour and adding a tarp as to have some protection behind the car for cooking in the rain.
Lemo(ade), or perhaps we should rename him Lemon-aid threw a tantrum just once on this road trip. We had just picked up our friend Katharina, who despite being stranded with our divemobiles multiple times still joins us, when we stopped to take some pictures. Barbora noticed that there was a waterfall coming from the front right side of the car. When we opened the bonnet and it seemed to be the coolant leaking. Katha suggested we keep on filling water and continue driving. Oslo was still 3000km away so I decided to make good use of my roadside assistance cover and called for help.
This was my phone-call with Mr. Roadside Assistance:
Giulia : I am in the village on the E6 layby labeled E6-23/B.
Mr. RSA: Ohhhh so you are on Essex
Giulia rather puzzled as had no recollection of having arrived to the UK and the scenery was of mountains, fjords and reindeers instead of rolling hills and sheep so replied much slower and enunciating every syllable): no? last time I checked I was still in Norway by the lay-by labeled E6-23/B
Mr. RSA: YES! YOU ARE STANDING ON ESSEX, YES?
Then it clicked, E6 in Norwegian is pronounced E- sesks… Indeed we were on the Essex!
He took us to a garage where they took pity on us and looked at it eventhough it was Friday evening after hours and said the radiator needed replacing. Eventually they said we were better off getting to Oslo as otherwise we would be stuck in this village on the Norwegian Essex for days. And to just keep on topping up water every 100km or so. Basically as Katharina had said 5 hours before! After two days of topping up water the radiator mysteriously stopped leaking.
Ah, Lemonaid indeed is stubborn and has a strong personality but we have welcomed him nonetheless as part of the family.
