0316 Exploring Oslo

31^st July 2015

An interesting city !

No rain during the night for a change !   We went for another walk around the area before breakfast, and once packed up headed into town to have a look around.  We aimed for the centre, but somehow ended up in one of the many tunnels that took us right through to the other side of town !  So we then had to double back, wandering through back streets, until suddenly we pooped out in one of the main squares, right outside the big City Hall. And a car was just backing out of a parking spot

– Couldn’t be better.  So we paid for 1.5 hours and went off to see what there was to see.  Right beside the car we found a cambio shop to change our Swedish money into Norwegian, as well as a Bancomat (ATM), so at least we now had some Norwegian currency !   In doing these transactions we also found out where the city tour bus left from (just round the corner), so we went off to have a cup of coffee !

0315 Gothenburg Sweden to near Oslo, Norway

30^th July 2015

It starts to all become more Scandinavian.

More rain during the night, but it was actually dry as we packed up and headed north out of Gothenburg.  Once again we tried repeatedly to keep to the minor roads, but as previously, kept getting forced to return to the freeway when the minor roads just didn’t go in the right direction !  Eventually, near a town called Uddevalla, where we were trying very hard to stay off the freeway, there was a big fjord and we had to use a big bridge on the freeway to cross it – Or go about 30 kilometres to the east to get around the head of the fjord.  We gave up and stuck to the freeway !

0314 Copenhagen DK to Gothenburg Sweden, via Bastad

28^th & 29^th July 2015

The most expensive bridge I have ever crossed !

We drove out of Copenhagen following the signs to Malmo in Sweden.  We knew there was a bridge to cross, and other (Scandinavian) travellers had previously told us that the northern road, that meant you caught a ferry from Elsinore to Helsingborg, “had a lot of traffic and not a lot to see”, so we went the bridge route.  First you go through a tunnel for 2-3 kms out to Pepperholm Island, and then the road come up onto the island, and you then cross the official border into Sweden, and then cross on the bridge. Great bridge, you are way up in the sky, and out to the south are lots and

lots of wind turbines in the middle of the water, all working hard.  Then as soon as you came off the bridge, there was a toll – 375 Danish Krone – That’s about A$75 !!  Might have been cheaper to have gone round the northern route using the ferry !!   Once I had recovered from the bridge sticker-price shock, we suddenly came to Swedish Customs – Uh oh – Were they goinf to confiscate our beer, ham, cheese etc ?  The lady officer was very friendly however, asked us about our trip to get this far, and sent us on our way !  Very pleasant.  So apart from the bridge toll, not a bad border as far as our border ratings go.  We were in Sweden ……….And still couldn’t understand any road signs, how to work the petrol pumps, or what people said.  But we were getting used to that………

0313 Exploring Copenhagen

27th July 2015 

Had to be up early to move the car from the free Sunday parking area outside the hotel before the Monday parking fees kicked in.  That chore done, we  enjoyed the included breakfast at the hotel, and then set off into the city to explore, aiming to take a hop on / hop off bus tour, plus a canal tour, which were all linked.  Walking the 5 minutes to the bus stop, we passed the Tivoli Gardens entrance that we had seen last night, and that had been suggested as a good “thing to see” in Copenhagen.  However it looked pretty much like a big fair ground with rides, and with an entrance fee just to go in of 90 Krone, (about $20), we decided to forgo that pleasure.  We signed up for our bus tour, and soon were on our way around the city, although with the somewhat dismal weather the bus kept its top on !

0312 Sakskobing to Copenhagen

26th July 2015

Rain causes a day off

After a very warm and pleasant evening when I was able to cook and eat outside in the evening sunshine, it rained during the night.  And it was still raining when I woke up in the morning. Hard.  I think in the entire trip since leaving Australia 16 months ago, this was the first time it has really been raining when I wanted to pack up.  So I sat around for a while and pondered what to do.  Then I got on the internet and read that the campsite in Copenhagen, my next stop, was usually very crowded and if you didn’t have a booking, it was recommended that you arrive before noon.  That helped make up my mind – I would stay where I was for one more day, do some chores and wifi, and then pack up and drive to Copenhagen to meet Janet the next day – Seeing her flight didn’t arrive till 4 pm I had plenty of time to get there. Eventually the rain stopped, and I had a quiet day in the camp site in Sakskobing.

0311 Hamburg Germany to Sakskobing Denmark

Short distance – Long time !

24th July 2015

Cold last night !  Don’t know what temp it got down to by about 5 am I was wishing I was in my warmer sleeping bag !  But use of the blanket meant I survived till it was time to get up and get on the road.  Excellent facilities in this camp site – Am generally impressed with the European campsites.  I ended up staying here for two nights, and having a lazy day yesterday, cleaning the car, repacking things, and trying to find some space for Janet's stuff when she arrives on Sunday.

Hit the road by about 9.30 am expecting a potter up the road, onto a ferry, and then just a few kms to a campsite about 100 kms short of Copenhagen. WRONG !!  First of all I had to get out of Hamburg, and although I had missed “rush hour”, there was still a lot of traffic, and the way I went out seemed to be fairly convoluted, including about half an hour spent at a railway crossing where there was also a lot of roadworks happening – So combined with frequent commuter trains, it was all a bit slow.  But then I had plenty of time…….

0310 Through Germany to Hamburg

Wait a minute – Haven’t I been here recently ???

Well at least today I didn’t find any countries lurking where they were supposed to be, like yesterday !   Today was all Germany, as I had expected – Almost boring, one might say !

I set off across NE Germany, basically travelling from SE of Cologne, through countryside that wasn’t that different from the Eiffel mountains, down near the Nurburgring.  As before I stayed off the motorways, and was winding through little country roads and villages  - Quite delightful.  I was still not in a hurry so the frequent speed restrictions, as well as several road works detours, were not a problem.  But it is hard finding your way round detours when the signs are in German !!  Several times I wasn’t quite sure where I was going to end up. 

0309 Belgium, Holland and Germany !

3 countries in one day ! 

What did Forest Gump say ?  “Life is like a box of chocolates….”.  You never know what is going to happen.  And that really was true today.   I woke up in a pleasant camp site in Belgium, expecting to go only a short way down the road and I would be in Germany.  So once I had breakfasted and said my farewells, off I went.  And not 30 minutes down the road I came to a ferry across a small river, which was a bit of a surprise, but then when I got to the other side, I found I was in the Netherlands !!!  No signs, nothing – But suddenly all the car’s registration plates were Dutch !!  Could have knocked me over with a feather, because I wasn’t expecting either a ferry or the Netherlands !

0308 And on through Belgium

Ho hum and lots of rain

Not a very nice campsite last night, but I was tired and it served its purpose.  I was on the road before 9 am, and apart from getting stick behind a “convoi agricole”  which was 4 or 5 enormous pieces of farm machinery travelling at 20 kph, followed by a bunch of trucks who were stuck behind them, it wasn’t too bad.  As you can see from the photo though, it was pretty wet and miserable, and this stayed the same most of the day.

0307 Chartres Cathedral and Paris

19^th July 2015

Heavy rain and thunderstorms last night – Fortunately Troopie continues to be waterproof so there were no problems.  As with any camping though,  (or even living on a yacht) !) the secret is to make sure that everything is put away properly (stowed ?) before you go to bed so that if it does rain or blow during the night you are not running round like a chicken with it’s head cut off !!

Set off through the French countryside , just enjoying the scenery.  Staying off the Peages and just enjoying passing through the little villages and the fields where the harvest is mostly cropped and in.   Before long I came to Chartres, and I remembered visiting there on one of our family holidays many years ago and being taken to see the rose windows – So I decided a visit was worthwhile.  Followed the signs into “Centre Ville” and then saw the spires – Now I just needed a parking space ! Unfortunately Troopie is 2.02 m high so many of the underground car parks are “out of bounds” - if I wish to keep my roof attached to the car, anyway !  Having passed to unusable car parks, I had almost given up and was wandering round ever narrower streets round the back of the cathedral, when the car in front suddenly turned into a sizable gravel car park – With lots of space !  Being a Sunday, nothing much was happening there, so I parked only a 5 minute walk from the cathedral and wandered back.

0306 Wandering in Brittany and then heading East

17^th – 19^th July 2015

The morning was quite cool, and I eventually set off and continued my wander along the NW coast of Brittany.  Through delightful little villages like Plouha and Paimpol, then on to Lannion and Morlaix.  They all had narrow street and amazing little churches, and I stopped in most of them for a walk around.  At Morlaix I turned south in order to avoid Brest, and went down through Blasparts and Playben to Quimper.  Playben in particular had the most ornate and 

decorated church I have seen in a long time – I will need to google that one to find out some of the history because unfortunately there seems to be no information in the churches themselves about their history.  But northern Brittany is delightful – thoroughly enjoyed exploring it just a little.  

0305 In Normandy wiith the boys and girls

14^th – 16^th July 2015

After missing my ferry from Portsmouth, I eventually arrived in the camp site outside Caen at about 7 am, and Damien was waiting for me outside on the road to let me through the boom gates.  Once again, no customs inspection entering France – This is so easy compared to South America !

Obviously everyone else was asleep when I arrived, so I set up camp as quietly as possible, and slowly the others appeared.  We ended up having bacon and eggs for breakfast, and then once we were all showered, we headed off in the boys cars for the day.  I was in with Damien, Hannah, and Poppie, while Nick and Tanja had a hire car and led the way.  The plan, devised by Tanja, was to drive first to the Bayeux Tapestry, then on to the Normandy D Day Landing beaches.

0304 Pottering around in England

Pottering round England - 7th June - 13th July 2015

After spending several days on the Narrow Boat on the Oxfordshire Canals, I then had to get on with organising things so I would be ready to head off on the road again in early July.  Having broken a front tooth on some French bread while on the Narrow Boat, that was the first thing to be organised as I looked a bit like a pirate !  Luckily John's dentist was able to help, and over the next 3 weeks I have had a crown fitted.  A bit painful financially, but the end cost here without insurance was about the same as it would have been in Aus with insurance rebate, so I decided to go ahead.

There were also a number of things to be arranged for the car - A full service, plus the replacement of some bits and pieces after a year on the road.  John's cousin Anne stayed for a few days and it was good to see her again, and then after a great walk up the hill to St Martha's church outside Guildford to check on my Dad and make sure he wasn't too overgrown, I set off down to my sister Margaret's in Milford on Sea.  Found a great bike cheap at a local pawn shop which with a new set of brake pads fitted seems to work just fine ! Margaret rides most mornings so I got plenty of exercise while I was down there, and also got to see Second Best Marigold Hotel movie - Good, but not as good as the first, I thought.