Just a little report on our recent jaunt to Europe, hope it isn’t too boring.
We left rainy Holmfirth on Friday 13th July to go to Ely Folk Festival, and after spending an excellent weekend there (good to see you Mr Pickles!), boarded the Ferry in Harwich which took us to Eskbjerg in Denmark (230 miles ish), landing Tuesday lunchtime.
As we all know, Scandinavia is expensive, so we took plenty of provisions, including;
20 l diesel, 5.75 l wine, 13 l beer, 18 bottles of tonic, 2 kilo pasta, 8 portions boil in bag rice, 8 portions naan and pitta bread, 18 packet mix / prepared meals, at least 24 cans of veg, beans, tomatoes etc and a packet of instant mash.
There are those who might think that this might be a trifle OTT for 2 people for 15 days. You are not wrong. Next time we will know better….
Back to the trip.
Drove up to Hirtshals (+400miles), stopping for the evening and overnight, in Aalborg. Had a very enjoyable hour in a bar there as well as a wonder round this lovely town.
Denmark was incredibly windy which made driving not the most pleasant of experiences, especially as loaded as we were.
Caught the ferry across to Kristiansand and arrived late afternnon, which allowed us to get to Byglandfjiord (50 miles due north of Kristiansand) to camp for the night.
Thanks to a recommendation from a kind member on the Norwegian Land Rover forum, we had altered our proposed route to Oslo via Byglandsfjiord and continued northwards and then turning eastwards at Rygnestad until we stopped at a little north of Notodden (+590 miles) to wild camp at the side of a lake. It was really beautiful.
In an attempt to limit the amount of driving and to stay a couple of days in one spot, we pressed on, through Oslo (what a shit driving experience that was) into Sweden where we pitched for 2 nights near Hogsater (+800 miles). Well worth it as the weather was now starting to get consistently warm (low twenties) all day with lots of sunshine. Stopped off to inspect a Stave Church.
Another wild camp spot at Knaved (+980 miles) – in a forest – was again, a wonderful experience, on our way down to Malmo (+1090 miles) where we stayed a couple of nights and re-aquainted ourselves with people and civilisation. The campsite is very close to the Oresund Bridge and has great public transport links. This allowed us to go into Malmo and, the following day, into Lund (the second oldest town in Sweden apparently)
Monday morning meant that we had to move again and we drove over the magnificent bridge (nearly 8 km long), before disappearing into a hole in the sea to go through a nearly 4 km long tunnel to arrive in Copenhagen. (The tunnel was to accommodate the nearby Copenhagen airport). Our destination was Rodbyhafen, to catch the ferry to Germany and we nearly made it without any problems.
Unfortunately, as I pulled off the motorway to fill up with diesel, I noticed that the brakes were not there. A couple of pumps allowed enough retardation to come to a halt, but it was obvious something was amiss. Inspection revealed that the drivers side wing had rubbed a minute hole in the brake pipe to the front off side wheel which was allowing fluid to escape when under pressure. (when rebuilding the Dormobile, I had put protective rubber sleeve under the near side, but failed to do the same on the off side.
A call to our breakdown cover (through RJ insurance) summoned a large red taxi (eventually) who, when asked, replied, to my dismay, that we were to be taken 50 miles back to Copenhagen to the land rover garage. I pointed out that all we needed was a “real” garage to make up another brake pipe and we could be on our way to the waiting ferry. Fortunately, the driver understood and made the appropriate phonecalls to his boss and all the garages around, finally coming up trumps with a garage a mile away, who completed the task, including a quick pressure wash, in ¾ of an hour. In all, we lost 2 ½ hours and most of that was waiting for the recovery! A number of lessons there I feel.
Pressing on, in Germany, to a lovely campsite near Lubeck – after having to ask for assistance from a local hostelry for directions, as our map run out there and the sat nav dates from 2009. Over night we were joined by a brace of 2CVs.
As we wanted to stop another night in Germany, I purchased a map and we were able to find our next site near Osnabruck (Westfalia) (+1400 miles) quite easily. From memory, Westfalia was the name of the factory that did conversions on VW campers.
Anyway, that was the Thursday night and we bumbled gently to Holland via red and yellow roads, stopping off in Gouda to have a stroll round, sample some coffee and cake, before going on to Rotterdam to catch the ferry. What a nightmare that was – we must have driven over 40 miles before we found the right dock! And then because of something called the Olympics, it took at least an hour extra, because of extra “security” to get off.
We finally landed back in sunny Holmfirth at 11.00 am. (+1735 miles )
A great trip. Not done the sums yet, but with the speedo reading approx 10% slow, we did just under 2000 miles. The scenery was marvellous and we definitely want to go again although probably concentrate on Norway if we can get a ferry there (from Immingham ?). It didn’t cost a fortune but I almost feel apologetic for our almost complete lack on any financial contribution to the Norwegian economy – not even diesel!!
Now looking forwards to France (via Cornwall) in October and the length of the Pyrenees in September 2013.
In the queue at Harwich (Sunbeam Alpine)
classic maggot – note the gas light shades
Approach to Eskbjerg
“Wild” camping in Aalborg Denmark
local beer
Catching the ferry to Kristiansand – it was enormous!
Byglandsfjiord (well, at the side of it), enjoying some of Lidl’s finest
Stave church
wild camping near Notodden
lunch stop
beer from Finland – I wouldn’t go there on the strength of this example
Hogsater, Sweden
Shame to see this slowing dying
wild camping near Knaved, Sweden
Malmo – famous bit of sculpture
Yon big bridge
I wouldn’t travel especially for this either
Driving on the bridge
Spotted this rather nice amazon while waiting for the BYT
BYT is in fact a BRT
Ferry into Germany – amazingly efficient in loading and unloading
First call in Germany
The pair of 2CVs
Well worth travelling for – first beer on draft
Note the lane width on this dutch motorway
Parked up at Gouda
