South Poland and family

The last couple of weeks have flown by, with us being joined by our family 10 days ago in Zakopane in south Poland. Since their arrival we have had very hot weather - 30+ most days. The week has included a mix of sightseeing, climbing mountains, playing in streams and general relaxation. Before arriving here we visited both Warsaw, where the reconstructed old town is OK, but the rest of the city bass little to offer, and Kracow, a beautiful old town with a huge mediaeval market square. We wandered the old Jewish Quarter, which is slowly being reoccupied by Jews, visited Schindler's factory which told the story of the invasion of Poland, as well as Schindler's part in saving 1200 Jews in the war. The most moving was ha visit to Auschwitz. Something everyone should do given the chance. The sheer
scale of the operation, the cold blodded approach and the cruelty are beyond comprehension.
We return to Helsinki this weekend to pick up the Land rover and make our way back to the UK, 

World Heritage and more

A couple of great days cycling along the Curonian Spit - a spit of land 100kms long with lovely pine forests and never ending beaches. Nice to get some proper exercise. Klaipeda - the town the ferry goes from had just started it's annual festival so was teeming with people, lots of music stages around the town and boat races and parades on the river. Fantastic atmosphere. Since then we have been to Vilnius - where there are many Baroque buildings inside and out, and then to  the surprise city Gdansk. The central area has been rebuilt after the war but in its 18th century form, all recreated from photographs etc. An absolutely stunning centre again just starting their St Dominic's Fair so very lively. It was fascinating to visit the site of relatively recent history at the shipyard gates where Solidarity was formed and the process of the decline of communism in Poland. The mighty castle at Malbok provided an insight into the power and wealth of the Teutonic Knights- and yet another world heritage site. Now in To run - yes world heritage and heading fora few days in the forests bordering Belarus to relax and hopefully see some Bison.

South through the Baltic States

First stop Tallinn - what a fantastic city. The central Old Town offers narrow alleys, city walls and gates, defensive towers rows of merchants houses and many churches. The only downside is the huge number of visitors, six cruise ships had docked the day we visited, so numerous tour guides with their tail of tourists. Returning in the evening once the cruises had departed was a completely different experience. Outside the centre there are reminders of the soviet occupation and it can be hard to remember that they only gained freedom from communist rule 25 years ago. A few days of relaxation on Saareemaa gave a completely different perspective on Estonia. A much slower pace, more rural with a very low population density.
We have just spent today in Riga in Latvia - a completely different experience. Not so crowded with more everyday activity in the city centre. A huge amount of regeneration is going on with a lot of very flash cars, seemingly owned by the large Russian population. Latvia seemes to have had a tougher time during the war and subsequently under communist rule, and has a very different feel. The biggest surprise was the number and range of Art Deco buildings, many now being restored, apparently over 750.
We progress south tomorrow for a few days on the Curoniasn Spit in Lithuania before heading to Vilnius.

South to Helsinki

Our sojurn in Oulu finished on Friday with the fitting of a new fuel pump on the Landy. Having explored all we could, and spent a good deal of time relaxing we headed south. Around 100 kms south of Oulu the scenery improved from forest and more forest to forest and lakes plus some gentle hills. Found some lovely spaces to stop overnight . the weather improves steadily and we stopped at some fascinating places, several on the world heritage list. Beautiful wooden church at Petajaveden a bronze age burial site and Ramu town, wooden houses virtually unchanged in 200 years. Two pleasant surprises were the first day of a jazz festival in Poro and a fantastic museum of mediaeval houses in Turku. The S W of Finland is quite beautiful, rolling hills, open fields, woodlands and hundreds of islands. Eventually made our way to Helsinki, where due to various gremlins in the Landy we have decided to continue through the Baltic States and Poland by public transport, returning to Helsinki to take the Landy by ferry to Germany and hence home with the minimum of driving. Now sitting on the ferry in sunshine with the prospect of sleeping in a full sized bed

And so to Oulu

Just after entering Finland the Landrover suffered an intermittent loss of power so we did not dally but headed south to find a reasonably large town. It became apparent that air was getting into the fuel supply, so we had frequent stops to bleed the fuel system. Sometimes we could manage 10 miles, sometimes 100, but overall not a very satisfactory situation. Over three days we managed to get to Oulu - the most northerly town in Finland with a Landrover dealer and they have confirmed that the fuel pump is injecting air, so it will need to be replaced - as they do not carry the part this will mean we stay in Oulu until Friday. Oulu is at the northern end of the Baltic and on the coast, so is more temperate and with fewer insects than further north. How the Finns cope with living in the north is beyond me - 9 months of winter then as soon as the weather warms swarms of mosquitoes!
Oulu has a beach and we have found a quiet campsite 15kms from the town where we are staying just next to the Baltic. The weather has been warm and sunny and we did manage to drive south of Oulu to a fantastic wetland reserve with many bird hides, being privileged to watch a hen harrier see off a march harrier - two birds we have never seen before.
So after many weeks of moving on most days we are having a very relaxing time, reading, walking, and cycling - not really so bad.  

North Cape

Apologies for the gap - after a week back in the UK for a family occasion, cutting grass, weeding etc we arrived back in Tromso at midnight with the sun shining on the town. It was good to be back. The following day we camped up by a river, and caught up on much needed sleep. From Tromso north the scenery gets progressively wilder with great expansive views across the mountains and fjords. With improving (i.e. dry but still cold) weather we walked 6kms up a beautiful glaciated valley, beside a tumbling river to a Glacier in the Lyngsfjellan mountains. It was only as we were descending that we saw anybody else.  The following day we walked to Kafjorddalen waterfall which drops into a narrow gorge 155m deep. A bridge has been built across the gorge to give a view of the waterfall, and also for adrenaline enthusiasts who can bungee jump off the bridge. We were not tempted to take part but just enjoyed the sun and scenery.

North again via Alta to see the stone age rock art, and to Hammerfest to see the end of Struve's Geodetic Arc, which he used in the 1850's to calculate the asphericity of the globe. The final push to North Cape follows the road cut into the side of the fjord, and then plummets 300m in an 8km tunnel under a fjord. The final approach to North Cape is across barren treeless mountains, passing some very pretty fishing villages. North cape itself is a large car park, housing hundreds of camper vans with a number of tourist attractions, so we opted out of staying there and headed back to the end of the footpath which leads to the most northern point of mainland Europe and the following day walked the 9kms each way to the headland. A glorious day with a lot of birdlife including golden eagles and the completion of our ambition to have driven between the southern tip of Africa at Cape Aghulas (8 years ag0) to the northern tip of Europe (Nordkap).

The whole area around Nordkapp is very special, bleak rock and scrub, reindeer, and fantastic colour in the skies to the north, incredibly clear water and huge, succulent king crab.

We eventually tore ourselves away and started our journey south, leaving behind the fjords and entering Finland today. Amazingly the temperature has increased dramatically (now 16 degrees) and we have not even worn our fleeces. Our first night in Finland is near Sarriselka. A lot of trees and water so far, and I think there is a lot more to come.

  
 
 

 
 
 
 

... to the Land of the Midnight Sum

......... or so we are told, we did catch a glimpse a few days ago and are now in Tromso where we park up for a week for a quick return to the UK. The past week has flown by and we seem to have covered an enormous amount of ground, seen incredible scenery and experienced all weathers. Road engineering continues to impress with more soaring bridges and incredible tunnels - just driving through Tromso (which is not particularly mountainous) there is a tunnel with two roundabouts in it! At the beginning of the week we spent a couple of days round the huge fjords which are remarkable as they cut some 120kms inland and you see large ocean going ships at harbours when you know you are a long way from the open sea. Some great signposts have been passed, just before dropping down the hairpin road to Gerainger fjord there was a sign showing a 9% gradient for 14kms, and what's more there was a cycle race up it - so they climbed around 1500m in 17kms, (5000ft in 10 miles)! We love the elk crossing signs, though so far we have only seen a couple of elk, and the town names are great - we stayed a night at A on Lofoten, so some pretty short addresses. (1, A, Lofoten, Norway).
The next fantastic descent was the Trollsteigen, (Trolls staircase) where the road drops down into the valley along a hair-pinned road, with the added excitement of coaches coming in the opposite direction. At the bottom the village sits under one of the more challenging rock climbs - a vertical 1800m face of granite.
Needing to make up time we spent a couple of days heading north up the main arterial road the E6, which still passes through stunning scenery and crossed the arctic circle - in a driving wind and sleet. Just to cheer up us the staff in the visitor centre said it was 25 degrees this time last year. Norway has had a huge snowfall this year - the visitor centre was covered in 25ft of snow in April when they normally open.
With the weather forecast to improve we headed out to the Lofoten Islands, taking a midnight ferry in broad daylight. What an extraordinary destination. incredible jagged and snow covered mountain peaks dropping straight into clear blue green seas, with small fishing villages snuggled into the coves - and yes the sun did come out periodically. It must have been an incredibly harsh lifestyle, particularly before the road building programme which has linked all the islands with bridges or tunnels. The downside is that lots of campervans and caravans now travel the length of the islands, and the more accessible villages have become tourist destinations, although fishing is still a major occupation. A couple of nights we camped with a north view and did see the sun pop through the clouds at midnight, but with nothing between you and the north pole it can be pretty windy and cold. Keeping aware of the time of day is very disconcerting as it never gets dark, or even dusk, and there is little difference in the light intensity through the day, so meals and sleeping become a bit more haphazard.
After a quick detour into Narvik - not a pretty town - we spent a few days on the out of the way islands off the National Tourist routes, and found some more extraordinary scenery, stopping whenever we found a quiet spot, and enjoying the peace, the wildlife, reindeer, golden and sea eagles, and arctic terns.. A surprising number of cyclists seem to follow the coast down, many of more mature years, and presumably staying in some of the many camping huts set up around the country. Interestingly Norway seems to encourage camper vans, and not force them onto campsites as they have a wide network of camper van waste emptying and water refilling stations, both in the large towns and in small villages or along main roads. And so we have ended up in Tromso, just 600kms from NordKapp and have returned to the UK for a family celebration - and some might say a weeks rest!

 

Water Falls

An amazing country - with incredible vertical scenery and lots and lots of water, in the fjords, on the ground, flowing down rivers and falling from the sky. Lots of rain (though not continuous) at the beginning of this week ensured the numerous waterfalls were well supplied with water. The last few days have seen us enter the fjord region with a short diversion to Bergen to see the historic Bryggen region - a fascinating part of the old town where the wooden fish wharves have been rpeserved from the 1500's. Made all the more atmospheric by continuous drizzle. Apparently it rains for 300 days a year in Bergen. Anyway the short stop was worthwhile before we hot the big fjords - Hardanger and Sognefjord. Extraordinary vertical scenery, numerous waterfalls ranging from gushing, through pretty to delicate. After a while you become blase - just another mighty waterfall which would be a major tourist attraction in the UK.
We have found some amazing places to stop overnight by fjords with stunning views to wake up to in the mornings.

Driving around the area we have travelled back and forth between months each day - driving through snow covered roads and an hour or so later through orchards of apple blossom. So many hills the Landy has had to work hard.

The roads are incredible, even when they climb 3000 ft, they are never particularly steep, and one had incredible twisting tunnels which cut through a sheer cliff with one tunnel directly above a previous loop. In fact tunnels we seem to spend a lot of time in tunnels - the longest so far has been 24kms, and they think nothing of building in a roundabout and road junction inside the tunnel! It must have taken days to get anywhere before the roads were improved. Ferries have become another feature of the trip - even many of the main trunk roads require a ferry crossing, and yesterday we managed four, all of different sizes, from accommodating around 6 cars to perhaps 100 on the major routes.
The last couple of days have been fine, and even almost warm today, so only one fleece, when we have driven a snow road, driven beside alpine looking lakes and mountains and climbed up to a glacier which flows from the largest ice sheet in Europe. The weather makes an incredible difference as the scenery comes alive in the sun, with greater contrast between the snow capped peaks and the dark cliffs plunging into the fjords.
Its not just scenery - we visited Urnes Stave church - an amazing wooden structure most of which dates from 1050 or 1100 by the Vikings and situated in a very peaceful small community accessed by a ferry. (Bryggen and Urnes are both on the World Heritage List so very special.

Another day around the Fjords tomorrow - especially Gerainger Fjord, then we head north to Trondheim and start the 1500kms to Tromso.





  

From Hamlet to Greig

Another week has passed so quickly it is hard to keep up. From Elsinor Castle (Hamlet Prince of Denmark) we have stopped at Roskilde where the rather macabre cathedral houses the coffins of 37 Kings, spent a day round Kilding while the Landy had the seals on the transfer box replaced and then visited the rather splendid Aarhus to see the remains of a Viking settlement. From there we headed back north to Hirtshals to catch the ferry to Norway.

What a contrast - as we approached Norway (in pouring rain) there were cliffs, rocky outcrops and hills disappearing into the clouds. Within 15 kms of docking we had driven through 8kms of tunnels. After procuring a local SIM card we headed inland towards Stavanger, pulling off onto a side road and parking up overnight in a pull off by a lake. Unlike Denmark Norway encourages wild camping and provides numerous locations for mobile homes to empty waste and refill water. The first major town we headed for was Stavanger by way of Pulpit Rock. Staying nearby we made sure we arrived reasonably early and started the 4km walk up around 1200ft along the well made path along with many other people; it was a Saturday and the first fine day for a while. Pulpit rock is fantastic, a square lump of rock sticking out over the fjord with a vertical drop of 605m - impossible to describe, but not a place to be if it is windy!

A couple of nights in Stavanger gave us the opportunity to relax for a day and wander around the city's old quarter with rows of old wooden houses before heading north to Hardanger Fjord. What scenery! vertical cliffs, deep green bottomed valleys, cascading waterfalls and incredibly variable weather - bright sun one minute followed by hail and sleet the next. We have been told it has been the coldest May for 30 years - no consolation really!.

So first impressions of Norway - the roads are good with fantastic engineering of bridges and tunnels, but ferries cannot be avoided and are expensive; scenery fantastic; weather mixed; travel is not quick; food is expensive, but fuel is not.

We have just passed 60 degrees north and are heading for Bergen in a couple days.  

Wonderful wonderful Copenhagen .......

A slight change of plans as a result of the oil seals on the recently refurbished transfer box leaking oil into the handbrake. Not too worried about the transfer box, but the thought of a dodgy handbrake in Norway is not appealing. As a result we have headed south, stopping to see some fantastic Viking sites, including a well preserved 1000 year old Viking (Tollund Man)dug up from a bog and displayed in a small museum (the detail is fantastic, you can even see his whiskers on his chin), a Viking burial ground where the graves are shaped like Viking boats, a funeral ship where a major chief was buried, as well as some fantastic church frescoes. The weather still cool, but mainly dry. In Kolding we had the Landy checked over by a dealer, but due to the bank holiday here we will not be able to get the work done until Tuesday, so have decided to explore the islands to Copenhagen over the weekend, return to the dealer for Tuesday and then get the ferry from Hirtshalls on the North of Denmark Direct to Norway.
The Islands are beautiful, gentle but very scenic with lots of fishing, and sailing, and Copenhagen has proved equally gentle. A city with virtually no buildings taller than 5 storeys with fantastic palaces and churches built at great expense during the 1600's. A visit to the iconic mermaid found half of the tourists in Denmark surrounding it, but the nearby old fortress was very peaceful, though full of runners, presumably training for the Copenhagen marathon on Sunday.
 

Denmark - Toe to Tip in two dimensions

Since crossing into Denmark we have experienced sun, gales, and rain as we have driven along the west (North Sea) coast. It is remarkable how two dimensional everything is - few hills but fantastic skyscapes, with the main challenge when cycling being the wind! The southern part of the coast is mud flats backed by man made dykes, with a fantastic range of birdlife, while the northern end is one long beach backed by sand dunes. Near the top there is a large field of white sand dunes, which is a rather strange experience as it looks like the Sahara, but was about 30 degrees colder! The northern tip of Denmark ends in a spit of sand with the waves approaching from opposite directions making a real maelstrom just off-shore, and catching Sue with one foot under the waves of each sea!

The return journey south towards Copenhagen takes in more cultural sights, with visits to historical Viking sites, as well as some ancient frescoes in the old churches. Excitement for tomorrow as we set out to tackle the highest summit in Denmark at 173m.

Sitting here in the Landy with the heating on and rain beating on the roof, we are dreaming of lazing in the sun, but we are promised warmer weather later in the week. Apart from not being very warm this is only the second period of rain we have had so we can't complain.

  
 

Into Scandinavia

Have gradually made our way up through Germany and are now on the threshold of entering Scandinavia (German - Danish border). Roads are so good here it is easy to make good progress. It is amazing how quickly you slip into a travelling routine - no rush, relaxed mornings, if we feel like it move on to another site, or stay and cycle for a day as we did on Wednesday. After a very hot start to the week it has turned quite cold, and as we are on the N Sea Coast a raw wind.
Having never been to N Germany there are a number of interesting features: Further south there is an amazing amount of woodland; every campsite has been filled with birdsong; roads are very good; it is generally very flat with lots of retaining dykes to keep out the sea; like The Netherlands cycling for everyday purposes such as shopping, is very normal, generally on sit up and beg type bikes.
It is a long weekend in Germany now for Ascention Day - which is also fathers day - campsite prices are inflated.
We will cross into Denmark today and head for some of the Viking sites over the next few days before crossing into Sweden.
 

Geographical Singularities

Gradually heading north east to rendezvous with Custom Campers tomorrow just north of Dortmund. Yesterday was a day of visiting some geographical singularities.
First the highest point in Belgium! - a rather bleak gravel car park beside a restaurant in the middle of a forest at Signal de Botrange, surrounded by gently undulating wooded hills. At 694m they have built a small tower so you can get to 700m. - see left.
A short drive north and we were at the highest point in the Netherlands at Vaalserberg, 321m, again situated near a car park with numerous restaurants, marked trails and entertainment. Around 20 yds from the highest point is the place where Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany meet. Slightly more appealing than Botrange and surrounded by beautiful deciduous woodland.
Following this excitement we had to camp at Osseo - Camping in the Dutch Mountains! - well - gently undulating hills a bit like Leicestershire (without the hedges).     

Off at Last

All the last minute bits and bobs loaded into the Landy and we set off with just a brief stop to vote before driving to Dover and leaving the country. Currently parked up on a peaceful campsite near Calais enjoying clear hot sunshine. The first part of the morning was spent listening to the election results on good old Radio 4 long wave. Planning a quiet relaxing day here to sit, read,
and find and repack all the last minute items we loaded. 

Final Preparation

Having put a few hundred miles on the clock the Landy is having a final full check and tightening up of all the mechanicals by Astwood 4x4 today. My last day at work yesterday and a sad au revoir to the many folk who have made the job so enjoyable, so a clear run to departure next week. Just a "few" jobs to do before then, both on the Landy and the house / garden, but with departure fixed - some will get done, some will have to wait.

Our planned route will take us across the channel, then driving north through Belgium and into Germany. One of the stops will be at Custom Campers near Dortmund, for them to look at the practicality of installing a hinging roof, before we head up into Denmark, through the tunnel into Sweden, then north to Oslo in Norway. A meander up the west coast of Norway will test the hill climbing ability of the Landy with the intention to be at North Cape just before Midsummer to hopefully see the midnight sun.

We then head back south through Finland to Helsinki (we had hoped to travel through Russia, but the visa rules effectively preclude unplanned, uncontrolled travel) where we will catch a ferry across to Estonia. A few weeks through Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and we cross into Poland where we are having a family get together in the Tatras mountains before we drive back across The Czech Republic into Germany and return. That's about as detailed as our plans are - more detail will only be decided day by day.

Almost ready

Mechanicals now all sorted, we are refurbishing the inside of the camper now, having stripped out some of the lining, refitted all the electrics including adding an external electric hookup and we will be refitting the plumbing including new water filters. The ferry is booked and its only a few weeks till we depart - getting exciting!