Sweden's North West Coast.

29/5/15

We are on the islands of Tjorn and Orust in western Sweden (Bohuslan). The terrain has changed and has more rocky outcrops and is not flat. And we have crossed our first Fiord! 

Well I'm told it's not a TRUE fiord. The geology is not right, but it feels like a fiord to me. We will be in Norway soon, so I'll see if it matters. 

The coast here is very Rocky, and the seaside villages are simply stunning. This is in Lysekil.

And this in Smogen, on the Bohuslan Coast.

Also on the seafront in Smogen, 

30/5/15 at Fjalbacka where we found a great eatery, apparently the favourite of Ingrid Bergman (100 years ago). 

But sunny, less windy weather would have made it even better! 

We also found a zoo called Norden's Ark. It is a cold climate zoo specialising in endangered animals, breeding them for return to the wild. 

Amur Tiger,

Snow leopard,

Lapland Owl.

And we saw this little fellow while we were taking a break...

Wild camping inSweden has not turned out to be quite as idyllic as expected. In spite of the "right of access" law which is said to allow camping on public property including forests, minor roads etc, In practice most such areas have signs prohibiting over night parking or camping. Things are further restricted by the waterlogged nature of Swedens countryside, so that going down small dirt tracks into the forest may not be wise, even in our vehicle. We have managed to find a couple of great camp sites, but mostly we have overnight parked in parking areas - often in the countryside, but not in the forest. We haven't however had to pay for camping in Sweden yet. 

Sweden

28 May 2015

We crossed into Sweden a couple of days ago, on a ferry between Elsinore (Denmark,) and Helsingborg (Sweden). I took a photo of this castle from the ferry, and it turned out to be the castle  (Elsinore) where Shakespeare set the Hamlet story. It is one of the most important renaisance castles in Europe! 

The ferry ride was only 20 mins but there were already people eating in the resturaunt when we boarded. After striking up a conversation two young men aboard we learned that alcohol prices are so much higher in Sweden than in Denmark, that Swedes often ride the ferry to stock up in Elsinore. And the ferry has bars and a resturaunt. So diners can book a ferry ticket and cross/re cross any number of times until they have dined or imbibed to satisfaction! In fact our two young informants had spent 5 hours aboard that day already!

We began looking for a camp site as soon as we were out of Elsingborg. And we were delighted with our first wild camp in Sweden! Take a look at this! I hope it a sign of things to come! 

We were so delighted we sat up till after midnight, when it was just getting dark. 

So far Sweden is beautiful. 

This is a rune stone and a burial mound from the Stone Age! These things are seen quite frequently in paddocks around here. The farmer simply farms around them. Of course they may be relics of his own ancestors! 

Similarly these stone circles were used as meeting areas and battle grounds. 

I loved this cottage, said to be an example of a "crofters cottage". I think a crofters was a farm-worker. This one was inhabited until 1952.

Our second night of wild camping was in this old quarry. 

We had just settled down thinking no-one would know we were there when a car drove in and a man got out with a rifle. He smiled and nodded and strode off into the forest nearby. We felt a little unsettled by this! We heard some shots awhile later, but he emerged again without any carcasses. He was hunting fox and badgers he said, but had no luck. I read later that badgers are culled because they are thought to spread bovine tuberculosis, and rabies (controversial). 

We have our CTP insurance at last! After a number of banks (which do insurance brokering in Europe) two auto club offices, numerous online inquiries, we finally found two companies who mainly serve touring motorbikers. There was a great difference in their prices, and we were very happy with the price and quick service of this one:

Stefan at 

 knopftours@aol.com

My advice? Arrange your green card insurance with Stefan BEFORE YOU LEAVE HOME! It was most uncomfortable trying to arrange it quickly once we were here. You can set the dates to suit. 

Denmark

20 May 2015

We crossed into Denmark yesterday. The weather has gotten cooler as we came North. The sun goes down about 10pm. Some trees are just beginning to get their new green leaves. The rhododendrons are in bud, and a few are flowering. 

They are incredible, and we look forward to when they are in full bloom, enmass.

The towns are very picturesque, with the red brick streets with pitched roofs.

And the thatched roofs are more common. 

In Southern Denmark the landscape is flat, and no more than a few meters above sea level. We drove out on a causeway to the island of Romo. There was a wide flat beach with tightly packed sand. We felt a little pretensious in our 4WD truck when even these fellas were able to manage the beach! 

This is a huge tourist attraction with areas set aside for kites, sand surfers, motor bikes etc. it looks idyllic but there was a cold wind. Similarly a little further north a beautiful beach looks just like an Australian beach! But the cold wind was very different. 

The town of Ribe  has been preserved in its old building style. 

The outside tables on the cobblestone streets were very charming, but the wind continued. There were blankets provided for patrons who decided to sit outside in the sun! 

Then on to Copenhagen, via this bridge...the toll on the bridge was about $150AU! 

Copenhagen is on the island of Zealand. It is a vibrant cosmopolitan city. As in other European cities the city centre is dominated by pedestrian malls, and cobblestone streets. We arrived Saturday afternoon, and city was full of people, with buskers (and beggars!) and bands. The dancing was wild, with Aftricans featuring in the spectacle. The dancing was quite erotic, mainly salsa I think, and a lesbian couple really gave the eroticism of this dance its full expression! 

This is the "stork statue" in the city centre. These two young men suddenly stripped off and plunged into the cold water. There was lots of laughter and clapping from the onlookers. 

And watching all of these street scenes were a few Muslim women in full burkas - I'm not sure of the correct description of their clothing - but they had head and face covering with only the smallest of slits for their eyes. I wonder whether they were shocked or perhaps had their worst expectations of western culture confirmed.

This is also the Royal city and home of "our Mary", Australian girl who married a prince. I'm keeping an eye out for her in case she'd like a "g'day mate" in a familiar accent! These copper topped rooves are typical of the royal buildings. But I don't think she lives in this one. 

As in all of these big European cities we have seen, where the land is very flat, push bikes are everywhere. They are catered for with free bikes, bike lanes, and bike parking areas like this one in central Copenhagen. And they are extensively used in the twilight hours as well. There are also noticeably less cars in the city centre than we are used to in Brisbane! 

I can't resist -one more pic of central Copenhagen...

26th May 2015 That is the end of Denmark for us. We have stayed a few extra days (another public holiday!) to try to sort out our insurance, again! But no luck. The Auto club gave us a contact - which will not insure us if we are not EU residents! We have found two companies who insure touring motorbikes, and possibly motor homes. The price one of them quotes is hideously expensive, and we are awaiting a quote from the other. This is a huge debacle! Hopefully we will have it settled, at great cost though, next time we find wifi - in Sweden. 

Netherlands

WWe are afflicted by public holidays and weekends! Ever since Antwerpen it has either been a public holiday, or the day before or after a public holiday. The effect of this is that businesses are closed. This has particularly affected us in relation to our compulsory third party car insurance! 

On Friday we learned that banks are also insurance agents. So we found a bank that was open (although on short staff). The broker there took our details and promised to get our insurance first thing on Monday. He couldn't however give us a cover note so we remain uninsured! We had stayed a night in a camping area near Den Bosch, so we could arrange the insurance, and not be driving. But then we realised that it would be another few days before we had the insurance and we were not going to waste our time in a camping area while we waited. So off we went, carefully again.

Netherlands this time, in spring is much more beautiful than it was last time we visited, in winter. I suppose that is not surprising. The bright green springtime leaves, the warm sunshine, the birds are all amazing. We are travelling in the countryside rather than on the freeways. The dairy cattle are in fields, there are lambs, foals and calves everywhere. 

We have wild-camped a couple of nights in the Netherlands. But we have heard that this forbidden in Netherlands and Germany. We have also heard that camping areas often have limits of 3.5 tonnes on campers. Well that leaves us out in the cold! So we have tried to be discrete, leave no trace of our stay etc. One night when we were in our terribly discrete spot where thought no-one would even know we were there, a police car cruised into our parking area, drove around us. The policeman waved and headed out again without speaking to us! Whew! I guess they saw our foreign plates and decided it was too hard. Or maybe they realised we were not the problem. Anyway we were quite relieved. 

We have twice stayed in camp grounds. One declared they were full, but since we didn't need power they directed us to a piece of lawn. They also told us about the 3.5 Tonne limit, but ignored it. The second place also let us in because we didn't need power. That seems to be quite an advantage especially on a long weekend! The campgrounds are very social. We had people coming over to ask about the vehicle almost continuously in the campgrounds. Lucky we don't mind giving them the tour - it often results in quite a nice social interaction.

There are heaps of facilities for families, including great kids play areas, and kids entertainment. There are family showers, and one place had a restaurant. The cost has been €20, and €23 for a night, unpowered site.

Tonight we are in Groningen hoping to meet up with our friends, Frank and his wife Corry. Because of our communication difficulties we are having problems organising our meeting. We are parked beside a canal where there is a family of swans with their new cygnets. Beautiful! 

18 May 2015

After a very pleasant evening with Frank and Corrie we headed northwards. There are a few things which have been very obvious about Netherlands. 

1. It is very flat! One result of this is that there are bicycles every where. 

2. There is a long twilight, with darkness only descending about 10pm. This means that there is a long time after work for families to get out on their bikes, or walk, or sit in a street cafe talking with friends. It is fabulous. Some Dutch people told us that this is why they have come back to Holland after travelling the world. 

3. The architecture is very different from what we are used to. 

These thatch roofed houses are quite common and look great! There are cobblestones everywhere too. 

Añd of course the windmill is quintessentially Dutch. 

And can you go to Holland without seeing a Van Gough museum? 

We have enjoyed our travel through the Netherlands, albeit rather quickly. We are anxious to get into Scandinavia since our time there will be barely enough. 

Germany and our 40 Tonne truck rescue.

18 May 2015

We have crossed into Germany, in the northern parts. 

This part of the country is also very flat, and drainage channels have been cut through all of the paddocks. The architecture is much the same, but the weather is getting cooler as we go northwards. Still we can sit outside in the twilight after setting camp. It is very pleasant. 

We found a very small privately owned camping area for motor homes at just the right time of night. 

The place is called Melkhus "Drei Eichen" at GPS 53*18'54N, 8* 13'46 O

www.stellplatz-drei-eichen.de

When we drove in the hosts and guests were having afternoon tea in the little gazebo out the front. We were welcomed with a cup or two of coffee and some delicious homemade cakes. They were not vegan but how could we refuse! The charge was only €10, plus a donation for cleaning the showers. 

There was one other motorhome there, and we met the occupant, Peter Schulz, who is a zoo keeper and photographer. His career (now retired) was centred around Dolphins captured in the Orinocho River in Venezuala and brought back to Duisberg in Germany. He was on the expedition to find them, and cared for them long term back in Germany. We spent a very interesting evening in his motor home watching his video and photographic record of the dolphins. Fortunately Joe can speak enough German for us to understand what he was telling us. 

We decided to take part of the "German ferry road" on which we take a coastal road and cross the canals and rivers by ferry. The ferry cost €17.5, and we found a free mobile home parking area just on the other side of the crossing. This turned out be a little noisy with trucks parking as well, awaiting the ferry crossing in the morning. 

We were sitting outside having a pre-dinner drink and enjoying the twilight when a young couple rode in on their push bikes. Gilles and Jeane are from southern France and they started their bicycle ride in Bremen. They are also heading for Norway but I doubt if we will cross paths again. They pitched their tent nearby and we decided to cook and eat together. 

However we were interrupted by a bogged truck -a 40 Tonne truck! Carrying glucose. A number of truck drivers were standing around apparently not able to see a way out. We offered to use our winch and to everyone's relief we managed to pull him around and save the day for the luckless, inexperienced driver.

After the truck was free we all tried to talk to each other. There was a German who spoke English, the French couple, a Dutchman, the truck driver who couldn't speak any of the languages represented, and us. Joe ran through all the languages he knows and lastly mentioned Czech. Yes! He is from Slovakia and was very pleased to be able to communicate with Joe. He wanted to thank all of the people who had helped so Joe passed that on. The message from the German driver was that "we are all European and should help each other".  He was referring to other truck drivers who had declined to help. Of course we were proud to mention that the Australian way is that if you are in distress on the road someone will always stop to help. I hope that is still true! 

I'll let some photos illustrate our experience of northern Germany...

No clear power station.

In some places the profusion of wind generators was astounding -but far better looking than the occasional coal fired plant spewing out green clouds. 

And just before we crossed into Denmark we came across the barrage of the Eider river. This is where the ocean was being held back by huge obstructions designed to control any storm surges threatening this area -which is at or below sea level. There are two levels of dams, and this one was open to the incoming tide.

Shortly after this we crossed the border into Denmark -but that's another story!

Antwerpen

10 May 2015

We are in Antwerpen, awaiting the arrival of Matilda. We have had contact with the shipping agent, and have learned that the container has not yet arrived, and that we will not be able to have the vehicle until at least Wednesday. Also Thursday is a public holiday here! So if we don't have the vehicle by Wed it will not be until Friday!

Oh well! It is springtime in Europe! The days are quite sunny, or just sprinkling with rain. The Belgians are out and about enjoying the warmer weather. Whenever the sun comes out they out in the parks. There are lots of tables and chairs out in the sun, where people are drinking beer or coffee. There is a buzz about the public places. 

Today we went out walking and came upon a museum. This turned out to be a museum of a very early printers shop, with presses and books dating from the 1400s. Reuben's was a friend of the printers (Plantin and Moretus) and his portraits of them are all around the walls. He also illustrated some of the early printed productions. The printers were early humanists and favoured scientific publications. The original copper plates of anatomy books are on display. 

Antwerpen is a very grand town, with its cathedral, 

and other public buildings. This is the railway station! (said to be the 4th most beautiful railway station in the world!)

We enjoyed the cobblestones pedestrian walkways, and the urban landscape. 

12/5/15 Tuesday

We have heard today that Matilda has passed customs processing and we can pick her up in the morning. YAY! At last we can get going. 

Our discussions with the shipping agent indicate that he feels we really do need the carnet even in countries which don't require it. Without it we would be very vulnerable to paying import duties and VATs which would come to 10s of thousands of dollars. In addition we would be limited to exiting Europe from the same port as we entered in order to get our money back. So if we left the EU to go into say Turkey, we might need to pay the duty monies again there, thus having two amounts of 30%+ of the value of the vehicle. As I 've said before, by the time we've been around the world we will have these issues down pat. 

This area of Antwerpen is known as the "diamond centre". Antwerpen processes and sells most of the world's diamonds apparently. And so it is perhaps not surprising that this is also the site of the "Great Diamond Heist" of 2003 in which $100 million + U.S was stolen. The mastermind was captured and jailed for 10 years, but the diamonds have never been recovered! He has since been released. I wonder what he is doing now, and I wonder how many friends (or hangers on) he has.....

13/5/15 Wednesday

We have Matilda! Everything went like clockwork at the container warehouse. She has no scratches (other than ones we are responsible for) and the batteries were still fully charged. Have look at how they handle our 5.5 tonne vehicle in the container!

And how little room there was.

So then just had to get the roof-top tent back on...

We left the warehouse and were on our way out of Antwerpen when we realised that we do not have the compulsory third party insurance for Europe. The banks (which double as insurance brokers) had closed for the day, the next day was a public holiday. We had nowhere to park in Antwerpen, so we had no choise but to drive on (carefully). 

Watch for the instalment on this site to see what happened.,