STOCKHOLM 2

30th. May 2016

Arriving  in Stockholm,  we clocked 1000 miles from Martlesham,  so only another 1000 miles to Nordkapp. The journey has been boring.  Easy driving on good roads but mind blowingly  tedious and uninteresting. You can't see the woods for the trees.....no wonder they  make matchsticks and Ikea furniture.
We haven't seen an Elk although Codi produced a photograph he  claimed he took on the road....we've seen a red squirrel,  2 herons, a buzzard and 2 red kites and lots of road kill badgers who appear to have the same lack of self preservation that their English relatives have.

After an hour, the GF and I had decided that Stockholm a) was ugly and b) looked liked East  Berlin.
10 mins later, the Swedish  tour guide said "Some people say that Stockholm is the ugliest city in Europe,  others say it looks like east  Germany. Many say that it is both." So I rest our case. During the day our opinion softened somewhat and it's probably a good city to live in (may to September )but it's not pretty. Hadn't realised how watery it is.....14 islands.

Played cards, won 2€ and recovered the outstanding 2€ so now only in dispute over the 2€ v 2 Danish  krona.  Fortunately  Margaret is reading this as we travel along and has been shamed into doing the right thing, nearly.  2€ is £1.60, 2 Danish Krona isn't worth tuppence so a stewards enquiry has been called for.
Julian rang wanting to know who we had upset so far. As if.

Went Geocaching in the woods, climbed a rock face and a tree to find 2, the first of which was placed in Aug.2000 and is the 2nd oldest in Sweden . With batteries failing on gps I suddenly found myself in the middle of nowhere at 10am (still light) so had a few anxious moments before I found a track back to campsite. On the plus side I found my first  travel bug which I shall take to Nordkapp.

Monday at leisure so took a boat ride down river to see royal palace and gardens at drottlingholm.  Nice place.

Here we are today........

dabbled.sagging.angel http://w3w.co/dabbled.sagging.angel 59°17'47"N 17°55'30"E

STOCKHOLM........GATEWAY TO THE NORTH

Sat 28th May 2016

Wed.25th May 2016
Travel to Puttgarten for ferry to Denmark. Campsite at STROBY near KOGE. Easy drive,good roads, refuel as diesel cheaper in Germany. ..80p litre. Good campsite close to sea, pleasant evening drinks with immediate neighbours in the sunshine. Good bunch, everyone clutching bottles and cans. Cards with D&M after dinner...we lose 2€.

Thurs 26th. May  2016
Drive round Copenhagen to Helsingore  ( castle at Harbour is claimed to be the scene for Hamlet)for ferry to Sweden.   Top up diesel as cheaper in Denmark than Sweden. .. £1 a litre.
Longish drive to GRANNA, campsite good on Lake.  Cards after dinner, we win but only get paid 2 Swedish Krona, about 3d in old money. Protest vehemently to no avail.

Fri 27th. May 2016
Rest day. Planned to take ferry to island for cycling but weather clamped down so went Geocaching in Granna. Missed one found another so contented. Discovered Reg & Virginia are big geocachers and found both of mine the night before and then ticked a further 10 when cycling round the island. He's going to give me lessons and help me at Nordkapp find an earth cache. They've clocked up over 9000 'finds' ......I'm on about 9 or 10 so a long way to go !!
Cards after dinner, we win but don't even get 2 Krona this time. Something wrong somewhere but I don't know who to complain to.

Sat.28th.May 2016
Long drive to STOCKHOLM,  campsite at BREDANG just outside. We take optional detours (2) to relieve monotonous motorway driving but scenery no better....just different trees.
Scandinavia is proving to be very neat ,clean & tidy. Great roads, but did not realise Sweden is 3rd largest country in EU, and Norway only slightly smaller, so huge distances to cover. Played Molkky last night organised by Codi & Jacqui. ......a Dutch skittle like game we have seen many times around Europe but could never figure out the rules. Now we know and will be buying a set esp for our summer thrash in france.

WE'RE OFF

Sun.22.05.16

First time using the Harwich - Hook of Holland  ferry so full of anticipation. Harwich International  Port doesn't live up to the name and terminal is depressing and I've seen better facilities at terminals on the Outer Hebrides. Ferry sails at 10.00 and the check - in closes for the day at 09.15 so no room for error on timing your arrival.
Boat is good and looks new and we have nice lunch. Sea as a mill pond so the GF'S seasick pills totally unnecessary.  Spend the 6.5hr crossing with D&M, who are in fine form, reading the Sunday papers. Dock at 18.30, interminable time to disembark as not being Dover and a fast turn around obligatory, the operation is very laid back. Then not helped by Dutch customs checking and scanning all passports and third degree questioning along the lines of " is this your vehicle sir? Did you pack it yourself? "......I thought we were worried about people entering the UK or Europe from foreign lands, and every other port disgorges you from boat or train onto the nearest motorway ASAP.  Not Hoek de Holland so 30 mins for the relatively few vehicles to travel the 200 yards from boat to gate. And we're coming back this way and are booked again in August.
Anyway, 50km drive to Gouda where we find large aire in centre of town already v.busy. 30 slots with just 2 vacant so no problem.  Town looks nice but rain deters exploration so having had a long day w have supper and early night.

Mon.23rd
Leave at 08.45 (free parking on Sundays up to 09.00 mon) and easy pleasant drive on excellent  roads to Bremen in Germany where we stop at commercial aire (€15) on the river bank about 10 min walk from town centre. We all walk into town which is old/new mix which doesn't quite work.
Main square is attractive until you see the new buildings. But we have a pleasant beer and spend a jolly night eating chez Parker and playing cards.

Tues.24th
Easy run in heavy rain to Hamburg then better weather to Klein Rönnau, 30 miles south of Kiel and near Bad Segeberg where our group assembles. Most already there over last few days. Nice campsite on Lake which we walk along back to village later in day. Interview at 14.00 by appointment with tour leaders Codi & Jacqui, a very laid back Dutch couple.....Codi is so laid back as to be near horizontal and I can't help suspecting a stash of wacky baccy somewhere in the boot. My spirits rise when he is surprised at my question regarding importing  alcohol into Norway (customs allowance is 1 litre spirits or 2 bts.wine)and reveals he has a boot full of booze and has never had a problem on the 5 previous tours he has led. We may well stop at Lidl on the way to Denmark tomorrow to restock the cellar which has 20 litres in wine boxes, 6 bts wine and a case of cider - hardly enough for the next 50 days. Alcohol is prohibitively expensive in Scandinavia, esp.  Norway. Our co- travellers seem a lively bunch,...3 caravans incl our tour leaders 20 motorhome.  Excellent group meal in restaurant with get to know you session...the most surprising couple being Graham & Brenda who are profoundly deaf & dumb. That's brave.

P&F's Great Big Adventure

Scandinavian Odyssey  Starts Here.

Following a cracking week in Cambridge for the GF'S birthday with K&J,M&C, when the weather was glorious and a good time was had by all, including punting,cycling and afternoon tea, we stopped off at Bury St.Edmonds for a rugby 7's tournament before heading to Paris for the International 7's round with G&C and Bruce via Eurostar. Excellent weekend of rugby in spite of England, lots to eat and drink in great company although the weather could have been a mite warmer. I do love Paris, my favourite city and it didn't disappoint.

So here we are, about to depart in the morning for an 8 week trip of Scandinavia. Harwich to Hook of Holland in the morning with D&M, then Germany,Denmark, Sweden,Finland, Norway and back to Denmark, taking in Nordkapp which is the most northerly point on mainland Europe reachable by road .

http://nordkapp.borealiswebcam360.com

This link will take you to a webcam at Nordkapp and all being well we shall be there on 12th & 13th June.  We are joining a tour in Kiel on 22nd May with 22 other motorhome led by a Dutch couple from ACSI.

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