Week 14 - Campervan Adventures

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Day 92 - 21^stNovember 2013

Arhus – 30k from Odense (Funen Island)

Today marks 6 months of travelling for Steve and I (as prior to our campervan adventures we had 2.5 months travelling South America), it should have been a good day, but unfortunately I woke feeling that today was going ‘to be one of them days’ and regrettably I write that it was. We woke to a drizzly dull day, it was not that cold but we put the heating on to make getting out of bed easier, but it was being temperamental and did not want to start. This annoyed Steve as this is not the first time it has happened and when it went for its ‘service’ the man sad there were no problems. So the day wasn’t off to a good start. We made our way into­­­­ Arhus. Arhus is the second largest city in Denmark and the tour guide refers to it as always the bridesmaid and never the bride. We found it to be a nice city that we enjoyed walking around with its old streets with lots of little quant shops, which we did not go in due to temptation being difficult, we also do not go into bakery’s, we just stand outside and look and try and smell all the good things. The Danish do have lots of good food and cakes, walking around Arhus today it smelt delicious, this may sound crazy that I can say a city smells nice, but it does and there are cities (London when it rains, Tangier all the time I could go on but I’m sure you understand ) that smell disguising. The other thing that we have noticed about Denmark (well the places we have visited so far) is that they have lots of hairdressers for both males and females, a lot of beauty salons and massage places offering Thai massage, lots of Asian restaurants, and lots of fast food restaurants which is a surprise to me (not so much the hairdressers but the other things). After walking around the nice looking and smelling town, we wanted to be cultured and go to the Den Gamle By – which is an open air museum of 75 old timbered houses brought from around Denmark and reconstructed as a provincial town. It cost 110DKR which is about £11 each, we thought this was a rip off and it should be something that was free so we skipped it and headed to Mosegard – a little town 5k south of Arhus. The purpose of going here was to visit the museum of prehistory to see the ‘2000 year old Graubella Man’ – who’s well preserved body was found in a village in 1952 they say that visiting him is part history lesson and part forensic lesson. This visit was something I was really looking forward to and was willing to pay a reasonable price to visit. We had been to see an Ice Lady when in South America and I found her and the museum fascinating so was hopping this would be the same. Sadly when we found the museum it was closed. My travel guide said it should be open, but it was closed with no explanation, this really pissed me off. Steve suggested that we walk around the area – the guide said it had a 5k coastal loop but i was grumpy and didn’t want to walk in the cold, something I wish I had done now. But I can’t live with regrets. We decided that we would head to the next island Funen – they say there is not much to this Island – but as we had to drive ough anyway to get to Zealand (the main Island with Copenhagen) we thought we would check it out and go along the coastal road, great idea and I didn’t get us lost, but nearly took us way out of our way, which then caused me and Steve to get snappy with each other and due to not having a clear plan we missed out on seeing Faaborg and Svenborg along with finding a nice scenic place to sleep . We are now parked up in a public service parking area off the motorway for the night. When I look back on the day it was not that bad at all, I just did not get to see things I wanted to, let hope tomorrow we have more fun on Funen island.

Day 93 22^nd November 2013

Odense - Soro (Zeland Island)

I have to say a good night sleep and some positivity really helps a moody traveller. Today I woke feeling that today was going to be a good day and it was. The weather was still cold and drizzly but I did not let that bother me, this is something I should expect travelling in Scandinavia in the winter. I sometimes think this was a crazy thing to do, but when I’m in towns I see all the Christmas decorations and think it’s a nice time of year to visit with all the festive decorations and fancy lights . The other good thing about this morning was the heater worked, not straight away but it did work. After enjoying a nice warm van for washing dressing and breakfast we headed into Odense. My travel guide said that the only real interest here was the birth place and museum of the writer and traveller Hans Christian Andersen (HCA), and the other highlight were the shops , with one of the second biggest shopping zones outside of Copenhagen. HCA was not something Steve and I were overly keen on but ended up stumbling across the museum after I got sick of walking around the shops. Yes people who know me know that I could shop forever, I only like shopping when I can spend money. We did not go in the museum due to it being 180DKR each but looked round the area which was very nice, with little cobbled streets and half-timber framed houses. While wandering around we found a Christmas Shop, which I got very excited about, as I said above I am liking the Festive Season in Denmark and they do Christmas decorations so lovely, most of them are wooden and they have lots of charter, they are not like the tack that the English and Australians have. If Steve was not there to control me I would have bought up big. After exploring Odense it was time to leave Funen Island and I am pleased to say that I did have Fun there today. We got in Stan, heaters blearing and headed to the big bridge that connects Funen Island and Zeland Island – this bridge is 18k long, and unlike most of the roads in this county it is not straight it goes around two big bends, has a very small Island in the middle and on the second part of the bridge it rises for ferry’s to get under, It was very exciting driving over, I took lots of photos, most of them are blurry due to Stan having a dirty windscreen but it was still fun, for this fun we had to pay 235DRK toll cost. Once on Zeland island we decided to come off the motorway and experience some of the towns and country roads. This has benefited us big time tonight, just as dusk fell, we drove into a little place called Soro, it looks very pretty and has a rather big lake with parking next to it. So we have pulled up overlooking the lake, where we will spend the night.



Day 94 23^rd November 2013

Sore – Hornbaek via Rosekilde and Hillerod

This morning I did it – I went for a run and so did Steve. We are trying to get back into our ritual of morning running but it’s so hard when it’s cold and dark, and it’s only going to get harder with us heading into colder places. After our run we hit the road with big plans for the day, lots to see and little day light. We are finding at the moment it gets light about 830am and dark about 415 and it is black by 5pm, we are really starting to realise how different winter camper vanning is to summer camper vanning. We will have to learn to be a lot more organised and get up earlier if we are going to make the most of the winter travelling. After our run we headed to Rosekilde – this city was the first capital city for Denmark and is now known for two things, the first being it’s one of Northern Europe’s biggest outside music festivals – not the reason we were visiting we visited for the other reason, the sight of several remarkable Viking ships, they were founded in the port of Rosekilde and have been resorted and are kept in the Viking Museum. So we went to the Viking Museum to check out these ships, we were both very excited about seeing them and I also wanted to learn about the Vikings, as I had no idea about Viking life, other than they were angry men, with boats, who wore funny hats. The boats and the museum where both very interesting and I now know a lot more about the Viking Age. I won’t go into detail about my learning though. After exploring the Viking Museum, we drove onto our next place on the itinerary for the day – Hillerdor. Just before going into Hillerdor we found a Lidl so we had to stop to get some supplies and once we had our supplies we had to have lunch. Our main reason for visiting this town was to have a look at the castle, my trusty travel guide said there was no other reason to go there, so we took the guides advise, drove to the castle. The castle was amazing, it was breath taking, but you had to pay to get in, so we took a few photos and hit the road to our next destination which was going to be Helsingor but due to limited day light left we decided that we would drive along the coast road in hope we find a good sleep spot. The coastal road was a little boring at first, as you could not see the coast, but when we did we were both very surprised, there were white sandy beaches, really nice looking and after a little driving we hit the runner up prize of a nice car park just off from the beach, the winning prize would have been a car park with beach views, I know I sound very ungrateful, but it’s what I have grown accustom to, it’s all about changing from summer camping mind set to winter camping mind set.

Day 95 24^th November 2013

Hornbaek – Lund (Sweden) via Helsingor and Copenhaven

The ritual is happening, we both went running this morning. It was horrible, the wind was blowing a gale, at times the wind was so hard that the sand would blow in your face. But the scenery was beautiful, I just kept thinking to myself I did not think the coast of Denmark would be so beautiful. After our run and breakfast we went and had a walk around Hornbaek a little fishing town, we did not see any fishing boats but did see a very expensive fish shop, we thought that we would be able to buy some fresh fish, but this shop was upmarket and very posh looked a little out of place in the little town. After Hornbaek we headed to Helsingor, another place that is only recommended due to the castle, this is said to be the most ‘famous and imposing’ castle in Denmark and the seen for Shakespeare’s hamlet act 3 scene 1(to be or not to be that is the question),and I have to say I agree, it is a rather impressive castle, it is on the waterfront and we were lucky that we could walk around the grounds for free. However we did not check the parking situation and assumed that it was free on Sunday only to come back to a parking ticket of 65DKR. While in Helsingor we had a little wander around the town, all the towns are starting to look a bit the same, still nice but small cobble streets with nice houses and shops. Following Helsingor we headed to the big smoke of Copenhagen. We wanted to explore the city by bike but due to the lack of day light, I did not want to cycle in the dark. So we explored by foot and we had a nice stroll around the picturesque city, it was the first city that we had explored in the dark and it was a pretty city at night. We also came across some Christmas markets, which was nice to wander through. After exploring Copenhagen, we got back into Stan, due to it being dark if felt very late but it was only 630pm, so we decided it was time to head to our next destination – Sweden. To get to Sweden we crossed a bridge from Denmark it was exciting crossing from one country to another on a bridge, sadly due to it being dark I did not get to take any photos there was also a price of 275DKR. I have mixed feeling about leaving Denmark, it was such a lovely relaxed country with lovely people and lovely sights, and easy roads (with the right map) so it would have been nice to spend more time there, but we feel that we had done everything we wanted to do so It is time to move on. I guess this is just a feeling because it’s the first time I have explored Denmark. . Once in Sweden it was time to find a sleep spot, spots seemed very limited and we have stopped at a service stop, which does not offer many services, there is a petrol station, with a locked toilet and MacDonald’s. So tonight we are sleeping in MacDonald’s car park.

Day 96 25^th November 2013

Lund – Skrea

This morning we woke to an Icy Stan, the only reason that I got dressed was because of I had to go and use the MacDonald’s services. Due to our location there was no morning run and we hit the motorway to Gothenburg. We got a little board of the motorway and decided we would see what the small roads where like, this was a great idea as we ended up on a coastal road driving along the ocean for miles, the views where stunning, we stopped at one of the beaches for lunch and took a little walk, it was chilly, so cold that some of the beach had frozen but the sun was out and the skies where blue. We decided that if we could find a campsite around this area we would treat ourselves (have a good wash and do some clothes washing) and spend the night here. About 5k up the road we found a campsite however it was closed, so we drove on, thinking we were not going to find a campsite open around this area. At the next town Skrea we found a sign for three campsites, the first one we tried was not open but there was a lady on the site who went and found the owner who has allowed us to stay the night, he says he is not officially open but everything is in working order. Once we sorted ourselves out, we went for a cycle which was not the best idea we have had. My asthma decided that it did not like the cold and I struggled to get my breath for the whole cycle and because I was so slow, Steve froze. Lucky we are in the campsite and the heater is working and Stan was nice and warm when we got back. We have just had a nice afternoon tea, and we are planning to leave the skylight open for a little spot of Northern Light Watching tonight, I don’t think we will see them yet though, we are too close to a city and not high enough up the country.

Day 97 26^th November 2013

Skera – Varberg - 30k from Gothenburg

This morning we woke to a bitterly cold icy morning, way too cold for me to go running, but Steve went out and enjoyed himself, he come back stating how amazing the scenery was, I was a little bit jealous but glad I was warm still in bed. As we were at the campsite we took time getting organised and left just before lunch. We made our way to Varberg as I had read that this was a nice town with a medieval fortress. When I first saw the fortress I was a little disappointed as it just looked like a grass mound but on further exception it was a huge fortress with many buildings, including houses that people still live in within the perimeter walls, with views of the sea. We spent time exploring the fortress and my disappointment soon moved to contentment. After the fortress we walked along the waterfront for a little and then wondered around the town centre. We found a cobbler that was able to fix my boot, this boot has been broken since last winter and I had tried to get it fixed before I came away, but was told in Brecon it would have to be sent away and would take 2 weeks. The man today fixed it within a couple of hours. Due to having to wait to get it fixed we just spent the afternoon relaxing in Stan in Varberg. Once I collected my boot we hit the motorway in the direction of Gothenburg, we are currently parked up in the MacDonald’s Services (about 30k from Gothenburg) where we will spend tonight, with the plan for tomorrow to make it to Gothenburg. This has been the plan for the last two days so lets see if we make it there tomorrow.

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Photos

Hornbaek Beach
the beach we ran along