Kartuzy and Leba in northern Poland on 14 September 2014

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Kartuzy and Leba in northern Poland on 14 September 2014

Kartuzy was only 30 kms west of Gdansk so we arrived around mid morning. It was Sunday morning so the mall and streets were very quiet....except the areas in front of the 2 large churches in the town. We learned from our host Darek that there was a high church attendance rate in Poland. We saw 1st hand evidence of this in Kartuzy as there were so many people attending church, there were people outside the churches, praying and kneeling as the inside was full.....something we would never see in Australia except on special occasions.

We also saw that the town had gone for the largest scrambled eggs to be entered into the Guinness Book of Records. The town had a great 'feel', being of high community spirit and friendship.

We then headed along a secondary road up to Leba which is on the northern coast of Poland on the Baltic Sea. The beach sand was white and....cold. We are so used to feeling hot or burning sand on our feet in Australia, it was strange feeling cold sand. The wind was blowing and so everyone on the beach had their wind protection up. Most also had jumpers, hoodies or blankets. We found a protected cafe to sit down for a hot drink but in the sum...beautiful.

We walked on the beach and then headed up over the sand dunes, through the strip of forest and then through the walking malls of the town. It was certainly a holiday town with about 8 camp sites, several of which were closed as the summer holidays was over. We wandered through the streets, popping into shops every now and then. We were going to stay the night near the beach but as we often do, we go to Plan C, change our mind then start our new adventure....because we can!!

We drove SW on very narrow, bumpy roads but the most unsettling feature of these roads was the big trees that were planted next to the road. They even had road signs which warned you that you might hit your vehicle in the tree if you drive too close to the edge of the road. That would be a real possibility with our motor home. However, all went well.



We found a lovely spot to camp for the night, next to a reindeer farm about 30 kms south of Slupsk (don't you love the names of some of these towns?). Tomorrow we will be heading south to Borne Sulinowo which is a town that has retained its Russian heritage.

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