On a mission for wine

Another relatively late start in the cabin rising at 8 am for a leisurely breakfast. At least 2, maybe more, of our cabin neighbours were decanting to a tent pitch after drying out. We decided to head on to Stockholm later in the day. Everything was dry and clean now and for some reason packed up so much smaller than when we rushed to pack in the wet. We had a last wander round, it really was a nice spot and a shame to leave but we had a ferry booked from Stockholm and wanted time to explore.

Before leaving we spent a few hour exploring the Kinnekulle area. The camp site lies on the Kinnekulle tramping trail, a 45 km 2 day hike.

The nearby peak Hokullen stands 306 m high, but also there's a cafe and car park up it leaving a 2.5 km walk to the top so we took that option. The outlook tower was built in 1892 and was said to be the best view in the Nordic countries. It burnt down in 1982 but a copy was rebuilt the year later. Certainly the views were great, but still the lake looked like the sea.


We took the E20 motorway to Stockholm. Literally the whole route was through birch and pine forest for nearly 3 hours.


We made camp in the 'burbs of Stockholm, a walk from the tube station or a boat service into the city centre. Packed like sardines, we had a drive around and managed to squeeze in a pitch that had an electric hook up. Just as we had we pitched the tent an English couple spotted us and passed by for a chat as there's hardly any Brits holidaying here. They had a motorhome that is the size of a National Express coach; no good for for an afternoon on Abereidy beach, in fact it struck me as just a bit OTT and found myself admiring the VW California campers dotted around the site.


Tent pitched, introductions over, we made a mad dash to the local shopping centre for the Systembolaget. This is the state offy where you can buy wine, beer and spirits greater than 3.5%. Although expensive compared to say a Tesco delivery, it wasn't actually that expensive compared to buying at an off licence. 245 SEK (£21.88) bought 4 bottles of decent wine, including Campo Rioja, which wasn't too bad and worth it so we didn't have to drink weak beer. Next stop fuel; I was almost empty and while I hope it will be cheaper in Estonia I didn't want to arrive empty so put in 20 litres. Well tried to. These services, although open, require you to pay in advance of fueling. You can use your card, but all the instructions are in Swedish so it took a couple of attempts but we got there.

Back to camp and Vanessa cooked up spaghetti bolognese which we burned off with a walk to the beach and caught the sunset.

A day of rest, almost

We woke at 9.30 am, obviously all had been in need of a good nights sleep. We had stocked up at the supermarket in Gothemburg, so had round flatbreads for breakfast (Shannon thought they were a bit naan like) with sliced squares of cheese, ham and really stinky garlic salami.

The wet weather seemed to have passed. While the kids explored the camp Vanessa went though all the clothes and sorted out 2 loads of washing. We also had the tent out, erected and strung 2 drying lines out so the insides could dry. The waterproofing sprays were applied to the coats and the tent. As I was putting the now dry tent away the German chap in the next door cabin was hanging his up to dry; no translation needed, we both just burst out laughing.

The car was next, I emptied ½” of water from my boot tray, cleared and re-packed the rest of the gear and left the boot open to dry off. By the time everything had been cleaned, dried, treated and packed away it was 4 pm, so we had a wander around the camp and the neighbouring village, Hallekis. Not much here, but a pretty place considering its existence is based on industry, and it had a Co-op.

Apparently until recently you could only buy beer up to 2.5%, but this has been recently upped to 3.5%. Ooh! We'd finished the last of the Tesco wine as we'd only brought 6 bottles, and you can only buy wine from government outlets, so we were stuck with weak beer. The bucket earnt keep that night.

While it was a busy day it was also relaxing not having to be anywhere and just kicking back for a bit.

The rains fall as Gotham City burns

It was one of those get-up-before-you-get-wet mornings as the rain had been incessant all night and the tent was leaking. Luckily everybody's sleeping bags were mostly dry so those and any clothes went back into the roof box before they got damp. The camp was well equipped with both showers and cooking/eating facilities so we had breakfast inside, croissants and pastries bought from the supermarket the night before.

The staff phoned up the local library and arranged wi-fi access for us, and also directed us to a camping shop as the options were 1) buy a new tent, 2) waterproof tent if it's dry enough or 3) stay in the Ibis across the road. Camping shop first as the library wasn't open till noon. Unfortunately neither was the camping shop so we headed into central Gothemburg instead.

We found a cafe but I couldn't access their wi-fi for some reason, shame as it was the most expensive 2 coffees & 2 hot chocolates yet at nearly 140 SEK (about £12.50!). We traipsed down to the tourist information place in our waterproof trousers and jackets, picked up the city map and decided to visit the library and the Science Museum. The library was quite a trek, and by the time we got there we'd discovered that Vanessa's and my jackets had ceased to be waterproof. The library staff were really friendly and helpful and we got a temporary membership card that gave free wi-fi access and allowed me to upload the blog text. I'm still getting to grips with Linux though, and couldn't crop or re-size pictures so they had to wait. Two streets from the library the street was closed as an apartment building had caught fire the night before. We only saw the smoldering building, but when I stopped for a picture the guy standing in the doorway showed me the raging inferno on his camera taken the night before.

A few streets later and we found the Science Museum, but everyone else had the same idea and it was jam packed so we decided to give it a miss. Back past the smoldering building there was a soup and bagel shop and we had some of the nicest tomato soup we've had for a long time.

We headed back to the camping shop and stocked up on some waterproofing spray and a new jacket for Vanessa. We'd decided by then to head to central Sweden and rent a chalet, a better option than the Ibis.

We broke camp in the pouring rain, it was Dunedin/Wasdale/Wells etc again. Luckily my waterproof trousers were doing their job, a new addition to my camp gear after admiring Mad Mike's pair, but my jacket needed re-coating so I just let my shirt get soaked through. The kids valiantly watched dvd's as Vanessa and got everything loaded and set off for Tivenden National Park. Not the best drive, through rush hour traffic around Gothemburg and 2.5 hours through torrential rail, but we managed to arrive by 7.40 pm.

We had decided on a site at Hallekis (www.kinnekullecamping.se), not the one on the itinery but a bit nearer and it had wi-fi. The approach got better once we had passed the cement works and weaved 4 kilometers though the lakeside track. It's on Lake Vanern, but it seems like the sea; its so big and the waves crash against the shore, all that's missing is the smell of salt. The cabin was no bigger than our garden shed, but seemed bigger on the inside. Vanessa threw a quick pasta dish together, and after we huddled around the table and watched a dvd together before crashing out in real beds!

Wet tents and sore feet

I woke this morning at 5.30 after a very restless night. It had been quite cold and rainy and Chris kept stealing all the duvet. I got up to powder my nose and discovered that we had the beginnings of our very own pool in our tent. The rain was dripping in through every part of the roof, especially over the electrics. A quick call for assistance produced a very sleepy Chris who helped me re-arrange the furniture so that the electrics were covered up, then it was back to bed for a little while. A little later on, the rain had stopped but the tent was pretty wet so it was a quick wake up for the kids to get the tent packed up before the rain started.

On reflection, we really should have re-waterproofed the tent after our last disastrous outing in Somerset – the fact that the tent was packed up soaking after 3 days of torrential rain obviously hasn't done it any favours. A trip to a camping shop for some tent wax was desperately required but, this being Denmark and Sunday, everywhere was closed. So we pack up the car and head towards Copenhagen.

The 'crap nav' was right on target again and took us right to the centre, to a free parking space. We decided to take the walking tour we had seen on a map so, after a wee and a quick drink, off we went. We reckoned that the walk was about 7 miles and took in the beautiful Central Station building, Tivoli Gardens, Parliament House and many, many others. Copenhagen is a really nice city with some beautiful architecture and we really enjoyed the walk with only minimal “are we there yet”s from the children. By the end of the walk my (already swollen, elephant man style) foot and knee were in real pain and looked dreadful. Shannon had also had a nasty trip yesterday and skinned her big toe so she was in pain as well.


We set off for Gothenburg, all of us really looking forward to the 16km tunnel/bridge which links Denmark to Sweden. We have seen and heard much about it on the TV, but were disappointed with the reality. We didn't get a good enough view to take the spectacular snaps we were expecting and the bridge didn't seem very long at all. Oh well, at least we had hit country number 4 on the list.



The drive to Gothenburg was long and there has been a distinct lack of LPG stations so far. We decided to head for the first camp site we saw once we got to Gothenburg and have been pleasantly surprised. The check in staff were very efficient and helpful, even to the point of directing us to an LPG station. We have decided to take the plunge and sleep in our leaky tent (while praying for no rain) on the understanding that we move to the Ibis Hotel over the road if the worst comes to the worst.

A visit to the LPG station left Chris p***** off, he has spent loads on 2 continental LPG adapters but still doesn't have one that fits the pumps here – it looks like it it will be petrol all the way to Stockholm!

Alas poor Yorick, all we have is this sea biscuit

No driving today. It's Shannon's birthday and the day was spent in Helsingor. We had a continental breakfast followed by present and card opening for the Birthday girl.

Helsingor came into prosperity when in 1429 the Sound Toll was imposed on passing ships. It's positioned on a 4 km strip of water where the Baltic Sea meets the North Sea, which today welcomes thirsty Swede's from Helsinborg who flock to its cheap booze shops (so the guide says, didn't seem cheap to me but worth noting before leaving for Sweden).

First stop was Kronborg Slot, or Elsinor Castle for you Shakespearean buffs.

Apparently the boy from Stratford never visited, and the character Amleth on whom his hero, Hamlet, is based predates the castle but that doesn't stop them flogging the merchandising. It's a fine castle nevertheless, containing a maritime museum that contains the worlds oldest sea biscuit dating from 1852 when a Mr E Gade on a brig from Whitby brought one back for his dear old Mum. Luckily she wasn't tempted or it wouldn't be on display; she didn't miss much, we tried them in Malta and they tasted a bit shit.

The views from the 116 step tower were fine. Vanessa was moaning on the way up, the mosquito bites she suffered in Germany had become terribly swollen and weepy. My comforting words of 'Try this for 5 hours climbing Ben Nevis' didn't seem to help so we ended up spending £20 on remedies from the chemist. We'd visited the right time though as hordes of coach parties arrived as we were leaving.

Helsingor itself is quite a pretty town with a lot of half timbered houses and pedestrian areas that were bustling.

We had Italian for lunch as the Danish places were packed, returned to camp and chilled a bit before spending the rest of the afternoon on the beach and in the sea.

The campsite is located in the bay next to the harbour.

Road to Helsingor

We woke, had breakfast and packed camp by 9am ready for the drive to Denmark. I'd run out of LPG before Bremerhaven and was keen to fill up as soon as possible. Whatever the German 'Master Plan' was, the equidistance of petrol stations and availability of LPG wasn't on it. We drove for over a hundred miles before finding an LPG pump, and then passed 3 in 30 miles. Grrrrr.

So far the two traffic jams we've had to endure have been on the autobahn's; on the way to Bremerhaven and again today outside Hamburg delayed us for over half an hour. However a little later we stopped for lunch at petrol station and instead of day old pre-packed sandwiches (there weren't any) we had hamburgers (after an animated explanation in German that the hamburgers don't come in a bun), bratwurst and chips and a finer service station meal I can't recall.

Vanessa's been singing the praises of the 'crap nav', and it has been very good directing us from A to B, around confusing hubs where motorways merge and split around cities and getting us effortlessly into town centres; situations we'd have been tearing lumps out of each other without it by now. And also as Vanessa hasn't been as stressed I've been more able to 'make good progress' without being told to slow down. Result. The down side is you don't engage with the journey, we've only really had a general idea of where we are between destination as we didn't bring a paper map. So much so that I'd thought we'd be driving through Germany into Denmark, but instead we were directed to the Puttgarden to Rodby ferry. Que sera, sera. The ferry made a nice break from driving, and the sea air a nice break after the hot arid air.

After a couple of hours of Danish motorway, that wasn't that different from the German or Dutch motorways, we reached camp at Helsingor. It looked like a Volvo convention, and that was just in the British section.

Bremerhaven or bust

After a fairly leisurely day cleaning the house and finishing packing the rest of the stuff, it was suddenly later than we thought and the car had to be packed. We set off slightly later than planned but arrived at Harwich 15 minutes earlier than we expected but were allowed straight on board and into our cabin. Just before bed Alex said he had a rash – he was absolutely covered in red itchy spots. We did all the usual tests to make sure it was nothing untoward and packed everyone off to bed. We all had a reasonable nights sleep but Shannon insisted that she could hear 3 lots of snoring!

Thursday morning dawned and we set off on our long route to Bremerhaven. The Dutch are well equipped if you want LPG but not so good for cash machines as they had the former in all the petrol stations we stopped at while looking for the latter. A lunchtime pit stop at the first petrol station over the German border was a success on the cash front, and we got out the table, chairs and stove and cooked up bacon and egg rolls by the roadside.

The 'crap nav' was fab and we breezed through all the towns and had a good journey until about 2 hours away from our destination. We were stuck in queues of traffic and finally pulled off for a quick drink. The traffic quickly started moving again (typical) so we jumped back in the car and sped off. It wasn't until we reached Bremerhaven that we realised that Chris' camera had fallen out of the door at our pit stop and was lost forever.

We parked underneath the arches in Bremerhaven, where the road crossed the large canal, and had a short walk in 30+ degrees heat to the Maritime Museum. After the drive, the heat and losing my camera we didn't fancy the museum but found what we came for....Das Boot.

U-Boat Wilhelm Bauer was an operational submarine of the Third Reich. It may look big on the outside, but this was no Tardis. The sleeping quarters were tiny, 12 bunks in maybe 5' by 30'. The corridors were literally shoulder width, and snaked through the wood veneer paneling of the living quarters. This was spacious compared to the operational areas where pipes ran along both walls and the ceiling with flanges and valves positioned to clonk the unwary on the head. From the conning tower two periscopes protrude, and also air intake and exhaust snorkels for the diesel engines. These predators of the North Atlantic used massive batteries the size of a fridge; 62 of them x3 battery rooms which allowed them to run 1 hour 8 minutes at power and 50 hours 'silent running'. When they emerged from the depths the snorkels allowed them to remain submerged while the diesel engines recharged the batteries. Maybe this was the inspiration for the Toyota Pious? But more amazing is this vessel of 58 men had only 2 toilets, and the galley 2 sinks, 2 hobs and 1 oven in a space 5' by 6'.

A quick trip around the town centre found an electronics shop and €180 I had replaced camera, case and a couple of 2Gb SD cards.

Only 8 clicks from Bremerhaven was our campsite, Erholungspark Spadener See. Arranged around a lake it was typically teutonic; well sited pitches, vans parked away from tents and a huge ablutions complex made of brick and tile. After we'd made camp we all jumped in the lake to cool down, Vanessa then went off to try out the showers and the kids played in the water while I decided to swim to the other end of the lake and back. After a tea of bacon, hotdog sausages, beans and toast the mozzies drove us inside for the night.