motorhome newbie, old hymer, one year in europe....

[craigthecoupe]

[quote=nadger]
Now I love the place, however that because my family all live there. The truth is that there isn’t a massive amount there to see, [quote]

Thanks for that. If we have the time or take a fancy to it, we’ll pop by.
I read Helen russell’ book, the year of living danishly, and have been excited about getting here ever since. I’ve always liked the design and architecture that comes from the Nordic area, and loved our brief trips to Finland and Estonia, so am excited for denmark Norway and Sweden.

We overnighted in a town called Ribe last night. It’s the oldest town in denmark, and it is just stunning. I’ll load some pics up soon (three’s coverage has been awful thus far). We’re going to have a bit of a potter around again today before moving on.
I do finally feel like i’m Beginning to unwind (so thats one calendar month for anyone reading that needs to de stress). Hopefully we can truly embrace hygge and get ourselves levelled out for the rest of the trip.
Thanks for the comments, and taking an interest, pics to follow soon.

[craigthecoupe]

Here are a few pics from the previous couple of days. Firstly here’s the van parked up safely on the beach on Romo island. And me parked up next to it


All in all a throughly good fun day watching people literally beach their cars on the patches of soft sand. Gladly we made it on and off with no drama

We headed out to this little spot for a quiet nights sleep.
It was very calm here, just outside of ribe town. The other side of the dyke, was marshland and then the sea. Loads of birds flying about and nesting in the loch gates (i’m Not birdy, perhaps they were swifts or swallows?)

Whilst the other two went to a nature reserve, i snuck out for a quick spin on the bike.
Cycling not far, but into Ribe for a coffee, first for a month!, and a croissant. Very pleasant apart from the never ending flatness.


Passing this great little cabin in the middle of nowhere. Perfect for a few days of walking and whiskey to get away from it all, not sure i fancy it in January mind you.


This was the nature reserve mentioned previously. My wife said it was as impressive inside too. I loved this building, so much texture. I do like the thatching around here, much crisper lines rather than the teletubby shape i associate with thatch.


We did an overnight in a Camperstop in Ribe town proper, and though it was just a car park, the town was superb. The oldest town in Denmark apparently. This building, though a little newer housed the remains of of possibly the oldest building in denmark 1145! Sadly, being the pleb that i am, they just looked like the remains of an old brick wall, but the building sheltering them certainly had my attention.
Something a little more in keeping with the town, lots of little buildings like this one

Many with some form of defective wall. I’m not sure if it would be subsidence or dodgy building practice, but lots of pissed doorways, jaunty windows, and precarious wobbly walls.

weve travelled inland a bit now, mainly to get the laundry done, and are mulling over weather we go east or west from tomorrow, i think the Viking museum and the promise of rolling countryside along with a couple of fjords, seems to be edging it. The beaches are wonderful, as is the marshlands, but it really is all weve seen for weeks now. If anyone thinks contrary you’d better speak up in the next 15 hours or so.

Ta ta

[craigthecoupe]

nadger said:

I left a message on your Instagram account recommending the home of the Viking Kings in Jelling. It’s honestly well worth a visit. Utterly draw dropping interactive museum which is utterly free to get in to! Definitely swing by there if you get the chance (it’s also close to Legoland for your little one!)

Thank you. We’ve changed plans a bit, and are heading that way tomorrow. Will visit the centre and then head north probably through frederikshavn, so fire away with any ideas for the area.
Appreciate your input, cheers

[craigthecoupe]

oblio said:

We went to Hamburg for 5 days on our trip around the NL and northern Germany last Sept. Great city.

On your way up to Denmark there is a Stelplatz right on the Kiel Canal...€10 a night...and I mean RIGHT on the canal. The ships pass within 30m or so of where the MH are parked up. I can recommend it for a night....

http://wohnmobilpark-sad.de/

They also have EHU (first come first served) and showers (€2 from memory).

Thanks for that, sadly we are already beyond the stopover, but it looks like a beauty.
For the record, and slightly knobby, that is not so close. This


Is close.
Too close as it turns out. I woke in the night, maybe more than once in a sweat about putting the handbrake on!

[craigthecoupe]

Thanks ever so much for all of that info. We did indeed head to Jelling yesterday, and explore the Viking museum. As you said, very impressive and very interactive too. I could have spent much longer there, but little one had had enough after a while so we had to move on, had a nice picnic in the grounds and walked the perimeter of the stone ship, before moving off to an amazing free stopover. In the gardens of someone’s house, they have a garden room, waste dump, water and wonderful views, and all for free. Very generous.

[craigthecoupe]

Having just written a whole post only for it to disappear before adding the images, i’m A bit pissy, but the gist of it goes like this. Sorry nadger, but after your excellent info, we skipped fredrikshavn, and left denmark rather quickly. A combo of trying to sort a ferry, and staying with friends in Norway put us on an awkward schedule, so we just decided to get on with it. Also finding free overnights in northern denmark is tough.

A week into Norway, and i love it here. The scenery is beyond words, and everywhere too. Ive not taken many pics, simply because everywhere looks so good. Here are a few of the end of denmark.
This was an abandoned lighthouse built on top of a huge dune near Lokken. It will fall into the sea in the next few years, but you can climb to the top as it is now, and the views are worth overcoming a fear of heights for.

The music hall in aalborg. I thought beyond this building aalborg was a bit st really, turns out its the happiest city in denmark, which is often touted as the happiest country in the world, what do i know!

And another amazing sunset from the west coast of denmark, the beach name escapes me

And from Norway so far.
To be honest i cant remember where these are, except the third one is taken from a free stopover in Oanes. We drove the 44 along the south coast heading towards stavanger. An amazing road with spectacular views. Driving heaven!



Speaking of which, the van has managed Norway brilliantly so far. Some of the hills are bloody steep here, and there have been a few first gear hairpins. It smells like an old diesel, rumbles away, is slow, and noisy, but i’m Still so impressed with what it’s managed so far.

[craigthecoupe]

Honestly, it should be on everyone’s bucket list.
As weve travel further north, the views have kept coming, the weather is improving, to the point we are seeing some of the weather you in the uk have experienced of late, and the terrain is constantly on the move. Ill pop up more pictures than words, because most things here involve the outdoors, and speak for themselves.


We stopped over here a few nights ago. A free overnight in the car park of a glacier. I’ve never seen one before, and now I’ve cosied up to one only 300 meters away, magnificent.

I love how small i feel when i’m In amongst this kind of terrain. A good one for reflection, and keeping life in perspective.

One of my favourite pictures of the trip so far

And last nights free stopover, overlooking Molde and the nearby islands

Edited by craigthecoupe on Sunday 1st July 07:40

[craigthecoupe]

Rumblestripe said:

Oh.

My.

Word.

Honestly, people have been asking for coordinates from where the images are taken, how we found them, if we’d share them. Until you have been, it’s not that easy to understand, but these views are everywhere on the west coast of norway.
This picture was taken on a crappy £100 smartphone. We drove out of a tunnel, along the main road, and before we went into another, we pulled over and snapped these pics. The place is phenomenal!
Two others that never made the cut from the same place

[craigthecoupe]

wow, this is a post revival!
well, the van died in france.
it was all rather stressful as we were at a house sit in france over the christmas period, then the van broke. i had a feeling it had a timing issue, but had gone from one day being fine, to the next running rough, not starting/idling. we went to a local 'mechanic' who played with the injectors, but the long and short was, we had the van trailered back to the uk. on strip and inspection, the van had indeed jumped a tooth on the belt, due to something becoming worn and slightly oval. now, this was a very busy, and stressful time, and we just needed the van out of our lives. we were told the component wasnt really available, and nor was an engine easy to source. the long and short, was we sold it to the garage for a huge loss, as two weeks later we moved to italy, where we are still living.
i am about to start a new blog, and perhaps will post a link here for anyone interested in our future exploits.
i cant believe anyone is interested, that all seems like so long ago!
anyway, i hope this offers some sort of closure, and happy to talk about any of the trip.
i'm not on ph all the time, but will check back once in a while to see if anyone has posted.
best to all.
craig