Denmark Sweden Norway Finland

10th June 17
Lubeck to Kolding Demark. Nice accommodation, a flat to ourselves and modern. Needed to be here by mid morning, and have spent the rest of the day doing non travel stuff (work, wash car etc). Went shopping and nearly choked at Denmarks cost of groceries. Will be losing some weight while here. David has been simply fantastic. I'm unbelievably lucky to have him as my husband, and can't imagine how I would cope without him (Michele wrote this “Yeh Right!”).

Airbnb $83.33 night

11th June 17
Kolding. Visited Christiansfeld probably the first city in Denmark, built by a decidedly urban plan of the visiting Moravian Brethren, small cobbled city? Then to Jelling the world heritage Viking town, place of first king of Denmark and on the rune stone the first time Denmark was written. Lovely church with the best cemetery I have ever seen. Very good Viking+ museum. Nice drive through farmland to get to.

Photos: Christianfeld, Jelling x3

12th June 17
Drove out to Ribe, on the Atlantic coast. Claims to be the oldest town in Denmark. Hadn't done enough weather research and made some poor clothing choices. 35 knots of wind off the north atlantic and we were in shorts. Up to Esbjerg, an industrial port town to look at some sculptures on the coast. Impressive sculptures, but still 35 knots of wind. Didn't stay long.

13th June 17
Decided to have a quiet day at home today. Shopping, work, research for the next leg and the all important personal grooming issues (Davids hair really needs a cut) that need to be attended to.

Photos: Ribe, Statues on coast at Esbjerg

14 June 2017
Went north to Aarhus, Denmarks 2nd largest city. If John Cleese thought Palmerston North is the worlds most boring town, he had obviously never been to Aarhus. Still you don't know until you look.

15 June 2017
Quiet morning at home, lunch in the garden and a quiet read. Another wander around the old town in the afternoon. Koldinghus, St Nicolai Church and the surrounding shopping area. A single scoop ice cream starts at about NZ$5.00, with a multiflavour for up to $20.00. So no ice cream.

Photos: View from accommodation, Lubeck, St Nicolai Church,David's club

16 June 2017
Traveling day. Left Kolding heading for Copenhagen. Hopped off the motorway on Funen (island/district) and visited Egeskov Castle, which isn’t really a castle but a very grand house. Castle, gardens and museum displays of old machinery, cars, motorbikes and emergency response vehicles. Crossed the Funen/Zeeland (Storebaelt) bridge, which is actually 2 bridges that meet on an island with a total length of 22 km, cost about $50, Quite impressive. Arrived at our accommodation, which was booked with some trepidation. So far so good.
$75.60 Airbnb

17 June 2017
Spent the day down south in the Stevns Klint coastal area. White cliffs UNESCO world heritage site due to meteor that saw in layers of limestone and chalk, explanation as to why the dinosaurs became extinct 66 million years ago. Coastal walk, climbed the lighthouse, a generally relaxed day, before going into Copenhagen in the evening to do some research for a days city excursion tomorrow. Falafel restaurant for dinner.

18 June 2017
Somebody's birthday. Spent the day in Copenhagen doing the tourist circuit. Walked the waterfront to the little mermaid, then back through town past the Royal palace, Fredericks church and dome, Nyhaven (new haven), central shopping district, Parliament buildings including up into the tower for a really good view over the city. Also a boat ride around the harbour and canals.

Photos: Bridges between Demark Islands Nyborg & Korsor 1st one is longest, Egeskov Castle, White cliffs, walk along coast to lighthouse lots of poppies, Little Mermaid Copenhagen

19 June 2017
A second day in Copenhagen, catching up with what we hadn't had time for the day before. Botanic gardens, Rosenborg Castle, the cathedral and town hall. Had enough city walking for the day so went and sat on a small beach further up the harbour and read our books and relaxed for an hour. 24 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.

Photos: Nyhaven, Fountain front Amalienborg place looking through to Fredricks church, Fredicks Church (commonly known as The Marble Church), Nyhaven x2, Copenhagen Catheral, Fredicks Church dome (the largest in Scandinavia), Canal Boat trip, Changing of guard Amalienborg Palace (the royal palace), Parliament Building

20 June 2017
An easier day driving out to Hellerup (Paul Elvstroms home town) then up to Kronborg Castle on the north coast. Really nice coastal drive with large expensive houses and a surprising number of marinas. Along the coast to a small fishing village called Gilleleje. A whole bunch of thatched fishing cottages. A25 knot northerly cooled it off so not a beach or fishing village day. Headed back to Copenhagen via Frederiksborg Castle. Beautiful large grounds.

Photos: Kronborg Castle,Gilleleje x2,Frederiksborg Castle

21st June 17
Copenhagen to South Oslo. Big travel day went over bridge from Copenhagen Denmark to Sweden $157. Went off motorway along west coast Sweden lots of wooden homes in Sweden and Norway, they like Yellow(mustard) and red, change from brick buildings but houses smaller. Scandinavian countries have a lot of flag poles up in front yards with pendant shaped flag of country. Staying in Ringvoll south of Oslo. Lots of wild flowers along the side of road.
Airbnb $73.40 per night

Photos: Bridge from Copenhagen to Sweden, Bridge in Sweden (this one was FREE, flowers on roadside

22nd June 17
Visited Drobak small town just south of Oslo planned to go to Oscarsborg Fortifed Island but decided not to as could see from land and decided village was more interesting to walk around than castle. Very pleasant temperature and interesting little town even had some hills which we haven’t seen for weeks.

23rd June 17
A quiet day out at the small coastal town of Son (Soon). Small town and leisure boat marina. Nearly back top car and started to rain.

24th June 17
Off to Fredrikstad, a river fortified town at the mouth of the Glomma River, dating back to 1567, with some of the old town still used by the military as recently as 2002. Also famous as the birthplace of Roald Amundsen. Good weather, wind got up mid-afternoon.

Previous page Photos: Drobak, Son, Fredrikstad x2
Photo: Oslo Sculpture Park ,Akershus Fortress

25th June 17
Spent the day in Oslo. Caught the train, but because of track maintenance ended up on the smoothest, quietest nicest bus I've ever travelled on. Started our walking tour at the Vigeland Sculpture Park, an entire park dedicated to the sculptures of Gustav Vigeland. Quite extraordinary. Down through the city to the Royal Palace, to watch the changing of the guard. Not so extraordinary. Across to Akershus Fortress which used to look out over the harbour and straits, but these days looks straight into deck 7 of whatever cruise ship is in port that day. The fortress was still quite cool. Cathedral. A couple more stops and home, which for the past few days has been an apartment with a nice rural outlook, at Ringvoll, just south of Oslo.

26th June 17
A long day’s travel from Ringvoll to Kvinesdal on the s/w coast. Lots of tunnels, and lots of road tolls. At one point the decision was made to get off the main highway and try some of the more picturesque secondary roads. Scenery stunning, but some of the roads became pretty rough (why are we on a goat trail, was one comment by David but we got there, I had to remind him “wasn’t the idea to get off the beaten track?”).What has surprised us is once you get off main roads the roads get very small very quickly.
Cabin $51

27th June 17
Stayed last night in a small cabin, which was quite basic. ie no running water. Got away reasonably early, so decided to go to Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock) on the way to Stavanger. The Rock is only about 4 km from the carpark and with a vertical climb from the

carpark of about 350mtrs doesn't sound too hard, but was quite demanding. Lots of 350 - 400mm steps that gave us a good workout. The destination is a rock platform, 640mtrs of sheer cliff above the fjord, and not a safety rail to be seen. Fantastic. Saw a guy who had slipped on the return walk and rolled his ankle and got choppered out.
Airbnb $77.50 per night

28 th June 17
With a "free day" went and explored Stavanger, a moderate sized port, which caters to both the cruise liners and local car ferry trade. Interesting old town. The have art on buildings around the town so did a walk to try and find them.

29th June 17
Drove up to Bergen from Stavanger. Multiple short ferries and even more tunnels. The road tolls are quite random and even more annoying.
Airbnb $75.50 per night
Photo: Pulpit rock x3, Stravanger colourful street,Pulpit rock

30th June 17
Stopped in at a mechanic to seek advice on a noise in the car. He confirmed my earlier concerns that a front wheel bearing was stuffed, and managed to fix it for us the same day. Had been worrying me for a while so good to get it fixed at such short notice. Bergen city was larger than I had expected with the historic old town smaller. Weather was hot (28deg) and fine. Stayed in a downstairs flat in the outer suburbs and saw a Reindeer in the backyard that evening.

1st July 17
Left Bergen in a much quieter car, heading North east up the coast. Lots of tunnels, the longest being 24.5 km. One tunnel a couple of days back had roundabouts in the middle of the mountain. Long Fjords with almost sheer walls. Quite slow diving because of the

constant need to drive over or through mountains. Called at Borgund Stave Church, which dates back to the 1100s. As with most of the really old churches here, it predates local Christianity so quite different to what we are used to. Camped the night at Dale on the Fjord coast, but with pockets of snow on the cliffs above us. Children swimming - mad.
Camp $41.67

Photos: Bergen x3, Longest Tunnel in Norway
Bergen,Stave Curch

2nd July 17
North from Dale, heading for Alesund. 2 mountain passes above the snow line, dropping back to Fjord sea level each time. Breathtaking scenery on roads which zig zag across the mountain faces. How the tour bus drivers manage to get up and down some of them is beyond belief. Stopped at a campground just outside Alesund. Forgot Sunday trading hours, so fairly basic dinner. The rain set in and continued all night, and a road repair gang decided to tear up and resurface the road about 50 mtrs from our tent. Temperature plummeted to low single figures. Not a night we want to repeat.
Camp $30

3rd July 17
Managed to get tent down between showers and headed into Alesund. Quiet coastal fishing town. Rain still coming over in long heavy showers. Wandered the town until about midday,then headed for Trondheim. Two ferry crossings, but much easier driving through more open forest valleys. Arrived later than we would prefer, so dinner, a bit of housekeeping and off to bed. Very small downstairs flat, but warm and dry.
Airbnb $76

Photos: Alesund,Mountains /Fjords

4th July 17
Had the morning in Trondheim, which is a very pleasant town. A bit to see, including one of the more ornate Cathedrals I've seen. Almost no tourists here, even though it is school holidays. Because of several long driving days,didn't stay too long, and headed east, across the border into Sweden. The weather started improving once we were over the mountains,and we stopped and camped about 2/3 the way across to the coast. Our first Swedish supermarket experience far more satisfying than the Norwegian ones. Better range, cheaper prices and custard donuts. Paradise. Still not tropical, but our big thick sleeping bag managed ok.
Camp $26.67

5th July 17
Packed a dry tent and headed south to Gavle. Mostly mature forest, but the trees don't seem to grow very big this far north. Two nights in a nice little detached unit in a semirural area. Look out over horse paddocks, with a 2 minute walk to the coast, and only 15 minutes drive from Gavle town. Splashed out on real meat for dinner.
Airbnb $96 per night
Photos: Trondheim, Gavle,Uppsala

6th July 17
Spent the day in Gavle. Great weather, up into the mid 20s.

7th July 17
Drove down to Stockholm, with most of the afternoon in Uppsala. Went into the cathedral just as a 5 piece brass quintet started playing. Absolutely amazing that 5 instruments could fill the largest Cathedral in Scandanavia, also town of first Scandanavian university. Down to Stockholm and across town to our home for the next 6 nights, in Friday night traffic. Third floor of an apartment block, with no lift. Unpacking took longer than usual.
Airbnb $100

Photos: Trondheim, Gavle, Uppsala x2

8th July 17
A slow start. Drove out to Drottningham Castle and spent the afternoon wandering the gardens, with a bit of a drive around the surrounding area. Surprised at relatively small number of people.

9th July 17
Drove into central Stockholm, and being a Sunday found good parking right in the middle of town. Spent most of the day walking the old town and surrounding areas. The Royal Palace, Parliament Building, parks and of course the shops. Quite a beautiful central city. Mostly old buildings with a few high rises, and being on the water but without a port stuffing it up helps.

10th July 17
Caught the train into the city for more sight seeing. Spent most of the time on Djurgarden Island, which is essentially an island park with museums, kids zoo and amusement park thrown in.

11th July 17
Had a day off from touristing. Had a day at "home" doing work, some car stuff and planning for the next legs of the trip. Even went for a jog.

Photos: Stockholm , Drottningham Castle, Stockholm

12th July 17
A late start before catching the train into the city again. The Stockholm public transport is based on time rather than distance, so you have an hour and a quarter to hop onto as many trains, busses or ferries as you want. A train ride into the city, an hours ferry ride all round the harbour for 30 Kroner ($5-) each. Significantly better value than the tourist boats that do basically the same trip for 200 Kroner. Sweden houses larger than Norway and very well kept.

13th July 2017
Leaving Stockholm today. Had to go to an IKEA store before we left. What a place. We knew that a lot of the household items we've been using for the past couple of months was from there, but a walk around the showroom and you realise just how much. An evening sailing on the car ferry to Helsinki. Not expecting much of our bunk room cabin, and was slightly surprised. The sailing through the Stochholm archipelago was awesome. Hundreds of small islands and the ship is often not more than 50 metres from the shore. And duty free booze to top it off.

Photo: Stockholm Islands

14th July 17
Night ferry crossing from Stockholm to Helsinki. A bunk room which wasn't as bad as I was expecting. Drove through Helsinki and spent a couple of hours reading a book in a forest park, until our apartment was ready.
Airbnb $78.80 night

15th July 17
Caught the train into the city, about 15 - 20 minutes, and a ferry out to the fortified island of Suomenlinna. Still used as a naval barracks and training centre, but ceased as a working fortification in the early 1970s. Had a really nice day in sunny weather, but the wind chill makes the idea of a swim unlikely.

Photos: Our Ferry,Suomenlinna Island x2,Helsinki

16th July 17
Drove out to Porvoo, a little tourist town half an hour from Helsinki, lovely walk around in perfect weather. Lunch at a cafe. Quite a treat.

17th July 17
Started the day with a Skype from Garth and Jean, and were going to the city but raining, so a day at home. Booked the car for an oil change tomorrow. 10,000km (6000 miles) since we bought it.

18th July 17
Sight seeing started a little late after the car service found that one of our wheels wasn’t round. The mechanics found someone who could straighten the wheel, and by midday we were back on track. Yet another reminder that the world is mostly full of really good people. Headed by train into Helsinki for a last round of the sights, including the Cathedral, and Uspenski Orthodox church and Temppeliaukio Church, which is literally a domed hole in the rock (new architecture doesn’t normally impress but rock walls/cooper ceiling/wood & concrete worked). Had a thunder storm while we were inside. A sign ?. Sibelius monument and a wander through the city
Photos: Porvoo x3, Temppeliaukio Church,Helsinki Catherdral, Sibelius Monument,Uspenski Orthodox church,Helsinki Catherdral