30 June E80 Monday? then it must be Germany...

We got up nice and early this morning and continued our journey homeward.  After 280 miles and a couple of tea stops we arrived in Schüttorf near the border with Holland.   I checked the blog and discovered we were here 9 weeks ago today……how time flies!

Just around the corner from the Stellplätze are a couple of supermarkets where we topped up Wolfy’s 'wine cellar’.  Wine here is SO much cheaper than in the UK that we would have been fools not to buy some more (well we do like a cheeky glass or two after a busy days touring!).

Tomorrow morning we will set off early on the last part of this road trip.  We plan to arrive at the ferry terminal with time to spare, then we can just relax for a while before boarding the ferry around 13:30 and setting sail at 14:30.

We should be back in the UK by 20:00 on Tuesday evening!

Tara for now…...

29 June E79 Denmark again...

Well, not much to add here.   After a fairly poor nights sleep on aeroplane style seats we got off the ferry from Norway at about 07:45 this morning in Hirtshals, filled the van up with  100 litres of diesel (£1.10/litre), drove to the beach nearby and had breakfast.  The ferry itself was very nice and only 4 months old, more of an ocean liner really.  We can’t really complain about the lack of sleep as it was our choice, a cabin was about another £150.

When I said ‘to the beach’ I should have said ‘ON the beach’ ……. this is allowed here

There is even a Bus Stop on the beach!……..

 

Then we set off for Germany!

240 miles later we are parked up in the Stellplätz in Flensburg where we were two months ago.  It was quite strange driving through Denmark, no mountains, no fjords, no bumpy single track roads and loads of cars!  However there is a certain reassurance when returning to a familiar place.

Our plan is to drive through Germany on Monday and night stop near the border with Holland, then on Tuesday we will be boarding the Stena Line ferry from Rotterdam to Harwich to be back in Blighty by Tuesday night.  On the way through Germany we will probably stock up with a few bottles of wine at ‘sensible prices’ haha…..

We intend to visit family and friends later in the week before setting off on our next adventure! (destination unknown at the moment).

28 June E78 The Pulpit Rock

Todays entry is ALL about the rock……. THE PULPIT ROCK (Preikestolen)

It is an extraordinary granite rock formation left after the ice age 10000 years ago.  The top is 604 metres (1982 feet) above the calm blue water of the Lysefjord below.  The walk from the car park took us about an hour and a half each way and is 4 kilometres to the top.  It is a significant climb over rocky and boggy ground.  There are no fences, no safety barriers………….just scared people!

Would you be comfortable sat up here?

“It’s MY rock now!"

“Err……..it’s a long way down!"

Can you spot Grahame in the photo?

“Where did all these people come from?"

Oh yes…………. a Pulpit Phoon!

As well as the fear factor the views are amazing……..

and scary!

Where’s Kate?

Just another cheeky phoon for good measure…..

Look at the dude on the end……...

just one slip…….and it’s goodnight Vienna!

another view….

This was one the other side of the rock on the way back down

We really enjoyed our trip to the Pulpit rock.  It was another ‘Norway Magic’ adventure.  After this we drove to Stavanger to take the overnight ferry to Denmark.  We are now on the way home via Denmark, Germany and Holland (maybe even Belgium and France if we get reckless!)

28 June E77 'Norwayed Out'

Yesterday we ended up driving over 200 miles through some very spectacular scenery and an awful lot of tunnels (I reckon we did about 30 miles underground).  We saw beautiful Fjords, stunning waterfalls, cute little villages, pretty Stave churches and more snow topped mountains than you can shake a stick at…………..

And then it hit us………..  We are ‘Norwayed out’!!  …………  yup, been there, done that!  …………

We love Norway and have seen so many breath taking sights in the last few weeks that we are beginning to become a little complacent about it all.

Therefore we took the decision to expedite our journey and increase the rate of progress towards Denmark.  We were parked up by a ferry terminal about to do some fishing when the penny dropped.  So, a quick look on the internet (when I say quick I mean really really painfully slow!) suggested that if we were canny with our timing we might be able to get a VERY cheap ferry from Stavanger to Denmark if we act fast!

Fishing kit hastily packed away, back in the Wolf, drive until the (mobile) internet signal gets stronger and faster……….easy!

One hour later and after a tortuous fjord side drive along a very narrow road we arrived in Odda where the signal was good.  During this time we had planned out the next 24 hours activity…..

Drive as long as possible until tired then stop.  Get up early the next day (today) and continue to Preikestolen, walk the 4 hour round trip up to the famous ‘Pulpit Rock’ on the Lysefjord, drive to Stavanger, get on the 21:00 ferry…………..and sleep until 07:00 the next morning……..Simple! Lol...

The internet signal was good and we managed to book the ferry at the very special price of 90 Euro’s inclusive.   This represented a massive saving of at least 217 Euro’s compared to going any other time.  The alternative was Drive to Kristiansand in the South (130 miles extra) and take the fast ferry at 175 Euro’s ……….either way we have saved a lot of cash………nice!

Hopefully, The Pulpit Rock will make a star appearance later today in blog entry E78

Note: Dunno if it’s the excitement or just my normal level of insomnia but I woke up at 04:00 this morning so this one and the previous entry have been typed up and ‘saved’ ready for upload later today when we get back on the ‘net (we are still up in the mountains with no phone signal at the moment).

27 June E76 Otters, tunnels, and churches..

After leaving the glacier visitor centre we ended up night stopping by this lake a few miles Northeast of Sogndal….

“mmmmm……. I wonder if I could improve my fishing if I get myself a pet otter?"

On our way South we drove through the Lærdal Tunnel, which at 24.5 kilometres is the LONGEST car tunnel in the world (and it felt like it! we were in it for over 20 minutes)

Along the side of Nærøyfjord we saw this tent, shetland style pony and a baby cow……….bizarre!

In the delightful village of Ulvik is this church built in the 19th century and although quite plain on the outside…….

it is beautifully decorated on the inside.

Grahame took a shine to the two wood burners that heat the church, one on each side.

and this bell is impressive and over 800 years old.  For more details read below….

It’s fascinating…..

26 June E75 Jostedalsbreen Glacier

The Jostedalsbreen Glacier is the largest ice cap in mainland Europe and the Nigardsbreen Tongue seen here in the distance is the most dramatic and can be accessed on foot.  We parked Wolfy at the bottom of the access road and set off on the 5 kilometre hike to the base of the glacier...

It’s a long walk!

that only takes about 1 hour 15 mins….

Of course a celebratory ‘Glacier Phoon’ just HAD to be done….

whilst Kate took the more conservative approach (like standing next to it 5 minutes before a massive chunk fell off!)

What do you call a selfie of two people….. an Ussie??

The glacier melt water exits through this huge hole at the base (notice the missing bits of glacier compared to the phoon photo)

it wouldn’t be complete without a ‘rope bridge’ haha...

A view on the way back….

Ahh…… 4 hours later….and well worth it!  A highlight….

26 June E74 The 'Sognefjellet'

The Sognefjellet Road goes high over the West side of Jotunheimen National Park and is Northern Europe’s highest mountain pass at 1434 metres (4668 feet) above sea level.  We did not expect to see SO much snow again since leaving Sweden.

It all looked so innocent as we started up the road….

then a few miles later it looked like this……...

Here’s a funny one…….. these cross country skiers only ski up here in Summer! (June, July and August) because there is too much snow for the rest of the year!

Gorgeous….

The snow to the left of Wolfy is over 10 feet deep….

Lovely………just lovely…..

Then on the way down to other side the stark white snowscape gave way to lush green pastures….

and a beautiful Fjord at the end (we bought some fantastic local strawberries here that had just been picked……yum yum).

I should just add that the temperature at the top of the pass was 5c and at the Fjord 22c (Winter and Summer in one day!)

25 June E73 Lom

Today’s journey was over the mountain plateau SouthWest of Geiranger where the road reached an altitude of 3400ft above sea level.  This caused Grahame much distress as we used 1 gallon of diesel to climb the 13 miles to the top!  However where there’s an up there’s a down! ……… and the next 45 miles only used 3/4 of a gallon (from 13mpg to 61mpg!)….

Anyway……..

We stopped in the village of Lom for a couple of hours and looked around the Folk Museum and the Stave Church.

The church dates back to 1159 and is one of the largest Stave churches in Norway and is unique having remained in everyday use since then….

It is entirely made of wood, including the roof tiles….

This bridge is a ‘log bridge’ from the 18th century….

In the Folk Museum were various buildings from the local area from the last 400 years or so.  This one is the oldest and largest storehouse in Norway built in 1613….

3 other buildings….

A collection of ‘Bridal Sleighs’ which were built for ‘one’ person……..

Nice big fireplace…….

with a massive table opposite!

This Crib was hand made for the baby and has the baby’s name and date of birth on the front….