Gidday all,

Making our way from Lapland into southern Finland. Scenery is wonderful and plenty of reindeer, but every time you stop to camp the mozzies and March fly population come to say hi.

Cost of everything is a bit high in Scandinavia, highest paid for fuel is $3.00/litre in northern Norway, but we can get by on very little too. Keep passing other VW’s the same model as ours, and they all wave and smile.   

Camped up on a river somewhere washing cloths and showering, life is good.               

 

    

 

 

 

    

 

                                                     one of the roads we took in Norway

                                                           yes and what do you want?

                                                              taken at 11:45pm

                                                                  our riverside camp

Up near Norkapp

Crossed the artic circle and in Lapland, only got up the road a bit and came across a herd of reindeer on the road. Had to wait for them to wander on. Then onwards and upwards, through Lapland and back into Finland and north to Norkapp the very top of Europe.
Talk about the land of the midnight sun, it never sets here. daylight 24hrs a day, makes it a bit hard to sleep. All going great. Will head south again now, just have to pick our route.

                                                                   

The artic circle

                                                          don't know what she's doing

                                                          Din making friends again

                                                               reindeer everywhere

                                                           at the very top of Europe

Din and her new friend

Gidday all,

Now a good way up the east coast of Sweden, heading for Nordkapp at the very tip of Norway. Will cross the Arctic circle in a couple of days. Sweden is beautiful and the weather has been kind, sunny and warm. Will put up a map of our route from Denmark to the present, can’t tell you the names of towns as I can’t pronounce them let alone spell them. Getting by with the language app on the phone and a lot of sign language. Been camping out at rest areas and stream banks, free camping is allowed and good in Scandinavia. Lots of Europeans on their summer holidays though. Kermit still running well too

                                                               our trip from Denmark to Sweden so far

                                                           Din found a friend on one of our lunch stops

                                                           a long boat one small village has restored

                                           the Nordic air is so rejuvenating, here's Din and I out for a stroll
                                                                                  taking in the view

one of the many huge bridges spanning the waterways here

Gidday all,

Well, we took the ferry to Norway, 4hr trip and the ship was packed. Had to wander about for ages before we found some spare seats. Din coped well with the crossing but was glad to be on dry land again. In the land of the fjords, the phone took a while to kick in but now have reception and all’s good, I think.

Going up the west coast for a bit then crossing over just above Oslo into Sweden then up and over again then who knows where. Have been up in the mountains already ice and snow on the side of the road. Magnificent scenery, those Vikings had a beautiful home, but rugged.

Chateaux de Kermit is going great, not as spacious as the Winnafargo but very comfortable.            

 

   

 

 

 

    

 

                                                     waiting to board the ship in Denmark

                                             snow on the road and ice on the mountains

                                             Alas poor Din, I knew her well. Only joking!

                                             The land of the fjords, some spectacular views

From thatched roofs to ones that need mowing

Gidday all,

Still in Denmark, now up the top, debating if we take the ferry over to Norway from up here or go into Sweden via Copenhagen as per plan A. The weather has been sunny mostly and in the 20’s, but it’s sure to get cooler the further north we go.

 

   

 

 

 

    

 

                                                     love the thatched roofed houses

                                                                   looking the part

                                               houses on the brink of falling into the sea

Relics of days gone

Gidday all,

Now in Denmark, driving on smaller roads and the pace slower. Going through lovely little villages, houses with thatched roofs and winding little streets. Keeping to the west coast for now, will cross over eventually and head into Sweden via Copenhagen. But will have a good look around here first.

   

 

 

 

    

 

                                             came to a canal on the road out of Germany

                                                 this is the ferry we took to cross the canal

                                                         Chateaux de Kermit

Lunch on the road

Gidday all,

Just outside Hannover Germany parked up at an autohoff for the night. Stopped in at a small town, don’t know where, and got a sim card so can connect to web better. Only about 300k to the Denmark border, has been raining for the last two days, not so bad as we’ve been sticking to the Motorways to get through Germany. So many trucks and cars, will be glad to get onto smaller roads, a bit boring on Motorways too. Anyhow Denmark here we come.    

 

 

 

    

 

                                                               breakfast at Sandy's

                                               Mary Theresa the landlord made breakfast

                                                the house Sandy lives in, on the top floor

                                                 the village of Laurez where Sandy lives

Where we got the sim card

Hi all
all is well with the adventure so far we are well into Germany now and all is good with the car and driving except the gps took us through Zurich the first day no problems though. A change of rout. The owner of the car wasn't sure about taking the car to Morocco so respecting his wishes we are going to Denmark Sweeden Finland and back. That's the plan so far. Have to get a simcard for cheaper Internet. Hope to do that today. Photos will follow. Love to all.

Spent a lovely afternoon with sandy at his place, sat and talked and had a few beers, he had the day off. Met Justina when she came home from work.
Probably take possession of our combi today, make sure all's right and head off in the next couple of days. Morocco here we come.

                                                   having coffee down the road from Sandy

                                                   In his carport with his BMW collection

 View from the shed

Gidday all,

A good flight from Abu Dhabi to Zürich, mainly because there were some spare seats over from us so Din stretched out on them and slept most of the way. We were greeted at the airport by Sandy, a welcome sight, he put us on the train to Shwiss, as he had to go to work. On the way, looking out the window, it felt like coming home. Will meet up with Sandy tomorrow to catch up properly.

So starts our European adventure.

 

 

 

    

 

  

 

 

                                                                Down town Abu Dhabi

                                                              From Zürich to Swiss

                                                                typically  Swiss

Feels like coming home

                                                       one of the gardens at Changi

                                                       the fish pool at Changi airport

                                                  checking out the sunflowers for Dins dad

another airport scene at Changi

Here we sit on the 20th floor of the Mecure hotel in Abu Dhabi. Its 7:00am on Wednesday I think. Got in from Singapore about 1:45am Abu time. Leave at 2:30am Thursday.
Didn't do much at Singapore, Din needed rest, but plan to explore on way home. Longer stay in Abu so can take our time.

                                                                  

                                                                 Singapore views
 

Giddy all,
Well we survived the 8hr flight to Singapore, Din just made it, we got guided through immigration and customs by a lovely lady who pushed the wheelchair they gave Din, must have been a couple of K through the airport. Anyway we at the hotel now and Din is snoring on the bed next to me.
Will have a good rest and probably explore tomorrow, nearly 10:00pm now anyway. Have all day tomorrow and leave for Abu Dhabi around 8:00pm.
Photos to follow when I figure how to get them off the phone. 

Gidday all,

Home at last, having to acclimatise back to QLD temperature, not so hard really. Now to spend some time to clean up the yard and gardens which have gone a bit wild in our absence. Then finalize some details for our Europe trip.

Will continue the blog when over there so stay tuned, We fly out on 30^th of June

Cheers.