Skandi Here We Go!

Finally, after postponing the trip for a year, we are off on our Skandi Adventure. I must admit that this is the one trip I have  been most looking forward to. For me it’s a real adventure – we are off to unchartered territory and it has always been on my ‘To Go’ list. The Nordic countries always appear to have so much of the nature that I love, waterfalls, pine forests, wilderness, mountains and views that stretch infinitely.

We have only 4 weeks – mainly due to budget – I have been forewarned that our normal budget will double with the prices in Denmark, Norway and Sweden so we have come prepared.

I have packed the van with tins of tomatoes, beans, lentils, rice, pasta, tea, coffee, nuts, dried fruit, crackers, biscuits, enough chocolate for 4 weeks, some alcohol (stocking up in Germany although I read that Norway has a strict guidelines on how much you can bring into the country) and all toiletries that we might need. I am hoping that this would save us on unnecessary costs and we would just need to buy fresh goods. Eating out might be a luxury!  

I can’t believe  that this time we are leaving Georgie behind, it seemed the right choice for us as Bob has been unable to do much walking so we are taking E-bikes with us instead.

I booked the Eurotunnel returning exactly a 4 weeks later and we sent George on his own holiday with Ian – who he adores. Our first day was also my first experience of driving the Moho. It was my job to drive to Folkstone it turned out to be almost 4 hours but all went well and although I wouldn’t say I enjoyed driving it I am glad that I’ve broken the fear.

We crossed 4 country borders that day and covered 450 miles stopping for the night in a ‘stellplatz’ just over the border of Germany in a medieval town called Wachtendonk.  We took a late-night walk around the village admiring the half-timbered houses and cobbled streets, it was good to stretch the legs after 10 hours in the Moho. The roads for both our drives were very busy – especially Belgium and the Netherlands full of large trucks. Bob decided it wasn’t a good idea for me to drive in those areas as the speeds were so fast and so busy, I was quite relieved not to.

Day two was another day of driving – our aim  was to get through Germany quickly so we drove another 250 miles to Delmenhorst a town just outside Hamburg with a free ‘stellplatz’ in the centre beside a park that I can only describe as a flat Badbury Rings with moats around the rings.  Apparently there was once a castle in the centre but this has been destroyed. It was busy with lot of walkers and I even bumped into a group of Nordic Walkers!

Day 3 finally got us across the border into Denmark. Here we stopped at Krusa at a campsite that was situated close to our first fjord, called Krusa Camping and were greeted by very friendly Danish staff who all spoke perfect English.

Here we discovered the amazing cycle tracks of Denmark, like other parts of Europe Denmark caters so well for cyclists with proper cycle numbered routes to follow, easy to follow on maps and signposted along the way. We ventured out on our first bike ride down to the Fjord, cycling along it and then back up through stunning green countryside. First impressions of Denmark : friendly, spacious, green and lush, so full of accessible nature, clean, flat and everything is so well organised.
The flora and fauna is very similar to the Dorset hills with the hedgerows abundant and overgrowing with wildflowers. Many of the houses in the countryside were huge and spacious with big expanses of well-kept grass, mostly mown by a robotic mower. I really enjoyed the cycling.

Day 4 we crossed to the West of Denmark and stopped at Marsk Camping less than an hour away  – a fully automated site – you booked online, checked-in, bought any electricity for showers, water etc via the terminal. It was set amongst a few small lakes with spacious parking and one of the most outstanding facilities in any motorhome park that I have seen to date. It was from here that we did a 22-mile bike trip to Romo Island one of the many islands that dot the Watten Sea Nature Reserve. Romo has a huge, long sandy beach that you can drive onto and there were hundreds of vehicles parked up around the beach for the day. Sadly, the weather was extremely windy so it wasn’t somewhere to sit around for long.  We had cycled the 11 miles  – six of the those along a strip of road with sea either side so very exposed into the wind and even with E bikes it has been a hard slog so I was extremely happy to cycle back with wind behind me the whole way.   

Day 5  – Rain – and some more rain. We decided to stop at Ribe in between the heavy rain to explore the oldest town in Denmark – it dates to 710AD and the old cobbled narrow streets, well preserved houses tell the story of how trading between Scandinavia and the rest of Europe started here. The Vikings set off from Ribe in their wooden boats to trade and spread terror to parts of Europe. There is a Viking museum in Ribe that we were going to visit but due to the horrendous rain we decided against it as most of the museum was outdoors. Instead, we got back on the road and headed north to Ringkobing Camping, a small family run campsite set out in the pine forest. By now the weather was extremely windy and wet – so we set up and sat tight and waited for a window of dry weather – prayed that my weather app was correct and when it did indeed stop raining got the bikes out and rode into town which is set on the edge of the Ringkobing fjord. The town was deserted apart from some Mohos parked up at the harbour and we cycled along the lanes for a while exploring keeping one eye on the big black cloud moving towards us.

Weather held off until we got back and we even managed to get the bikes packed away which was lucky as the rain came again in waves of torrential downpours.

Day 6 took us on a long drive North to Thy National Park  – it was a beautiful drive along the empty  roads along one side miles and miles of sand dunes that hid the ferocious North Sea behind them and on the other side the flat water of fjords or bare green pastures with very few livestock around and the odd pine forest.

At Thyboron we visited the site of the Memorial Park of Battle of Jutland –the largest sea battle fought during the WW1 where nearly 8500 sailors died and 225 ships sunk. It was a decisive battle in WW1 as it gave the British the control over the worlds oceans and was a deciding factor in the outcome of the war.  Never since has there been such a battle fought only on the sea.  

From here we took the short ferry ride across to Agger to save a 90-minute drive and it bought us straight into Thy National Park – a part of Denmark that is rugged, wild and raw. With the crazy windy weather that we have been having it gave us an idea of how isolated it must be during the long dark Nordic winters. We stopped at a little fishing town called Vorupor and stayed at another automated site set amongst the sand dunes which was once again fully functional and the cleanest and most spacious facilities that we are getting used to.

We took an evening stroll in the gale force winds to discover the white sandy harbour with the fising boats dragged up on the sand and the beach area with a few surfers daring to surf in the strong North Sea waves and sat and watched for a while. It was 8:30pm but still felt so light. The sun wasn’t setting until 10.20pm and it wasn’t dark until well after 11pm so our circadian rhythms were adjusting to the extra daylight.

For our last day in Denmark before the ferry ride to Kristiansand we took a slow drive to Lokken  – another lovely drive with beautiful scenery – lush green hills, (loads of wind turbines in Denmark – they manufacture them here and export them to other countries  – you see them on farm land but also in the fjords), pine forests and then huge stretches of water interspersed with small farms or towns lined with steep pitched roof houses.  We stopped at another hard sand beach that you could park on and spent a few hours there before booking into a small site where we managed a short walk to through the countryside to another soft sandy beach. It was so nice to be able to walk so late at night  – This part of Europe is only just in the full bloom of spring so there are so many wildflowers to enjoy, pink, purple and white lupins and Rugosa roses that are highly scented, often called beach rose and honeysuckle.

We are so impressed with Denmark, despite not having the greatest of weather, we are encouraged that there is no much to see and look forward to passing through again on our way back. But for now, tomorrow brings the next stage of our Skandi Trip.