So, our first week on the road, its flown by, its been pretty full on, trying to make good progress whilst getting used to living in the truck, using the mapping systems in anger and getting used to driving the truck again whilst negotiating foreign traffic!
A quick breakdown of what we've been up to: Weds 2nd march - drove to folkestone, via John Craddock to get spares and locking wheel nuts, ended up sleeping in the stop 24, but didn't have to pay. Thurs 3rd march - Took eurotunnel 9:50 train, £117, drove to Bruges and had coffee in the square, then drove towards Gent and slept at a services on the E40, Pretty sure it was the local cottaging hotspot... Fri 4th march - Late start, stuck in traffic at Antwerp, Essen and Duisburg, saw our first snow near Ommel, quite heavy but soon turned to driving rain, stayed in Aldi carpark near osnabruck. Sat 5th march - Drove to Hamburg, to a Calumet photo shop as I’d forgotten the tripod shoe. Got one, and a bag, then stopped at a huge megastore like Ikea on steroids and bought a bratwurst with 2.50 euro's we managed to scrape together. Then headed towards Denmark, but truck had voltage issues, voltmeter was wobbling all over the place, so stopped at maccies for a google and I checked it, couldn't find anything wrong other than problem only occurred at speed with headlights on. Cleaned and checked the Earths, but couldn't recreate the problem. Hit the road again then crossed border into Denmark. Found a nature trail carpark to sleep in, was nice, both had a good sleep. Sun 6th March - Drove to Skagen, the tip of Denmark where the Baltic Sea meets the North. Arrived just before sunset and walked to the tip, it was going dark, snowing, blowing an icy cold wind and we weren't sure if the tide was coming in - was a bit eerie.. raced to almost the edge of the sand but turned back! Got back to the truck soaked, my waterproofs are clearly shit. Got the heaters on and tried to dry everything out and had a wash in the truck...fun..! Slept in the huge carpark there, with nice heated toilet block. Mon 7th March - Got up early ish and did the walk again to the tip of the sand, saw the long break of waves where the oceans meet, found a dead dolphin on the beach, only people out there again. Drove back down to Frederikshavn, got fuel, danish pastries and some water and then drove to the port and bought a ticket as we entered. Got days first sailing of 14:20 to Gothenburg. Sea was calmish, went out on deck a bit then came in and had a coffee and used the utterly shite internet. Took over 3 hours. Arrived in Gothenburg, shaz wanted a shower and a launderette. Found sports centre after some stressful navigation of the city, wanted just 80p for a shower, shaz went as no parking and I stayed with the truck. Used our radio's - really handy! Texted Alex, agreed to go over to his. Looked for launderette but there were only dry cleaners, all closed! Went to Alex's in Partille, had a good late night chatting and eating antipasti Linda set out. They invited us to stay in their spare room so followed Neill's( Nelly Byrd)overlanding rule of never turning down hospitality! Tues 8th March - Up early, hung out with Alex, Linda Charlie and Matilda (cutie) before Linda went to work and Alex dropped the kids off at play school. Alex sorted breakfast and let us use their shower which was awesome. We headed off towards Stockholm to pick up the roads North. Stopped at a services with free water tap and drained and cleaned the water tank before refilling and purifying. Voltage issue not reoccurred touch wood. Got as far as Vasteras and it got dark, so ventured down some back lanes and found a car park to sleep in in the woods, complete with composting toilet block.
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May 2018
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