Day 61 & 62 Scandanavian heat wave

Day 61 Denmark and an interesting coastline

When we awoke there was to be no swim in the Baltic; the sky was grey and threatening and it was clearly time to move on. We packed and just as we were about to leave the campsite we got an unexpected visit from the owner who came over to ask us what was wrong with our tyres....... Charlie had picked up on our earlier conversations about the bald rear tyre and had gone ( unrequested) and asked the owner where the local tyre emporium was....he has his uses.

20 minutes later we were in there and had chosen a small truck tyre - cheaper and apparently more hard wearing than the camper van equivalent.

We then started our painful acclimatisation towards Scandinavian supermarket prices ( outrageous) in a Danish supermarket. The very next day in Norway we would be welcoming the very chance to shop in Denmark ( cheap as chips cf. Norway) ....we look forward to Iceland where we have been led to believe that the prices are even more outrageous than Norway where you can't buy a load of bread for less than £3.

fishing boat perfection - Lonstrup

Lighthouse only a few years from falling into the sea

We cruised the last 300 km up through Denmark and camped in Lonstrup, high up on the North west coast. 24 deg C felt odd, but bloody good, for somewhere as north as Aberdeen. I knew nothing about this coastline but it has much to it... 90m high sand dunes and a stunning shifting coastline. We cycled to visit the church and its grave yard that was falling into the fast eroding coastline and then down into town late  in the evening for a walk on the beach before bed.

Day 62 Over to Norway and bizarre heat into the night 

Catamaran to Norway

I could watch the engines all day ! and did.....

The next morning, we caught the  10:00 a.m. 2 hour crossing to Kristiansand  in Norway on the high speed catamaran and it is pretty impressive when blatting away at 45 mph + .

we were then off, and up the coast road with the grass by the roadside burnt brown and it all doesn't feel as we expected Norway to be. We had set ourselves up for getting back into long trousers, hoodies and fleeces but it was a far cry from this as we camped at a sandy beach mid afternoon, swam and dug sandcastles....all in 26 deg C heat.......It is a far far cry from 1985 when I went to Norway by bike for 4 whole weeks; a trip where sun was rarely seen, heat was never and rain was our everyday companion.

Such is my ignorance of Norway that I didn't even know the country had such great beaches...the sea was as good as a sea can get...clear and warmed at the surface from the long day of heat and the sand was perfect for digging. The sun was still up well after 10pm and it was all very difficult to get the boy to realise that going to bed in the daylight was a necessity if the next day was not to be a write off due to tiredness and lack of sleep. The weather is definitely not of the norm for places this far north but it is a real added bonus to be chilling out at a campsite with daylight to midnight in Mediterranean heat.

The campsite is mainly populated by Norwegians and  they also have a few bungalows on the site. Susan gets chatting to a Norwegian mum with kids who spends the summer down at the campsite and as you walk around you start to see there are many more who are clearly installed for the whole summer. With their caravan and boat down at the harbour, or in the bay, and the lovely town of Farlund just a few Km away they pretty much have everything to make it a perfect summer spot.

Charlie by the small harbour by the beach.....Crab pots galore

Many times on this break the unplanned or the poorly researched ( if not .....'not researched') places have been the best and this was one of them. No real idea the day before where we would go but the result is perfect.

It's our last night as a 3 ( me, susan and charlie) as tomorrow we meet up with our friends Eddie and Clare in Stavanger and on Friday, Jack and Katie fly out to join us. It is also exactly 2 months since we left home and in a month's time our trip will be over and we will be home. Our 3rd and final chapter in what has been just the best trip, is about to start and it will be very different to the last month and our first month..bring it on.


Day 61   Genner Strand ( Dnk) to Lonstrup ( Dnk)     344 km            Total         9224 Km

Day 62   Lonstrup ( Dnk) to Lonsesanden ( Farsund) ( N)  132 Km   Total       9256 Km