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By keef and annie hellinger, Oct 14 2015 02:23PM Yorkshire and Northumberland Motorhome trip No24 : October 7th – 14th 2015 A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog NOTTS->YORKSHIRE including Holmfirth, Hebden Bridge, Cragg Vale, Bronte Country, Settle, Grassington, Wharfdale (Yorkshire Dales) then up to NORTHUMBERLAND Berwick upon Tweed for time with friends then back to YORKSHIRE including Sutton Band Hill (25% steep avoid in future although trusty van OK),Pickering, Rosedale (North York Moors), Scarborough & Castle, Filey , Flamborough Headcand Bridlington ->NOTTS 654 miles Yorkshire and Northumberland - From Yorkshire’s rolling dales to Northumberland’s big skies and castle‑lined coast, this trip delivered scenery so good it practically posed for photos. Expect hearty walks, seaside wanders, friendly locals and plenty of “wow” moments. A cheerful motorhome adventure full of views, history and laughs, proving the North really knows how to put on a show. Lovely time spent touring areas of the Yorkshire Dales we missed out on our last trip in September then a weekend with friends up in Northumberland on the Scottish borders at Berwick upon Tweed and then touring the North York Moors national park and ending up on the east riding coast. Great weather mostly for mid October, shorts and flip flop time again! 6 days away all Caravan club sites ;- 1. Hebden Bridge HX7 5RU no facilities but nice tranquil site by the edge of the river Calder 2. Wharfdale BD23 5PN beautiful site on back of major holiday park, pheasants everywhere, so peaceful, good TV hookup on posts 3. Berwick Seaview TD15 1QU fab views bus and easy walk into town over old bridge and nice fish & chip shops, pubs, esp Old Barrels Inn and Micropub (did 2 nights here with friends) only down side is it is on the main east coast railway line 4. Rosedale Abbey YO18 8SA – absolutely loved this site although it is grass (bad when wet) and no facilities but its upside is location and proximity of pub opposite, gr8 ales and food esp recommend Desperate Dan Cow pie (home made) Yummy! 5. Bridlington YO15 1DU expensive for what you get and weird enclosed area with long walk and no cut through to amenities block, would go back again and 4 miles to brid… DAY1: Wet Holmfirth, saw picturedome where Graham Parker and the Rumour will play their last ever live gig. Cleared up a bit in after noon, stayed site no 1 DAY2:Visited Cragg vale, Hebden Bridge, Oxenhope, Howarth,(interesting climb), Settle and railway station, Grassington and Wharfdale, stayed site 2. DAY3:Drove long way upto Berwick Upon Tweed arrived about 3.30pm at site 3, set up and then met Chris & Allyson and Lawrence &Yvonne in evening… walked to Barrel inn for 3 pints of Bolt maker then late fish and chips at Fowlis on Dock Road before returning to vans for more drinkies and chat, late to bed 1-ish am DAY4: Nice bacon stottie at L&Y’s van then into town for look around, scotch pie, Brewers Inn in the high road (Scotland Vs Samoa , many scots in pub happy) then onto the Curfew Micro Pub (lovely pint of Manchester’s Lagonda) then walk back to vans for lovely meal cooked by Allyson of beef stroganoff followed by Cheese and bikkies, K’s bondi banana bread and a game of Bullshit (balderdash) SPVA… (special park village abuse lol!) V late to bed again DAY5: Up early cooked egg and bacon butties for all, long natter, then said our goodbyes (until next time pals) then onto North York Moors NP (long drive) Saw Pickering just as light was fading then to site no 4. Great meal in pub opposite. Log fire, ale and class food DAY6: Visited Scarborough and most specifically English heritages’ Castle and Anne Bronte’s grave. Great views from castle and very interesting audio tour. Met aussie couple from Adelaide. Went to Filey ,walked a bit, got wet, lunched then onto Bridlington to dry out and campsite after brief stop at sea front (reminded us of Bognor) DAY7: Drove home not a bad drive about 120 miles, mixed weather All in all a nice time, very relaxing we will be back to both these areas hebden bridge motorhome & caravan club CL site, yorkshire friends berwick northumberland, on the way to the barrel inn The Yorkshire Dales and Berwick Upon Tweed Campsite Slideshows #motorhome #motorhometravels #travelsin2016 #campsites

By keef and annie hellinger, Oct 15 2015 07:53AM Campsites we have stayed in Campsites we have stayed in - Ever wondered what years of motorhome adventures look like when you line up every campsite you’ve ever stayed on? This blog dishes out the highlights, surprises, oddities and unforgettable gems from a lifetime of pitching up. From scenic stunners to “well… it was only one night,” it’s a cheerful roundup celebrating the places that shaped the journey and the stories collected along the way. If you would like to see a slideshow of the sites we stayed at in France and Scandinavia you need to look at blogs 71 and 100 respectively or view the You Tube Campsites Playlist on the PLAYLISTS page from the dropdown menu, thanks Go directly there ALL OUR CAMPSITE STAYS Up to 15/10/2015 Note this data does not include any of the sites we have stayed in in Scandinavia, France, Australia, New Zealand, Canada or the USA. These are numerous and varied and can be found under the appropriate blogs numbered 55,63,71,72,79,80,81,92,100. Suggest using either the SEARCH page , A-Z index or the appropriate TAG of "campsites" on the INDEX page, good luck, happy hunting! There are however some slideshows of those campsites in those countries attached after the data. As a tip however if you stay in these it is worth investing in one of the appropriate club memberships in that country i.e. ACSI (Europe), Big 4 (Oz), Big 10 (NZ) etc. etc. i.e. similar to the Caravan Club (CC) and/or Camping & Caravan Club (C&CC) in the UK. Here I show ALL the sites we have stayed at in our motorhome listed by 1. UK country / county 2. Rated 3. Site Blog number. 4. Site type (i.e CC, C&CC etc etc) 49 different sites in the UK to 2015 UPDATED 77 different sites in the UK to 2021, use the HOME page side bar to go to Campsites, this is the full set from 2012 to 2021. Some of the UK private sites are part of either the Tranquil sites (adults only) or Best of British books. campsites by rating our rating score (1-10) up to 2015 campsites by ascending blog number we have stayed in up to 2015 campsites by type we have stayed in up to 2015, i.e camp site club campsites listed by country then county we have stayed in up to 2015

By keef and annie hellinger, Nov 17 2015 12:40PM A Tale of Two sites Motorhome trip No25 : November 13th – 16th 2015 A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog NOTTS->Bletchingdon, Cherwell Oxfordshire, 2 sites Diamond Farm Park and Greenhill Farm plus village visits to Stanton St John, Weston on Green, Kirtlington, Islip, Kidlington (Hmm!) and other Cotswold stone villages ->NOTTS 232 miles A Tale of Two sites - Two campsites, one motorhome, two initially, and a weekend in Oxfordshire that proved not all pitches are created equal. This cheerful tale compares the charms, quirks and eyebrow‑raising surprises of Bletchingdon’s two stops, from peaceful views to “you must be joking” moments. A playful, good‑natured look at how choosing the right site can turn a simple getaway into a memorable mini‑adventure. Lovely time initially for the 1st 2 days with our dear friends Pete & Joy at Diamond Farm Caravan park in Bletchington, a private campsite with pool (outdoors and closed) snack bar, pub and good amenities block. This is quite a small site on the back of a farm with a mixture of grass and hard standing pitches. Only problem really at this time of year is that the road way around to the pitches is very muddy and boggy with all the rain, probably needs that roadway tarmaccing (if that is a word ;) ) Friday after setup we walked along the very dangerous B4027, no footpath and cars going 70 mph along a narrow-ish country lane, not advised. We walked towards Heathfield and to a nice comfortable pub , nice log burner fire, but no real ale so a few pints of cider, hic! Then back for a lovely casserole meal prepared by joy, pud, cheese and bikkies, wine, chat and music version of Trivial Pursuits. Saturday rained all day and storm Abigail took off in the late evening, rocking the van most of the night. Full English first then we decided to catch the taxi into Bicester, a place none of us had ever been to before. Nutty traffic near Bicester village shopping centre. Bicester itself is a lovely old town , super bookshop, and nice pedestrianised sheep street. Ended up in King’s Arms for a few bevies overlooking a baby shower (what!) then back to site, Keefs turkey and bacon casserole , cheese and bikkies, port and more fun with the music questions. After a rough stormy night Joy did scrambled eggs and smoked salmon, yummy, then we all packed up (break camp!) and said good bye to P&J and we went exploring nice Oxfordshire villages although it was mega windy. Arrived at Greenhill Farm site in the afternoon, this is a ACSI site so only cost £13. Wonderful working farm, highly recommended, with Sheep, Pygmy Goats, Canada Geese, Chickens and ducks, loved it and great views from our end of site pitch over the rolling Oxfordshire countryside. Had some left overs for food and read Bill Bryson’s Road to Little dribbling, very relaxing, wind died down overnight. Left about 10-ish Monday morning for drive home, van clean, and put it to bed with cover for winter! All in all a nice time, very relaxing we will be back hopefully to Greenhill Farm site maybe next year! Friends, King's Arms, Bicester 49 pictures in slideshow #motorhome #motorhometravels #travelsin2016 #campsites #timeline van up on ramps, bletchindon, oxfordshire #timeline use ramps to level up the van for all manner of reasons, water / waste drainage, sleeping etc etc maybe get a mini spirit level or use a phone app to check both left to right and front to back #hintsandtips

By keef and annie hellinger, Jan 6 2016 07:19AM Tintern Wales Not The Motorhome trip No6 : December 15th 2015 – January 4th 2016 A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog NOTTS->TINTERN, WALES->NOTTS c 1500 miles (including ferrying services & days out) Tintern Wales - Join us for a Christmas and New Year escape to Tintern, where family fun, Welsh scenery and motorhome cosiness blend into the perfect holiday mix. Think riverside strolls, twinkling lights, hearty laughs, board‑game triumphs, and the kind of fresh air that resets everyone. A cheerful, good‑spirited tale of festive adventures proving that time together on the road beats staying home every time. Lovely time with all our family with the Singapore Hellingers over to celebrate Christmas and New Year and my Mum up from Surrey and Phoenix’s cousin from Leeds and the L’boro (Leicestershire) Hellingers and Leanne’s dad Bill. Grandaughter Charlie is such a delight…. Monkey, bear, byeee, hi, bovvered,ohh-oh… walking and talking, smiling etc and oh that front door bell with Mozart’s rondo alla turka…. Hehe Such memories: West park , Wollaton & Bradgate park drone flying, Dougs’ 32nd at La Rock, Sunday lunch at Kniveton, walk around Ashbourne, Santa, Pepper & George, Food, Gas cooker down, lunch @ C&L’s, Stockings , pressies, Xmas & Kids music, a lovely week away at Tintern Abbey cottage, The abbey, the anchor, the rose & crown, road to Offa’s dyke, rain, fog, floods, raglan castle, Chepstow, Monmouth, Gwent hospital, Heathrow, M1,M25,M48,M4,M5,M42… family, love, fun Note the slideshows can also be found on the FAMILY page under Xmas, where much more family stuff can be found, thanks for looking that's all folks! maybe go and have a look at the family page #family #fun #fab

By keef and annie hellinger, Apr 27 2016 10:42AM UK Regional Accents Just love it, watch the video and weep, its very clever UK Regional Accents - This UK Regional Accents blog is a light‑hearted wander through the brilliant, baffling and downright hilarious voices heard across Britain. From warm West Country tones to rapid‑fire Scouse, lyrical Welsh, booming Glaswegian and everything in between, it’s a fun celebration of how wildly we all sound. A cheerful, smile‑inducing look at the accents that make travelling the UK such a joy. now try the video to hear it for real, just so clever larf I almost died, haha This UK Regional Accents blog is my cheeky love letter to the wonderfully weird voices that make Britain sound like a comedy sketch. I take readers on a laugh‑filled tour from the Highlands to Cornwall, where every accent tells a story — and occasionally hides a pint. There’s the Glaswegian growl that could startle a seagull, the Scouse sing‑song that turns every sentence into a melody, and the West Country drawl that makes even ordering chips sound poetic. I poke gentle fun at the quirks that make us grin: the Yorkshire “Ee by gum!” that could power a wind turbine, the Cockney “Cor blimey!” that deserves its own musical, and the Welsh “Whose coat is that jacket?” that still baffles linguists. It’s all affectionate teasing — proof that our voices are as colourful as our weather forecasts. This blog celebrates how accents shape identity, spark smiles and occasionally cause hilarious misunderstandings at petrol stations. It’s a reminder that travelling the UK isn’t just about scenery — it’s about the soundtrack of everyday life, from pub chatter to campsite banter. So grab a cuppa, tune your ears, and enjoy this joyful romp through Britain’s vocal landscape — a celebration of sound, silliness and the glorious chaos of how we talk. humorous rotate around the uk by accent, the video comes next Give it a listen, repeated in case you want a second go tee-hee Tagged as europe is Eire (i.e. not UK BUT ;) ) is still in the european union, even though sadly the UK isn't, we were in norway when a lovely dutch guy told me first thing in the morning that we were no longer europeans, boo!

By keef and annie hellinger, Jul 11 2016 01:08PM Scandinavia Our Big Holiday Motorhome trip No27 : May 8th- July 8th 2016 A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog NOTTS->Scandinavia ->NOTTS 6140 miles Feel free to use the MENU to find specifics on this travel blog Scandinavia Our Big Holiday - This Scandinavia Holiday blog bursts with motorhome fun, ferries, forests, fjords and big‑sky magic across Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway. From lakeside camps and wildlife moments to quirky towns, island hops and jaw‑dropping scenery, it’s a feel‑good rewind of an epic northern road trip. A joyful, scenic, memory‑stuffed journey that makes me want to pack up and head back north. This was the longest trip so far in our lovely Wendy house of a van, she “dun great” the whole trip…. Up hill, down dale and along the flat! A travel blog to cherish! 10 ferries, numerous islands, bridges and tunnels, 61 days, 6 countries, from the fjords to the Russian border, 44 campsites, 6140 miles and a few tanks of diesel – what a fabulous experience, feel like we have experienced & learnt so much plus I think I can prove I’m related to that great Viking – Harald Bluetooth, he of the rune symbols that all later day geeks know ;) Holland, North Germany, Denmark (all 3 parts – Jutland, Funen & Zealand), Sweden as high up as the lake district, Finland across the southern end and Norway as high up as Trondheim. It was such a wonderful opportunity, such a shame that the UK no longer runs ANY ferries to Scandinavia, we only met 4 other Brits in the whole 2 months and 2 of them were from Oz!. Because of the driving distances it is unlikely we will be able to return in the van as Scandinavia is awe-inspiring for scenery, culture and people. Anyhow we loved it, and we want to share some of that with you. Feel free to let us know if you have been and what you thought of it, thanks. MENU Calendars Summary, Highlights, Lowlights Slideshows The Talkies Full Slideshows with Audio Diary (save reading if you prefer) Diary Audiobook, diaries read out if you would prefer Tags & The End the map of our Scandinavian travels route via motorhome , 2016 See calendars below for where we were when and there is a slideshow of all the campsites day by day. Note the Numbers referenced are the campsite number in the ACSI handbook or website. #hintasandtips Want to see the SLIDESHOWS possible my best pic of the whole trip, osterdalaven , sweden We spent 15 days in Denmark, 14 days in Sweden, 10 days in Norway, 6 days in Finland and 10, 5 and 1 days in Holland, Germany and UK respectively getting there Highlights is tricky as there we so many but if pushed I would list Hallingskarvet National Park in Norway,the fjords of Norway, the Lake District of Sweden, Langeland Island & Kronborg Castle (Helsingor) Denmark and the ferry crossing to Finland (Kappelskar to Nanntali) Lowlights not many but prices and trying to find the campsite in Delft (low bridge), chickening out at the Russian border, we had no papers for the van and was seriously worried about officialdom, so turned around in a layby right next to the border crossing and scarpered 😉 we were so close , no papers, gunmen on turrets so we turned around, luckily! The scary tag is for my beard and many tunnels (dark and damp with grotty road surfaces) and the russian border experience 😉 Scandinavian Slideshows The one with speech (i.e The Talkies) is also associated with Blog 101 as indeed are the full sets with Audio Diary attached to the slideshows. The TALKIES Video with Speech, Also covered by BLOG 101 FULL SLIDESHOW WITH AUDIO DIARY OVERLAY For those who would prefer to listen than read, entirely up to you It is in 2 parts, the first covers 8th May to 5th June 2016 in audible diary accompanied by the complete set of images from both Denmark & Sweden back in 2016. It is 68 minutes long. The second covers 6th June to 7th July 2016 with an auduble diary accompanied by a complete set of images for Norway, Finland, Holland and Germany. It is 2 hours 13 minutes long, so beware, you can of course watch and listen in parts but its a lot of images, actually 4.9 GB worth (tee-hee) but its there for prosperity. #motorhome #motorhometravels #travelsin2016 #campsites #majortrip #timeline van on ahus campsite, black background for timeline slider #timeline DIARY Here is a quick run through of the sites we stayed at day by day that accompany the written diary Sunday 8th May 2016 Having packed the van we travelled down to Harwich and stayed at the Green Acres site at Dovercourt campsite, never again awfully run down and full of permies, in future trips i.e., that to the Faroes and Iceland completing our complete visitation of all Scandinavian countries covered by BLOG 135 we stayed up on the hill overlooking the sea, perfectly fine, great views and free and since the ferry always leaves so early in the morning to the Euro port in Rotterdam ideal. Monday 9th May 2016 We travelled on the Stena Ferry Britannica from the port of Harwich to the Euro port in Rotterdam, Netherlands named the Hook of Holland. A pleasant journey, even went to see the new Star Wars movie, Annie fell to sleep and missed the bit where Harrison Ford dies ha-ha, interesting views plus very few actual customers, mostly cargo lorry drivers, does make me wonder how much longer this ferry will survive the ones from Newcastle to Bergen, Norway stopped in 2008, it was possible for a bit to use the cargo ferry from Immingham to Brevik, Norway but they now only take commercial vehicles and the other DFDS ferry from Harwich to Esbjerg, Jutland, Denmark has also stopped so there are NO ferry crossings direct to Scandinavia, we didn’t mind as were driving there and seeing a lot on route. After getting off the ferry we travelled along the coast, getting out of Rotterdam for us is always a nightmare at the first big roundabout as our Truck Nav gets confused, maybe next time we will get it right first time, maybe not, but at least whilst getting lost we always get to see all the lovely greenhouses and bulb selling establishments tee-hee, anyway we camped that night at De Brandling site in Zandvoort on the coast near Amsterdam, lovely beach view walk in the evening. We stayed here 2 days. Tuesday 10th May 2016 Today we took the train into Amsterdam from Zandvoort which is at the end of the line. Had a lovely day out and about in the capital, walking around taking photos and generally soaking up the atmosphere along the canals, watching the boats and bikes everywhere. Some of what we saw was The Kafe Cobalt where Rembrandt once lived , Rijksmuseum, Dam Square, Henry Willig’s cheese shop, the Damrak trams, the interior of the old main post office, what an amazing building, old canal side merchant houses and bridges in prince henri kase, Amsterdam Central station, fast food vehicles selling Dutch delights, and a whole lot more. We had a canal cruise on a nice boat which gave us a great feel for the whole canal system and associated locks.We really enjoyed it and then caught the train back from Central station to Zandvoort, all very efficient. The walk back to the site took us past one of the very first Cente Parcs holiday establishments. That night whilst cooking we realised Keef had made a camping schoolboy error, the gas cylinder had run out, oh dear! To see some the the many architectural delights Amsterdam has to offer click HERE Wednesday 11th May 2016 Went into Zandvoort in search of a replacement / refill for our Orange UK Calor gas cylinder , found a camping shop but the guy said in Europe they only sold the Camping Gaz containers and we would need a new regulator to go with it as the 2 are not compatible. Expensive but essential and heavy to carry back through the no parking area of town. Still in the long run we have both types now and can mix and match for our trips either in the UK or Europe. Panicked a bit as parked in a short stay parking zone so grateful to get back, find we hadn’t been booked or clamped and set off on the next stage of our journey. Crossing the fantastic causeway across the Ijsselmeer (E22 or A7 you choose) we arrived at the lovely site at Koudum , Friesland, North Holland called Vakantiepark De Kuilart, which is both a marina and a campsite with boardwalks, a restaurant, shops and a swimming pool. Here our pitch was right on the river’s edge. Keef’s converted the gas cylinder to the new one borrowing the kind Dutch guy next pitches spanner ready to cook tea, as they say we were back “cooking on gas” ha-ha. We stayed here 2 nights. Thursday 12th May 2016 Our 2nd night at the fabulous de Kuilart site in Koudum, we were on pitch B4. We had breakfast outside as the weather was so good and watched the pleasure cruiser pick up passengers from the jetty in front of us on the Johan Frisokanaal, magical times, we went for a few walks around and generally relaxed from some of the travelling. In the afternoon we went to their indoor swimming pool, very chlorinated but refreshing. Had trouble with the coins in the lockers, oh you Brits, ha-ha. Bought some nice bread and cakes in the site shop for tea. Friday 13th May 2016 We moved onto the equally nice campsite, Wiedumerhout campsite at Wiedum based on a farm and on the edge of yet another canal, The Wiedumer Feart. We ate a very classy 3 course meal there in their Michelin starred chef’s restaurant as well as having a lovely walk along the edge of the many canals’ intersection and junctions there. All in all, a very relaxing time for 2 days. We remember entering in the van just as the farmer with his muck spreader was driving in, chaos and smelly but so rural. Saturday 14th May 2016 Our second day relaxing at Wiedum. All very nice but time to move onto Scandinavia. Annie remembers the showers not being great there, indeed a little primitive. Sunday 15th May 2016 We had a 2hours 30 minutes’ drive from Weidum in Holland to Wingst in Germany ging through the Weser tunnel. We stayed at the Knaus Campingpark in Wingst Schleswig-Holstein on pitch 96 where Keef had to practise his German to get booked in. It was a nice friendly father and son in the office who greeted us and offered us some nice German Kuchen or as we say in English cake, spicy and yummy. The site itself was how can I kindly say, in need of some TLC however the flowers were lovely, rhodis, azaleas and lilacs, super smells in the air. The main towns we bypassed on our journey today were Groningen and Oldenburg, but we called into Leeuwarden first. Monday 16th May 2016 We left Wingst and made our way to wischhagen where we caught the ferry across the river Elbe, what a wonderful journey accompanied by many tourists but also a whole bunch of motorcyclists who were touring around. The other side of the elbe is Gluckstadt. When we arrived we then had to wait for the Keil canal bridge to descend, we had previously in 2004 been up the Keil canal with Mum on a cruise holiday so this was seeing it from a very different angle. We have seen loads on windmills through out Holland and now Germany, we learnt it was National Windmill day today, who knew? We called in at Rendesburg , quite an old Schleswig-Holstein town , the town square was cobbled but amazingly interesting. This town was near the nord-ostersee canal also known as the Keil canal. We then had to take the sehestadt ferry across the Keil canal. We arrived at our campsite for the night at schlei-karschau but in Germany there is a siesta lunch break, so we had to wait patiently in some serious humidity until the office reopened, they do stay open quite late in the evening to be fair. We were on pitch 7, after setting up we went for a local walk along the boardwalk to the marina, and around the town, fascinating architecture. Tuesday 17th May 2016 We left Karschau on the Baltic Sea inlet about 10 a.m. and travelled onto Mommark Marina Camping, South Jutland in Denmark through Flensburg near the border between Germany and Denmark re-joining the e45 motorway past Flensburg. At the border crossing at Ellund West the border guards were stopping most vehicles, indeed doing a thorough check on a pulled over white van man but seeing our British number plate they just let us straight through. We love the Danes. We travelled along the coastal road along the Flensborg fjord thru Sonderborg just over the road bridge that joins main Jutland to the island of south jutland. Mommark is right on the east coast looking across the little belt at the small island of Marstal. We were on pitch 63 overlooking the beach in our own walled pitch, just fabulous. When we arrived, we were royally greeted in good English by the site owner in his restaurant / café on site. A very helpful fellow. They didn’t accept our ACSI card, so we had to buy a Camping Radet / Key Europe card for Scandinavia, good value and worked for the rest of our holiday. Wednesday 18th May 2016 Spent a lovely day here at Mommark, one of our fave campsites, few issues for Annie as builders had turned off the water to the showers but otherwise just fab. They have both a harbour, lighthouse, goat pen, small animal farm and both restaurant and heritage chairs outside, reminded me of a scene in the cult series the Prisoner. Some pitches were high on the hill with great views, we were on the flat by the harbour wall. Keef listened to music on headphones outside and read, Annie crocheted and read, very relaxing. We had a walk on the beach bordering the Baltic Sea, nice white sand and even tried out the first ever of a few selfies with our new selfie stick, we were not that good at it, tee-hee. We saw lots of fish such as plaice being brought in by the fishermen as they unloaded their harbour catch. Thursday 19th May 2016 Sadly, we had to leave the truly magnificent Mommark today, we travelled across the road bridge that joined what is yet another island in South Jutland called Osterby to its far tip to visit a lovely little quaint fishing village called Sonderby and had a nice walk around there, having parked up the motorhome, the smell of wild lilacs growing in the hedgerows was magnificent. There was even a Sonderby Strand campsite there that looked nice, but we weren’t staying this early in the day. So we left Sonberby and travelled via the wonderful and interesting island of Romo , its causeway and dam, here we stopped at the lobster port of Havneby, onto Esbjerg stopping for a walk and look around the historical old capital of Denmark in Ribe, Viking capital way back when with lord angsvar circa 801 BC and modern capital circa 1400 AD, a truly interesting place, its main torvet (street and square) were lovely, the whole place had fab buildings and streets especially the famous puggaardgade, on the west coast of Jutland. We stopped at Esbjerg camping site , about an hour and a half drive from Mommark in theory but we spent all day as so much to see. We stayed at Esbjerg for 2 nights Friday 20th May 2016 Relaxing day in Esbjerg, did a bit of washing and hung it on a makeshift line rigged up between the hedge and the back of the van, nice secluded grassy pitches. Had cinnamon buns and tea outside, bliss. The campsite had a swimming pool and goats. Mostly a relaxing day in the sun reading etc. Saturday 21st May 2016 Today we travelled from Esbjerg to Farso in the North of Jutland, Denmark stopping at the wonderful town of Billund, the traditional home of the world-famous Lego. Learnt a lot about the founding father’s family, the Christiansen family still own it after Ole Kirk C the Danish carpenter started it with wooden bricks for his kids to build with, later obviously they evolved into the cheaper plastic variety we see worldwide today. In Billund we saw a full-scale house they were constructing in Lego, the amusement park, leaned lots of history and saw the Lego band. Such fun. We also visited Silkeborg, its river Gunena, bits about Hans Christian Andersen and Viborg on route. At Silkeborg besides seeing Tolland man in the museum (amazing) we saw a guy training for winter sports in summer going down the road on roller skates with ski poles. We have had some lovely Danish pasties so far, yummy, the real thing plus in Silkeborg museum we had homemade coconut cake. The campsite at Farso was OK with its traditional yellow buildings. Sunday 22nd May 2016 We went from Farso North Jutland to Skagen at the top of Jutland via Limfjorden, the ancient Viking port and city from where they launched their “rape and pillage” excursions ha-ha, it is a huge fjord, then it was onto Vilsted So, where we had a walk, Logster, Alborg, the university town and home and birthplace of the man who created the Sydney Opera House, the one and only Jorn Utzon, indeed one of the buildings there was also designed by him, we loved Alborg a fine place and a walk along the river side is a must. Plus, we visited briefly Hirtshal the port town where we would return in 2018 to catch our ferry to the Faroes and Iceland and complete seeing all countries in Scandinavia, I have both the T-shirt and proof I have been to them all, tee-hee. The journey of the E45 should take 2 hours but as we were being tourists it took all day, who cares? At Skagen we were on pitch 76. We went there after having a stroll around the harbour, quite cold and windy and we saw lots and lots of ice-breaker trawlers and ships as well as a tall ship replica. Fascinating stuff. Monday 23rd May 2016 We left the lovely Skagen high up in Jutland quite early after a refreshing breakfast, travelling on the E45 back through Alborg, the uni town, and through Randers and Arhus and Vejle , about 3 hours driving, to the road bridge, called the little belt bridge (E20) over Arhus bay onto Denmark’s middle island of Funen and the appropriately named Middelfart (tee-hee) which is where we camped for the night, day 16 of our trip. We stopped at Randers on Jutland to have a look at the cathedral and town square, very interesting. We also stopped on the outskirts of Arhus, on the way back from our Faroes and Iceland trip in 2018 we went all around the centre of Arhus, another big university town and Denmark’s 2nd largest city after Copenhagen. We stopped for most of the day at Jelling the ancient home of the Vikings visiting both the Stones and Church which are UNESCO World heritage. And the fabulous Viking Centre, known as Kongernes Jelling and National Museum of Denmark. King Gorm, His Misses Thyra and son Harold Bluetooth (who actually built the church) feature heavily in this area and their alleged burial mounds. The Middelfart site had a very nice pool but today it was a little too cold to use it. Tuesday 24th May 2016 Left Middlefart and travelled onto the town of Odense, Denmark’s 3rd city, we had a good look around the cobbled street centre, with all its lovely old traditional yellow washed buildings, not quite as nice as Ribe but almost and which there we went to visit Hans Christian Andersen’s boyhood home, this being where he was born, the gardens and museum nearby look nice as well, we peered thru the windows of both. We also had a walk and look around Svendborg close to the highway 9 bridge to the island of Tasinge. Svendborg’s marina, boardwalk and statue of the Snow Goose were all very pleasant. Svendborg’s harbour, station and crooked house were equally interesting. This is the place you catch the ferry to the island of Aero (or as I called it earlier Marstal) but it was just too expensive for us to consider sadly. My fave place there was the Hats and moustache shop, class ha-ha. We then travelled over the various bridges thru Tasinge island with its fab views onto the island of Langeland, our home for the next 2 days and camped at a very large site in one of the sections hedged out there at Emmerbolle strand, halfway up to the north of the island. A very nice and friendly campsite and right on the edge of the sandy beach. Chairs out time to relax, fact. Wednesday 25th May 2016 A day at the Emmerbolle campsite on the island of Langeland chilling and then later after lunch when the sun was beating down, we carried our chairs down to the Stand , or beach in English. Glistening clear waters, keef went in swimming, basically we had the whole beach to ourselves for the afternoon, magical. Thursday 26th May 2016 Packed up early after breakfast and went to explore the bits of Langeland island that we hadn’t already seen from top to bottom, it is however a very thin island with only a handful of roads. The island is famed for both its old windmills and grain production, anyhow once our sightseeing was complete, we went back over the various bridges back to the mainland of Funen via the titchy island of Sio first then Tasinge leaving Langeland at the bridge near Rudkobing. We so loved Langeland and would gladly return. We travelled up the coastal road to Nyborg on Funen and then to the Storebaelt Bridge , an 18-kilometer-long suspension toll bridge that connect the main island of Funen where we were coming from to Zealand Island where we were going to. It goes across the Great Belt. The cost by 2022 is about £28 or 250 Danish Kroner, just can’t remember how much it was in 2016 but it had the same effect on us as the Confederation bridge in Canada back in 2010. Long and windy, indeed it was somewhat foggy as we drove across it. I’ve often wondered if New Zealand was discovered by a Dane hence its name but know it was first Maori or Polynesians, then Dutch then English, the reality when I have looked it up is the name “New Zealand” comes from “Zeeland” (which translates to “Sealand”) in Dutch, after the islands were seen by Dutch explorer Abel Tasman. Zeeland is a province of the Netherlands. Why is it call New Zealand? Zeeland is a low-lying coastal area in the southwestern region of the Dutch homeland whose name translates as “sea land.” After the bridge we drove about another hour via Soro and Osted to the wonderful town of Roskilde and visited the Viking ship museum on the Roskilde Fjord, the ancients route out to plunder far off those lands, and boy were they good at it. In Genealogy I can trace one of my many family lines back to Aelgifu Elgiva NORTHUMBERLAND who married Gorm the Gormless’s father Horda Denmark (note I would certainly not have had the bottle back then to use that name direct to his face ha-ha) and therefore Viking warriors such as King Sweyn Forkbeard who ruled Britain her great grandson and by implication to Harald Bluetooth, whom I count as my 1st cousin 34 times removed, which I am well pleased with, even if latter DNA results tell me that my Viking blood has been watered down from 2% to miniscule, I’ll take that link, so proud. Anyhow at the Viking boat museum we went on the tour, saw re-enactments of fashioning the wood for boat building and some long boat reconstructions but the real treat was inside the actual original Viking longboats that had been rescued and conserved from the waters where they sank. Trading ships, coastal ships and 34 man short long boats, 67 man long longboats, all fascinating especially accompanied by the informative tour talk, lots of pictures taken obviously. The Viking ship museum is UNESCO world heritage and deservedly so. After the museum we went into the centre of Roskilde to visit the Domkirke , church inside of which were lavish mausoleums to various past Kings & Queens of Denmark. The church itself was magnificent. Harald Bluetooth and our hero, for various reasons that will remain nameless, Christian the 4th are walled up here. Chris 4 reigned the longest and was such an egoist he conquered , rebuilt and then renamed what became Oslo as Christiana after himself, wow! We then travelled to Holbaek where we camped for two nights, a bit of a slopy pitch, but convenient for visiting the local areas. Friday 27th May 2016 We were on the lovely Holbaek site today again, pitch 5, the site also had a large pool which we went in. We got great views of the Holbaek fjord which is part of the much larger Isefjord which in turn is part of the massive sea area known as the Kettegat. We visited Helsingor (or as the Bard would have it Elsinore) and Kronberg Slot or castle from here today a drive of about 1 hour and how worth it was that. We spent most of the day there seeing all things Shakespeare and of course once again our much-maligned hero Chris 4 was everywhere, in our humble opinion he is Denmark’s answer to our own Henry 8th. There were many pictures of great actors and actresses who had performed the Bard’s works at Kronborg, such as Gielgud, Olivier, Jacobi, Burton, Leigh, Compton and mostly it would for obvious reasons be The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. The modern-day prince of Denmark Christian is married to Mary Donaldson from Hobart, Tasmania, which is close to our hearts as cuz John & Diana live there. We could look out of the castles turret windows and see Oresund sound where the ferry makes it way across the short distance to Helsingborg on the other side, we did not use this route. The moat well laid out castle walls, courtyard , where we saw an actor dressed as Hamlet, the chapel and remains of what was the old town area were all fascinating in equal measures. There were numerous images of Kings and Queens (Dronning in Danish) on the walls, and apart from Christian the 4th, Queen Sophie and Alexandra of Denmark who married for her sins Prince Bertie, Victoria’s wayward son who later became Edward 7th of England. That’s your history lesson over folks! Helsingor also paid tribute to Hans Christian Andersen by having its own little mermaid. Afterwards we drove back via Fredensborg Slot the royal residence that we had been to once before with Mum on our Baltic cruise in 2004 when we stopped at Copenhagen. We then drove to Fredriksborg Castle and had a walk around the lovely baroque gardens and lake all in very nice weather before returning to the campsite at Holbaek, all in all a great day out. We had a quick swim back at the site to cool off before tea. Saturday 28th May 2016 Packed up early in Holbaek. Today we left Denmark for Sweden travelling over the Oresund sound, part of the Baltic Sea on the Oresund toll bridge, we stopped ever so briefly in the middle (naughty I know but only 5 seconds) to take a picture at the same spot where that film noir scandi series the Bridge found the dismembered torso. The Bridge is the largest in Europe and don’t remember how much the toll charge was but by 2022 it is £44 pounds or 390 Danish krona. The E20 motorway then turned into the E6 motorway which we used to skirt around Malmo, deciding not to drive through such a large city. We drove through Lund but did stop on the outskirts of Kristianstad for a brief look around before driving onto our campsite at Ahus on the eastern coast of Sweden on the Baltic sea past the quite impressive clear , still and reflective Hammarsjon lake. A great place to take a pic methinks! The campsite felt like you were in the woods on the edge of the Helga A tributary and overlooking the Aspets nature reserve. After setting up and our usual cuppa we had a bit of a walk around the site, the smell of burning wood on camp fires is infectious. Sunday 29th May 2016 Before leaving we had a bit of a look around Ahus with its old building and a quick walk on the sandy beach edging the Baltic, I was not going to dip my toe in like the Great Lakes in Canada, it was freezing even at the end of May, ha-ha. Today we drove about 3 and a half hours and 150 miles up the coast of the Baltic Sea through Solvesborg, Karlshamn, Ronneby, Karlskrona, on the E22 and over to Oland Island across the Kalmar straits on the Oland Bridge, nice views all the way across. We stopped at what we affectionately named surfers paradise, or to give it its real name Beijershamn for lunch. Here we saw an outdoor shower fixed up to a motorhome so the guy could wash off his wet suit after surfing, a great idea we thought. Lots of lilacs everywhere, we went for a board walk after lunch near Morbylanga. Oland island has over 400 windmills, it is famous for them, they were everywhere. We visited Lange Jan lighthouse past Ottenby in the far south of the island. Having had a good look around the island from Grankulla in the north to Ottenby in the south we arrived at our campsite near Morbylanga. We liked Oland island a lot. Monday 30th May 2016 Left the campsite at Morbylanga and went up the west coast of Oland Island to visit Borgholm Slot, and interesting castle with lovely views at Solliden Slott. It is home of King Karl Gustav 16th. After having a bit of a walk around the lovely laid out gardens and looking in the Royal gift shop it was time to leave Oland Island, so we travelled back over the Oland bridge back to the mainland at Kalmar. From here we visited Pataholm a heritage village with lovely old buildings and great harbour views. The Baltic Sea near here seem to have a thousand Islands a bit like those between Canada and America at Gananoque which we did in 2010. See our holiday website at HOLIDAY2010 dot co dot uk. It was about an hour from Borgholm slot to the historic village of Pataholm. We then went onto our campsite at Monsteras pitch 8 using the scenic route through Kalmar County and Timmernabben which took about 25 minutes. Lovely scenery along the water’s edge. At the campsite we went through the woods down to the boardwalk jetty in the harbour. Plus our first experience of the traditional Swedish cinnamon bun, our love affair had begun and this was the first of many, yummy yummy. Tuesday 31st May 2016 Day 24 of our fab Scandinavian sojourn. Left Monsteras and travelled through Oskarshamn onto Vastervik where sadly the battery on the sat nav gave up because Keef hadn’t plugged it in properly to the cigarette lighter slot, schoolboy error, anyhow not really an issue as the route we were travelling today was quite straight forward. Keef had got a cheap old TomTom one off eBay and found and downloaded maps for Holland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland and added then on so having a very cheap journeys satnav. Today’s journey was only just over 2 hours travelling. We visited Sandvik and Kallvik both in Ostergotland county, out down a coastal road off the main road, a very interesting diversion. We had a walk around Kallvik and its harbour and jetty, just lovely and so peaceful. We drove on from here to our campsite at Valdermarsvik. A nice welcome at the café cum office when we arrived and the views from the site were to die for. The Valdermarsvik fjord was truly superb scenery, possibly the best we had seen so far. We took our chairs up onto the hillside over looking the fjord and sat in the sun, keef reading, annie crocheting. Wednesday 1st June 2016 Set off from Valdermarsvik using the motorway initially up to the Gota canal which we crossed via the Bjornavad bridge near Norrkoping, it counts as Sweden’s longest tourist destination, going from east to west in its entirety. We stopped off to have a look at the lock keeper’s cottage and one of the canals many locks. From Norrkoping we travelled onto our campsite for the night at Oxelosund. Quite a big site with lots of permanent campers and holiday chalets. We camped on the grass in one of the many rows, all neatly laid out. After setting up we wandered off to explore. There was a lovely harbour area densely surrounded by high grasses and very few people. We walked on its deserted beach and this time Keef even had a paddle in the Baltic. A very nice area to stay. Thursday 2nd June 2016 From Oxelosund we travelled back through Nykoping onto the E4 motorway which we used to travel into Sweden’s capital, Stockholm, the total journey to the outskirts was only about 1 and a quarter hour but then finding the campsite at Bredang in the suburbs was a little more tricky. We did eventually get there were we would stay for 3 nights to give us time to really have a good look around Stockholm. The site was large and already had a Dutch motorhome caravanserai or duckling club as I prefer to call them on it. Just like one we saw near Ullapool in Scotland once. Anyhow, we parked up in one of the tarmacked slots which in fairness had all the facilities you need, each row was hedge lined to try and create aa semblance of privacy but with the numbers of folk walking past your van constantly that was impossible, we wouldn’t be at the site much over the next 3 days anyhow as sightseeing so all good. The site prices were high as well, understandably as the capital. UPDATE, this reference on reflection was for the site in Helsinki, having reviewed our images, whilst the price was high and it was packed it was grass pitches which were far less regimented that those in Helsinki (7th & 8th of June) We walked from the campsite down to the station Bredang T-bana where we caught the equivalent of their metro into the centre alighting at Gamla Stan station. Their metro is known as the Stockholm Tunnelbana. We had a lovely long walk around, what a fabulous city seeing as much as we could right down to the harbour’s edge. Here we purchased a 2 day ticket for the Hop On Hop off sightseeing bus to enable us to get around all the attractions, we saw the ABBA museum although too expensive to go in, see the slideshows to see what we saw on day 1 in Stockholm, we had teas in the hard rock café before returning by metro to Bredang and the campsite, exhausted but truly inspired by what a great city Stockholm is. Friday 3rd June 2016 Had breakfast then headed off again to walk past the very nice apartment blocks and gardens from the Bredang campsite to the metro and caught the train back into Gamla Stan where we walked back down to the harbour area and along past the boats and statues until we were outside the Swedish Handelsbanken at Kungsträdgårdsgatan 2, 106 70, Stockholm where the Hop ON Hop off bus stop no 1 is, we used it to alight this time near the Vasa Museum i.e. just near the funfair with rides that spread out across the harbour. We were in the museum for quite a while, all very interesting and almost Sweden’s answer to the Titanic, only many years before, OK quite a lot as built by command by then Swedish King Gustavus Aldolphus in the 1620’s, a huge ship heavily over laden that sank on its maiden voyage in Stockholm harbour soon after launch. On the way to the bus, we had a look at both the opera house and the royal palace, indeed that was quite near the start bus stop. After making a complete loop again on the bus as part of our ticket you also got a harbour cruise which was a fascinating way of seeing from a very different perspective many of Stockholm’s gems, we had seen either by walking to or from the bus stop. In the harbour there were some mega Cruise ships which luckily weren’t moving else the wash may have capsized our little sight seeing boat, rather like the Vasa only maybe on a different scale, tee-hee. All day the weather was sunny and on occasions humid. We returned via train and foot to the campsite again thinking how privileged we were to have been able to spend two days in such a lovely city. Saturday 4th June 2016 A day off at the campsite catching up with things like van duties, washing and just generally chilling, had a bit of a walk around the area in the afternoon, we were recharging our batteries for the next few days travel to Finland. Some lovely sunsets in the evening. Took lots of pictures Sunday 5th June 2016 Finally left the wonderful Stockholm, would gladly come back another time. Travelled the 1 hour journey about 55 miles on the E18 to the port area of Kapellskar. Only stopped at Brevik on route for a very quick look around. Stayed at quite an interesting campsite not surprisingly called Kapellskar camping near the harbour. Our pitch was slightly up a hill, very lush grasslands with some good views. Went to sleep quite early as early morning start on the ferry to Finland tomorrow. Monday 6th June 2022 Up early to catch the ferry, was a very short drive from the site to the Ferry port at Kapellskar, waited in line to get on our Viking line ferry for what turned out to be the most magnificent cruise we have ever been on, indeed better than the Baltic one with Mum in 2004 and way better than our 40th Anniversary cruise to the Caribbean and States in 2018, Blog 125. Our ship was called the Finnfellow, run by Finnlines, all food and drinks were included in the ticket price which was incredibly cheap for 2 adults and a motorhome, about £50 return in 2016 for a 4.5 hour journey in each direction, 150 miles of sea each way, truly stunning price. We only found this out food included when I tried to pay, and the lady said no, just help yourself whenever you wish, which we did. So, we got fed and saw some of the most magnificent scenery as we travelled along from Kapellskar in Sweden on the east coast to Naantali on the west coast of Finland via the sea of Aland and all its lovely little islands, the major one of which of course is mainland Aland and we called in there at Langnas , Lumparland to let off passengers and their vehicles and take more on. It is 30 kilometers from the Aland islands capital Mariehamn. The Aland islands are owned by Finland, but the residents speak Swedish. They and there are lots of these islands the main one our ship called in at being by far and away the largest are all in the Gulf of Bothnia in the Baltic Sea. Maps of our ferry journey The slideshow to accompany this magnificent ferry trip is backed by Abba music, appropriately, the sea was calm, it was sunny and blissfully relaxing, we bought Finn Bear for Charlie (or Peanut as she was known in the womb!) We loved looking at Aland and its islands, eventually we came into the headlands off Turku, Finland, looking rather industrial, it is a main shipping, cargo port for Finland. It turned slightly to come into Naantali. We drove off, set the satnav to Finland and located our campsite for the night, a lush green hilly site on the edge of the Gulf of Bothnia, fab views down from our pitch all fringed by the green pines, elements of Canada here. Tuesday 7th June 2022 Day 31. Drove from the lovely site at Naantali onto Rastila camping site in Helsinki the Finnish capital. We were on pitch 13. The site was large and already had a Dutch motorhome caravanserai or duckling club as I prefer to call them on it. Just like one we saw near Ullapool in Scotland once. Anyhow, we parked up in one of the tarmacked slots which in fairness had all the facilities you need, each row was hedge lined to try and create aa semblance of privacy but with the numbers of folk walking past your van constantly that was impossible, we wouldn’t be at the site much over the next 2 days anyhow as sightseeing so all good. The site prices were high as well, understandably as the capital. The other great thing about the Rastila site was that the metro train station was right next door, hugely convenient for getting into the city centre. The journey via the scenic route which started off on Highway one through the industrial area of Turku was about 3 and a half hours, but worth doing. If we had just used the motorway into Helsinki, it would have been just over 1 hour but somewhat boring. Our first stop after Naantali was the seaside resort town of Hanko , a past holiday resort for rich Russians, it was a 2-hour drive through some very nice scenery, woodlands, hills, abundant flora and fauna, didn’t see much native wildlife, although some bird species we have not come across before. Especially remember the lovely beach walk in the sunshine, some interesting old and new architecture, i.e., villa tellina and margarita, pine trees everywhere, water tower, old church, and the formal gardens all in flower. It was about hours’ drive after a fab time in Hanko to the site in Helsinki. Wednesday 8th June 2017 Up early, breakfasted and caught the metro next door to the site, Rastila station into central Helsinki. Interesting colour scheme on the metro, all red. Anyhow it was a somewhat grey and miserable day weather wise but not on the discovery front. From the main station we found the stop for the Hop on Hop Off bus tour in the main square and having looked around both the cathedral and town hall, both very grandiose, we paid and got on for our voyage of discovery around the Finnish capital. In our humble opinion most of the architecture was drab Russian utilitarian. Had some lovely cardamom buns as a snack, yummy. The main square also commemorated Alexander 2nd of Finland who was murdered by the Russians. Still raining it was nice to get on the bus. Although the drizzle did obscure our view somewhat. Bus tours are a great way to find the things you really want to see about a city. Lots of trams, funfair and Finn sky wheel on the harbour area, market square was very interesting area, and the market was on today. Loved its Havis Amanda statue. Presidential palace, esplanade, lots of boating and rally cars (Finns are world champions at this sport) at eira beach, big cruise ships at the melkki cruise terminal, by the afternoon the sun had finally come out, so we got to see both the botanic gardens and the old Olympic stadium nearby, that where all their long distance runners are celebrated. We got off the bus after 1 and a bit trip around the circuit near the Hard Rock Café where we had a chocolate milk shake and not surprisingly Keef bought a T-shirt. Our waiter was from Hungary and had a very interesting chat with him, his English was superb, he loved living in Helsinki which was a great recommendation. We then caught the metro back to Rastila and the campsite, as now sunny went for a walk around and saw both wooden holiday chalets and a Finnish dog show a bit like cruft’s, tee-hee, pooches everywhere. We also strolled down to Rastila’ s beach called uimaranta and its marina and harbour, all very pleasant especially as so warm. The Finns love their sauna’s and we saw wooden out buildings housing these everywhere. Tea and bed early, tomorrow we are off to discover the rest of Finland, ok maybe! Thursday 9th June 2017 Day 33 left the wonderful Rastila and Helsinki and travelled onto Hamina on the E18 which also doubles as a scenic route. We firstly stopped at the village of Porvoo on the Porvoo river, it had a lovely old heritage bridge , old boats, quaint wooden houses and shops riverside and cafes. We had a lovely long walk around, indeed whilst out by the old wooden historic river bridge we met a young girl on her bike who told us in brilliant English, they all speak it brilliantly, that she did tourists’ trips around the old town. I remember one of my first experiences in a garage in Finland , just outside Naantali where I couldn’t work out how to use my credit card and the little girl behind the counter said in strident English it’s the other way up sir, amazing, so wish I had done better at languages at school. The cathedral and its cobbled square were also wonderful. The old schoolhouse was equally amazing. Anyhow we walked back along the river to the wonderful old, cobbled town square. The old Irish Embassy built 1820 was amazing. We really liked Porvoo. After Porvoo we drove onto to just before the Russian border past Vaalimaa, literally, next stop St Petersburg, which we loved when we visited in 2004 with Mum especially the Hermitage Museum, artwork to die for. Since we had no papers and didn’t want the motorhome impounded, we turned around just before the crossing in a layby and returned to Hamina town, another traditional old Finish town. It took about 30 minutes and 25 miles from the Russian border. Hamina town and its magnificent town hall had a feel of being a cross between Hanko and Porvoo as old traditional Finish towns. The Linnoitus fortress was also worth a visit. It was built by the Finns to stop the advancement of Peter the great who wanted to capture all the seaports along the coasts for Russia, maybe this is reminiscent of Putin in 2022 and Ukraine, sadly! After a good look around, we called into the Hamina campsite and restaurant, by the water’s edge and booked in. The site was quite empty, so we had the pick of the pitches. Very forestry, and we set up and went for a walk around, down to the sea and beach along one of the many boardwalks. A very nice, deserted beach. Had a long walk around the site, looking at the amazing wooden sauna buildings wood fired, must be amazing in winter. Friday 10th June 2016 Keef couldn’t sleep so up early, about 5 a.m. and went and had a shower and a good look around. The site is on a very sandy base. Back afterwards and Annie had awoken and showered we had breakfast and set off on our journey back to Naantali with a real feel that we had at least in part sampled some of Finland’s culture and scenery and we liked it. The journey back to Naantali was all via motorway and took just over 3 hours by passing Helsinki , through Espoo and Turku and back into the town for a look around which we hadn’t done when we stayed 4 days previously. We parked up and had a good walk along the boardwalk surrounding the harbour and marina, all very interesting. Weather not too bad. Bit overcast but warm. We then had a good walk around the old town, seeing many old traditional wooden houses , the town hall with its old clock tower hovers above every sight line in Naantali. Some of the streets were steep all leading back down to the harbour. A very interesting town. After that it was back to the campsite, this time we were on pitch 51, closer to the waters edge but still on the flat. Such nice views we then set up and relaxed for the rest of the day ready for our cruise back to Sweden tomorrow. Saturday 11th June 2016 Having stayed in the same campsite at Nanntali we knew our way back to the ferry terminal , the Naantali Nadendal, pronounced Natalie, and so most of the day was spent doing that lovely ferry trip via the Aland islands and multiple little islands on route back to Kapellskar. Can’t recommend this trip enough, just so relaxing, and free food and drink as well, what more could you ask for. Our ship this time was the Finneagle. We saw a lot of salmon farms on route as well. We also got to watch, heaven forbid, the Queen’s 90th celebrations on the TV delivered in Finnish, amazing, ha-ha, I of course stood to attention. In general, it is all plain sailing but there is a very rocky coastline, so we saw many lighthouses through the Gulf of Bothnia. We even went past the Finnfellow , the one we went over to Finland on, on the way back , they obviously use 2 vessels on this trip. There are many private islands with their own boat jetties along the route. We eventually got back to the Kapellskar campsite in Sweden at about 6.30 in the evening. It is quite a long boat trip, but so enjoyable, at 8hours 34 minutes. This time we were on pitch 16, tired we retired early after a snack as well fed on the ferry trip. So loved Finland. Sunday 12th June 2016 After breakfast set off reasonably early from the Kapellskar site on the banks of the sea of Aland in the gulf of bothnia. It was going to be a 5 hour plus drive today, initially back through Brevik and Norrtalje turning off the 77 onto the main E4 into the old capital of Sweden Uppsala which the Vikings used as one of their centres of governance, a fascinating place with lots of history and amazing buildings. We had a good long walk around seeing the old water mill, senate house, st olaf’s arch, the gamla or old town, the old catherdral or domkirke to name but a few and saw folk in traditional dress going to church, as it was Sunday, all very interesting. Then it was onto the turning leading to alvkarlaby where there was a huge Chinese dragon gate with lions, a rather strange find in a Scandinavian area but extremely lavish and large. We then used the coastal road onto Gavle and then on from there to the start of Siljan lake at Rattvik. This whole area counts as the equivalent of the Swedish lake district and travelling along through Mora and lake Orsasjon to our campsite for the night at Alvdalens camping, a nice site on the banks of the Osterdalalven river. There were some interesting BBQ pit houses on site for use by anyone, we had a nice evening stroll around the site and along the river, all very pleasant. The guy in the office offered me a chance to catch grayling and trout in the river, but I’m no fisherman. Tee-hee Monday 13th June 2016 Spent a lovely 2nd day here in the lovely campsite, took the motorhome out to have a look at the nearby ski resorts including the wonderful ski jumping slopes, even though it was not winter you could easily envisage them being used, fascinating. We also had a good look around the area and then returned early to the site to both chill, stroll along the river again and have a nice BBQ in the evening, chicken if I remember rightly. From a taste perspective however chicken in Scandinavia is quite different. ski slopes around avdalen Alvdalen has 4 ski areas using for both skiing and snowboarding. Including Grovefjall, Idre fjall and salen, it doesn’t take a great brain to realise the Fjall probably means mountain in Swedish tee-hee. Tuesday 14th June 2016 After 2 days in the lovely Swedish lake district we are moving on across the border into Norway but first we visited the wonderful town of Nusnas, Dalarna county on the edge of the huge and majestic Siljan lake. Nusnas is about an hour away from Alvdalen and is the home of the world famous Dala horse. We visited the Grannas A Olssen workshops and watched some very skilled workers creating these wooden masterpieces. From the huge to the miniscule indeed so small you could only see them under a microscope. There was also a history museum within the workshop showing Dala horses back through time to some of the very first ever crafted. These would we worth a fortune if you owned them. They have travelled worldwide, indeed we bought one for our grand daughter which she still has in her bedroom to this day. They were a hit at the 1939 world fair. This is the smallest available, fascinating, it is followed by a slideshow of all the images we took whilst visiting the Dala horse workshops, enjoy! the smallest dala horses ever, magnified, such craftmanship After Nusnas we returned via the village of Sarna on the ostadalaven where I took what was possible my best picture of the holiday, just so proud of it. Sarna is in the Fulufjallet national park which has the ski mountain ranges. In essence we had returned near to Alvdalen where we had camped for 2 days but not quite. At Sarna we parked up and visited the very old cedar wood church. Past Sarna at Idre on Highway 70 we crossed over into Norway, where to be honest there was no border crossing attention from officials at all. We stopped to take some pictures. It is also worth noting and I’d forgotten this that they drive on opposite sides of the road, easy for us Brits to adjust. From here we headed on up into the Engerdal National Park and to our campsite at Hedmark. Hardly anyone was at the site so we mostly had it to ourselves, again as summer it felt like it was mostly populated only during the skiing season, the site itself was very nice and quirky. There was also a residual of snow still on the surrounding mountains, I would definitely not like to take the van here in winter, just far too scary. Wednesday 15th June 2016 From Hedmark we set off towards Haneset and Roros along the edge of the scenerific Storsjoen with its mountains surrounding the lake. We came across elk on the road. We travelled through Kvernnes, Tyldal and turned at Tynset through Tolga and Os onto our Roros camping site, a splendid journey mostly through forested areas, the air was just so clean and some magnificent scenery. The whole scenic trip took about 4 hours. We stopped at stations and saw ski jump slopes on route. The Norwegian village of Roros including the old traditional timber houses was most interesting. We learnt a lot about the heritage culture and customs. It was a Unesco world heritage site. Thursday 16th June 2016 We set off from Roros camping to as far up as we were scheduled to travel north in Norway for this trip heading for Trondheim and our campsite out along the coast at Flakk. We first called in at Storen and then to see the waterfall at aursunden in the forollhogna national park whose scenery was the backdrop for most of todays journey all the way up to Trondheim. Spectacular views all the way on Highway 30. Some of the mountains on route were positively volcanic, just look at some of our images. Highway 30 turned into the E6. We had a real good look around Trondheim, which was once a Norwegian capital, it has a lot of history. In the city we visited museums, stiftsgarden royal residence, the market, the torget (town square), the cathedral, the archbishop’s palace, the old, cobbled back street, bridges, shops, and a whole lot more, it is a fabulous place, we loved every moment of it. Prior to Trondheim, and you just must do it, we went on the road to HELL and its airport, indeed we had fish and chips there. After Trondheim and before going to the campsite we went east along the coast road to Vikhammer and its coastal railway station line, all very interesting and different. Then it was onto our Flakk campsite for the night, we got a great pitch with a sea view and as the weather was so nice Keef cooked on the griddle outside, chicken, onions and peppers, yummy! After tea we took a stroll to the harbour near the campsite and saw ice breakers and the ferry from Flakk to Rorvik. Friday 17th June 2016 We were now at the real start of the Norwegian Fjords, so travel was a combination of both roads and ferry connections, oh and quite a few tunnels, my favourite being a fan of crime fiction was the apply named Nesbo tunnel. I have read all of Jo’s novels. So today was a journey from Flakk to Kristiansund heading southwest on initially highway E6 then E39. We travelled past fjords and along them seeing waterfalls, and surprisingly a vineyard with grape vines, how does that survive in winter I wonder. This was near Klett just outside Trondheim and although they looked like grapevines may well have been another fruit i.e some sort of berry, but who knows, certainly not us, tee-hee. We caught the ferry at Halsa called the svanoy to get to kanestraum after waiting in line for a bit for its arrival. We stopped prior to this at Surnadal for lunch. We camped at the Byskogen site in Kristiansund. Saturday 18th June 2016 We were one of the very few at the Kristiansund campsite, all grass and forest and no electric hook up but pleasant enough for an overnight stay. Up early breakfasted we set off set off for loen and stryn , it was quite misty. It was a combination of bridges, tunnels and ferries again today. The Norwegians deserve a medal for some of the engineering they have made this watery area connected. I am in awe. We queued for the Sykkylvsfjord ferry at molde arriving at vestnes. We travelled along the 650 with its fab views. Along the way it was more ferries at Stranda. Our campsite for the night was loen lo-vik at stryn on the waters edge, this is where we saw a dutch couple in their dressing gowns head off for a shower is what I can only describe at driving rain and a gale force wind, it takes all sorts. The Nordfjord views and abandoned kayak from our pitch were spectacular in between showers I ventured out to take pictures. Sunday 19th June 2016 A much brighter day today, took a quite walk along the edge of the Nordfjord from our campsite, what fab views. We then packed up the van and headed south on highway 60 past the town of Loen through the Jostadalsbreen national park with its mountains and fjords through tunnels past utvik, ski centers around skei, moraines, and onto the magnificent glacier centre in fjaerland where the sun was out in force, yippee. We had a good look around the centre, saw stuff about wooly mammoths, walked out to the viewing spots via the provided platforms and took lots of photos. A really interesting place to visit to learn about the ice ages that have passed and how glaciers shape our landscape. From here it was past Mundal and onto our campsite overlooking the fjord at Sogndal, what a campsite , would recommend this one for both its facilities and its stunning location. selfie at fjaerlandfjord Monday 20th June 2016 We left Campsite Kjornes in Sogndal reasonably early after breakfast having taken yet more breath-taking photos, just so love this site. Initially we crossed the fjord via highway 5 and then we used this highway through alsberg, kaupanger, nybo and then it was into the short amlatunnelen and joining the ferry at mannheller to cross to fodnes, we joined the queue at Mannheller to get on this, quite an experience today the most ferrys, tunnels and bridges we had done as our time in the west fjordlands was coming to an end. It was then through the fodnesvegan tunnel still called highway 5 and out and turn near tonjum into the E16 and join the longest tunnel in Norway called the laerdalstunnelen which stretches for 15.2 miles. We stopped in the middle which is lit with a coloured light display, all quite surreal. Having come out of the tunnel we carried on around the aurlandsfjord thru a couple of small tunnels on the E16 and at the end of the tunnel at Lunde Vestland we turned towards the Hallingskarvet national park on highway 50, past lake vassbygdevatnet , steine and then some of the most twisty switchback road bends all the while climbing through 3 dimly lit and wet tunnels with very poor worn road surfaces, the culmination of which was the Nesbotunnelen near the village of Nesbo all named after my hero crime writer Jo Nesbo, I’ve read all his books, had to stop for a photo at the start of the tunnel obviously. At the very top of this ascent was the somewhat frozen vetlebotnvatnet lake, boy it was so cold up here. Then we descended through one more tunnel and down alongside the lake standavatn , lovely views, in the national park still and onto our campsite at Hovet, which in the acsi book at the time was labelled Hol, by 2022 this site is no longer in the ACSI book , I’ve checked, sad it was a nice site. There is however a site at Flam in the book just past Lunde at the end of that long tunnel, I would suggest a great place to camp #recommended #hintsandtips #campsites Tuesday 21st June 2016 Left the site at Hovet travelling on highway 51 climbing high at Gol and then onto leira and then stopped at the stream or was it a river at dokka in the picnic area for lunch and a good look around. It was in fact the river etna which runs into the randsfjord. We then swapped onto highway 250 which was very scenic all the way into Lillehammer , the winter Olympics town on the banks of the the mjosa lake. It had the winter Olympics in 1994 but this year 2016 it was playing host again this time to the youth winter Olympics, we had a good look around, ski slopes, jumps, museums, tributes, town centre, shops and what limited buildings they had. We saw all the ski chalets at Oyer and then it was onto our site for the night at hunderflossen a nice site with views of the oyer reservoir from our pitch, we even had an ice cream from the site shop, yummy in the sun. Wednesday 22nd June 2016 From Hunderflossen and Lillehammer we started making our way to the capital Oslo where we would stay for 2 nights at the Ekeberg campsite on the edge of the city’s parkland. #campsites This is their website for bookings etc. ekeberg camping oslo site, tres convenient After arriving at setting up and looking at the facilities we went for a walk around the attached park and had a good look at the 35 sculptures in the park, all very quirky but eminently photograph-able. Ekeberg is high on a hill looking down across Oslo so we walked a little down the hill past the open fields to get a great view from on high of the capital, the station, the old ships in the harbour, the bridges, the town. We had last been in Oslo in 2004 with Mum on our Baltic cruise so could see where the cruise liners arrived indeed there was one in port as we looked. The other thing I remember is that , and thank god I had researched it before leaving, is that all the roads around Oslo are toll roads so it is worth setting up an account before hand and applying your credit card, 1st time in they take £100 the residue of which was returned to me as unspent about 6 months later. The fines for not having your van registration set up are quite high so I would ensure you do #recommended. Thursday 23rd June 2016 Our second day in Oslo. We caught the bus into the city centre at the stop just down the hill outside the campsite, it was quite a quick trip into the city centre and very convenient. We got into Oslo quite early and had a good walk around, through markets that were barely open, saw posters saying Paul Simon was playing there, sadly not today and we will have left. We had a look at the main cathedral and then bought a Hop On Hop Off bus ticket for the day in Fred Olsen gata, named after the cruise ship company we had travelled on in 2004, spooky ha-ha. We used it to see most of the key sites of oslo doing our usual once around first to get our barings and then getting off at points of interest, we saw the uni area, main flower parks, the harbour, kontiki exhibition (which we saw in 2004), heritage museums, viking ship museum, fram museum including lots about Amundsen which we found fascinating, frogner park and a whole lot more. So wished we had done that back in 2004 rather than just walking which limited what we saw to just the harbour area. Saw the ski jump slope. We finally finished our bus trip at Karl Johans gata where we visited the outside of the royal palace, listened to bands playing , saw the pride concert area and listened whilst we ate in the outdoors restaurant. The only downside was what we termed “professional” beggars everywhere even pestering you whilst you ate. A lovely day in oslo we caught the bus back to the campsite, tired but happy, so loved Oslo. The other thing I remember clearly from this site was a Dutch guy on the next pitch telling us the UK had left Europe, Brexit, not that we agreed with it and being away on our scandi trip we didn’t even get a vote, not that us 2 would have made much difference to the result, we are still suffering from that decision 8 years later, grrrr! Friday 24th June 2016 We are returning to Sweden today. We left Oslo initially on the E6, very complex to get out of the capital, masses of motorways and roadworks but finally left the congestion behind us, nearly all toll roads with auto recognition to allow payment. The E6 then turned off onto the E18 near Ski and thru Solberg across the Glomma River , through yet another tunnel near Krosby through Mommarken and finally crossing back into Sweden at the bridge by the lake rodenessjoen at Orje. We carried on along the E18 in Sweden through Tocksfors past many lakes and green countryside finally arriving at our site Arjang camping and stugor on the vastra silens.It took only about an hour from the border. The lake had two islands in the middle. As it was mid summers day a huge public holiday in Scandinavia the site was packed but we had quite a good spot. It was lovely to watch families kayaking, barbequing and the may pole dance, all females were wearing a band of flowers in their hair, delightful, it was so nice to feel included in their traditions. Saturday 25th June 2016 We left the wonderful campsite at Arjang and travelled along the E18 around lake jarnsjon, and then kept on this road throughout along past many a lake and green lands until we turned off onto the E44/45 motorway into Trollhatten. We wanted to visit this town as our eldest son Craig did a school exchange with Peter Anderson when he was in what I would call the 5th year at school (now I guess it counts as year 11). Peter was from Trollhatten, so glad we went there, a very interesting place both the town and then we drove out to see the nearby gota canal and waterfalls, the viewing platform with coffee and ice cream was splendid. We then travelled about a further hour and a half from the gota canal near Trollhatten past Lilla Edet on the E45 motorway turning off at ucklumsvagen on the 170 and stopped to look at Stenungsund and its railway, and then crossing the bridge on the 160 onto Orust Island. This then turned into the 178 and headed out to Ellos on the west coast of Orust island. We travelled across multiple bridges and saw many islands to get to the campsite and saw many large American cars, a Swedish male obsession it seems. After setting up camp we had a lovely walk on the slightly shingle beach looking at the kayaks, water and across to the village fishing huts that we would take the van along 1st thing tomorrow morning, all very interesting, a lovely spot to camp and hugely relaxing. Sunday 26th June 2016 Today we visited Sweden’s second city, Gothenburg on the west coast. Up early we drove off to have a look at the fishing village, it so reminded us of our time in Newfoundland in 2010. Clearly though it was Orust island on sweden’s west coast. After this we used the 160 to cross back over the bridges to the mainland and then the motorway E6 onto Gothenburg. We parked in the paid main car park behind the town hall which was incredibly convenient and then went off to explore the lovely city of Gothenburg, truly worth a visit in our humble opinion. We saw fab artwork, the old theatre, stora teatern, hop on hop off boats on the not surprisingly Gota canal start, ferry run from this major port to most parts of scandinanvia and use to go to kiel in Germany and Newcastle in the uk, sadly for us the ferry from Newcastle stopped in 2014 as not enough traffic was using it. Trams and trolley buses operate in Gothenburg city centre, and you can hire the equivalent of Boris bikes. We had a walk through the formal gardens, admired the cities old architecture and many many statues along the roadsides, parks and Gota canal, all in all a great city. After seeing Gothenburg, we carried on down the coast to our campsite at Varberg on the E6 motorway around kungsbacka. The site was a big site backing onto a big surfing beach, we had been given a pitch number but when we went to it a family were still on it not having left as yet so rather than walk back, we chose the one nearby that was empty, indeed most of the site was empty, we thought we were being kind. A family then arrived who had booked the one we were set up on and they went back to complain, the camp commandant asked us to move even though it was still very empty, why they couldn’t go in the pitch next to us is still a mystery to me. What we should have done, lesson to self, is when our pitch was occupied gone back and complained as this family did, anyhow after a false start we went for a long walk past the crazy golf, swimming pool down to the coast, a lovely area. Had a nice meal and retired to read in bed. A very successful day. Monday 27th June 2016 Today we would return to Denmark and stay at the wonderful Koge for 3 days. We left Varberg and travelled the 3 hour trip on motorway E6 back past Helsingborg and through the outskirts of both Malmo and Copenhagen , stopping briefly at the Malmo services in Sweden for fuel and a comfort break, before returning across the Oresund bridge into Copenhagen and Denmark. From Copenhagen which we did drive through seeing both uni and tenement blocks and some older architecture as well as many statues we travelled on on the E20 / E47 motorways to our Stevns campsite in the town of Koge, our home for 3 nights. Annie did some washing, keef rigged up a line between our van and the hedge, we chilled for the rest of the day, annie completing jumpers for our granddaughters. Like many sites we have stayed at there was crazy golf and a pool, we did neither. Tuesday 28th June 2016 Today we drove the van to a carpark on the outskirts of the town of Koge, a very old traditional town with many coloured buildings. We spent the day in there walking around and seeing lots including the very old streets, we bought kunnel cake at a bakery and had a look at the churches. We then took the van out to Rodvig and Stege, both really interesting places before returned to the campsite to chill. Wednesday 29th June 2016 We spent the whole day at the site today, not bad weather, sat outside reading, relaxing and listening to music, as the weather was so nice we also ate outside using the teppanyaki to grill on for our main meal. We were forced to have some more cinnamon buns as well, such a hard life, tee-hee Thursday 30th June 2016 Packed up the van after 3 very nice relaxing days in the area and set off through the rest of Zealand on the E55 past the famous Faro bridge over the Baltic Sea which connects the islands of Zealand and Falster. We then travelled on the new Guldborgsund bridge to bring us from Falster to the island of Lolland, you rapidly begin to realise that Denmark is made up of many islands all interconnected by well built bridges. Once on Lolland we drove the E47 onto our campsite at Saskobing, quite a small site but very convenient for the ferry crossing at Rodby just 22 minutes along the road. Friday 1st July 2016 Up early we packed up the motorhome and set off the short distance to the Rodbyhaven ferry terminal and joined the queue having purchased tickets online earlier yesterday. We drove onto our ferry, quite a large ship the schleswig-holstein, run by scandlines ferries i.e named after the german state which is the most northerly of all 16 states. Its capital is Kiel the canal we passed over on the way out and that which we travelled on our cruise back in 2004. The crossing operates in high season up to 45 times a day and takes 45 minutes. We arrived relaxed and having saved miles in Puttgarden ,on the german island of fehmarn where it was quite a long tedious drive to get out of both the ferry terminal and town and back onto the main highway E47. It was then a 1-hour journey to Plon and our campsite called campingpark augstfelde plon on the plonsee nature reserve. There were quite a few permanent setups on site but very few tourers. We had the park, a short walk from the site, to ourselves and after a quick set up went for a nice nature walk along the edge of the plonsee lake, a protected nature reserve. Saturday 2nd July 2016 Set off from Plon to Garlstorf which was to be our next campsite on the journey home from Scandinavia. Endless traffic on highway 1 and crossing the Elbe delayed us by about 2 hours, these sorts of areas are always busy especially in summer. I don’t think we have ever been past Hamburg where there hasn’t been total congestion. The E26 / E22 (A1) route should have taken only 1 and a quarter hours, it took about 4 in the end. Didn’t do much at the site, called into a supermarket Aldi if memory serves and bought a lot of coffee and German sausages for home. Our campsite was all grass but felt like you were camping on a local football pitch. Sunday 3rd July 2016 Left after breakfast and had a nice drive and look around the rural community of Garlstoft, some very nice houses and expansive farms. We then drove to Hemslingen and had a look around there before travelling onto our campsite just outside the main town of Bremen. The total journey only took just over an hour, so we arrived at the site in Bremen quite early, checked in and set up pitch. It was on a farm area; we then went for a long walk around including seeing the pool and all the statue tributes to the famous story of the famous 4 town musicians of Bremen. A Grimm's fairy tale from 1819. Disney also did a cartoon of this story way back in their catalogue. Monday 4th July 2016 At the Bremen site in the morning, we saw a set of Donkeys from the farm crowd a lady in her small caravan after she had kindly or is it foolishly decided to feed them, they would not let her go with their begging, hilarious for us. We then continued our journey home today and left Germany and our site at Bremen and crossed back into Holland and onto the bulb town of Tübbergen. We used the main motorway the A1 crossing back into the Netherlands just outside of Osnabruck in the German state of lower saxony. The journey took almost 3 hours and only the last bit was not motorway. The tubbergen site had a pool and outside table tennis table and was very rural, indeed I would recommend it for an overnight stay in a pleasant location. Tuesday 5th July 2016 Left the Tubbergen site and travelled onto just outside the big city of Utrect at Bilthoven , the journey was about 2 hours along the A1 motorway around Apeldoorn, at Bilthoven we set up camp on pitch number 378 it was clearly a big site with that number of pitches, it had a pool and many facilities. However, its advantage to us was its short walk to Bilthoven station where we caught the train into Utrect central. We had a lovely long time in the fabulous and historic city walking along the canal side, admiring the architecture, later in the day we did a touristy canal boat trip whicg was just wonderful, after a full day, grabbing something to eat at the station we made our way back to the campsite by train, a very nice day. Wednesday 6th July 2016 We left Bilthoven, bypassed Utrect on the A1 and turned off onto the E25 and then E30 for the hour journey through some of the more populated areas of Holland to Delft. On the way we parked up in the car park behind the library in Gouda by the canal, the carpark doubled as an air with electricity that we would use on future European trips as very convenient for the ferry at the Hoek of Holland, Rotterdam. We had a nice walk around Gouda, saw the canals, central square with its historic town hall and bought lots of cheeses. We had a good look around the Delft town after leaving Gouda whilst driving but there was nowhere to park so having seen the green open spaces and old buildings, we set off to find our Delftse Hout campsite, what a nightmare, the satnav took us to the bridge and underpass crossing just outside the site BUT the way was prohibited but a load of large stones on the underpass. We then spent longer than it took to get from Bilthoven to Delft trying to find the site entrance, eventually we cracked the puzzle. Keef was so frustrated he bend the van keys in the lock, oh dear, I eventually got them out and straightened them, so they were usable. What a journey not one I wish to remember. The site itself paid homage to delft pottery with its entrance displays, it had a nice pool and was very busy. Exhausted after the frustration of not finding the site we went to bed early. Thursday 7th July 2016 A long day, up early, drove the 30-minute drive to the ferry terminal at Hoek Van Holland and joined the check in queue. Got on board in the usual way and then got the announcement over the tannoy that the sailing was delayed due to waiting for some commercial cargo lorries, we eventually sailed some 4 hours later. When back in Harwich the road out was closed so we had to do a massive detour and then again the A14 was closed due to roadworks so we had yet more detours to make. We eventually arrived home at 2 a.m. only to find the kitchen electrics had flicked out sometime during the 2 months we were away. Nightmare all there was was the smell of rioting food from the defrosted frozen food, so we got out lots of black sacks cleared it all out and dumped it in the outside bin, cleaned up the freezer, reset the electrics and eventually flopped into bed at 3 a. m. A great holiday but not fun coming back to that. Note go self, run down fridge and freezer before any future long trips and get son to come in and check every now and then. So we loved it all 6140 miles of it. AUDIO DIARY THAT'S ALL FOLKS

By keef and annie hellinger, Jul 12 2016 09:44AM Blog 101 Scandinavia Holiday Video Blog 101 Scandinavia Holiday Video - This Scandinavia holiday video is a whirlwind of pure travel fun — ferries, forests, fjords and all the gorgeous Nordic scenery you squeezed into one brilliant adventure. From lakeside camps and wildlife moments to sweeping coastlines and big‑sky sunsets, it’s a feel‑good rewind of your epic journey. A bright, nostalgic, smile‑inducing film that makes you want to pack up and go north again. The "Talkies" slideshow is below, this covers all our commentary and overview through out the Scandinavian trip plus we have included what we like to call the Complete slideshow which has verbally an overlay of the Diary as an Audio book. To read the main blog see Blog 100 - Our Scandinavian trip in 2016, where all the slideshows are available including these, thanks for looking a typical norway view, not far from our campsite Norway on a very calm day, views to die for Note this one is slightly over 1GB and runs for about 30 minutes so consider carefully what you are running it on so as not to "clog up" your airwaves 😉 The rest of the slideshows are attached to Blog 100 Scandinavia #motorhome #motorhometravels #travelsin2016 #campsites #majortrip Part 1 is 68 minutes long

By Keef and Annie Hellinger, Jul 15 2016 02:36PM originally Best Travel Blogs Updated KeefH Web Designs, February 20th, 2026, 8.55 AM Discover why New Zealand keeps calling us back. This heartfelt retrospective captures three unforgettable journeys across both islands—tenting, touring, and embracing the freedom of life on the road. From iconic landscapes to cherished memories, it’s a celebration of adventure, connection, and the magic that makes motorhome travel truly unforgettable. Motorhome Travel Stories: A New Zealand Retrospective There’s something irresistible about returning to a place that has already captured your heart, and few destinations inspire repeat adventures quite like New Zealand. Our motorhome travel stories across both the North and South Islands have become a cherished thread in our lives—woven through three major trips spanning 2007/8, 2013, and 2017. Each journey brought its own rhythm, its own discoveries, and its own reminder that New Zealand is a country best experienced slowly, with the freedom to stop wherever the landscape demands your attention. Our earliest adventure was a 55‑day odyssey under canvas, mixing campsites with the occasional motel and car travel. Back then, tenting felt like part of the magic—waking to birdsong, cooking outdoors, and feeling the cool night air settle around us. But as the years passed, we embraced the comfort and convenience of a hired Britz motorhome, and that shift opened up a whole new chapter in our motorhome travel stories. With everything we needed on board, we could chase the horizon without worrying about where we’d sleep next. New Zealand rewards that kind of spontaneity. One day you’re winding through the lush forests of the North Island; the next, you’re parked beside a turquoise bay on the South Island, watching the sun melt into the sea. Places like Abel Tasman National Park, with its iconic Split Apple Rock, became more than stops on a map—they became memories we returned to again and again. Each revisit revealed something new: a different walking track, a new café, a campsite we hadn’t noticed before. What makes these motorhome travel stories so enduring isn’t just the scenery, though New Zealand has that in abundance. It’s the sense of connection—to the land, to the people we met along the way, and to each other. Travelling by motorhome gave us the luxury of time: time to linger, time to explore, time to revisit old favourites and discover new ones. Looking back now, these journeys feel like chapters in a larger story—one shaped by curiosity, friendship, family, and the joy of being on the road. And if there’s one thing our New Zealand adventures have taught us, it’s that the best motorhome travel stories are the ones you keep adding to, year after year. We have now been to North Island three times and South Island twice on our 2007/8, 2013 and 2017 trips. We camped under canvas in 2007/8 for 55 days plus used motels / car but are probably a little too old now for tenting so in 2013 & 2017 used a Britz hired motorhome. If you would like to see more click below 2007/8 2013 2017 the fabulous split apple rock, Abel Tasman national park, south island , New Zealand #majortrip #revisited #friends #motorhome #motorhometravels #travelsin2016 #campsites #family Have a look at the Travel Blog route / flight path you tube video created by KeefH Web Designs, why don't you? That's it for reviewing our Gap Year

By keef and annie hellinger, Jul 20 2016 08:57AM Electrics for Scandinavia Hints & Tips This handy guide to electrics for Scandinavia turns plug‑in prep into pure motorhome fun. From adapters and leads to campsite quirks, voltage tips and what actually works across Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway, it’s a friendly, no‑nonsense rundown that saves hassle on the road. A simple, smart, feel‑good checklist that keeps your travels powered, smooth and stress‑free. Many of the sites in Denmark, Finland, Sweden & Norway use the European style 2 pin plug as indeed does the ferry from Sweden to Finland where they will give you electric hook up whilst crossing to keep your fridge going. What a shame no one else offers this service elsewhere on Ferries! Certainly did not get it from Smyril Line Hirtshal (Denmark) to Torshavn (Faroes) or indeed Seydisfjordur (Iceland) which was 2 day journey , could have been very useful Even some sites in Iceland and the Faroes do the same, see Blog 135 Luckily we travel with one just in case, maybe do the same! The newer sites use the standard UK bayonet fitting. Have fun, hope the tip helps hint and tip - electrics in Scandinavia, don't forget your connector SUMMARY & EXPLANATION Scandinavian campsites are generally very straightforward when it comes to electric hook‑ups, and the good news is that the vast majority use the standard blue 16A CEE (commando) sockets, just like the rest of mainland Europe. A detailed European campsite electrical guide notes that campsites in Denmark, Sweden and Norway consistently use the blue CEE 17 connectors, and that they have not encountered domestic plug types such as the Danish two‑pin DS Afsnit 107‑2‑D1 on campsites. However, travellers should still understand how two‑pin plugs fit into the picture, because Scandinavian wall outlets in homes, hotels and some non‑campsite facilities use Type C or Type F (Schuko) sockets — both of which are two‑pin systems. A Scandinavian travel guide confirms that standard Euro two‑pin plugs (Type C) and Schuko (Type F) are the normal domestic sockets across all three countries. This matters because a small minority of older or rural campsites may still offer domestic sockets instead of CEE, and in those cases a Schuko‑compatible adaptor is the correct solution. Electrical specialists emphasise that the CEE 7/7 Schuko/French hybrid adaptor covers almost all of Europe and Scandinavia when a campsite uses domestic sockets instead of CEE. In practice, this means: Expect blue CEE as standard on Scandinavian campsites. Carry one Schuko adaptor as a backup for rare domestic‑socket sites. Be aware of reverse polarity on Schuko sockets and check with a tester if needed. Overall, Scandinavia is one of the easiest regions for motorhome electrics — simple, compatible, and rarely surprising.

By keef and annie hellinger, Jul 21 2016 12:25PM Camping in Scandinavia Camping in Scandinavia - This Scandinavia camping blog bursts with fun, big landscapes and pure road‑trip joy. From lakeside pitches and forest walks to quirky campsites, ferries, wildlife moments and those endless Nordic skies, it’s a feel‑good rewind of your travels across Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway. A relaxed, scenic, memory‑packed journey that shows why camping up north is simply unforgettable. UPDATE Nov 2022 Retrospectively numbered 9 because these clubs will really help (and reduce costs) for your camping in Scandinavia It is worth knowing that in most if not all Scandinavian campsites it is necessary to have a Camping Card Europe card. You can get away with ACSI, UK Caravan Club & UK Camping & Caravan club if you are lucky in one or 2 sites but that won't last for long and give you unnecessary hassle on what should be a relaxing holiday. Despite ACSI's notes that you MAY need one, you definitely WILL need one. Remember ACSI is a Dutch company, and their card is not used readable on most scandic campsite computers to automatically get your details off. No need to buy one upfront you can get one at the 1st scandic site you stay at costing about £14 (2016). What you will need for cheaper camping in the Scandinavian countries is DENMARK - CC Europe card, ACSI Discount card, pay on leaving (i.e., they keep your cards as security) SWEDEN - CC Europe card, ACSI Discount card, Pay up front FINLAND - CC Europe card, ACSI Discount card, Pay up front NORWAY - CC Europe card, ACSI Discount card, Pay up front Note in Germany, France and Holland the ACSI members card and discount card are fine and there is a mixture of paying up front and on departure. Do hope this hint and tip helps others. Kind Regards Keef & Annie Our site addresses There are 4 types of cards... in sequence on the slideshow Camping Radet / Camping Key card Buy at any Scandinavian site, these are ESSENTIAL ACSI discount card Buy up front online, ESSENTIAL for discount, well worth it ACSI registration card Used in place of your passport, Buy online from ACSI Buy both from their Web Shop UK Caravan & Motorhome club membership buy online

By keef and annie hellinger, Aug 30 2016 07:09AM New Lodge Farm Motorhome trip No28 : Aug 27-29th 2016 A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog NOTTS->New Lodge Farm, Bulwick, Northamptonshire ->NOTTS 178 miles 250 years plus and 30+ camping years under our belts collectively ;) New Lodge Farm - The first trip to New Lodge Farm bursts with motorhome fun, countryside calm and a cracking farm‑shop feast. From spotless pitches and friendly hosts to animal encounters, village wanders and a cosy pub stop, this blog captures the charm that made Bulwick an instant favourite. A relaxed, foodie, feel‑good getaway that proves simple weekends can be the best adventures. Fun times with friends / travelling companions A lovely (mixed weather) August bank holiday weekend away with our dear pals Pete & Joy. Our usual yearly camping jaunt this year was made a little more tricky to find a adults only camp site by virtue of leaving it a bit late and it being a very popular weekend for folk to go away. However we were all pleasantly surprised by what a nice site and welcoming set of people there are at New Lodge farm. Called in on C&L on route to drop off Bondi Banana bread and a few pressies plus got a quick cuddle with baby Edie to set us up for the weekend #fab Then it was off via M1, A14 but found the A43 was closed near Bulwick so we made a detour via some lovely Northants villages, namely Weldon, Upper Benfield,Glapthorn & Southwick. Lovely sunny Friday afternoon so we checked in and set up including the awning on pitch 21 with nice views of the 200 acre farm and put up our table and chairs on pitch 23 to reserve it for P&J. After a bit of sunning ourselves we soon took the awning down when the wind got up! Nice evening meal of lamb burgers, bratwurst and salad with copious amounts of ale, wine , port & madeira to wash it down. Lovely evening chatting and catching up. Saturday we walked into Bulwick , alas Annie had a nasty tumble on route and grazed her arm, bruised her foot leg and shoulder and damaged her pride. We relaxed in the Queens Head garden until the rain started and made a dash inside to the snug. As it stopped-ish we went to the horticultural show in the church opposite to see the oversized vegetables. None of those but lots of other interesting stuff, including the under 4 who won 1st,2nd and 3rd place in the “my mum judged this” section! After that it was tea, coffee, cake and sarnies at the village hall, amazingly good value and then with minor drizzle back to the camp site. We had a drink in the café/ restaurant there when the heavens opened , just so dark at about 4-ish and what a hum dinger that was, thunder and lightening and it lasted for ages. On the positive side it reduced the humidity a bit however. We got changed and headed back for our lovely evening meal at the site restaurant. It is a farm shop as well with great produce. Nice friendly people Simon, Sarah, Mark and Caroline (I think). Overnight we had the gentle soothing thump of the illegal rave to “rock” us to sleep….. NOT! Sunday as Annie was feeling a little sore we had a cooked brekkie on the hot plate and sat in the sun reading and chillin and chatting. Lunch was a homemade Victoria sponge from the shop tea and coffee then we had a lovely greek-style Barbie that P&J did for tea, yummy Much Trivial Pursuit Globetrotter edition was played under the influence of alcohol, well that’s the excuse the boys are using for being so roundly thrashed. We said our goodbyes on Monday morning and hope to meet up again soon. Lovely weekend, nice site and area, we will be back as don’t really know Northamptonshire at all. See Blog 156 for our return trip to Bulwick with friends, interestingly on both occasions there was an old car rally, maybe because it was a bank holiday weekend or maybe because that is just where the classic car club meets normally, who knows, I didn't ask them although I did praise them on their jalopies 😉 PS tagged as "scary" because of Annie's horror trip on the road Friends, New Lodge Farm, Bulwick, Northants , our first visit cafe much changed on the 2nd visit #friends #motorhome #motorhometravels #travelsin2016 #campsites

By keef and annie hellinger, Oct 8 2016 08:23AM Devon Cornwall Wiltshire Motorhome trip No29 : Sept 26th- Oct 6th 2016 A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog NOTTS->Dawlish (Devon) to Fraddon & Bude (Cornwall) & Stonehenge (Wiltshire) ->NOTTS 698 miles Devon Cornwall Wiltshire - Sunshine, seaside wanders and motorhome fun fill this Devon–Cornwall–Wiltshire adventure. From Dawlish ferries and wild‑orchid walks to pub‑hopping in Cockwood, castle climbs, tropical gardens and Bude’s breezy coastline, this trip is pure feel‑good exploring. Great campsites, family laughs, fab views and a dash of history make this a wonderfully uplifting 2016 getaway. Amazingly good weather for this time of the year in the UK or maybe not, our Motorhome experience tells us that May & September are generally great months to go away weather wise! Anyhow travelled to the lovely Cofton Country Holiday Park (ACSI site) near Dawlish in Devon where we stayed for 4 nights. We called in on Dawlish before making camp and had a good look around. This is the coast where the railway was washed away by sweeping seas not that long ago and is a traditional seaside town , slightly run down but we liked it. At Cofton there is lots to do and lovely large grassy pitches, only a few hard standing. Met nice couple from Leicestershire of all places. One outdoor and one indoor pool, indeed on the last day we had it to ourselves for most of the time, plus games rooms, keep fit (you are joking?), bars ,cafes and restaurants . On our second day there we caught the Stagecoach bus just up the road to Starcross and took the ferry over to Exmouth landing at the fabulous marina. Great fun day out – well worth it. The next day we did the short country walk from Cofton to Cockwood passing very interesting wild flowers, nature gardens and loved seeing the wild pink orchids. It was a lovely sunny day and you come our at the boat moorings inlet of the river Exe. We did our own version of a pub crawl visiting both pubs in Cockwood. The Anchor (an old smugglers inn) did the better beer but the Ship had the best gardens and flowers. After our fab 4 day stay in Devon we set off to visit my sister Linda and her husband Ian in Fraddon Cornwall for 3 nights parking the van outside their lovely new house. On route we used our English Heritage concession membership to visit both Okehampton Castle (still Devon), originally owned by Baldwin de Brionne of 1066 fame and Launceston plus town. Launceston was the original capital of Cornwall (Kernow) and has lovely panoramic views from wherever you look and a load of history, namely St Cuthbert, the messenger who delivered details of Nelsons death at Trafalgar up to London and its place in the Civil war. We know the one in Tassie , Australia but not this one on home soil. They are quite unalike but we love them both. At Linda’s we went out for a lovely meal, visited Pendennis castle with lovely views of St Mawes, Fraggle lighthouse, Falmouth and the river Fal…. Views to die for! We also went to the very tropical gardens of St Marys and a café at Gyllyngavase beach , Tribute from a barrel, bliss and a nice drive around some great places they knew especially Chapel Porth. Only October but we also had a nice Xmas dinner including our nephew Adam. Saying our fond goodbyes we drove off to Wooda Farm (ACSI) site just past Bude (Cornwall) visiting the recommended Widemouth (pronounced wid-ee-muth) bay and the lovely Bude. Bude is fab, nice walk along the canal to the sea where it joins with the river tributary. Great craft shops as well and Annie got talking to the lady in the wool shop. We had 3 nights on pitch E50 at the site with a perfect view of Bude castle and coastline from our pitch, whilst very sunny it was mega windy on occasions forcing us to “come inside”. The site is great with many facilities – farm yard animals, woodland walk (with pixie dell see the pics if you don’t believe in them), lakes galore, 9 hole pitch and putt (big course probably golf really I’m no expert), restaurants bars and craft shops. We went walking 2 days in a row. Would highly recommend this site also its proximity to Bude. Falmouth Docks Cornwall with family #family #motorhome #motorhometravels #travelsin2016 #campsites