Month: August 2025

The last blog was posted in a free campsite provided by the local Pobondzi community, that had electricity for a couple of hours in the morning and again at night. The toilets and the wifi was also free! We had been getting used to NO wifi in campsites we’d paid money for! What a lovely place it was, next to a lake, so we made it a priority to spend some money in a local shop the next morning. What lovely people they are.

We only realised we had crossed over the border into Lithuania after passing some guards chatting on the side of the road. Some were Polish and some were Lithuanian. Then we looked at our map. Goodness, here we are in our TENTH country for this trip!

While driving along we read all about the horrendous recent history of Lithuania, first with the Nazi occupation, then an even worse situation with the Soviet occupation. Tens of thousands more people died in horrible conditions under the Soviets. The Nazis killed about 200 thousand, but number that was dwarfed by how many the Soviets killed.

Lithuania is now a very liberal society, with free education and medicine for all. Enshrined in the legislation is freedom of sexual and religious choices. After so much oppression by fascist occupiers, the people have come out the other side a lot more enlightened.

We visited a park that had a number of statues – we both love sculptures – but unfortunately they were all Stalinist political works. They were powerful pieces, but were coupled with gruesome information on how so many thousands of Lithuanians were rounded up and sent to Siberia during the occupation. Many didn’t survive the journey. We deigned to visit the zoo there (neither of us like to see animals imprisoned) particularly when some lovely people with a gorgeous dog called Molly told us about the terrible conditions the bear was kept under. But we did get lots of puppy cuddles with Molly! Now that’s important!

Along the roads we travelled we saw lots of people wandering off into the forests, collecting those delectable chanterelle mushrooms that we love so much. So we had to stop and buy some from one woman at a roadside stall, even though we still have plenty left over from the last purchase. There is no way we could get sick of the taste of those fabulous fungi! We would like to forage some ourselves, but feel that it is important to help the local people who are doing it a bit tougher than we are.

As we approached our campsite for the night in Trakai, out of the corner of her eye Georgie spotted something unusual on a hill top. We swerved off to check it out, and oh my goodness gracious me, are we glad we did. The Hill of Angels is an amazing outdoor installation that has had over a hundred large sculptures by different artists placed on a grassy hill top. We were totally gobsmacked. Despite the religious connotations of some of them, it was an absolutely beautiful site. It is open for usage for any sort of celebrations people may want, and anyone can place another ‘angel’ sculpture up there.

Our campsite was not far from Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, and was almost totally devoid of humans, but heavily populated by mosquitoes. I have never seen such enormous clouds of the things! We were very glad of the screens on our van. A bit of a wander down around the lake’s edge showed the local castle lit up by the setting sun and the deserted lakeside facilities all calm and empty. Quite pretty actually. We have just missed the busy season, thank goodness! We passed by the local restaurant and wondered if they sold any traditional meals. Yes, we were in luck, a delicious pink beetroot soup with roasted potatoes on the side was heavenly (and really cheap) so we returned to the van quite sated without having to cook dinner (apart for a few fried chanterelles on toast for Rod, that is).

Whilst staying up late to do our washing (a heroic effort) Georgie chatted with the guy who attended the office. He described how Lithuania has changed so much for the better since joining the EU. He grew up in an impoverished subsistence farming family who could only go to town once a week in grandfather’s car. Grandad was the only one who could drive, and that was the only time they could sell any excess produce from the farm. Now, he said, he owns three cars. Georgie mentioned that we’d noticed that the houses were in much better repair than what we saw in Poland. That’s because, he said, they were given interest-free loans by the EU to upgrade from the run-down poor designs of the Soviet era.

We also noticed lots of big warehouses and distribution centres being erected and used as we drove through the outskirts of Vilnius. So Lithuania’s economy is on the up.

In the morning we parked near the city centre and went to investigate Vilnius’ art galleries and museums. The National Museum was very well presented with modern exhibitions showcasing the prehistoric (even way beyond the neolithic) history of the region with lots of well displayed artefacts. There was easy access for people with disabilities too. We then inspected the iron age history section and learned a lot about the different societies that thrived there. But when it came to the Nazi occupation and the Soviet occupation, we were horrified and didn’t look too much further. We declined visiting the Genocide Museum.

One thing that made us feel good was learning about the ‘Baltic Chain’, where in 1989 about two million people joined hands across Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia forming a human chain of 675 kilometres to protest the inhuman conditions of the Soviet occupation. That is a wonderful thing! Why don’t we teach children about that in school in Australia? It should be part of the National Curriculum! Peaceful people power is incredibly productive.

A traditional Lithuanian lunch of potato pancakes and dumplings was then indulged in, with bacon and chanterelle sauce of course. Mmmmm.

A wander through the old part of town, checking out various Art galleries and Amber Museums was then undertaken. Lithuania has the world’s most plentiful deposits of amber, and there was no shortage of shops (skleps) selling it.

Vilinius is a lovely city, we decided. Lots of green areas and plenty of amazing architecture. It is quite well organised and attractive. A very civilised place indeed. Unfortunately we didn’t take many photos of it.

Next we walked into the Republic of Uzupio (apparently inspired by Frank Zappa) in the heart of the city. It is a bit of an artist’s haven, and even has its own constitution that was put up on a wall on metal plaques in 44 different languages. It includes things like ‘Everyone has the right to look after the dog, until one of them dies.’ and ‘Everyone has the right to be in doubt, but this is not an obligation.’

It was an exhausting day, shuffling about on hard surfaces can be very tiring, but quite fulfilling. We have become very fond of Lithuania.

Click photos to enlarge

Stalinist sculptures

More Stalinist sculptures

The Hill of Angels

Lithuanian National Museum

Vilineus

Vilinius

Part of a wall that commemorates writers and artists in Literary Street

A mural in Uzupio

A cafe in Uzupio that has swing chairs for seats

Uzupio’s Constitution

After leaving Norway, Google maps led us on a merry meander up and down the back streets of Vanersborg in search of the municipal council’s free parking area for campervans. Eventually, with the help of some locals, we did find the council’s area, where we set up camp for the night. It was right next to some lovely waterside parklands with people strolling, fishing, swimming, and eating icecreams. We had a pleasant afternoon wandering along the paths and ate too much of that delicious icecream, plus we investigated some unusual metal baskets that were placed irregularly about the lawns, each one numbered separately. It turns out that they are part of a game called ‘disc golf’ or ‘frisbee golf’ (amongst other things) which apparently is popular in several countries of the region. We watched one bloke throwing a handful of small plastic discs at the basket.

We wanted to get back to Skurup in a hurry, to stay with our friends there for another day, before catching the ferry across the Baltic Sea to Poland. So we did an absolute minimum of small narrow roads that day, instead opting to mostly zoom down the big wide highway at a cracking pace. Hooting along at 120 kph was very different to our usual mode of wiggly winding travel. Unfortunately the forests we did stop to investigate had finished their blueberry season. The bushes were bare. That was disappointing.

Arriving back in Skurup we spent a little time shopping for ingredients for cooking a nice Australian meal for our hosts. Pumpkin soup was something that they were unaware of, but is a bit of a staple for our Aussie household. They did tell us that with all the uncertainty of Russia’s aggressive stance and warring in Ukraine, that some Swedes were currently discussing the value of emergency food storage. Pumpkins had come up as a nutritious food that will keep for up to a year under proper conditions. So we showed them the delights of cooking with yummy pumpkin, and obtained some seeds for them to propagate in their fertile vege patch. They seemed very pleased with our ‘Aussie’ meal. Georgie then showed our hostess, and her daughter, the delights of producing lemonade scones in just a matter of minutes. These were devoured with home-made rhubarb and strawberry jam and whipped cream. Yum.

Eventually we left our generous hosts again and boarded the ferry to a new country, our ninth so far for this journey! (England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and finally Poland.) We embarked from Malmo in Sweden to travel eight hours across the Baltic Sea to the port city of Swinoujscie in Poland. Eventually disembarking, along with dozens of other campervans, we zoomed out of the city to a nice little van park half an hour’s drive away, with only three other vans in it. We now found ourselves in the country of some of Georgie’s ancestors. An emotional moment, not too unlike Rod’s reaction to Scotland.

We have both noticed how seldom we have received a smile or wave of acknowledgement when pulling over to let cars past, or stopping at a pedestrian crossing to let people across. We’re not sure if it’s because the Polish people are generally more aloof, or are less welcoming of strangers, or whether it’s because we have German number plates on our vehicle. Having said that, we have come across some very helpful and friendly people, particularly some shop assistants, and some folks in camping parks.

We discovered a similar situation when we visited Hungary nine years ago. It prompted a competition between us as to how many people we could get to smile. Georgie won that one, despite Rod grinning maniacally at everyone, ladies tend to get better responses than old codgers like him. Perhaps another competition like that is in order.

We have seen the economy of Poland on an up-tick with tourism, compared to our last very brief visit nine years ago. The coastal beach towns we drove through on the Northern part of the country are absolutely booming with tourists. The crowds were like what we experienced on the beach areas of Ireland, but with more schmaltzy tourist traps seething with people here in Poland. Perhaps the bulk of the tourists come from other countries like Germany, because Poland used to be a cheaper place to buy things, but this time we noticed prices to be comparable to Sweden.

But before we came we had been warned that Poland is not as cheap as it used to be.

Another thing we have noticed is that at roadside stops you need to be very careful where you tread. Used poo tickets and their accompanying icky parcels are behind every bush, despite there being no shortage of port-a-loo toilets available. That was a puzzle, and a little disconcerting.

Following a drive down a long and bumpy road we stayed in a relatively new van park that had good clean facilities, but no wifi (something we are getting used to) or clean drinking water. It was just behind the dunes, so we did a sunset walk on the beach, after the crowds had dispersed. On the walk back we were invited to sit by a campfire with a lovely Austrian couple, and swapped travel anecdotes for quite a while.

After that we departed the North Baltic coast and headed inland, away from all the glitzy tourism surrounding the sandy beaches and toward the plentiful lakes of Poland’s central north. We thought the beaches were nice, but a just a little too crowded. As spoilt Aussies we live with many wonderful long and empty beaches back home. So veering inland was a good move, as the scenery improved dramatically, with lots of hills and dark forests surrounding us.

So many of the older roads have beautiful old trees planted close along the edges. They were clearly planted long ago and have now created wonderful arches or ‘tunnels’ that you drive through. It is very scenic indeed. Tree planting was obviously something that was very common long ago. We are pleased to see that tree planting on roadsides is still taking place, and we have seen hundreds of recently planted saplings, but a little bit further away from the edge of the roads.

We stopped in one little provincial village when we noticed a market in progress. Yes! Markets are fun! Many hours were spent wandering around various stalls looking at Polish treasures and junk, trying on various items of clothing and purchasing lots of yummy fresh produce at incredibly cheap prices. The berries, oh my goodness the berries!

Moving on with our fridge crammed full we eventually we located a gorgeous quiet campsite next to a lake with only half a dozen other vans there, and settled in for a relaxing evening.

Then the rock band started up next door! Aaarrggh! Luckily we hadn’t paid for our site yet, so we high-tailed it out of that park and found a secluded bush camp, down a very long bumpy track, and well off the road. Bush camping is technically not allowed in Poland, but we were well away from anybody in a quiet forest with no rock bands and screaming teenagers, so we felt pretty safe. We expressed the hope to each other that a bear or moose or deer might amble by. That would have been good, but no such luck! Instead, it rained all night, so Rod’s morning walk was interesting, through the sodden dripping mossy forest.

Later we spotted quite a few deer from the roadside.

As usual, we meandered around lots of tiny back roads, not really getting any great distances up, but seeing lots of different things – some of them more than once as we went in circles a couple of times, finding ourselves back at landmarks that we recognised. Many of the tiny villages we drove through had sculptures made from hay bales advertising their local harvest festivals. We would have liked to see those festivals, but we had to move on. A few of the roads we took were rough corrugated dirt roads that we were forced to take very slowly. Poland is not quite as affluent as other Northern European countries we have visited, and the roads are not as well formed. However, the gorgeous tree lined back roads were absolutely fabulous, even with the rain that pelted down. The Northern Polish countryside is green and fertile, the cows fat and happy, and the crops very healthy indeed.

The extensive forests are mainly managed for timber, even in the National Parks, but there were still many beautiful sections for us to appreciate. Our favourite bit was spotting three roebuck deer, and then not far from that finding some yummy blueberries to pick. Our fingers went blue, partially from the terrible cold, and partially from the berry juices. Poland is – we are told – having an unusually cold summer this year. Just our luck!

Mobile phone coverage is a bit sporadic, and we haven’t had wifi in any of the van parks we’ve visited yet, so blog posting has ground to a temporary halt.

At one roadside stall we struck gold, quite literally! Beautiful golden yellow chanterelle mushrooms for goodness’ sake! The best mushrooms on the planet! That night’s dinner was made in heaven. Mmmmmmm!The absolute delight we experienced was almost indescribable when we were later able to purchase even more locally picked chanterelle mushrooms from a small village shop. Our dinners were enhanced beyond belief by the flavour of these most fabulous of all the mushrooms. Heaven!

Gdansk was our destination for the day, we had decided to do a city thing. A historic river cruise sounded a good way to see the old bits of town, so we followed the maps to a rather run-down dock-lands area where we could buy the tickets. We stumbled across an Australian bloke who worked kayaking tours there, so we had a good old yarn. He told us where we could park for free (yes!) and helped us get our tickets. There was and hour and a half to kill until the boat left so we wandered off to an Italian Food Festival (!in Poland by golly!) and ate pizza and a Japanese/Italian fusion of rice flour dumplings and ragout.

The boat trip was in a replica traditional wooden barge with only a small group of English speaking people and was very interesting. Our guide was fun and knowledgeable. The architecture along the waterside was quite amazing, and unlike anywhere else we’ve seen elsewhere. We really enjoyed ourselves and were really glad we took it.

Rod confided to the river guide that he was a tour guide as well, but of course in the tropical rainforests of North Queensland, crocodiles and tree kangaroos type of thing.

Our guide explained that 80% of that part of Gdansk was destroyed during WWII, and showed us evidence of buildings still showing the scars of war. Apart from the ruins, and the few buildings that had been reconstructed in line with their original designs, most of the city’s buildings are less than 80 years old, which is a sobering thought given the long and rich history of Gdansk, which used to be such a grand city.

Being fairly late on a Saturday afternoon, the museums and shops were closing for the day, which meant that unfortunately Rod didn’t get to see all the brilliant Polish sculptures he had read about, and Georgie didn’t find amber treasures to admire or buy. We decided not to stay another night in or near the city, and instead made a beeline for Lithuania, our next major destination. We stopped just a few kilometres from the border for the night, finding a wonderful campervan park which is totally free, including electricity and wifi, and is provided by the local community as a way to welcome tourists to their village. Evidence of friendly Poles, indeed!

We plan to see more of Poland on our return from Lithuania, and hope to investigate the gorgeous border regions of Southern Poland, with its ancient castles and high Carpathian Mountains.

Click pics to enlarge

Sunset on the beach after the crowds dispersed

Polish forest

Harvest festival sculpture

Another harvest festival in a different town

Gdansk river crane that used men on treadmills to load ships

More Gdansk river sights

Tree tunnels were common

More tree tunnels

Polish folk art that decorated buildings and bus stops

Retro style painted car. Beautiful!

A lake we camped by

Another lake

A beach we camped by

A beautiful old church

The rain continued coming down, and actually increased in intensity a few times, clouding the views of the lakes and mountains in misty veils of water. But we did get to see some wonderful country when the sheets of rain parted. There were high precipices, gushing waterfalls, dark mossy forests, and broad calm lakes that we drove past. It was too cold and wet for this couple of tropical wusses to step out of the van and go for walkabout. Although the countryside was very attractive, we opted to stay warm and dry instead. The dashboard heater in the campervan worked just fine whilst the motor was running. The temperatures out there were uniformly chilly, and to step outside meant being swathed heavily in multiple tiers of clothing, coupled with a waterproof layer over the top.

A couple of high mountain passes were driven over with glorious views, whenever the rain eased, but we decided to not do our usual trick of bimbling down too many tiny side roads because of the inclement weather. The visibility was poor and the roads slippery, so we made a beeline for the city of Bergen, to spend a day doing galleries and museums and the like. Indoor activities seemed to be a good idea when the weather was not behaving in our favour.

We set up in a pleasant campsite outside the city, up high on a hill that overlooked a pretty inlet with multiple islands, bays and rocky peninsulas.

The next day started out sunny and positive, then rapidly deteriorated into gloomy and overcast with showers. The bloke who runs the camp gave us the wrong times for the bus, so we spent another hour in the drizzle waiting for the bus to show up. Eventually it did arrive, and we were shocked to find that the public transport here in Norway, such as buses and ferries, are the only things in the country that are not outrageously expensive. That was satisfying!

We rode into Bergen and wandered about in the cold rain, visiting a variety of gardens and art galleries – some of which were amazing, such as the Edvard Munch exhibit – then explored the historical harbour of Bryggen. The old brightly painted timber architecture of the harbour was interesting and uniquely Norwegian, although not as fabulous as it could have been if the rain had deigned to ease up a little. A pleasant way to get out of the wet for an hour or so was to have a fancy (and expensive) traditional Norwegian meal, taken in a flash restaurant that was recommended to us by a lady in a gallery. Georgie’s pickled herring was, shall we say, interesting?

Apparently, we are told, Southern Europe is in the grip of a heat wave, but not here in Norway, and we can attest to that. Thirteen degrees is a long way from hot in our books! When we returned to our campervan (or bobil as they call them here in Norway) Rod had to work out how to get the internal heating blowing to burn the chill from Georgie’s bones. Soon we were roasting at a delicious 29 degrees. Very civilised.

In the morning we headed further south, past Bergen and on to the fjord country that eventually leads toward the Swedish border. The weather was kind to us and showed that bright shiny yellow thing in the sky, and warmed up enough for Rod to briefly don some shorts and sandals. But only briefly.

One enormous lake we drove past was dominated by a huge white glacier that graced the mountain tops nearby. The Folgefonna Glacier is the biggest we’ve seen so far, a massive expanse of ice that is spread out widely over the tops of a large range, that rears up on the opposite side of the water. It looked like a huge coating of icecream.

Norway is the land of tunnels. We have never experienced anything like it before. The terrain of Western Norway is so steep, rugged and rocky that carving roads into the surface is extremely difficult, so instead they tend to just bore straight through the mountains. The tunnels are so frequent and sometimes so long that we began to feel a little cheated of the views. All those gorgeous mountains, waterfalls, lakes and fjords were hidden behind long, tedious rock walls. You wouldn’t want to suffer from claustrophobia in this part of the world. We even came across two enormous underground caverns with round-abouts in them, roads going off in multiple directions! Goodness me!

There are so many waterfalls here that we have stopped exclaiming “Look! A waterfall!” Nearly every little crease in the steep hills has some sort of cascade tumbling down it. It has to be a pretty stupendous show before it draws comment from us now.

We awoke to more rain after spending a night free camping high on a mountain overlooking a fjord. The weather started out miserable, but by lunchtime it had cleared, and the Sun graced us with its presence as we drove up high over a couple of mountain passes, well above the tree line. It was gorgeous. Ice patches on the high mountains shone in the sunlight, and meltwater pulsed over the rocks below them.

The roads were narrow and winding, and unfortunately the tunnels plentiful, but the views between the tunnels was spectacular at every turn. There were a couple of very narrow tunnels that nearly gave both of us heart attacks though, as huge trucks came belting toward our big van, taking up more than their share of half the road. In the dark of an unlit tunnel with the glare of their headlights in our eyes and the rock wall mere centimetres to the side, both our hearts took a terrible beating. After those scares we needed to stop for a breather and wait for our pulses to die down before being able to progress any further.

We free camped very high on top of one of the many mountain passes (I’m losing track of which one, there have been so many) and woke to an absolutely clear and frozen morning. Nary a cloud in the sky and a strong frigid wind straight off the ice caps that surrounded us. Perhaps foolishly (at least adventurously) Rod took himself off for a wander over that freezing landscape and investigated multiple tarns, meltwater streams and remnant ice. It was a wonderful walk, but was tough on his ageing skeletal structure – he paid for it for some hours following. The lure of those alien landscapes is very strong.

Driving down to closer to sea level later in the day, the weather warmed up enough for us to peel off jumpers and put on sandals. Maybe Europe’s heat wave is starting to head North at last?

We hope to be back in Sweden in a day or two, before catching a ferry across to Poland. That is to be the next leg, the final month, of this Grand Adventure.

Click the pictures to enlarge

Very Norwegian! The architecture, fjords, rain and water drops on the camera lens

More fjords

On the way up a mountain range

Winding roads

More winding roads, mountains and waterfalls

High mountain tarn with a furry building

Water everywhere

Underground round-about

Rainy Bryggen harbour in Bergen

Waterfalls and mountains. See the farms in the valley?

Fjord panorama

Rainy fjord

Fjord with icecaps and glaciers surrounding it

More of the same

Still more

A high freshwater lake

Cute little house on a tiny island

Pounding water

A high mountain pass

Way above the tree line. The road gives a bit of scale

Morning walk

More morning walk in the absolute chill

Seaside camping at Horten

We left the paid campsite at Sweden’s Borenberg after emptying the dunny cartridge, posting a blog, and filling our water tank. Then we felt ready to do free camping for a couple of nights. We drove through vast stretches of forests and past countless lakes, everything from enormous expanses of water to ponds so small that they didn’t show on our maps, all the time wondering “How can the ground here hold so much water?”

Nearing the middle of the day we stopped for fika at one of the lakes. Fika is a Swedish tradition that we have embraced: coffee and bun (usually cinnamon bun), and would like to continue for the rest of our lives, if indeed our waists will allow. Our fika stop was at a pretty place where we chatted with a lovely young brother and sister who had been swimming (brrrrrr) and hand-caught a couple of freshwater crayfish. They seemed very pleased to meet some people from Australia.

As the day began to ebb we endured 17 kilometres of a potholed dirt road – thanks google maps! – as we followed a ‘wild camping’ internet map link to something that turned out was not even there anyway. Instead we found pine forests with fields of deep spongy moss, thick clumps of soft branching reindeer lichens, wild blueberries, wild strawberries, wild raspberries, and lingonberries growing in the shadows of the trees. A veritable bonanza of wild berries! Unfortunately it was also inhabited by countless mosquitoes and a few flies, the first Arctic mosquito infestation that we have encountered. We pulled up on a quiet forest trail and had a very peaceful night. Luckily it is quite cold here in Sweden, so it was tolerable having all the van doors and windows shut to ward off the mosquitoes.

Prior to arriving in this part of the world we had been very happy purchasing and consuming many punnets of what the Swedish call ‘American Blueberries’. But now, of course, we just eat the plentiful wild ones. They may be smaller, but they are just as tasty, if not more so. Plus the price is right! Needless to say, we filled a box with them before departing that camp spot. They go great with yoghurt for breakfast!

The Norwegian border was crossed without incident, and although we had our passports at hand we just breezed through without stopping, just like at the Danish and Swedish borders. Not far over that border is a motorcycle museum that Rod was quite excited about, but sadly it was inexplicably closed on a Monday. Possibly they were taking a few hours off as a middle of the day break, like so many businesses do in this part of the world.

One of our first tasks was to find an ATM to withdraw some Norwegian Krona, so we wandered about a shopping centre in Kongsvinger. We did notice punnets of wild blueberries for sale in the shop, as well as the larger commercial ‘American Blueberries’, but we still had heaps that we had picked ourselves back in the van’s fridge. Then we headed off vaguely in the direction of the west coast where all the fjords are.

The rain absolutely bucketed down and the temperatures were decidedly chilly as we drove carefully alongside the turbulent and fast running Glomma River. There were a few camp sites next to the riverbank, but Rod was cautious of potential flooding, so we pushed on. Eventually we came across a hilltop bush track leading off into a forest near a village called Mogreima, and after following it for a short while into the woods we found a level spot to park. The rain eased and Rod strolled off and found a bounty of delicious wild raspberries – with no prickles – to pick. So begins our Norwegian adventures.

The rain and blustery wind continued all night, so we took our time about getting started the next day. But first, of course, we had to pick a box of fresh wild raspberries to take with us as soon as the weather let up.

The road took us winding through lots of flat and undulating wheat and potato crop country, not the most exciting stuff, which extended on and on. The small towns we passed through were not all that interesting or inspiring either, the architecture tended to have a 60s feel about it, and was not terribly exciting in any way. We began to feel that Norway, with its grey skies, mundane architecture and cold blustery wind was not really what we had expected. There were lakes, but nothing quite as interesting as we had experienced in Sweden.

Then we drove past the enormous Lake Mjosa and headed slowly up into the mountains. That’s when the scenery began to change. Now this is more like it! We do like the uppy-downy bits! As soon as it became more heavily forested and interesting we moved off the fast road and headed down a lesser road into a valley that held a lake called Randsfjorden. On the way down the mountain we espied our first moose! Yay! That was exciting! Suddenly we had much more positive feelings about Norway.

Eventually we camped in a quiet van park with a washing machine, mainly for the purpose of servicing our collection of grotty clothes. Sometimes domesticity wins over the desire for wilderness camping. Unfortunately the single washing machine and dryer had a long queue, and Georgie persisted until 2:00 am getting everything washed and dried. A heroic effort.

Prior to that we had been suffering a shortage of puppy cuddles for a couple of days. But then we met a gorgeous cuddly six month old fluffy puppy, who was just so happy and got the zoomies all around us. That made us laugh. All was right with the world again.

The next morning we proceeded further northwest and gained even more altitude. The architecture of the houses began to become more traditional Norwegian styled, and just that much more attractive to our eyes. The general ambience of the country was improving.

Stopping by a remote lake somewhere in the mountains Rod left Georgie to try and catch up on her missed sleep, and wandered off into the Norwegian woods. Moose poo and hoof prints were seen, but no owners of the aforesaid traces were spotted. However, a veritable feast of wild raspberries was undertaken whilst out amongst the trees and mosses. There were blueberries and lingonberries too, but the raspberries – this time the prickly type – were an absolute delight.

Moving on again, we played the Beatles ‘Norwegian Wood’ on the stereo as we wove through enormous valleys with steep cliffs and over high mountain passes. After following alongside a massive glacial lake called Slidrefjorden on narrow, slow winding roads, we became excited when we espied white stuff on top of the high mountains, far in the distance. Yes, the mountains were becoming even MORE uppy-downy! Plentiful impressive waterfalls gushed down the sides of steep mountains as we neared the high peaks that still retained snow and ice, even this late in the season. Things were getting really exciting!

Eventually we found a tiny back road and discovered a fabulous site to set up camp with no one else around. Perched high on a rocky escarpment overlooking a mountain lake called Vangsmjose, with multiple huge waterfalls tumbling down around us. We relaxed for the evening with white icy glaciers shining in the distance, a huge clear glacial lake below, and sheer rock faces towering above us, all striped with glorious waterfalls. We were in heaven, satisfied that we had found the Norway we’d been looking for. A rainbow graced us with its presence for over an hour, as sunsets are a long, drawn out experience when this close to the Arctic.

On his morning stroll Rod found edible roebuck berries. That’s a new one for him.

Kongevegen was the mountain pass that took us to 950 metres above sea level before dipping down intro steep river gorges. Mountains towered above us, reaching over two kilometres high and were still dotted with ice left over from last winter. The main road was laced with multiple tunnels, which we studiously ignored, preferring instead to take the older winding scenic road through spectacular narrow gorges with sheer cliffs towering above us. Hundreds of amazing waterfalls tumbled down in frothing white beauty. Luckily, very few vehicles chose to travel the narrow winding road, so we rarely encountered any other cars or trucks.

Eventually we were forced to take a 25 kilometre long tunnel through the mountain to Flam, where we have planned to go on the famous Flamsbana Railway. Twenty five kilometres of dark tunnel at 80 kph is a very boring and tiresome journey, however amazing an engineering feat it had been to construct it. We were very glad to get out the other side!

Our sleep in the mountains near Flam was rudely interrupted around midnight by a crazy man who banged on our windows and yelled at us. We had been camped near to the road down a quiet valley side road, but we quickly packed up and moved up the valley to where lots of other campervans were parked. Safety in numbers!

The next day we wandered down into the idyllic village of Undredal on the shores of the fjord called Aurlandsfjord. It is such a pretty green place surrounded by fantastic high cliffs that are coated in the ever present streaks of high waterfalls. It is a very small community in a stunning position. We spent much of that day driving around other narrow fjord-side roads to discover more tiny villages.

That afternoon we rode the Flam train up into the mountains, something that had been recommended broadly, and touted as Europe’s most beautiful train ride. No doubt about it, the views were breathtaking and the whole construction of the railway was a feat of incredible ingenuity and endurance. The weather was rainy and grey, so the photos didn’t really turn out that well, unfortunately.

That whole region had received so much rain just before our arrival (and quite a bit during it) that there was water absolutely everywhere. Streams plummeting off high cliffs, and sometimes almost disappearing in veils of spray as the wind blew it sideways. The wind can howl around those vertical clifftops at an incredible pace.

The following day saw us boarding a fjord cruise to explore that scenic wonder. Despite the freezing cold wind and sometimes icy spattering of rain we found this to be the ultimate experience. We arrived at the boat early and secured a good spot at the railing and enjoyed it so much. That cruise was even better that the Flam railway. Selecting just a few photos to post on this blog was very difficult.

An unusual thing we noticed, and had to comment on, was a herd of Scottish Highland Hairy Coos were grazing in a paddock in Flam! A bit out of place!

Having had enough of the crowds of tourists we tootled off in our campervan to explore more of this region’s scenic wonders, enduring the rain that kept coming and going. Occasionally the precipitation would become fairly heavy, but then it would clear to allow the astounding views to be absorbed by our grateful souls. Our driving took us up over a high mountain pass of Vikafjell, way up above the tree line to an area dotted with remnant ice, ski huts and glacial tarns, then down to the much wider section of the fjord.

The car ferry from Vangsnes across the water to Dragsnik cost less than a cup of coffee and took us to another dramatic shore that we slowly trundled around, oohing and ahhing as we drove. We stopped regularly to take photos and appreciate the grandeur and waterfalls. This section of the fjord is not quite as narrow as the Flam section, and has more farming land available at the bases of the cliffs, but is every bit as beautiful and stunning.

Click pics to enlarge

Reindeer lichen, moss, blueberries, lingonberries, strawberries, raspberries, and pine forests

Delicious wild raspberries

At last! We found Norway!

Rainbow over our wild campsite at Vangsmjose

From our campsite you can see ice on the mountains in the far distance

Mossy waterfalls everywhere!

Mossy forests

950 m above sea level on the Kongevegen pass

The architecture became more Norwegian

Winding mountain roads

Very old bridge dated 1863, built with no mortar

More winding mountain roads

Even more, with our campervan parked

So much water everywhere

Fjord town of Undredal

The fjord from Undredal

Winding mountain roads alongside fjords

More of the same

Water everywhere

The fjord cruise begins

Waterfalls being blown away

The winding road up the Voss mountain pass of Vikafjell. Look at the size of the waterfall next to the zig zag road!

After crossing the ferry from Vangsnes to Dragsvik

Our lovely hosts in Skurup were very generous and showed us all around the region, including Smygehuk, the most southern point of Sweden. They took us to many beautiful coastal places like Stenshuvud, and took us for wanders in gorgeous forests, and around an ancient monument. We visited Svaneholm Castle with its amazing museum and had a long stroll through the forest that surrounds its duck- and swan-filled dam. The castle at one time belonged to Rutger Macklean, a good man who reformed rural society, educating children and providing land for the poor.

We ate a bounty of fresh fruit and vegetables from our host’s garden, and left there with our tiny fridge crammed with yummy zucchini and cucumber. They also gave us a box full of red, white, and blackcurrants to snack on whilst driving.

They introduced us to many delicious traditional Swedish meals, so many new and different flavours that our taste buds were in ecstasy. We can confidently say that we are now big fans of Swedish cuisine. The fabulous smoked salmon was heavenly! One of Rod’s favourites was an egg and potato flour cake, topped with bacon and stewed lingonberries.

Lingonberries are a tasty native fruit that tends to be eaten, cooked into a jam, with multiple different meals, and they are absolutely delicious. There was no doubt about it, we had to buy a jar for our campervan to eat along the way.

Remember: When In Europe, Don’t Miss Skurup!

Travelling north from Skurup we followed the coast, keeping an eye out for suitable free camping spots. Although it is very illegal to free camp in Denmark, that is not the case in Sweden. Yay, how civilised Sweden is!

Georgie’s magic wand again found us a fabulous out-of-the-way camp place near Kofsa down a long forested track, where we nestled into a stunningly beautiful woodland that hugs the rocky coastline. Such a pretty and quiet spot! And free too! There were a few other campers in tents scattered about the forest, but none near where we parked. It was so very peaceful.

The shoreline was comprised mainly of large granite boulders, with lots of little rocky islands dotted just off shore. A variety of different types forest trees grew right down to the water’s edge, with mosses, lichens and ferns scrambling over the rounded boulders. The small waves in the sheltered cove licked gently against the bare rocks along the waterline.

As he took his delightful stroll through the bushland early in the morning, Rod marvelled at the tangled undergrowth beneath the trees, all the time feasting on the wild blueberries that grew in thick stands. He brought a handful of these delicious treats back to his slumbering ladylove. We do like a bit of sweet bush tucker!

That morning was spent gathering and filling an old yoghurt container with delicious fresh wild blueberries for snacking on whilst on the road, before packing up and heading off further north-west and onwards towards the Norwegian border.

We stopped in at the city of Kalmar to investigate the Kalmar Slott (castle). And a very groovy Slott it was indeed! But before arriving at the Slott we wandered through a beautiful park with ancient trees, some of which were planted in the 1700s. A small walk through an art gallery then ensued, looking at somewhat disturbing visualisations of a woman who had become pregnant whilst involuntarily committed to a psychiatric institution.

There was also an exhibition of paper art installations which were less confronting, but just a bit confusing. Was it really art?

Finally we walked up to the Slott, but baulked at the admission price, preferring to wander back through the no-charge gardens and marvel at the flowers and impressive ancient trees. Georgie felt that she had finally found Enid Blyton’s Faraway Tree, and spent some time hugging the beautiful thing. That made it all worth it.

Eventually Georgie located another wild camping place (no charge!) for us, near to a small village called Getterum. It was well out in the woods, down a long gravel road, a great place to spend the night with no screaming kids, no drunken parties, and no traffic. As they say in the shops in Denmark and Sweden: Perfect! This time our campsite was much further inland, on the banks of a freshwater lake surrounded by forest. There was only one other camper, a quiet cyclist who had set up a tent on the other side of the lake.

Rod’s morning walk included more wild blueberry foraging, and the discovery of a palatable tasting red berry, that he was not brave enough to consume without knowing what it was. There was some suspicion that it might have been the famous lingonberry, and upon returning to the now awake Georgie, a quick internet search revealed that yes, indeed, that’s exactly what it was! How exciting.

The boreal forests of this region grow on rocky granite soils, with many different types of mosses and lichens coating the ground and rocks. The trees are predominantly evergreen pines, with a smattering of poplars, beech and oak. Nothing grows terribly tall due to the thin soil, except in the valleys where deeper soil has gathered. Due to the predominance of large boulders this not good agricultural land, and is used by humans for mainly timber cutting. The deer and moose use it for grazing.

Our travels took us further north-west in the direction of Norway, and saw us driving down many small roads and investigating lots of pretty lakes along the way. One gorgeous bumpy road (and we use the term ‘road’ lightly) took us through stunning mossy forests where the spongy mossy ground was covered in blueberry, lingonberry and delicious wild raspberry bushes. Yum! We stopped on that rough track and feasted away. The juicy raspberries were the most delicious. We have come across multiple types of wild raspberry in our travels.

We did pop in briefly to Huskvarna, the home of those fabulous world famous motorcycles (Husqvarnas), just to photograph the waterfall beside the factory and museum.

After driving alongside the huge Lake Vattern for a very long way, we eventually stopped at a van park at Borensberg on the shores of Lake Boren at about 7 pm. We were lucky to get in as there were only two sites left in the whole town of four different van parks. This is the very end of the school holidays in Sweden, and things will become much quieter from here on, we are told.

The reason we didn’t free camp is that we needed to empty our toilet cartridge, fill our drinking water tank, use wi-fi to post this blog, and let Georgie have a proper shower. We will be happy to free camp for the next couple of nights though.

Click the photos to enlarge

Svaneholm Castle

Free camping at Kofsa

Kofsa again

Still Kofsa

Again Kofsa. Note the blueberry bushes at the bottom left corner of the photo

The groovy Slott at Kalmar

Hundreds of years old Faraway Tree at Kalmar

Inside the Faraway Tree

Another ancient tree at Kalmar, planted in 1770

Free camping at Getterum

Spongy moss coated rocks of the boreal forests of Getterum

Another pretty lake we stopped at along the way

Husqvarna Falls at Huskvarna