The Departure
With a week between completing Stage 1 and my departure to Calais, I passed the time by preparing for the expedition North. I filled the van with an assortment of dried food including soup, beans, 3kgs of pasta, sauces, rice, porridge, coffee and 72 Weetabix. I hoped my supplies would last long enough to get through the expensive Nordic countries and insulate me from the weak pound…
Squirrelling away supplies (I had 5 of these boxes)
Goodbye Britain
Boarding at Dover
It was a pleasant crossing. A cool breeze took the edge off the heatwave sun and we even managed to get an outside table on the rear deck. It was from this position that I waved goodbye to Little Britain and said bonjour to mainland Europe.
Goodbye Britain!
The Low Countries
Disembarking in Calais at around midday CET, I was keen to make it as far as possible into Germany before sunset. With this goal in mind, we set off past Dunkirk then crossed into Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany. It was a pleasant journey through the Low Countries, observing the farmers hard at work and keeping an eye out for the all-important border signs. It felt great to be back in Europe.
Crossing borders
After a good 6 hours, it was time to find somewhere to stay. I chose Hamelin, a German town on the river Weser in Lower Saxony. Hamelin is best known for the tale of the Pied Piper, where the town’s rat-catcher turns kidnapper in an act of revenge against penny-pinching citizens. We popped into the town centre and visited the local Aldi for a couple of cold beers. Stocked up with essentials, I drove for another 20 minutes towards ‘The Suntal’ – a massif in the German Central Uplands…
Drone shot from The Suntal
Cooking in the dark
Exploring Denmark
The next day was a mammoth driving day. We had to cover 348 km through Germany to Puttgarden, grab a ferry to Rodby and drive up through Norway to the Swedish border.
View from the Puttgarden – Rodby ferry
We crossed The Faro Bridge on our way to The Island of Mon
Mons Klint is a 6km stretch of white chalk cliffs overlooking the Baltic Sea. Famous for it’s geological attraction, fossils emerge from the cliffs as they erode. We found a quiet place to camp, grabbed our cameras and went exploring. The views were absolutely stunning. The entire area is a designated Nature Reserve and full of wildlife. There are rare orchids and deer aplenty – we were shocked at how quiet it was. At times, we were the only people there.
Sunset views from the cliffs at Mons Klint
Hello Gothenburg!
The Beautiful walk along the cliffs
Morning exercise complete, the journey north continued and we eventually crossed the border into Sweden. 5 hours later, with 1566 km and 6 national borders under the belt, Gothenburg hove into sight.
2.5 days after leaving London, we were in position to kick-off Stage 2…
The road to Gothenburg