Mon, 21 Jul 2003

author Tim	location Elvenga Camping, Verne, Buskerud, Norge
posted 20:43 CEST	section Europe2002/Europe/Sverige/Sverige 1 ( all photos )

North Into Norway ( No photos )
Awaking reasonably early due to our twenty metre or so proximity to the motorway, we noted that the carpark we had chosen was almost totally full of people doing the same. It seems the whole area was full, hope that doesn't happen too often.
At least we managed to be on the road for the earliest time in recent memory, and as such we decided to head inland to see what the scenery of this place was all about. Wow, were we blown away.
Turning off at Skee to take the back way across the border, we were suprised at how quickly the trees and lakes surrounded us. This was quite a change from the flat farmed landscapes which dominated the sides of the motorway thus far. The great views means that whoever is driving has the bad job - the other can look around and take photos at their leisure.
In this similar fashion, we drove across the small back-road border into Norge (Norway). Yes, that's another different country. We're going to stick to this one for a little while now, promise.

author Tim	location The E6 North of Tanumshede, Götaland, Sverige
posted 22:02 CEST	section Europe2002/Europe/Sverige/Sverige 1 ( all photos )

Lund, Driving North ( 16 photos )
Not much to report from today - we awoke reasonably early and went for a swim down at the beach. We didn't want to get in due to the chilly nature of the place, but eventually I splashed Liz a lot and we had to get in from there.
Our aim was simple - drive a long way North. First stop was for a look around the town of Lund. We grabbed some supplies and brunch before wandering over to the main attraction - the cathederal with its very interesting astronomical clock, which did its animated thing at 1pm. Plenty of people were there to see this happen, basically consisting of a few animated figures of the three kings start their journey to the child Jesus.
By now, the urge to hit the road proper was with us, and so we headed futher north, stopping for a journey down to Mölle on Kullen Head to look at the rocks at the end. They turned out to be quite a hike from the road, so we let our telephoto lenses do the work, before munching on an ice cream (weather is still very hot, about twenty-four degrees each day and no clouds, non-stop sun all day), deciding not to swim on the beach that wasn't a beach, and driving back to the motorway.
We covered a lot of distance (that's going to become common with the huge spaces between everything here - kind of like Australia, actually), stopping again for fuel outside Göteborg (Gothenburg).
By late afternoon, it was time for a caravan park, so we attempted to find one around the Grebbestad area. However, of the four we tried, all were full - must be the good weather, and of course the school holidays.
As such, we are spending the night in a road-side stop off the E6, where there are lots of others doing the same (there exists a concepts of Right of Free Access here, meaning you can stay wherever you want within reason), so we feel fairly safe. Saving some money helps as well.
As a bonus, it seems that so far Scandinavia is proving to be not nearly as expensive as we had braced ourselves for. Sweden especially is fine, at least as far as we can tell as we haven't seen any current exchange rates. Will have to find some when we arrive in Oslo, Norway tomorrow morning to look for an Internet cafe.

author Tim	location Malmö, Skåne, Sverige
posted 22:30 CEST	section Europe2002/Europe/Sverige/Sverige 1 ( all photos )

Around Malmö ( 4 photos )
(Continued from Danmark 1)
And so, we were heading for our third country in two days, Sverige, which most of us know as Sweden. Home to Volvos (seen plenty already), Ericsson, and of course the famous Swedish Chef, this one is going to be fun. This site is supposed to have lots of interesting information on the country, if you have time to read a bit more.
Continuing over the bridge, the signs suddenly changed colour, we needed to learn a new set of speed limits, and oh look, another currency. I really do appreciate just how much the Euro helps tourists out - it must have been a complete pain to change money at every border. Of all of Scandinavia, only Finland uses the Euro, the other countries use their own versions of the Krone - hence we now have Danish Krone and Sverige Krone, with more to come.
So, you can imagine our relief when arriving at the toll gate at the other side, we were able to pay in Euro, which we still have some of. Mind you, at once again the equivalent of about AUD $60, we aren't going to be making too many of these crossings.
We stopped just along the road at SkŒnegŒrden, a tourist office designed for people entering from Danmark, which is exactly what we were doing. A quick look around and a coffee later, we had a destination in mind for the night's stop and to get our bearings in a foreign land - Sibbarps Camping, on the beach looking back at the bridge and København.
A much faster than yesterday check-in process completed, we were directed to a field and told to pick a spot. We did so against a tree, with views of the sunset behind the bridge in one direction and open green space on the other. Very nice indeed.
We wandered along the beach for the afternoon, and I was even brave enough to go in for a couple of swims up and down the beach. The water was chilly, but warmer than the last few times we have thought about jumping in. It turned out to be one of the most refreshing experiences in ages, and we are hoping to do it again tomorrow morning.
Dinner and a few photos of the bridge/tunnel and sunset later, bed is calling.

(customised)