Week 4 – Saturday 3rd January – Saturday 10th January 2026

Temperatures back home in the UK are below freezing this week, with snow, wind, and rain, but it’s in the low to mid 30s here in Kuala Lumpur. However, that didn’t stop us both from getting nasty colds this week! There’s justice for you…!

Saturday 3rd January 2026

Today we are going to the jungle for a couple of nights. We have booked into a small place called The Sticks, which is just over an hour from the city, where we have booked a cabin by the river.

The one and a quarter hour taxi ride actually takes two and a quarter hours with terrible traffic jams and a motorway closure with no warning or diversion. The poor cab driver doesn’t know what to do. 

We eventually find the place and send the taxi driver off on his merry way with a hefty tip. To get to reception, it’s a 7-minute walk through the forest, which includes crossing a rope bridge over the river.

The reception is a lovely, open-air place with a dining room which has a relaxing atmosphere. We sign in and have a refreshing homemade barley drink. We are taken to our ‘tendok’, a cross between a tent and a cabin.

It’s a wooden frame with canvas sides, it has a very comfy, large bed and a small bathroom with toilet and shower. In this tendok, we also have direct private access to the river.

There are a few other cabins here, all nestled in the forest away from each other, but only 2 of them are occupied, one by a French family and one by a Chinese family, so it’s not very busy here. We explore the pathways and meet the friendly pets here, two dogs and two cats. 

Tonight is a ‘steamboat’ dinner, we have heard of these but never tried one. On our table in the dining room, there is a large pot on a burner with a tasty broth in it. We are brought many plates of raw chicken, fish, prawns, tofu, mushrooms, noodles and greens. The idea is to put a little at a time of the various ingredients, let it cook and eat, then repeat.

The broth gets richer and richer as you go on. You are given eggs to whisk in to thicken it. It’s a lot tastier than we thought it would be, and we enjoy a glass of red wine with it.

Afterwards, we play chess on the world’s most mismatched chess set. It’s a collection from about 5 sets with some pieces missing.

We manage with some difficulty (“Is that your pawn or mine?’). H wins twice. Del is complaining of a sore throat and we are both coughing.

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Sunday 4th January 2026

The river outside is very noisy here, but luckily, H brought plenty of earplugs for the night. We have a decent sleep. H sees a firefly fluttering around on its own in the dark room, its green glow slowly dancing around the room before gently disappearing.

We are up bright and reasonably early and set off for breakfast at 9. Del has a cooked breakfast, and H has continental. The food is included (as there are no restaurants nearby), and they provide lunch, afternoon tea and dinner too. So we will be well fed.

There are a couple of treks available in the nearby jungle. We don’t have good walking shoes, so we opt for the short 45-minute hike. The guide warns us what trees not to touch and confirms there are dangerous venomous snakes and scorpions (but they’re probably asleep).

He then gives us a walkie-talkie and asks us to radio in at 4 different checkpoints to make sure we’re ok.

Off we set, at first it’s easy, but soon it changes to steep banks, big plants and streams. It’s good fun, and we manage ok with only one fright when H  sees a snake head complete with a forked tongue, only to be relieved when it runs off on four legs; thankfully, it’s just a large gecko. 

Lunch is delicious with many dishes of tasty food, prawn curry, papaya salad with chicken and chilli, many vegetables and much more. A short nap back at the tendok (are you paying attention? What’s a tendok?) is needed after all that.

We are up and about, refreshed, and ready to go tubing on the river. You basically sit in an inflated truck inner tube, walk upriver a hundred metres, get in it and float down to the small waterfall near our hut. The river is very clear and fast-running. Del has checked with the staff that there are no leeches or other nasties. We’re informed there are crocodiles in the nearby lake, but they don’t like the river. Right.

The tubing is fun, we do the walk upstream and then float back, stopping just before a weir of rocks. We spend an hour doing this and nearly miss our next feeding opportunity. Besides, there is only so much excitement one can handle floating about in an old truck inner tube.

It’s afternoon tea, which means a banana fritter and French toast with coconut sauce. It’s only 2 hours until dinner! 

It’s a BBQ night tonight, and we are served an array of grilled meats, fish, and vegetables served on a huge banana leaf on our table. It’s fabulous, the food here is really quite good.

We finish off our wine from yesterday and then have a game of mismatched chess before an early night.

At around midnight, we hear a short loud noise like fireworks or gunshots very near our cabin, followed by another short burst 10 mins later. We don’t know what it is; it’s too short for fireworks. Could the electrics have shorted and exploded? H imagines all scenarios as she lies awake, while Del goes back to sleep.

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Monday 5th January 2026

We wake and make our way to breakfast. More strange noises are coming from outside; this time, machete chopping and chainsaws can be heard. During the night, a neighbour’s tree, a huge one, has fallen and snapped the nearby bamboo and damaged the roof of an unoccupied cabin near us just before the bridge crossing. Ah, that explains the noises in the night. The staff are hacking away at the bamboo to get to the fallen tree.

It’s quite a mess; it also blocks the only road out, so it needs to be cleared and the damaged day cabin repaired quickly.

We’re told this has never happened before. The neighbour doesn’t look after his boundary and has a lot of very tall trees on a steep bank, so they are not very happy.

We have breakfast and arrange transport to the nearest town with a station for 11am. We set off in a Toyota Hilux to ford the river that we tubed on yesterday, and then swap to a car for the trip to the station. 

We will get the train back today. It’s no quicker on paper, but at least it won’t be subject to traffic jams, and we’ll get to see more stuff along the way. The train takes just over an hour, and we are soon on the monorail home. 

We decide to try a GRAB delivery. Grab is very much like Uber Eats; we have never used Uber Eats at home, so we thought it might be a wheeze to give it a go. We find our favourite Japanese restaurant- the one with the train that serves the food to your table from last week, does Grab delivery, so it’s a Japanese dinner in.

To add to the authenticity of the dining experience, we have purchased a bottle of Sake from the supermarket to go with it. Delicious. We are both feeling a little under the weather tonight, with a lingering cough, and Del’s sore throat seems to be getting worse. 

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Tuesday 6th January 2026

We are both coughing this morning, and H feels very tired and a bit yuck. Del goes out on his own to Chinatown for a walk and to explore. He has a sneaky beef roti while he’s out and buys H some ‘treats’. 

Back at the ranch, H has been doing the ironing with a view of the Petronas Towers. Del comes back with her treats: 2 bags of dried spicy squid and a bag of Hawthorne flavoured sweets, yummy?

It’s back to normal on the work front. Del does a little bit of homework for some jobs coming up very soon, the first of which is in Portugal in a couple of weeks. H is still feeling a bit tired and just a bit not quite right.

Dinner tonight is in a nearby and popular coffee shop where we have some chicken curry and rice, helped along with a natural fruit juice or two, very nice.

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Wednesday 7th January 2026

Today, H wakes up feeling less tired and a bit more with it, so we go out to have a walk around the Pavilion Mall, now that the chaos of Christmas crowds has gone. It’s been stripped of its Christmas decorations, but now they are being replaced by Chinese New Year decorations.

This is still with about 5 weeks to go. As a reminder, Malls here in Malaysia are a big deal. They are nothing like the malls back home. They are centres not just for shopping and eating but for events. They have themed sections and are known as lifestyle malls.

It is nice to wander around without the big crowds, and we stumble into a nice Japanese restaurant in ‘Tokyo Street’ in the mall. We have a delicious set lunch. 

We have heard that it’s possible to walk from this mall along a covered air-conditioned walkway all the way to the Petronas Towers, which is 1.2 km away. It takes us a while to find the entrance to this, but once we do, it’s a good walk and leads us straight into the Suria Mall right under the Towers.

KL is a great city, but sometimes awkward to walk about due to ‘rustic’ pavements and infrequent road crossing opportunities; this walkway is just perfect. At the Petronas Towers, we see if we can go up them, but all the tickets are sold out for today. We buy them for tomorrow instead.

Once back in our local area, we try another escape room. We intend to try them all; one day, we might even become good at them. This one, Patient 13, is very creepy with a jump scare in it, which catches H unaware. We get out just in time with an extra hint from our game master.

No dinner tonight as we are still full from our Japanese lunch, just a glass of wine at the flat and a bit of Netflix, watching the sunset on the towers.

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Thursday 8th January 2026

We have our booked tickets for the Petronas Towers for 1 pm today, so we do the laundry, and Del goes to the gym, and then we hop in a cab to the towers.

We’ve been up them before, but we love the building, so we really enjoy it. While we are there, the windows are getting cleaned…

There are some new bits that have been added since our last visit, including a smart cafe where we share a slice of cake with some drinks, looking at the view before us. Fantastic…

Next, we visit the eco park, which is a forest in the middle of the city with canopy rope bridges and towers. There’s a warning sign of dangerous insects and animals, which, for some reason, worries H despite just having hiked through an actual jungle a few days ago.

It’s a nice walk, but the only creature we see is a squirrel. Del gets bitten all over his legs, though; the insects usually prefer H. 

We decide to eat in again tonight. We will get a takeaway as H is coughing a lot now, as is Del. We have a kitchen here, but it’s a bit basic for cookware, and we would need to buy too many storage cupboard ingredients to cook anything decent, so we only use the kitchen for breakfast. The food here is so cheap and so good, we’d be mad to try to cook dinner. Tonight it’s an Indian, while we watch a movie. Tonight we are watching the first of the Knives Out franchise. A good old-fashioned whodunit thriller.

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Friday 9th January 2026

H stays in this morning; she is not feeling great at all. A cough and lots of conjestion. Del still has a hard cough, but the sore throat has gone, so he manages to get out and explore the city. In our local mall, there is now a ‘meow fiesta’ setting up, which finishes on Sunday. There is always something going on in the malls..!

It’s a cat show and rehoming event, so we have to pop over to have a look. There are about 50 gorgeous cats and kittens all looking for homes. Dinner tonight is at a local dim sum place, which is delicious. 

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Saturday 10th January 2026

Despite having a good sleep, Hayley has woken up feeling much worse. It has been decided that she should really see a doctor, as none of the usual over the counter stuff is working. Del goes to the gym, cleans up, and we set off for the nearest doctor. There are a few dotted around the city, which are walk-in doctors and dispensaries. We find one just 10 minutes walk away and set off. There is no waiting. Hayley shows her passport, and she is seen 2 minutes later by a young doctor who listens to her chest and prescribes some antibiotics, some meds for clearing up the phlegm, and a bottle of cough mixture that Del might have a swig of. Total bill 13 quid.

The rest of the day is spent indoors, H nursing her cold, Del doing homework, and looking after H. We manage a short walk to the shops via the cat show in the mall, which now appears to be in full swing. It’s another warm day, and the humidity is building.

This month is the 270th birthday of Mozart, one of our favourite composers. There is an HD showing of the original film, Amadeus, screening at the Philharmonic concert hall under the Petrona Towers, where the soundtrack is being played by a full orchestra and choir. It’s expensive, but it’s an opportunity we cannot miss.

The film, starring Tom Hulce, is now 42 years old…! That is scary…! We leave just before 7 pm, H is drugged up and feeling a little better as the drugs start to soothe her symptoms.

The concert hall is directly under the wonderful Petronas towers and is beautiful inside.

We have some good seats, and we get settled in. The film is long, three hours. The lights go down, and the orchestra strikes up. Wow! This is not a new thing: orchestras playing the soundtrack live to a movie. It is very clever how it’s done.

The conductor has a monitor that shows the film as we watch it, but overlayed on his version is a timecode, a series of coloured bars that sweep across, counting him in and out of each section of music, along with a series of white flashes that give him the time signature. It’s an incredibly tricky thing to coordinate, especially in a film like Amadeus, which has dancing and close-ups of instruments. Here is a link to a 4-minute video that provides a better explanation of how it’s done. The video is for the film Raiders of the Lost Ark.

It is a truly wonderful night. The whole thing is so smooth and well done; hearing it live gives us goosebumps. It’s amazing.

As we exit the concert hall at ground level to the outside world, Del looks up and sees the towers, immense and lit up white; the sight is jaw-dropping.

As we walk further, the towers look more and more imposing, lit up in pure white, making them look like glass towers.

In all, an unforgettable evening. H’s drugs are wearing off as we get back home to have a small snack, more drugs and bed. Del is still humming tunes from the film.

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Well, that’s another Christmas over and done with. Was it really worth all the fuss…? We are settled into our new home in Kuala Lumpur, where we celebrated Christmas with a mix of the traditional and the local Malay way. We are a day early this week with our blog as we are off to “the jungle” for two nights, where we are told there is no decent mobile or wifi connection to the outside world. Blimey, how will we manage?

Sunday 28th December 2025

After a relaxed morning, we go out for a walk and try find some food. We are planning to have a very early dinner today and visit a nearby coffee shop. Coffee shops here in Malaysia are nothing like home; they serve coffee but also a full selection of meals. We have a Thai tofu starter. Del has a Laksa (coconut noodle soup), and H has squid and noodles!

After our feast, we take a walk to the grassed rooftop of our local mall that has a small concert stage with lighting and sound, etc. There is always something going on here, and today is no exception, as we watch a very strange show of young Japanese girls singing and dancing, watched by nearly all adult men who know all the dance moves. Very odd. Even Del knew them!!

We walk back to the flat only to stumble across 3 large yellow Pikachus marching along to a guy with a whistle.

Pikachu is very popular here in Asia, and he is everywhere. All the kids have t-shirts and bags with him on them. There is always something going on here, but sometimes, to us, some of it just seems so random. It’s an interesting place, this Asia. 

Once it gets dark, we get a cab to the river that winds its way through the city. They pump mist onto it and light it up at night.

It looks eerily impressive. We then hop over to the Petronas Towers and KLCC park on the metro and arrive in time to see a colourful fountain display. The two towers look impressive behind a huge Christmas tree, gleaming silver against the black sky.

It’s gone 9 pm, and the mall is still mega busy; we are dodging people trying to walk in a straight line. This place just never seems to stop.

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Monday 29th December 2025

We go to the gym this morning and then have a swim in the other pool here, which is lovely. Once changed, we visit the butterfly park, a large, lush, and beautifully landscaped area where butterflies flutter around. A nice place to get away from the noise of the city.

They’re not as brightly coloured as we thought they would be. Asian butterflies are mostly brown with dashes of colour on them. They have an interesting indoor display here, complete with a tank of many nasty-looking native scorpions. 

There is a Middle Eastern restaurant in town that is famous for its shawarma kebabs, not something H has ever really fancied, but the reviews are good, and there is always a queue of about 1.5 hours at night. We decide at 3 pm to have an early dinner and beat the queues; however, when we arrive we still have to queue for 15 mins. This is madness; it better be good!

Once inside the pretty dining room (there are 4 floors of dining areas here). We have the famous shawarma and a traditional dessert. The food is tasty, but we really can’t see what all the fuss is about. We should know better, as we would normally disregard any restaurant with a queue as just hype. 

We’ve booked another escape game at a different place, this one involves a prison cell (again), crawling through tunnels and an electric chair. It’s very good, and we manage to escape with only a couple of hints needed. In fact, it’s so good we will come back and do another one tomorrow.

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Tuesday 30th December 2025

We enjoyed yesterday’s escape room so much that we start the day with another one, and why not, as they are a fraction of the cost of UK ones. This next one is a bit harder, and we have to sign a waiver for the physical aspects(!?). It is based around a serial killer’s barber shop. We think we’ve cracked it, only to find out there’s another room to go and we’ve run out of time. Oh dear.

We go for lunch at the Capitol cafe again and have their Nasi Lemak, which is delicious. Del tries a cup of local ‘cham’, which is a mix of tea and coffee with condensed milk.

An odd mix, but Del thinks it’s quite nice. Whilst we are enjoying this, it has started to rain heavily, so next we jump on the metro and go to another immense mall – the TRX. It’s staggeringly big with a whole floor of just designer and high-end shops. They also have a very impressive Apple shop. How can there be this many malls, and who is spending all this money?

We get back, and it’s Hayley’s turn to do the ironing with a view of the Towers…

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Wednesday 31st December 2025

We get up late and set off for the gym. H has decided it’s time to try out the rollercoaster near our flat, so we walk over to the mall opposite and pay the small amount to get into the theme park.

It’s amazing how they’ve squeezed so much stuff into part of a shopping mall. H goes on the coaster twice; it’s a good layout, but a bit rough and twice is all she can do. It’s not a bad coaster at all and certainly one of the better indoor coasters.

By now we are both hungry and go to a sushi restaurant, a chain, which we’ve been to before on past trips to Japan. The food is ordered on your phone and delivered on a ‘train’, which makes us grin.

We go mad and have a massive sushi feast, we eat half the sea… It’s delicious, though.

We head back. The mall below us is ramping up for the new year with live bands on the roof. We walk down there and check it out. It’s very good, but we leave as it starts to get very crowded; besides, we have our own view and goodies to bring in the new year, and we will see and hear the bands playing below us anyway.

We walk back through a games arcade. There are games in here that we don’t even understand. One looks like a washing machine, but it’s a music video game called Maimai. Watching the kids play is mesmerising.

We feel a bit old, or rather, we’ve been dropped 50 years into the future. Some of these games require super-fast reactions and attention, whilst having your brain bombarded with sound and colour. Crazy.

Back in the flat, we open our Laurent Perrier champagne that we have bought for tonight. The Petronas towers and other buildings are all lit up, and we await midnight.

Just before the big hour, a mist descends, and visibility drops, but the fireworks are all around us. We can see Merdeka 118, the second-tallest building in the world, clearly, as it is right next to our apartment block, and it looks fantastic. There’s even a drone show that we can just about see. It’s fabulous, we love it.

Happy New Year to all of you!

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Thursday 1st January 2026

After going to bed late, past 2 am at least, we get up quite late and have a relaxed day in. Here’s something for breakfast. A dragon fruit with rambutans. Very nice.

Tonight we have booked into a very special restaurant nearby, but first there is the matter of the ‘world dragon and lion dance extravaganza’ happening just below us on the roof of the mall. There are 40 lion dance troupes with associated noisy drums and cymbals.

We go down and watch them for a while. It’s busy and hard to see what’s going on, but the heat and humidity beat us, and we return to the flat to get ready for dinner. 

Tonight we have booked at ‘dining in the dark’, a restaurant where the dining room is pitch black. The concept has been around for a while – by having no vision, it enhances your other senses and enjoyment of the food. We arrive at 6:30pm, have a welcome drink and are blindfolded and given a wooden shapes puzzle to get us ready for the experience, already this is harder than we imagined.

After this, we have our phones and any light-emitting devices locked up and place our hands on the shoulders of the blind waiter who leads us into the dining room. It is indeed pitch black, and we are guided into our seats and told where our drinks and cutlery are. It is rare to be in an absolute blackout, there is usually a chink of light somewhere. The darkness here is very unnerving.

Del has a bit of a panic and feels a little overwhelmed and nauseous, but this soon passes. It is the weirdest and strangest experience. Our waiter, AK, is visually impaired, as are all of the waiters here. How he manages to move around in the dark and serve us food and drink so efficiently and professionally staggers us! The food is placed before us, 4 courses, each of multiple dishes, and we are left to work out what we are eating. It’s all delicious, and we will find out what we have eaten afterwards. We think we have identified quite a few flavours.

We make it through the evening without knocking anything over or spilling our meals down us. Outside, we have the menu revealed to us, we are for the most part right, but one of the starters that we thought was definitely seaweed was actually jellyfish!

We highly recommend the experience if you ever get the chance to do a ‘dine in the dark’ evening, an unforgettable night and most enjoyable. 

We walk to the nearby Bukit Bintang Centre, where it’s chaos. This is the centre of Kuala Lumpur nightlife, it’s noisy, bright, and the smell of all the different foods is just incredible.

There are a few buskers, but it’s not just someone with a guitar going “la la la…”, but full band set-ups on a street corner. We found a heavy metal band, led by a muslim lady, they really rocked. What a din…, they drew quite a crowd. Great fun to watch.

There were ladies dressed in traditional Chinese dress doing a ‘thing‘, promptly followed by a marching band with bagpipes. Well, why not…? There is something for everyone here… and not a policeman or ‘official‘ in a hi-viz vest in sight. Who needs them? Leave us alone.

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Friday 2nd January 2026

Today, we are visiting a place called Immersify, which is described as a “multimedia art gallery, and it just so happens to be in the building next door. It’s made up of 14 rooms of projections, props and clever lighting, but on a massive scale. Some make us a bit giddy, and there are some beautiful landscapes. There is one attraction where you can decorate your own animal on a piece of paper, scan it and have it appear within seconds, swimming or walking past you on a huge screen.

It’s very interesting and entertaining, and takes about an hour. We can’t help but notice the contrast between last night’s dinner with no vision and today’s feast of colour for the eyes.

 We have a light lunch in the mall at a Chinese restaurant recommended in the Michelin guide. The lunch is 3 courses with dim sum and water for £8 for two! It’s not bad, but we both agree to having had better.

We head back to the flat, and later on, we’re going to yet another escape room. This time, we are going for an easier one, after failing so badly on the last one. This one involves creepy clowns (are there any other types?) It’s a wonder we don’t have nightmares. 

We do quite well at this game and escape with 5 mins to spare! Proud of ourselves, we go for a beer nearby. This is a craft beer bar run by an Irishman. H has an IPA, and Del has a chocolate orange tiramisu stout (really), which tastes just like it sounds and is a bit odd. We try a Malaysian IPA and share a bagel as we are peckish now. It’s a nice location with an unobstructed view of the second-tallest building in the world, the Merdeka 118.

It turns out to be a rather expensive evening. Malaysia has the second-highest alcohol tax in the world, which they call a sin tax, and every penny goes to the health service. You can go to a hospital here, and all you have to pay is 1 ringgit or 20p! or so we are told.

We call it a night as H is getting bitten by mosquitoes. Don’t know how she’s going to cope tomorrow in the jungle. 

Happy New Year to all of you!

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Our first week away got off to a great start, with cantilevered swimming pools, death-defying walks around the tops of buildings, and more: one week down, 11 to go. We should start settling into a bit of a routine now…?

This week we are flying to Kuala Lumpur, where we begin a 4 week stay.

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Week 2 – Sunday 21st December – Saturday 27th December 2025

Sunday 21st December 2025

After a bad night’s sleep, H wakes up with a cold. A couple of days before, Del had been fighting one off for a few days, but now H has fallen victim to it. She stays in bed and tries to sleep while Del goes out for breakfast. He goes to the coffee shop around the corner, one we have already been to, and he has another Sandos.

By lunchtime, H is feeling a little less tired, so we go to a nearby Nasi Kandar vendor. Nasi Kandar is a local dish of fried chicken on rice with okra and lashings of spicy sauce on top. There is a big queue of locals, A good sign, and we can see why. It’s delicious.

We take it easy today and sit by the pool, reading. For dinner tonight, we start with some satay chicken near our hotel, which is the best ever; a fantastic peanut sauce with big chunks of onion. We move on to a street food area to have a highly rated Char Kway Teow, a stir-fry dish of noodles and prawns.

We walk around the dozens of pretty streets afterwards, looking at all the cute art galleries and bars. 

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Monday 22nd December 2025

Today it’s Del’s birthday. To save weight, he had his gifts before we left, so he just has his cards to open. (Thanks to all of you for your cards and best wishes…). We go out for breakfast to a place recommended by the hotel and have a light breakfast of kaya, a rich coconut-flavour spread popular in Malaysia, toast and eggs.

While walking around after breakfast number 1, we find a place that does roti, we’ve been trying to find this for a while, so we decide to go in.

Del goes a bit mad and has roti and chicken curry, H just has roti with an egg. The place is full of locals, we are the only ‘westerners’, and it’s a bit rustic, shall we say, but the food is delicious. The indian guy who runs it is always grinning. He spends a bit of time with us, grinning and chatting away. Nice chap.

After breakfast number 2, we wander around taking in the sights and the street art that the area is famous for. Georgetown is a lovely place, and somewhere we’d like to return to. The food here is some of the best we have had. 

On our walk we pass a Mosque that encourages visits, so we go in. Today is swelteringly hot and Del is given a shawl to cover his legs and H is gven a full length robe with hood.

It’s very interesting as we are taken around the different areas and have everything explained by the friendly guide. It’s not long though until H starts feeling light headed due to the heat and has to sit down and be given water. She recovers and after half an hour we leave, our guide has failed to convert us but we have learnt things and it’s all very friendly with Del getting a hug off our guide before we leave.

Tonight we will visit Batu Ferrenghi, which is a popular beach area north of us, about 45 minutes away in a cab (which costs £4.50).

First, we have a cocktail on the roof at our hotel to toast Del’s birthday. There is a house on fire down below, and huge flames are coming from the roof. 5 fire engines rush to it, but not before the top floor has been destroyed. We hope everyone is ok…

Batu Ferrenghi is very, very busy, a complete contrast to Georgetown, with beach bars playing loud music. We walk to the end of the beach, where we are trying to find a Middle Eastern restaurant that is highly recommended. The only spot left is on bean bags on the beach with a small table, so we take them. A fire show starts right in front of us, and we can feel the heat from the flames as we eat, as a dozen young guys juggle with fire and spit flames out of their mouths. You know what they say about playing with fire…!

The food is delicious. Dinner done, we walk around the night market and have a last drink on the beach, before catching a cab back to our hotel. A good day.

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Tuesday 23rd December 2025

We are leaving today to fly to Kuala Lumpur. Somehow our packing has expanded. How does it do that? We bought a bigger bag a couple of days ago, and we manage to fill that very quickly and very easily. We had been travelling with a very small second bag, so it was needed. We will leave the small bag behind; someone will use it.

It’s a short flight to Kuala Lumpur; in fact, the taxi ride from the airport to the city centre of Kuala Lumpur is longer, even though our cab driver drives like a maniac. 140km/h in a 90, tailgating, stomping on the brakes hard, all that kind of thing. We meet with our Airbnb host and get the keys for the flat we are renting for 4 weeks.

The flat is fantastic, modern and well designed with a balcony and a view of the Petronas Towers, and the whole of the city from our 21st floor apartment. Amazing.

The whole building staggers us with large, beautiful public areas, 2 pools and 2 gyms. There’s even a grand piano, drum kit and guitar room you can reserve. It’s quite a place built above a huge modern shopping mall.

We have dinner in one of the restaurants in the mall as it’s raining heavily. They are offering a birthday week free cake, so H arranges it.

They play happy birthday and bring the cake over with a candle. Sweet. We shop for some basics for the flat and then go back and admire the view as the city starts to light up. We watch Jurassic Park tonight. Turns out Del has never seen it, and after seeing the dinosaur attraction last week at The Top in Penang, he’s keen now.

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Wednesday 24th December 2025

Today we are going to explore some malls. In Malaysia, malls are a big thing, more so at Christmas when they put on some amazing displays at the entrances. The Pavilion Mall is a high-end designer mall with spectacular Christmas displays. It’s Christmas Eve, so it’s very busy. There are more people just looking at the displays than actually buying things, though.

We have lunch in a nearby local place, the Capitol Cafe. They do the best Nasi Lemak in Malaysia, so we give it a go. It’s true, it is very good. For 2 meals and 2 drinks, the bill is £4.50.

Next, we move on to Berjaya Times Square, a huge mall with 9 floors, and it has a theme park inside it, complete with Malaysia’s biggest coaster. We can actually see it from our balcony, which makes H beam… We will come back another day when we’re not so full of Malaysian food.

We make our way to our local mall, where we do a bit of grocery shopping and buy some Christmas treats. We’re not too hungry, so we get a takeaway of noodles and eat it on our balcony with a glass of wine, admiring the Kuala Lumpur skyline. Excellent

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Thursday 25th December 2025

Happy Christmas, everyone. We did our Christmas presents back home before we left, so we just exchange christmas cards and then go to the gym. To cool off, we go to our swimming pool 35 floors up, which has amazing views with a see-through section in the shape of a circle allowing you to look down all 35 floors!. 

We have a nice, relaxed day. H pops to the shops and gets caught in a rainstorm, while Del does the ironing (on Christmas Day!). Later, we enjoy a very nice glass of fizz on the balcony and watch the city light up. Then, we go out for a delicious Japanese dinner at a restaurant next door to us.

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Friday 26th December 2025

We slept very well last night, finally. Today is very humid, and our windows all have condensation on them, but on the outside!

Today, we are heading out to Chinatown and the markets. This is the place to get all your fake watches, bags and clothes. There are also lots of very good and interesting food stalls.

H has lost her sunglasses in Penang, so she needs to get another pair but just a basic pair; the markets are full of the usual fake designer goods; it’s a big thing in Asia, and no one ever seems to crack down on it.

We walk around for a while, but it’s very hot and humid, so we try a local sweet dish called Cendol, which is shaved ice coated with coconut juice served with red beans, sweetcorn and pandan jelly. We’re not sure about the beans and corn taste; it’s rather weird. At least we’ve tried it.

We move on to the KLCC mall and outdoor park right next to the Petronas Towers. The towers are huge when you get close up. Inside the mall, it’s crazy busy. It’s too much for us, so we grab a sushi lunch from a rather good supermarket and some exotic fruits that H wants to try. We find a place to sit outside to eat our sushi and watch the world go by.

Back at the flat, H tries her fruits, mangosteens and rambutans, both delicious. The rambutans are like firmer lychees, and the mangosteens are sweet and tropical.

For dinner, we go to a local mall and have a Malaysian curry. As we have said already, malls are a big thing here for the locals. They are nothing like malls in the UK or the US; they are a way of life here in Malaysia. The locals do like to shop and eat, and these malls are just vibrant and alive, full of colour and sound. Have you ever been in a US mall…? They are like libraries! People just shuffling around, sucking on king-sized fizzy drinks or shakes.

The food courts are not full of chain stores selling the same old stuff, there are local resturants and the one we are heading for is cheap, clean and highly rated. It doesn’t disappoint…!

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Saturday 27th December 2025

After a session at the gym, we head over to a nearby escape room that we have booked. We’ve done a few of these in different countries, and the ones here are very good value. We are deposited into a prison cell and given 45 minutes to escape. We do ok, we miss a couple of things and need a couple of hints, but we work through the 3 rooms and eventually figure it out. It’s good fun, and we will definitely do another one; there are quite a few available within walking distance of the flat.

Del has spotted a mall nearby that has 7 floors of tech stuff, computers, phones, all that kind of stuff. H leaves him to it and goes back to the flat.

By now it’s getting on for dinner time, and we try an Indian restaurant called the Indian Empire that has excellent reviews. It doesn’t disappoint, we have pani poori, little pastry balls of spice and chick peas that you pour a spicy sauce into and pop in your mouth (H gets reprimanded for cutting one up!). This is followed by butter chicken and chicken tikka masala, which are both delicious; we soak up every last drop with our chapatis.

After an excellent dinner, we visit one of the famous food streets on Jalan Alor, which is absolute chaos, hordes of people and food stalls, people eating whole fish, crabs, squid, skewers of meat, durian fruit, ice cream and everything in-between.

The street is just crammed packed with colour, smells and noise like nothing else. Some of the smells are unusual, and some are a bit challenging, like durian. Durian is a spiky-looking fruit that is very common in Asia; most hotels and public transport ban you from having it as the smell is so pungent.

H has tasted it before and couldn’t cope with more than one mouthful. The smell is described as gym socks, onions and sewage, but the taste for some people is a pleasant custard, vanilla and caramel. H thought it tasted worse than it smelled. 

We walk around the madness for a while and make our way to the hub of Bukit Bintang, which is just as crazy…! We are worn out, time to head back…

Another great week of new experiences and discoveries, which, as usual, has included food and drink. Kuala Lumpur is a vibrant, busy place which never seems to stop.

No, we are not on Jess. She is wrapped up for the winter. However, we have decided to log and blog our other, non-van trips away, not only for our own memories in the future, but also to share our experiences with our friends and family.

Winter is fast upon us, so we have decided to escape the cold and the grey and get away to Southeast Asia. We have been to the region a few times before; in fact, on this trip, it will be the 5th time that we have been to Vietnam.

So away we go…

Join us on our travels through Asia without Jess (she is wrapped up at home waiting for spring). We are away until March 2026 and will travel via Dubai to Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand, visiting multiple places in each country. For Del, it’s been a long, and sometimes hard, couple of months at work, most of the time away from home, so for him, this trip can’t come quick enough.

Week 1 – Sunday 14th December – Saturday 20th December 2025

Sunday 14th December 2025

Today we are off to the Gatwick Travelodge, our usual hotel before a flight out of London Gatwick. It’s reliable, good value and handy. We toast the start of our trip with the usual glass of Prosecco in the bar, as is customary.

We are flying to Dubai for 2 nights first and then onto Kuala Lumpur to spend 5 weeks in Malaysia. We like to break the trip halfway in Dubai instead of the 14-hour slog of a direct flight.

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Monday 15th December 2025

We are up at 6 am sharp, and on the Hoppa bus to the airport, north terminal, where we check in easily and quickly. Soon we are on our favourite plane to travel on – the magnificent Emirates A380, the biggest passenger aircraft in the world. This plane is amazing. We are on the lower floor, and it’s hard to get a scale of the thing. She’s a very comfy plane, solid and very quiet. We have the only really ill person on the plane directly behind us. We think she has the flu, which is currently circulating in the UK. She coughs violently for a full 7 hours, so we blast the cabin air on us in an attempt to deflect it. We’d rather freeze than get ill…

Once landed, we collect our bags and are soon at our hotel, The Pavilion at the Jaddaf Waterfront.

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Tuesday 16th December 2025

After a good night’s sleep, we get breakfast and hit the gym. The camel racing is on TV, which is, let’s say, interesting.

They run without jockeys, and having ridden a walking camel in the past, we can understand why. You wouldn’t want to ride a running one.

We grab a cab and walk around the Al Seef area, which has lots of shops in an old-style souk.  After a nice walk down the creek, we hire a private Abra boat for a 30-minute cruise. The old wooden boat looks very weathered, but we love it.

Next, we head to the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. Last time we were here, we went up it. It’s an amazing construction, especially considering it’s built on sand. There’s a huge mall and a huge fountain area around it, and they are well and truly geared up for Christmas, with lots of lights and decorations.

We are going to eat early and go to bed early tonight, but first we have a tea and delicious Baklava. The mall here is quite something, but it’s only the 30th biggest in the world; most of the largest malls are in Asia. Still, this mall has an ice rink and a huge aquarium with a massive tank on view in the mall with an immense HD video screen above it. It’s quite something.

We eat outside in the warm evening air and have a Lebanese feast. By now it’s dark, and the Burj Khalifa is showing off its full height video screen (clouds are passing through the top of it), and there is an impressive fountain display.

We head back to the hotel for an early night. However, at nearly 11 pm, we are woken, rather abruptly, by fireworks very close to the hotel. It sounds like a war zone. It’s for the festival of shopping, apparently. 

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Wednesday 17th December

Today we are flying to Kuala Lumpur, another 7-hour flight on another A380. 

We end up arriving quite late at our destination after sitting on the plane at the stand for 1.5hours in Dubai waiting to push back. The delay is because of a sandstorm. We are finally glad to arrive at our next hotel, the Ibis Styles, at 2 am after a lot of queuing here and there and walking for miles at the airport. 

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Thursday 18th December 2025

At 7:30 am, we are up once again and back at the airport to fly this time to Penang, where we will stay for 5 days. We are staying in the historic town of Georgetown (named after King George III). 

We have a suite in a nice hotel, The Granite Luxury Hotel, which has the highest cantilevered see-through swimming pool and the highest automatic stacking car park in Malaysia. We shall have to check these out. 

After a sushi lunch, we explore the area for a while, then rest. We are very tired; the jet lag is now starting to catch up with us. For dinner, we stay local and visit a highly recommended Bahn Mi street food cart. The Bahn Mi is the king of sandwiches, soft yet crusty Vietnamese bread, tasty sauces and herbs, pickled vegetables and usually a choice of meat, although these are vegetarian. They are delicious, maybe the best we’ve had. 

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Friday 19th December 2025

H couldn’t get to sleep last night until the early hours, and Del doesn’t sleep great either. We are up quite late at 9 am and hit the gym. Afterwards, we try the pool. It’s a long infinity pool with see-through Perspex sides, and one end hangs over the building with a see-through Perspex floor! You can look 14 floors down to the ground. It takes H a while to get the bravery to swim and walk over it, but it doesn’t bother Del.  No fear that boy! (Not!)

Once changed, we head into the old town and have lunch at a recommended tandoori place. It’s delicious, and we can watch them cook the chicken in the tandoor in their almost open kitchen and make the naan breads while we eat. We are aware that we haven’t actually had a Malaysian meal yet (having had so far Japanese, Vietnamese and Indian since we arrived), we are working on it. Penang is known as the foodie capital of Malaysia because of a melting pot of cultures, made up of Chinese, Indian and Malay, each bringing their own delicious foods with them, so there are many different styles of food here in Penang.

The town is very nice with interesting street art and some ‘floating ‘ jetties with houses and stalls over the water on stilts. We plan to go out and find some local food tonight, but after a rest at the hotel, the weather changes, and it pours down; it is the end of the rainy season here in Malaysia, so it is expected. It doesn’t let up, so we have dinner at the rooftop bar at the hotel, but they don’t have any Malaysian food! 

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Saturday 20th December 2025

We start the day with a couple of breakfast sandwiches called a sandos. It’s a Japanese sandwich, which is served in a Chinese coffee shop in Malaysia! H’s is a delicious spicy Thai one.

After taking in the sights of a nearby food market, we head over to the Komtar tower, which is directly opposite our hotel. It’s 249m tall and at the top is an observation deck. We buy tickets and get the lift to the penultimate floor, where there is an outside ‘skybridge’ walk. We have seen these before, but normally they are an expensive upcharge and something we would not normally do, but our ticket includes it, so we feel we should try it.

We get harnessed up. H is a little nervous as she’s scared of heights, but is still up for the challenge. We are in a group of 4 with a guide, and we clip on and step outside. After a moment of gripping onto anything she can find, including Del, H gets her confidence as we slowly walk around the edge of the building, walking on see-through grating. It takes 10 minutes, and we are back in. H is very proud of herself. There’s also a glass floor here, and on the top floor, there is an outside glass-bottomed walkway. The ticket also includes the aquarium and the “Jurassic research centre“, which are quite good. 

It’s very hot today with high humidity and around 39 degrees C, so we go back to the hotel to recover before dinner. Dinner is in a simple local place. and is finally Malaysian. Del has Chicken Nasi Lemak (coconut rice with fried chicken and dried anchovies), and H has Char Kuey Teow, a popular local dish similar to a pad Thai. 

There’s a Christmas parade on tonight, so we get in position near the start and have some chilled coconut jelly to cool down. It is oppressively hot as we watch the fabulous parade of marching bands, dragon dancers and men who balance 10m flag poles on their chins and foreheads. Why? The Penang Christmas Parade is returning after 25 years.

So not a bad first week. A couple of flights on the world’s biggest passenger plane, a hotel with Malaysia’s highest cantilevered swimming pool, a tethered walk around a 249m building, the return of a Christmas parade, lovely hot weather, and lots of delicious food! Not bad. Not bad at all.

Here are more pictures from our first week

See you next week.

Week 8. 18th to 24th July. Tønder, Denmark to Home – 817 miles

Saturday, 19th July 2025. Tønder, Denmark to Rotenburg, Germany – 170 miles

Our ferry home is on Thursday, so we don’t have much time left, but a lot of miles to cover. Today we are leaving Denmark and heading home on our last week. We will go through Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France, but quite quickly.

A very nice breakfast this morning, outside in the sun. Very nice. We get packed up, do a service and off we go. We don’t know where we will be later, but we would like to get as far south as Bremen in Germany. Jess is filthy, but really bad, so we have another go at finding a jet wash, but fall short. There is nothing to be had. It is going to be a potentially long day today. To get to Bremen, we have to skim past Hamburg, which has the worst road works, according to reports.

Del is set to do most of the driving today. He loves it, says he can just drive for miles… Hayley is happy for him to do it as she researches the route, where to stop and what and where to eat. The border between Denmark and Germany is just a few kilometres away. Hayley does the first bit of driving. We stop at a filling station. Once we cross the border, the roads are very different. Gone are the smooth, bright roads of Denmark; now we have the patchy, bumpy roads of Northern Germany. Who’d have thought? We are sure they will get better.

It’s a lovely day, hot, almost 25 degrees. We are soon on the motorway and heading towards Hamburg. Sure enough, after about 45 minutes, the northbound A7, is at a standstill for a good few miles because of roadworks and the discovery of a bridge with bad workmanship that needs urgent attention. Going south, we have a good, clear road. Today Jess clocks up 35000 miles after seven and a half years…!

Hayley has found a place that will allow up to 10 campervans to park. It’s a hotel/restaurant and we fancy a schnitzel… We like them a lot. The hotel is the hotel restaurant Heidejäger in the town of Rotenberg, just east of Bremen. We have made good progress today, 170 miles. Once we arrive and get settled in, we sit outside and have a nice cold German beer, which is a third of the price of a Norwegian one! It’s hot, 28 degrees… nice though. We just relax. Del does some homework for his next work outing while Hayley plots up the last few days of the trip. Just by chance (yeah right!), she has found a spare day so we are going to the Walibi Holland amusement park for her to do some roller coastering and for Del to hold the bag. He’s not done that in a while, can’t wait…

Dinner tonight is at the hotel where we are parked for the night. We are looked after by the staff who are very nice and serve us an excellent dinner.

They have a robotic cat that moves around the dining room and delivers your order to your table. An unusual thing to have in a traditional German restaurant.

All fed with schnitzel and salad, we go back to Jess and have a cold Jagermeister followed by a couple of games of chess…

Lately, Del has been beating Hayley, but tonight it was one all. Before turning in for the night, we stick our 4 new country flags on the back of Jess to join the others.

Just as we are putting them on, the local storks turn up. They are quite popular here, by all accounts. The hotel has built them a nesting stand; no idea where they go all day, but both of them flew back, clattered their beaks and preened themselves before settling down. Just as we did the same… All in all, a good day.

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Sunday, 20th July 2025. Rotenburg, Germany to Elburg, The Netherlands -181 miles

Another warm, balmy night last night, cloudy but still warm this morning. Today we are going to be in the Netherlands. We need to get a bit of a move on, so it’s a quick breakfast and off we go. We have checked on the nesting storks from last night, but they have gone. They will return tonight, as they do. It has been a lovely stay here at the Heidejäger hotel/restaurant. It’s warmed up some more for us, and the sun is out. There are a couple of things we need to do today. Jess has not had a wash in weeks. The last time was at the start of Norway, where we paid £10.00 for 2 minutes!! She is looking a bit sorry for herself. We also need some diesel.

Hayley has been on the Google machine and found both. First, the car wash.

What a place. Several large booths to drive into, where you can pamper your vehicle to within an inch of its life. On the other side of the large forecourt, there are rows of vacuum cleaners and a vending machine selling all kinds of potions for your car and bags of Haribo. 30 minutes later and 15 euros lighter (£12.00), Jess is back to looking like she was fresh out of the showroom. Finally.

Next, we fill up with diesel, and we are done. Hayley has done a good hour driving, but she gets bored very quickly, so Del is soon in the hot seat, loving it and driving us to a campsite in Elburg, Holland. The German roads, for the most part, are shocking, which surprises us; they used to be ok. You get patches of motorway goodness, but by and large, they are a bit of a disappointment. As soon as we cross the border into the Netherlands, it is bliss. Lovely, clean, wide, smooth roads.

We get checked into the campsite in Elburg, Veluwe Strandbad Camping. We are given a fabulous pitch near to all the facilities. Del spends half an hour spot cleaning Jess, who just looks fabulous. (The van. Not Del!)

Now that Hayley is feeling better, and we’ve not done it in a while, we finally, at last, get the bikes off the back and set off for a bike ride into the town of Elburg itself.

We are pleasantly surprised. This is a beautiful town with cobbled streets, lovely houses, shops and restaurants. We take our time cycling through it and soaking it all up. There is a small canal running through it with a crossroads on a bridge full of little cosy restaurants. We are tempted to have a drink or an early dinner, but we do need to get some exercise done, as we have let it slide badly over the past few weeks.

Sadly, there is heavy and prolonged rain forecast. We get another couple of kilometres under our belt and head back to the campsite. Just as we are putting the cover back on the bikes, it rains, and Jess has just been cleaned! No matter she needed a clean all the same.

We get settled in for the night. Time has flown by. A nice, simple dinner with some music and red wine. Smashing. Tomorrow, Hayley is off to Walibi Holland. Great….!

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Monday, 21st July 2025. Elburg, Holland to Heibaart, Belgium -104 miles

We are up early, have breakfast, clean up and get away, fast… This morning we are going to Walibi Holland so Del can carry and hold a bag for half a day while Hayley does coasters! She has never moved so fast to get out of a campsite…!

It was a very nice stay last night, but today we are moving on. The plan is that after visiting Walibi Holland, we will then drive south towards the border with Belgium. The drive to the park is 10 minutes. We arrive just as the park is opening, so Hayley is in pole position.

It’s a good day. The park is fabulous, not full even though it’s summer. There are lots of rides and things to see, and Hayley has a great day ticking off her bucket list of rides.

By 2:30, we have had enough and get back to Jess to set off south. There is heavy rain threatening. It is motorway for most of the drive, lots of it, and most of it has terrible traffic jams, not because of accidents, but because there is a huge concentration of motorways all interconnecting with each other and all in a small land mass. It’s chaotic in parts. We have had another incident with Jess; this time, we have lost the bike cover.

There was a small tear in it a few days ago, which has grown on the drive today, which now has to be shredded to get it off. There’s another expense to add to the list for when we get back.

Hayley has found us a place not far from the border. It has space for 10 to 15 vans or tents, but when we arrive, there is no one to help to get a space. Del has a walk around. There are hens all over the place, and in the back space where you camp, it already looks full, with people in large tents outside doing barbeques. As soon as they see Del, it is a bit like one of those cowboy films where everyone goes quiet and looks at you… Stranger…! Needless to say, we didn’t hang about too long, reversed and left. Very soon, Hayley has found another place.

With knowing or noticing, we had crossed the border into Belgium. We are going to a cow farm called Het boerenijsje, or in English, “The farmers’ Ice-cream”. For a staggering 4 euros you can stay the night, for another 4 you can have electricity, so for 8 euros you get to stay on a working dairy farm which has a fantastic little restaurant attached to it specialising in ice cream, pancakes and waffles.

Just as we arrive, the skies open up to what we think is the worst rain we have ever seen.

Unbelievable rain and hail that lasts for about 10 minutes, which later reveals a lovely summer evening. We have dinner on board, then go off to watch the cows for their 8 pm milking. It is fascinating watching the cows being herded into a large shed, and as if they knew where to go, they line themselves up for milking for 10 minutes before a barrier rises and they all leave to go back to their pens.

The owners allow you to go anywhere on the site, so you get to see the days-old calves, the teenagers and then fully grown dairy cows. A fascinating place, and we enjoyed looking around.

Back at Jess, the rain is back on, not so fierce this time. We are a day ahead of our planned schedule, and we didn’t expect to be in Belgium tonight. Tomorrow, the plan is to stay in one of our regular stops in the lovely Belgian area of Westvleteren.

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Tuesday, 22nd July 2025. Heibaart to Poperinge -114 miles

We are now nearing the end of our 7 and half week Scandinavian trip. We have two nights left, the second of which will be in Calais. Our night on the cow farm has been a pleasant one. We have a good hearty breakfast, courtesy of Del. After we get cleaned up and ready to go, we have a look around the cow farm again. The whole thing is quite fascinating. There is a lot of work that goes into getting a pint of milk on the table, and this place is at the cutting edge of technology to do that as cheaply and as efficiently as possible. It’s all open to public scrutiny as they let you wander freely around the place.

Time to move on. It will be a long drive again today. We are heading for a place that has been a regular start and end point for our trips into Europe on Jess. It’s a small farm that welcomes campers. Situated in West Flanders. They always find a space for us, so we should be ok tonight. The drive is long. The motorways are just stuffed with traffic, most of which is made up of trucks, lots of them. They stretch for miles, and there are so many exits and interconnections in this part of Europe connecting Holland to Germany and France.

We are finally on the home stretch. The traffic has thinned out, and we are soon on local roads again and trundling through the Belgian countryside. That’s better… We have arrived in the town of Poperinge in Belgium and in a supermarket stocking up with some fine Belgian beers to take home. Our next stop is the farm campsite, Stal ‘t Bardehof. This was the first stop we made in Europe when we bought Jess… We like it, it’s a bit rustic but nice.

Today we are going to have dinner at the Sixtus Abbey. The abbey is famous for producing what is considered to be the world’s best beer. They also have a nice restaurant called In de Vrede, which we fancy trying for dinner. It’s now 5 pm, and once we get settled in we are on our bikes making our way to the abbey for an early dinner.

We have a Westvleteren 12 beer, which is just superb, and we order dinner. The beer is going down well while we wait for dinner, which is excellent and reasonably priced.

It’s filling up just as we finish, so it’s back on the bikes to the campsite. We secure them back on Jess and have a cold beer at the campsite, again another excellent Belgian beer, a Rochefort and a  Karmeliet. We have them outside next to the goats that have been here a while. They are very tame and like to be fussed over, which suits us.

Back at Jess, we settle in for the night after a shower and a couple of games of chess. Tonight Hayley wins… Twice…

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Wednesday 23rd July 2025. Poperinge, Belgium to Calais, France -50 miles

Our last full day in Europe today, and it will be a busy one. We are up and about for breakfast at our normal time, which is always late! A full Jess service, so fresh water in, grey out, and a toilet change.

Today we are going to the St Bernadus Brewery in the town of Watou. St Bernardus beer is one of our favourite Belgian beers, so it will be worth the 10-minute drive.

There, they do a guided tour, you can see the beer being made, there is a restaurant and of course a shop. Unfortunately, they don’t have a car park suitable for us, but we do find one that requires us to cycle a 5-mile round trip. Let’s hope it doesn’t rain.

To get to the carpark requires Hayley to drive some very narrow roads. The area around here in Westvleteren is very agricultural and the local road network is just wide enough for a tractor, that’s it…

The car park is empty, so we secure our van and get the bikes off the back, helmets on and off we go… The 2.5-mile cycle is a bit up and down hill, but nothing too taxing. We are able to lock our bikes up at the brewery. We are given a gizmo for the guided tour, which we find very interesting. There’s a lot to see and discover, and we really enjoy the story, seeing the beer being made and the high-tech bottling process. Fascinating stuff.

They have a beautiful restaurant here with a fantastic high view of the fields stretching out across the region, with their own field of hops below us.

We have a platter to share. Included in the entry fee of 17 euros, you get two tokens each to sample any of the beers they offer, as well as a 5 euro discount on anything in the shop. The platter and the samples were excellent.

While we were loving the whole thing and tucking into a cheese and meat platter, it had started to rain. We have to cycle back to Jess for 2 miles… In the rain… It has to be done. Fortunately, it’s not too heavy, and the cycle back isn’t too bad. Bikes secured, we are back on the road via the brewery to pick up some goodies from the shop. We buy a six-pack variety box, some pate, and Del gets himself a 4 pack of Watou Triple, one of his many favourites…

All loaded up, we are now heading for Calais to a stop where we are in place for the ferry tomorrow at 7 am. Without knowing, we have crossed the border into France on the narrow of narrowest roads. Soon we are back on the motorway and Calais is about 40 minutes away. We do a quick pit stop at a wine warehouse for a couple of cases of wine. We are sounding more like a milk float than a camper van with all the beer and wine jingling about…

Tonight we are eating out. Despite all the bad news, Calais is actually a nice town. There are some lovely eateries, and the promenade has recently been redeveloped and is lovely to walk along. For our last night, we are eating at a Michelin-rated restaurant that we have dined at before on a past visit.

We get showered in the van and put our finest clothes on (well, a pair of long trousers on and a clean shirt), then take the pleasant walk along the prom to the town.

Summer is in full swing here. It’s a lovely evening and everyone is out. Our dinner is at the Histoire Ancienne, Bib Gourmand with an excellent menu.

We have an aperitif, starter, main, dessert and a half bottle of red all for about 70 quid…! Try getting that at a Harvester!

We have eaten out in a lot in a lot of countries, some countries do excellent food, some… well, not so good, but you can always trust the French to do a good dinner and a glass of wine, if you know where to go. A fabulous night out as we walk back through the local summer fairground and back to a rather hot Jess.

Tomorrow we are up at 6 am for the ferry home.

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Thursday 24th July 2025. Calais, France to Home! -182 miles

We are up at 5:45 am today, and the alarm really hurts this early. We do a quick service before leaving. The Ferry port is just a 10-minute drive away, giving us an hour and a bit before departure. We get through the French passport check quickly enough, but at the UK border (which is on the French side), we are delayed. A few cars up, there is a German-registered car that seems to be getting the third degree, but instead of pulling him to one side and getting everybody else on the ferry, we wait and wait. The time that we did have spare has all gone, and there is no doubt that in the long line of cars behind us, some if not all, will have missed that ferry.

We drive straight on and cast off almost immediately. The crossing goes quickly, as the grey cliffs of Dover are almost upon us. It’s the usual routine for disembarkation. Traffic going the other way to leave the UK is packed; in fact, the trucks have been lined up on the outside lane, and it stretches for miles. We are not exaggerating; there are hundreds of trucks for miles, all waiting to get into Dover. If it’s bad now, wait until the ETIAS arrives, which is soon, you’ll need to get to Dover three days before… It doesn’t bear thinking about how chaotic that will be. We will all need one if we want to go to Europe. Can’t wait.

The drive from Dover to Portsmouth is thankfully uneventful, with Del doing the whole run. Once in Portsmouth, we find a jet wash for a final van clean. We are early, and fortunately, we are able to get on an earlier ferry for home.

30 minutes later, we are on our 15-minute drive home, where we unpack, clean down Jess on the inside, take her to her lock-up and get the cover on her. It will probably be a while before she gets out again; we shall see. Sometimes we get the odd occasion to do a few campsites on the Isle of Wight, some of which are excellent.

Thoughts…

Our trip, which we called the ‘Scandi Loop‘, has been a good one, if maybe a little rushed. We took a different route from the usual. Most people get to Denmark and go straight to Norway and return via the bridges, but we thought we’d go east and do some of Poland, which was not bad. We probably need to see more of Poland. We found the campsites a little on the expensive side, supermarkets in short supply, and the weather awful at times!

Sweden, we loved. Very calm and laid back, very relaxed about camping, where you can park for the night wherever you like as long as there are no signs clearly saying that camping is not allowed and you are 150m away from private property, and of course, you don’t leave all your rubbish behind. The scenery was very nice, and we stayed at some very nice places. Food and fuel were a little more expensive than in the UK, not as scary as we were led to believe, but alcohol is strictly controlled. You can only buy wine and spirits from state-owned off-licences, beer is sold in supermarkets, which are brilliant by the way, but no more than 3.2% alcohol, and it’s expensive.

Norway was the best. The scenery was just stunning, and the driving was interesting. You needed a mortgage for alcohol, which, again, is only available through state-run off-licences, and food and fuel were expensive. Car/van washes, forget it, extortion comes to mind. The most you can get out of a chemist is paracetemol, anything else has to be prescribed by a doctor, and even then it’s herbal and stuff you can get from a corner shop in the UK, as we found out when poor Hayley became ill… In Norway, of all places. Saying that we really liked it, although Hayley may have a slight, but only slight reservation…

Denmark, again, is a lovely, laid-back place, but deserved more time from us. We were in and out in the blink of an eye, but what we did see, we really liked and will go back. Prices were roughly the same as in Sweden, slightly cheaper than in Norway.

There is no doubt, having been to Scandinavia for the short time that we were there, that they do a lot of stuff right; they also do a few questionable things, but when you think about the oddities, they do make sense (but you may need some time to be convinced). The countries are clean and well-maintained. The people are laid back, polite and helpful, although we did note that Norwegian drivers, particularly truck drivers, can be impatient and on two occasions, we were ‘bullied’ to get out of the way.

Miles covered: 3724

Diesel cost: £730 (so 19p per mile)

Total nights away: 53 nights

Here is a small collection of Dels’ photos taken during some of our stops in Scandinavia. Again, thanks to our family and friends for following us on our journey. We wish you all good health and happiness. Until the next one…

Del, ‘H’ & Jess

Week 7. 12th to 18th July. Stavanger, Norway to Tønder, Denmark – 509 miles

Saturday, 12th July 2025. Stavanger to Ualand – 60 miles

Today, Hayley is feeling better, but still tired. There is still this very nasty chesty cough which really brings her down, but generally, she is feeling better. We shall see how the day goes. It’s very hot this morning… At last, the European heatwave has reached us. We leave quite late and find we can’t get any water for our tank at the campsite, it’s off.

We have no idea where we will be staying tonight, so we like to keep our options open by having the van fully prepared. There is another service point nearby, but we see a rather rough-looking van, empty their toilet down the grey waste (that’s a no-no) and then stick the freshwater hose inside their toilet cassette to rinse it out!!!! (That’s a VERY big no-no). We decide to find somewhere else.

A 15-minute drive away, there is a large motorhome servicing company who have provided a point for free use, very kind. All good here. We get a full service, and we are back on the road.

We pick up some groceries and set off in the general direction of Kristiansand, where we are due on Tuesday. Hayley finds a campsite on route – Lega Camping.

It is wonderfully quiet and rural, and we settle into a spacious private pitch and enjoy the afternoon warmth.

Despite Hayley feeling better, she can’t be bothered cooking properly, so we have one of our freezer dinners (bought for when we are ‘in the wilds‘ of Norway!) It’s disappointing as these things usually are, but it’s jazzed up with a bit of wine and cheese afterwards. Not too bad, especially with the view, which is even better with the warm sunny evening.

We sit out and play chess with a cup of tea. Del has yet to beat Hayley.

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Sunday, 13th July 2025. Legåveien to Lindesnes – 72 miles

Just an update on last night. Del beat Hayley two times in a row at chess. Not bad considering he has lost to her probably 6 times!!!

It’s day 10 of Hayley feeling yuck! We have had a wonderful night here, very quiet and so peaceful, and we both slept very well. We have a big hearty breakfast before setting off.

Del has had a look at the map over breakfast and stuck a pin in an interesting place on the Norwegian coastline. We are heading for the southernmost point of Norway, called Lindesnes. We can go to the campsite there, but we decide to go to the paid parking spot first, which is next to the Lindesnes lighthouse, not only is it the most southern of Norway’s lighthouses, but it is also the oldest.

It’s not a bad drive, and the weather gets hot and sunny for the last thirty minutes. We go through many tunnels and navigate the usual twisty roads that are the hallmark of Norway. We arrive at our place for the night and pick our spot. There is a strict rule here about campers being 4m apart, and by all accounts, it’s enforced; we shall see. We pay and take a walk around the Lindesnes Lighthouse Museum. It’s a beautiful sunny day with a good breeze. Hayley is still a bit wheezy, so we take it all nice and slow for her. Fortunately, the walks are not too taxing.

The coastline is amazing, very striking, but when the weather gets bad here, it becomes even more striking. There are lots of photos and videos showing just how bad it can get here. It’s a gentle walk up to the lighthouse, which sits on a hill and inside the hill, there is a maze of tunnels and rooms that lead to what looks like gun placements. They are so well preserved, and one of the rooms has been converted into a photo gallery.

We spend a good couple of hours here; it’s a fascinating place with some extraordinary coastline views. We make the descent back to Jess, it’s hot.

We do a bit more manoeuvring to ensure we have the 4m gap between us and our German neighbour, who seems to have taken charge in making sure people observe it.

A very nice day in a very nice, interesting place. Traditional dinner tonight of meatballs! Well, when in Norway and all that.

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Monday, 14th July 2025. Lindesnes to Øvrebø – 53 miles

It has been a long day today, all 53 miles of it. We leave Lindesnes late after a rather nice, hearty breakfast. The weather is fabulous, upper 20s all the way. We stop to do a van service and a small shop. Del has a Zoom call booked for work, so we stop at a very pretty parking spot for the 45 minutes of the call.

The Norwegians are starting their summer holidays this week, so the roads are busy, and any town that’s near water is busy.

Today is our last full day in Norway. Tomorrow we are leaving on a 2:30 pm ferry from Kristiansand to Hirtshals, northern Denmark. Because the roads are narrow and twisty, it feels like a long, long drive to our campsite for the night. We arrive at 4 pm. We are staying at Bjønndalen Camp, in the town of Øvrebø.

On the way there, we have noticed that the roads around here seem to get used for ‘doughnuts‘, the practice of spinning your car around on the spot at full acceleration, thus wrecking your tyres, and making a hell of a noise! And they do this for fun.

It’s very popular here in Norway and very much so in this area. Almost every town and major junction shows evidence of this practice. Anyone interested in trying this, here is a short video to get you started. Have fun!

For an hour or so, we sit in the sun planning the last week or so of the trip. We can only afford 3 to 4 nights in Denmark, as it will take a good 4 nights to get to Calais. We have put a provisional plan in place, which will be flexible enough for any change of plans, as long as we are in Calais on the night of the 23rd July for the ferry home the next morning.

Today, Hayley feels that she has made some progress. She still has a cough, but much less today. It is such a shame for her, and for us both, as she has been ill for 11 days! Even during the ‘recovery’ days, she has had no energy to do anything, as she is so tired fighting off whatever infection had been left behind after the flu that she had caught, a good half of the Norway trip has been wiped out.

Other bad news, we have also discovered that we have no red wine, just a cheap Hungarian white! Just as well, really, as the price of alcohol is through the roof here in Norway. For example, a 6 pack of simple pilsner beer, nothing special, £14.00!!!! As for wine, forget it, you’ll need a small mortgage for that!

We end the evening with a rowboat on the lake. There are boats free to use, and the sun is just starting to set, there’s no wind, and it’s lovely and quiet, so why not…

We take turns rowing the boat; it’s a bit old, but it floats, and it sounds nice gliding along in the still evening water.

Back at Jess, we have another glass of Hungarian white and watch the sun set behind the Norwegian pines across the lake. Not a bad end to our Norway experience.

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Tuesday, 15th July 2025. Øvrebø, Norway to Hirtshals, Denmark – 105 miles

Today, we are leaving Norway and moving across the sea to Denmark. The ferry leaves from Kristiansand in Norway, arriving into Hirtshals in Denmark 4 hours later. We have had a nice stay here in Øvrebø. Last night Del could hear cars ‘doughnutting‘ in the distance!

We do a full van service, and we set off at 10 am. The ferry is a 2:30 pm, so we plan to do a little sightseeing in Kristiansand. It’s only a 30-minute drive and we find a parking spot for our size of van, just, which is just a ten-minute walk into town. Once we get parked up, we set off. It’s cloudy but warm.

The town was a fishing port, but is now popular as a cruise ship stop. Today, there is a huge cruise ship in, the AIDA Nova, a German cruise liner.

The town is packed with an extra 5000 people milling around. It’s very busy.

We have a good walk for the hour and a half that we have. We check out the Marina and the town centre. It’s a very clean and tidy place, but very busy. We need to be checking into the ferry an hour before, and we are getting fed up with the crowds, especially when we go into he cathedral and find that it is rammed solid. Never have we seen a place this full of people. We’ve had enough. We want the fields, lakes and fjords back!

Before we leave the parking spot, we have a quick sandwich as we have about 30 minutes to spare. Once we get cleaned up, we are off again and soon in line for the ferry to Hirtshals.

We drive into the belly of the beast of the Stavanger Fjord ship, quite a beast.

We are directed to our place, and that’s us for the next 4 hours. The ship is absolutely crammed. It’s the start of the summer holiday, so the ship is just heaving with families and screaming kids!!!

There is also a very limited supply of seats, so some are forced to pay extra just to get a seat. Very crafty. After paying our fee, we get a seat in the lounge for £14.00 each and sit out the ferry after an average lunch. We watch a bit of Netflix stuff to kill the time, which does go quite quickly, and soon we are being called down to the van and rolling off into Denmark.

It’s a warm but cloudy evening here in Hirtshals. We don’t have far to go as we have booked into a campsite just around the corner called Kjul Camping. At £37.00, it is the most expensive on the whole trip so far. It’s very nice, though with big spaces and a short half-kilometre walk to the beach. As soon as we get settled in, we take the walk to the beach. It’s a fabulous view, very nice. There are day campers on the beach in vans, which you can do, so we will probably give that a go for breakfast tomorrow.

Back at Jess, we sit outside with a cool drink and watch the sun set. It’s a nice warm evening, a bit cloudy, but it’s nice to sit outside in the fresh early evening, still air, listening to the birds. Lovely.

We have no idea what or where we are going tomorrow. We need to have a think as we only have three, maybe 4 nights at a push here in Denmark.

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Wednesday, 16th July 2025. Hirtshals to Løgstør – 66 miles

We have had a very pleasant stay here in Hirtshals, very nice. We do a full service at the campsite, as we have no idea what we are doing or where we are staying. ‘Wild camping’ is not generally allowed in Denmark, unlike Sweden and Norway, but we feel we need to be prepared for anything.

This morning we shall have breakfast on the beach. There is a short drive to the beach here where you are allowed to day camp. It’s a very long, wide, white sandy beach, which runs from the port of Hirtshals to… no idea… It seems to go on forever. We have a quick coffee on Jess, buy some Danish pastries from the local camp shop and set off.

It’s a lovely warm morning, the sun is out with a few scattered clouds. The short drive to the beach is about two minutes. There are a few people here already swimming and just enjoying the morning sunshine. Once parked, Del gets the coffee pot on and very quickly we are sitting in our chairs enjoying the sunshine, the coffee and the Danish pastries… Well, why not…?

Time to move on. Del wants to go to Rubjerg Knude to see the sand dunes and the old lighthouse that was set back and rebuilt because the land was eroding. There is free parking there, and if we want to, we can stay overnight. First, we need to do a shop. We are running very low on supplies, and we still have a good week and a half to go. We find a very clean and new Lidl on the way to Rubjerg Knude and do a good shop, which costs a fortune. Yes, Denmark can be expensive as well…

We arrive at the carpark at Rubjerg Knude. There is plenty of space. There is a tractor that pulls a trailer where, for a small fee, he will take to to the base of the sand dunes. It’s quite a ride and doesn’t go where we expect it to go. There are a few moments when we thought the trailer would tip over as it gets pulled through unmade tracks and small sand dunes.

We have safely arrived, and to get to the lighthouse, you have to climb a sand dune. It’s quite steep and requires some effort to stop yourself sinking into the very fine powder-like sand.

Once we get to the top, the view is spectacular and well worth the effort. There is a fantastic view of the northern Danish coastline and the North Sea. The lighthouse, which is now abandoned, still stands tall. Traces of the old one are still evident right at the edge of the sandy cliff.

The walk back is easier and less ‘dangerous’. Back at Jess, we have a light lunch and set out for the town of Løgstør, which is about an hour and a half away. Hayley has found a parking place in the marina in the small town.

It is a lovely drive to Løgstør. The Danish countryside may not be as spectacular as Norway and some parts of Sweden, but it is lovely. Lots of green fields and wild meadows. Smashing, and the roads are great to drive on, so it is a rather pleasant drive.

There is plenty of space for us in Løgstør. There is not much here, but it’s tidy and very smart. We are right next to the marina. For £24, you get everything you need. Water, electricity, showers and there is a launderette that we will take advantage of later, but for now we are off for a short walk.

We like it here. We have done the laundry, done a deep clean of the van, had a walk in the tiny town and along the marina wall, all before dinner on board. The weather is warm and sunny. Today has been our first full day in Denmark and we like it…!

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Thursday, 17th July 2025. Løgstør to Hvide Sande – 112 miles

It’s a hot, bright, sunny morning. By Saturday, we have to be in Germany in order to get to our ferry in Calais on time, so our time in Denmark is unfortunately short. Today we are going to do a long drive. Tonight will be our penultimate night in Denmark.

After a short breakfast, we pack up and set off. Hayley is at the wheel again, now that she has recovered. She is still tired, but she can manage a drive. Denmark is flat compared to Norway and Sweden, but it is very smart, very pretty and lovely to drive through. Generally, the roads are great, you get the odd one or two dodgy ones like anywhere else.

Del is in need of a strong coffee, not feeling his best today, so we stop at a Circle K, which is very popular here at petrol stations. A very tasty coffee and a… yes, a Danish pastry. We are heading for Hvide Sande, which is on the long thin strip of land on the west coast of the country, a very popular holiday destination, especially for the Germans. It’s easy for them as the border is only a couple of hours’ drive.

We make a stop at a beach in Hvide Sande that has some wind turbines on it. You can go right up to them. There is a nice day park right by the beach, and after a three-minute walk, you are standing right under one of these beasts.

They are huge, close up, and when they are underway, they make quite a noise as they cut through the air. The beach isn’t too bad either, very popular.

We are now looking for somewhere to stay the night. There is one parking place at the docks in Hvide Sande which has a fish and chip stall that, according to all the reviews, says that it’s the best. We shall see about that. We park up and order one fish and chips with all the trimmings.

Yes, it wasn’t too bad at all. We cleared the plate and thanked the lady for a good job!

Tonight we will park in another area of the port with an excellent view of Ringkøbing Fjord. Very nice, it is too. We leave Jess and set off to explore this popular holiday destination. It’s very busy. We have had the fish and chips, now it’s time for a local item, the Polser.

Basically a hot dog with fried onions, mustard and ketchup. Hayley is not a fan, but Del loves them. We find a little microbrewery here and stop off and try a four-flight of beers. You choose 4 from the 11 on offer. We sit in the sun and enjoy them.

They are served in small glasses, and we sit in the sunshine enjoying them. Lovely. We finish off the afternoon with an ice cream. We have eaten some junk today!

Back at Jess, we just relax. Del does a bit of homework and some photo processing for his photo site (do have a look). Suddenly, there is a tremendous storm, thunder, rain and hail. Probably the biggest, sharpest, loudest storm we have had in Jess in 7 years, and in the blink of an eye it is over to leave a nice clean fresh evening. We have a light dinner and play an escape game.

It’s been good today, shame our last day here in Denmark is tomorrow. So soon…

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Friday, 18th July 2025. Hvide Sande to Tønder– 84 miles

We are woken up early this morning. For the second day, it’s hot in the van in the morning. Denmark is giving us good weather at the moment. Our journey will continue south today. We are heading for the town of Ribe, which is by all accounts the oldest town in Scandinavia. Del wanted to go and see some old Viking stones, which are a UNESCO item of interest, but was talked out of it as it was too far east, the wrong direction.

After breakfast, we set off. We enjoy driving in Denmark. The roads, for the most part, are very good, and they have a low speed limit, which makes trundling along in your motorhome enjoyable, watching the scenery go by, which is lovely.

We get the last parking spot in the town of Ribe and do the short walk to the town. It certainly is very old and very nice, but because of its status, it is very busy with a lot of tourists eating in some very expensive restaurants. We have a good walk around the town and enjoy the cathedral, which, despite its age, 800years, is very bright and clean.

Back on the road, and we are going to the town of Tønder, which is just a stone’s throw away from the German border. Again, a very nice drive. Hayley has found a nice, cheap place to park just out of town and next to a campsite. We get a lovely spot in the sun, with electricity and superfast wifi. The UK has a long way to go in this regard. Wifi in places that we camp in is free and super fast. Mobile reception, for the most part, is 5G and really fast, and it works everywhere. There was only one place in the middle of Norway between two huge mountains where it was patchy. We have been in tunnels of many kilometres and had internet. The UK is way behind…

Once we get settled in, we sit in the sun with a beer and then take the short walk into the town. Tønder is absolutely beautiful, better than Ribe.

It is so peaceful and laid back, with lovely shops and places to eat and drink. Wonderful. Del can’t help but have another Danish hotdog or Rød pølse. Delicious.

Back at Jess, we have a glass of prosecco in the afternoon sun, watching the campsite fill up as the day goes on, followed by a smashing dinner.

Denmark… Very short, but sweet…. Tomorrow Germany…

Week 6. 5th July 2025 to 11th July. Gudvangen to Stavanger – 230 miles

Saturday, 5th July 2025. Gudvangen to Ringøy – 52 miles

The bad wet weather is with us once again… It’s raining. It’s that horrible sticky rain that soaks you just by looking at it! Hayley’s health has deteriorated since last night; she’s not well.

We are still leaving today, though. We did think about another night here in Gudvangen to help her recover, but we feel we need to get to a pharmacy. We do a full van service and head off towards the town of Voss, not far away, where they have an LPG filling station which has just been repaired. After the fill-up, we next head to a small mall to do some shopping and to find a pharmacy for some kind of over-the-counter remedy. Norway is not like the UK. Almost everything has to be by prescription, and they only offer paracetamol and ibuprofen.

It’s decided that Hayley will do an online doctor consultation, so we are waiting in a car park for the video call to take place. At 2:30, we call the doctor, and she says she will email us out a prescription to take back to the pharmacy, after 10 minutes it comes through…. it’s for paracetamol, which we already have. Looks like Hayley is going to have to tough it out.

Still, the rain is falling, visibility is awful, and it’s a bit on the chilly side. We are heading for a campsite in the town of Ringøy, not very far.

To get there, there are the usual long tunnels that the Norwegians do very well; however, two of them have a twist… They have a roundabout in them. How novel, a tunnel with a roundabout.

It has been a long day with not much progress, 50 miles today, and we have seen nothing except a car park and a pharmacy. We arrive at the campsite, which is grass. We have already witnessed a van’s front wheels spinning, let’s hope we don’t get bogged down tomorrow.

Another early night for Hayley, poor thing, after watching a bit of Netflix. She can’t stand it anymore. Bed by 8…

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Sunday, 6th July 2025 Ringøy – Day 2

Not a good day today. Hayley is very poorly today. She has the Flu, but it’s nasty. She didn’t sleep well last night because of body aches and fever, and at 2 am, she’s up, in pain, coughing and just restless.

We decide to move on, but halfway through the preparation to go, she is desperate to lie down and needs to go back to bed, so Del resets everything for her to return to bed, we will stay here again tonight.

The weather is calmer today, with no rain, but everything is wet, very wet. Del manages to get out now and again for a walk for some fresh air, but his main job today is to look after Hayley. Poor thing.

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Monday, 7th July 2025 Ringøy to Herand – 25 miles

Hayley wakes up this morning feeling a bit better and can sit up, so we decide that we will move on today. She ventures outside the van for the first time since arriving here and discovers that the place is beautiful in the morning sunshine.

Today we are going to a town called Herand, as tomorrow we hope (Hayley being well enough) we can see Steindalsfosseen – a waterfall that you can walk behind. We set off for the ferry at Kinsarvik and take the 30-minute hop across to Utne.

From there, it should be a short trip to the harbour where we have planned to stop. When we look at our large map of Norway, it’s very hard to tell which roads are wide and which ones are narrow. It is the latter. It’s one track most of the way around sharp bends, with passing places along the route. We average about 20 mph.

The harbour park up is great, good value with all amenities and a fabulous view.

Around the corner is an ‘honesty supermarket’. At 5 pm, the staff go home, but you can still shop if you scan your debit card as you go in. You are then left to shop, pay for your items and scan yourself on the way out.

After a simple dinner, Del sits outside in the sun with a well-deserved wine. He’s worked hard looking after H these last few days. Tonight she is in bed early again.

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Tuesday, 8th July 2025 Herand to Ølensvåg – 94 miles

It’s a lovely place here, we like it very much. Today, we are setting off on a bit of a waterfall tour. Today also marks the definite turn southwards for Denmark. With only a week left in Norway.

Hayley today is still not good; in fact, she thinks that she has gone backwards a little. She’s not in a good way.

We pack up and set off after a full van service and head for the town of Jondal for a short ferry across to Tørvikbygd, from there it’s a short drive to Steindalsfosson. It’s an impressive water wall that reaches out so far that you can walk behind it.

We have arrived at the waterfall parking and it’s busy, but we manage to spot a lady preparing to leave, and boy did she take her time in doing so…! The walk from the car park is short, and the view of the waterfall is spectacular. Amazing, and in the sunny weather we are having, it looks fabulous.

The walk-up isn’t too far. We get to walk behind the torrent and pop out on the other side to view it from a viewing platform.

However, Hayley is tired and breathless, it was all a bit too much of a walk to the platform, so we head back to Jess for the drive back to the ferry to return to Jondal.

From Jondal, our drive will take us south through 20 km of tunnels to another waterfall called Latefossen, very impressive, but we can’t stop, the carpark is full, but Hayley gets us some photos from the passenger window.

The last waterfall for today will be Langfossen. More tunnels to get there. This time there is parking and a place to buy an ice-cream.

This one is a real roar of a waterfall, big and noisy. Hayley is feeling the chill being so close, we are very close to it, and it gives off a lot of spray.

It’s getting late, and Hayley is now feeling really ill again. We need to stop somewhere and have something to eat. After a few more tunnels, we are heading towards a spot near the town of Ølensvåg. There is a campsite there that has a great view of beautiful hills and mountains to your left and a massive oil rig to your right! Let’s see.

The roads are good here in Norway, but some of them, as we have said, can be narrow, but very narrow. Twice we have had a tap on our wing mirror in Norway, but not from locals. Some ‘foreign’ drivers are scared to get to the edge of the road and end up forcing you off the road on your side.

We are approaching a road where the centre line disappears, that’s always a clue, the road may not look narrow, but it is. We approach a car that does move over, their wheels almost off the road, allowing us to pass, even though our wheels are just as close to being off the road. No problem, we wave and pass.

In the distance, there is a van approaching, quite fast. Del moves to the edge of the road as much as he can, then… BOOM! Our mirrors collide, smashing the small lens for the indicator and cracking the housing and leaving our blind spot mirror swinging in the breeze.

It was bound to happen one day on these roads. We drive to the next pull-in to survey the damage. The lens is smashed. The indicator still works, and the movable mirrors in the housing both work once reset. Not bad. Del snaps the housing back into place, and with a couple of clicks, it’s all back into shape. The sacrificial cover we had on top is now in pieces on the road.

Suddenly, the driver of the van appears behind us. We shake hands and say hello. He’s Turkish on a courier mission via Germany. He has sustained similar damage to us, the lens and a cracked casing. Fortunately, we have a dash cam, and we pull up the movie. It clearly showed the car before him well over, while Del is also well over, followed by his van approaching with a good half meter between him and the edge of the road on his side. He didn’t move over enough for the space of the road and the size of the oncoming vehicles. Del couldn’t go anywhere except forward! The wheels are on the edge already!

We are impressed that he came back to find us. He was also very sorry after seeing the dashcam footage, but in the end we agreed that, as it would be complicated and probably more costly to get the insurance companies involved, that we should look after our own expenses. For us, the lens is 10 quid and 70 quid for the fancy sacrificial covers that campervans stick on their mirrors, for this very purpose. We will just have to superglue the casing underneath, and no one will ever know. We shake hands, agree to drive with care and go on our way.

By now, we really have had enough and arrive at the campsite with the beautiful hills on the left and the oil rig on the right, just as described.

A long, long day. Hayley is not feeling her best, and the mirror incident has just made her day worse. Del gets to work waterproofing the damage, then gets on with making some dinner.

Time for bed…

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Wednesday 9th July 2025 – Ølensvåg to Vikevåg – 52 miles

It’s very quiet this morning. Hayley’s health has not improved, so today we are going to find a doctor. First, we pack up, perform a service, and drive to a local pharmacy to purchase a COVID-19 kit and obtain the telephone number for a local doctor.

The Covid test is negative, so Del asks the pharmacy to call the doctors for us, who have asked us to attend whenever we are ready.

Fortunately, the surgery is only a short 4-minute drive. We are seen very quickly by a doctor as soon as we arrive and check in with reception. A blood test is taken straight away, a CRP test, which looks for any inflammation in the body, which comes back clear.

The doctor is very rigorous and checks everything, blood pressure, breathing and blood oxygen. Everything is in good order. The diagnosis is flu with a bad cough, which we kind of suspected. She suffered with intense aches and fever on Saturday and Sunday, and what she has been left with is a very nasty cough, wheezing and a general feeling of being unwell. So not Covid, nothing serious, just the after effects of a very nasty case of the flu. Despite asking the doctor for some strong meds and stuff to make Hayley sleep, she prescribes a herbal medication that we have already purchased. A visit to the doctor and the chemist here in Norway is not the same as in the UK. What we would do for some Night Nurse!

In a Norwegian chemist, you can only get Paracetamol, ibuprofen, vitamins and other very low-level drugs. If you go to a UK chemist, there are shelves full of cough remedies. Not here. You can only get 1 type, and it’s herbal. Anything else has to be prescribed by a doctor, and even then, they are very, very cautious. One pharmacy told Del that antibiotics are rare here; they have them, but the doctors hardly ever prescribe them as they do in other parts of the world. It’s all very different and can be a point of frustration, as we found out.

We finally get away and move further south. We had a bit of truck bullying today. The speed limit here, for the most part, is 50mph or 80 km/h, more or less. We always try and keep to the speed limit if it’s safe to do so but today it isn’t fast enough. We have a very large Scania truck with a double trailer, probably 52 feet long, barreling down on us, flashing at us and driving so close he is almost on our bike rack! The speed limit is 60 kph where we are, with warnings of cows and deer crossing the road as well as the roads being very twisty. He might be used to the roads, being a local, but the tactic is very unprofessional and dangerous. It’s the second time this has happened to us in Norway.

We are in a very watery, islandy bit of Norway, so a 25-minute ferry crossing is required to get to an island where we will stay the night (oh, and the truck driver that bullied us to get past is on the same ferry, so he has achieved nothing!).

It’s a small marina with space for 6 campervans. 15 minutes later, we are parked up, it’s a lovely spot, very peaceful.

Different scenery but very nice, all the same. We settle in and get outside with a cup of tea. We have had better weeks, and this week has kind of tarnished the whole trip. We shall see, we have two weeks left.

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Thursday 10th July 2025 – Vikevåg to Sokn – 5.6 miles

Despite another night of hardly any sleep, for both, Hayley does feel a little better today and manages her first decent breakfast in days. We are not moving far today, 10 minutes down the road, in fact. The idea is to check into a campsite for 2 nights and give H another day to recover so we can go to Stavanger on the bus.

Del has a quick work Teams call, and then we set off. The scenery around here is interesting, very different from the north with its steep fjords, glaciers and big lakes. Here we are travelling through islands on the west coast, mostly connected by bridges and of course tunnels, this time under sea tunnels.

We are at the campsite, Camping Sokn, on the island of Sokn, and set up our pitch. It’s a busy place, and it now seems the school holidays are in full swing, so the place will be almost fully booked tonight. We have an easy day today. Hayley is still recovering, and now Del is dead on his feet. After doing some laundry and having a nap, we have dinner outside in the sun. H cooks tonight for the first time in almost a week.

It’s a beautiful sunny evening. Bed early… Again…

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Friday 11th July 2025 – Sokn day 2

We both slept well, but for Hayley, it was the best sleep she has had in 7 days, so she woke up this morning feeling much better; however, as the morning goes on, she declines a little. She has the most awful chesty, noisy cough, which comes on in fits and she’s also very tired despite sleeping.

We are going to go to Stavanger, which is only 30 minutes away by bus. We have breakfast, get cleaned up and showered and set out.

Stavanger is the oil capital of Norway. In the late 60s, they discovered oil here, kept it to themselves until the 70s and 80s when they started to extract oil and gas. The government in the 80s created a wealth fund. The current value of the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund, also known as the Government Pension Fund Global, is approximately $1.8 trillion USD. It is the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund. What a pity the UK didn’t do the same when we started to extract oil at roughly the same time. There is a good website here that tells you all about it.

The town of Stavanger is very pleasant. It has a lovely marina with the usual collection of fancy restaurants and souvenir shops.

They do get cruise ships stopping here, so the prices are high for simple things.

For example, we pay £26.00 for two single-sliced bread open sandwiches and one coffee…! There is a very nice old town just up the hill away from the marina, which we stoll through, all very nice in the afternoon sun.

The town itself is clean and tidy in parts, but there are a few streets that look like they may have been forgotten. We find this whole Norwegian oil thing fascinating, so we go to the Norwegian Oil Museum. Sad innit…? But no, it’s fascinating.

They could have done with putting a few more explainers in along the way about how some things work, but we found it fascinating and has given us something else to research on the internet with the help of YouTube. The stuff involved in getting oil and gas out of the seabed is staggering, not only the technology, but the cost is unbelievable.

We are on the 5:10 bus back to Sokn and the campsite. At the bus stop, there is a huge carpark and camper stop, and parked up there is a Thai takeaway.

We are both feeling a bit tired again, so Hayley decides to get a small dinner to share of spring rolls, fish cakes and a pad thai to take back to Jess.

It’s another lovely warm summer night here in Sokn as we eat our takeaway outside.

Tomorrow we will move on. We don’t know where yet, but we have a ferry booked on Tuesday from Kristiansand to Denmark for the last 9 days of this trip. The trip has been good, but we have had better weeks than this week for sure.

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Week 5. 28th June to 4th July 2025. Briksdalsbreen to Gudvangen – 271 miles

Saturday 28th June – Briksdalsbreen – day 2

Water, water everywhere… We have had a good night’s sleep, but all you can hear is the waterfalls around us and the river that runs through the campsite. We now have more water… Rain… Lots of it, heavy rain, which is forecast to be on and off all day today. We are keen to get out and walk.

We are in need of some laundry and they have machines here, so to kill some time, Hayley legs it out in the rain with an Ikea bag full of washing. Where would we be without Ikea bags? Del gets on with some homework for future work.

Finally, there is a break in the rain. The campsite has a smart little coffee shop, and they do waffles with brown cheese and jam. Brown cheese is a speciality of Norway, so when in Norway…

We sat and chomp through them with a view of the fast-moving river. There has been a lot of rain, and it’s running fast, so much so that the ice pool has been closed due to flooding.

We get our waterproofs on and get booted up. We are setting off for another glacier, which is a good two hours each way. It’s a fantastic walk as we do a steady climb up through the woods.

The scenery here is big… We stop now and then to take it all in. There is the odd shower of rain, but they are short.

It’s a long way, and Hayley is still aching from yesterday’s hike (and the day before that too). Just past halfway to this glacier, though, we decide to call it a day, turn around and head back to Jess. It’s a good job that we turn back when we do. When we get back to Jess, just as we open the door, the heavens open with heavy rain and strong wind, but this time for a prolonged time. Even though we have some waterproof gear on, it would have made for a very wet walk back.

We have done a good walk despite not going all the way to the glacier. We saw the best one yesterday. We spent the rest of the late afternoon in Jess. We have showers and dinner on the van.

The rain and the wind is occasionally battering Jess. Meanwhile, at home in the UK, there is a heat wave, again…! But we know where we’d rather be!

Tomorrow we are moving on.

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Sunday 29th June – Briksdalsbreen to Dragsvik- 122 miles

Hayley went to bed very early last night. She was wiped out! Del stayed up and caught up on some homework for a few hours. At 11:45 pm, he called it a night, looked outside, and it was still daylight!!!

The rain and some very strong winds started at about 10 last night, and it hasn’t stopped. Real heavy rain for over 12 hours with no sign of it stopping. We had a bad sleep last night.

We are doing a full service on Jess, as we expect to be off-grid tonight. Hayley is starting the drive, and she will have her work cut out. Heavy rain, some wind and some very narrow roads as we head north again, then do a left, then back down south towards…? Well, we don’t know yet.

You can’t just cut across, you have to drive around. There are some rather large mountain ranges here.

There is no let-up with the rain. It’s just constant. On the way, we find a supermarket. There are strict rules here in Norway regarding opening hours and square footage of your shop! If the shop is over 100 square metres, then you can’t open on a Sunday… We pull into the town of Skei, where there is a supermarket measuring 99 square metres, so it’s open. It does, however, have a big sign on the alcohol shelves. “SUNDAY. NO ALCOHOL AVAILABLE”, which is stuck over the door of a big fridge full of cold beer. Humans. The things we dream up!!

Back on the road, this time it’s Del at the wheel. No change in the conditions. Still lots of rain and narrow twisting roads. It’s great fun. We are heading for a place where you can park for free overnight right next to a waterfall on the Fossestien trail, which is a 27 km long trail of 14 waterfalls and 7 lakes, with bridges and boardwalks. There are a couple of vans and cars parked, but enough room for us. As it’s still raining, we put on boots and waterproofs and set off for the short walk to the waterfall. Wow… Amazing.

It’s the loudest, fastest flowing body of water we have seen up close (apart from Niagara Falls last year), and there is a small steel bridge that you can walk over. It’s a shame the weather is a no-no, as we would have liked to have followed the trail. We head back to Jess cold and wet. Del gets the kettle on!

It’s only 3:30 pm, and we are thinking that maybe it would be best to carry on and see some of the Norwegian countryside, rather than just settle down here, watching and listening to the rain. We both agree to press on.

Despite the terrible weather, the views are just jaw-dropping. The views from the roadside of massive lakes, mountains, and so many waterfalls and streams coming off them are just breathtaking, even in bad weather.

We make our way to the Gaularfjellet viewpoint, where you can look down into a very deep ravine. You can see the narrow road winding its way down.

This place has been redeveloped to expect a lot of tourists, but not today. We mostly have the place to ourselves.

We get soaked and cold, but it’s worth it. The view, the low cloud gliding through the valley, and the heavy rain are just as good as a bright sunny day!

We are off and on our way again. We are so cold and damp. Del takes us down the narrow, winding road and back to sea level. High revs, low gear to keep us from using the brakes too much. It’s a fantastic drive down.

We are now making our way to a campsite in the small town of Dragsvik. We all need a rest. Jess has worked hard today, hauling us up steep inclines and back down again through terrible weather. We are cold and wet, and tired; everything in the van feels damp. We arrive at Veganeset Camping, which is right on the shores of the biggest fjord in Norway, Sognefjord (known as the King of Fjords).

The rain is now very light, but there is no other noise of waterfalls or rivers and streams, which makes a change. Peace at last…

Hayley goes for a shower while Del sorts out the van, drying her out, cleaning the floors and setting up a little heating for when H gets back. We swap over, Hayley gets some dinner on, which goes down a treat. After dinner, we sit and look at the spectacular view of the fjord from our warm, cosy van. A good day. We are hoping for a quiet, restful night tonight. Fingers crossed.

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Monday 30th June – Dragsvik to Tyinstolen – 77 miles

We both had a good night’s sleep last night; it was so quiet and peaceful. We are not exactly sure where we are going today; we know our route, roughly, but where we will stop for the night is not so clear. After a full service, we set off to catch the small ferry from where we are, Dragsvik, for the ten-minute crossing to Hella. The ferries here are something else. There are lots of them. With all these mountains and all this water, there is a need to get about, so the ferry service is modern and efficient. So modern that they are electric.

The boats are clean and well-maintained. We hardly notice when we slip away from the port; it’s so quiet. Wonderful. We dock at the other end, and the plugging and unplugging for charging is fully automated.

Once the boat is lined up, a box opens up and a large cable with a magnetic plug lowers and plugs itself in…!

After a quick shop and dropping off a birthday card at the local post office, we set off for a campsite on the other side of the huge fjord that we stayed at last night. When we arrive, we’re not crazy about it, plus it’s a bit too early in the day to be pitching up, and there is stuff to see. We set off onto another ferry, this one is a 15-minute crossing, so it has a full lounge and cafe service, amazing. Being from the Isle of Wight, we have low expectations for ferries but have been pleasantly surprised by the Norwegian ones. We head for the Hjellefossen waterfall, which is 365 meters high. There is some debate about that, but who’s bothered, at around 365 meters it will be impressive. Located in the valley of Utladalen, a valley that has the highest concentration of untamed waterfalls. Another wonderful drive, every corner is just a fantastic view.

We park up at the carpark next to the waterfall and do the short walk. Yes, it is big… very big, very wet and very noisy. We try and get as close to it as possible, we get soaked for our efforts, but it’s worth it. A wonderful force of nature. We head back to Jess and get the hiking gear on, and set off for a 2.5km hike upwards, following the waterfall. It’s quite a challenge, and sadly, we don’t make it as it’s a bit treacherous because of the slippery rocks. We enjoy what we do manage, however, as we make our way back to Jess.

It’s now late in the afternoon, and we probably need to find a place for the night. We are making it up now. Do we do a free park up or a campsite? Hayley finds a nice little free spot just off the road and about 30 minutes from the waterfall.

The route involves a steep climb again, with hairpin bends inside unlit tunnels, very strange. When we arrive, there are a few cars in the small place already, but there is enough space for us, and the cars won’t be staying the night.

Once the cars are gone, we move into a better space.

They get a lot of snow up here, and there are still huge piles of it. There is one right outside the van, a big one that never melts over summer because of its size and then gets lots of heavy snow on it again during the long winter they have here.

It’s a lovely spot, so we get settled in and set off for another hike up the side of this “mini glacier”. Another challenging walk, almost vertical and very wet. We get quite a way up, and while looking at it, Hayley is not happy. “What happens if there is an avalanche, and all this snow hits us? I’m not happy…” So we trudge back down, decamp and set off to look for another spot. It’s now 6 pm. Granted, it doesn’t get dark until gone midnight, but we want some dinner now…

We pack up and drive east towards another spot, which will costs us £8.00 to stay in. We are about 1.2 km up, and the scenery is fascinating. As we are driving, we see lots of little cabins and bungalows scattered all over the place.

These are private places that people own; they don’t necessarily live there permanently, but they have them as “getaways”. It’s an extraordinary sight to see. Some are on their own for miles, others are in clusters, all with grass roofs.

We arrive at the spot. It’s well worth the move!! It is stunning. We have a view of a massive lake. We are high up, so we are seeing the tops of the mountains all around us, and below us are lots of these cabins. It’s a fantastic spot to stay the night. There is a little cafe next door, we are in the middle of nowhere, mind you. He is just closing and will open at midday tomorrow. We will be there!

We get settled in, and we are staying here for sure. We get Jess working… Gas is on for the heating and the cooking, her battery will be working hard tonight, we have a full tank of fresh water, an empty grey water tank and a fresh empty toilet, we can stay off grid for 2 to 3 days. It’s the toilet that’s usually the first to go!

Dinner is fantastic. A nice pasta dish with salad and white wine, looking at our lake and mountain view, helped along with some Norwegian jazz that had to go by the cheese course…

A good day. We had no real plans; we had a rough layout on a map, but today we went off-piste in another direction. It was well worth doing…

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Tuesday 1st July – Tyinstolen to Gudvangen – 71 miles

At about 4 in the morning, Del just happened to wake up and could hear the tinkling of a bell, a bell that sheep wear. It was getting closer and closer, then it stopped. Suddenly, there was a light bang that rocked the van, just a bit, and the tinkling started up again, fading away into the night. Clearly, one of the sheep doesn’t approve of us being there!

After an excellent night’s sleep, we wake up to the pattering of rain on the roof…, again. We are having a relaxing start to the day, a light breakfast this morning as we want to try the cute little cafe next door and have some waffles, again with the famous brown cheese and jam. We have a productive morning planning. Del gets on with some homework.

After 12, we take the short walk to the restaurant. We are greeted by a very nice, friendly chap who serves us delicious waffles with the traditional Norwegian brown cheese and jam, served with tea and coffee. Just how we want it. It’s delicious.

The man continues to tell us that in April, there’s normally 2 metres of snow here and the lake is frozen solid to about a metre, golly. This is an extraordinary place. Huts are scattered on the hillside, and this fabulous restaurant is out here, high up in the middle of nowhere. Despite its location, it’s a popular place.

We leave our beautiful park-up spot and head down the hill towards the Borgund Stave church, which is 30 minutes away. This is the best-preserved example of this type of traditional Norwegian wooden church, which was built in 1180. We’ve seen pictures and videos of this.

It always looked bigger, but when we see it for real, it almost looks like a model. It’s tiny compared to the other stave church we saw a few days ago in Ringebu. It’s still quite spectacular, though, with a fabulous visitors centre that explains all about the history of stave churches and how they are built.

Next, we are heading for a campsite that we have booked for 3 days in Gudvangen. We have had a lot of damp, mucky weather, and Jess and everything inside her needs a good airing, so we are hoping to get some dry weather and do a good clean out and freshen the van up.

To get to Gudvangen, we have to travel through the Laerdal tunnel, which is the longest road tunnel in the world – it’s 24.5km (15.23miles) long and even has 3 rest areas inside which are large caverns lit up in blue where you can get out and stretch your legs. Work started in 1995 and was open in 2000, 5 years to build a 15 and a half mile tunnel. Amazing… Quite an experience.

In total, today we have spent over 40km in tunnels by the time we eventually pop up out and into Gudvangen.

Our campsite is such a wonderful place, quirky, and it has the most magnificent views of many waterfalls along the mountains that tower over us; we are situated in an impressive valley. The campsite is also very reasonable. Tomorrow we will be taking a (rather expensive) fjord cruise on the stunning Naeroyfjord here, the next day we are going to a Viking village to do some axe throwing, watch out, Del.

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Wednesday 2nd July – Gudvangen – Day 2

Finally, at last, we have woken up to a spectacularly sunny day! It’s beautiful here in the Gudvangen valley. It’s not hot, but it’s warm enough for us to have the first coffee of the day outside, followed by breakfast. No rain…!

Today we are taking a two-hour cruise along the Naeroyfjord to the town of Flam, that’s later this afternoon, so this morning we spend some time giving Jess a good clean and getting some laundry done, and just generally give the van a good airing and clearing out after all the wet and damp weather we have had this week. Del also gets on with some homework.

With all the jobs done and Jess all clean and smelling fresh, we take the short walk to the ferry port here in Gudvangen. It’s busy here at the port today. This is the port where the local fjord cruises and ferries depart from. It is also where the Viking village is located, where you can see how Vikings lived and try your hand at some axe throwing. That’s tomorrow.

At 2:30 sharp, we set off on the “Legacy of the Fjords” for our two-hour cruise to Flam. The boat is fantastic, five years old and done out in a very Scandinavian fashion, all minimalist but excellent. No corners have been cut on this boat; it’s immaculate.

We are cruising through one of the top 2 most beautiful fjords in Norway (the other being Geirangerfjord), the views are just some of the best we have seen, the mountains tower over us, with many streams and waterfalls carving their way through the rock. Spectacular.

Towards the last 40 minutes of the trip, we go below decks and have a glass of prosecco served in old-fashioned champagne glasses, how charming, and sit indoors at the back of the boat watching the world go by. What a trip…

We arrive in the town of Flam, negotiating our way around the moored-up P&O Cruises IONA, currently on a 7-day round trip from Southampton. This thing is enormous – 5200 passengers and 1800 crew. We would love to do a cruise, but for us, this is way too big. We fancy at most a couple of hundred people, but that would probably be way out of our budget.

Flam doesn’t really have much to offer. It’s an interchange really for the cruise liners, railway and ferries. A few shops are selling overpriced clothes and souvenirs, plenty of places to eat and drink, but that’s about it. It’s from here that we are getting on the bus for the 20-minute drive back to Gudvangen and the short walk back to the campsite.

Back at Jess, we get showered and relax in the late afternoon sun. The campsite has a fire pit on, so we wrap up a bit more and have a cocktail and a glass of red wine by the fire to end the day.

Back at the van, we have a light supper outside before calling it a day, and a good day it was too. Tomorrow is our last day in Gudvangen.

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Thursday 3rd July – Gudvangen – Day 3

We wake to a bit of a dull day today, but at least it’s not raining. Today we are off to Viking Valley, which is right on our doorstep and is very popular with the tourists, of which we are one…! We have a light breakfast, as there could be some fighting in the village! We set off pretty sharpish before it gets too busy.

The village is a reconstruction of a typical Viking settlement, and there are about 30 people living and working here in traditional Viking roles, such as blacksmith and textile production.

We get a chance to try our luck at axe throwing and archery with mixed results. Axe throwing is a lot harder than it looks. “Just throw the axe…!” No, it’s much harder than that, especially if you want it to go in and stay in…

There is a free guided tour which runs for about an hour; it’s very informative. We learnn lots of interesting facts about Vikings from our tour guide, Richard.

We learn stuff like the Vikings had shallow light boats for creeping up rivers and surprising the English, they also used them to get as far as Asia. They also used different types of weapons, from daggers to axes. We also learn that they never had horns on their helmets; that was something made up for an opera by Wagner. The stuff you find out.

We spend a good couple of hours there. We watch the blacksmith making rivets for a shield, a fight between two drunk Vikings, and the tourists having plastic sword fights with the “locals”.

It was very good and well worth the time and money to go to. We finish our visit off with a hot drink and…, yes, some waffles with Brunost, brown cheese.

We wander back to Jess just in time for the rain to start. We are leaving tomorrow, but we still have a bit more laundry to do. We take turns getting wet, going back and forth, but we get it done. We have had to fill our shower with some wet chairs and table covers that we left outside in the rain while we were out. It’ll be ok by tomorrow.

Our stay in Gudvangen has been excellent. We managed to get everything done that we wanted, so despite the weather, it has been an excellent stay, but tomorrow we have to move on. We have 12 days left in Norway, and there is still ‘stuff‘ to see.

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Friday 4th July – Gudvangen – day 4

We have woken up late today, very late, not saying how late! After careful consideration and a lot of thinking, not, we have decided to stay for another day. There is rain all day today, which is expected to be on and off for the most part. It’s nice here, and there is a short 2km hike we can do, and we have Jess where we can just chill out.

To wake ourselves up, and to feel more with it, we have a shower and just read for the most part of the morning until the afternoon. We get spells of sunshine, which makes it all look and feel very pleasant. We finally get a spell of no rain, so we get the hiking boots in and set off for a 2km round trip hike with a 190-meter climb, so whilst it doesn’t sound much, 2 km, it is steep.

The weather holds. It’s a good hike, but we are ill-prepared, with no water and no sticks, as some of the walk is quite challenging, with a few rocks to climb over, and steep, slippery tracks.

Del finds a couple of sticks which he wrangles to a good size to help Hayley with the climb. Finally, we reach the end of the trail, which is exactly 190m high, and it does feel like we have done a 1km uphill climb.

The view is spectacular. We can see the Viking Village below and the start of the Fjord that we were on yesterday.

After 15 to 20 minutes, we start the descent, which goes a lot smoother and a lot quicker than the ascent. The weather is still holding, so we nip into the Viking Village restaurant for an early dinner. We have read good reviews, and it certainly matches them. The food is excellent, and because of the rain, it’s not very busy.

Back at Jess for more relaxation, we still don’t know where we are going tomorrow. We read and have early showers, and just settle in for our final night. We mean it this time though…! Hayley goes to bed early as she’s not feeling great.

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Week 4 . 21st – 27th June 2025. Gothenburg to Briksdalsbreen, Norway – 496 miles

Saturday 21st June 2025 – Gothenburg day 4

After a couple of days of walking around and exploring Gothenburg, Hayley plans a quieter day today. First, there’s the mundane, yet necessary, task of doing the laundry. We take our washer at home for granted, and it can be a struggle on the road sometimes to find decent laundry facilities.

The laundry at this campsite is the best, £8 for 2 hours exclusive rental of the laundry room with washers, dryers and an iron. Hayley gets 4 loads done and ironed – result! The rest of the day, she sits in the sun and reads before setting off for a look at the forest and trails that are near the campsite.

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Sunday 22nd June 2025 – Gothenburg day 5

Del is back today, woohoo! He’s not due until 4 pm, so Hayley tidies up the van and goes for another long walk. At last, he’s safely back, and it’s been a successful job that he has enjoyed. Hayley has also had a good few days in Gothenburg, but now we’re back together, we can resume our travels.

The logistics have worked out well. The campsite is excellent, in a good place near Sweden’s second biggest city, which just by chance has an amusement park with a world-class coaster in it. The airport was only 45 minutes away, with good flights back to London.

Tonight we celebrate with a rather expensive dinner in the city (Sweden is expensive, but nothing compared to Norway, so we hear).

Tomorrow we will move north towards the Swedish/Norwegian border.

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Monday 23rd June 2025 – Gothenburg to Åmål – 110 miles

We slept well last night despite bursts of heavy rain drumming on the roof.

We pack up, check and refresh Jess for a 100-mile drive today to the small town of Åmål, which has a campsite called Örnäs camping, located right on the banks of Lake Vänern. The lake is not only the biggest in Sweden but the biggest in the EU, with a length of 140 kilometres (87 miles!!!) That’s a big lake… We have some heavy rain along the way.

We get a nice pitch right next to the lake. The sky is heavy with lots of grey clouds, but it’s nice and dramatic.

We manage a walk through the forest to a marina and back. There are some good walks here, but it’s a shame that the weather today is so unpredictable.

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Tuesday 24th June 2025 – Åmål, Sweden to Gata, Norway 146 miles

It’s a bright, hot, sunny morning with coffee outside by the lake today. Strong gusts of wind are blowing across the lake, though.

After a large breakfast, using up some Swedish potatoes, which are banned in Norway, we set off. We have some Swedish kroner to get rid of, so we fill Jess up with diesel and buy some bits and pieces from a supermarket. There are a lot of motorhomes on our route today, mainly going in the opposite direction. Most people going to Norway take the ferry from Denmark, travelling clockwise, we are doing it differently as we went east first to have a look at Poland. Norway is very popular with motorhomes and can get extremely busy, we shall see. ​

During our picturesque drive to Norway, the weather changes. The rain showers are back, and the sky is grey. We have a good drive north and we cross the border into Norway at around 2 pm, stopping at a peace monument that straddles the border of Sweden and Norway.

The scenery in Norway, as expected, is wonderful and by all accounts it will only get better. We want to do some wild camping today, a free place in a forest. We try a few places, but they don’t really do it for us. Eventually, we find a spot, two miles down an unpaved road, 10 km south of the nearest town called Gata. We really are in the middle of nowhere.

In Norway, like Sweden, you can camp anywhere you like, so long as there is no sign expressly forbidding camping, and you are 150m from private property.

The place we have found is fantastic, no sounds, nothing. No moose either, although there are droppings nearby. We are right in the middle of a wood. We are off-grid tonight, relying on batteries and bottled gas. No problem for Jess as we settle into a fantastic dinner and watch the final episode of Clarkson’s Farm.

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Wednesday 25th June 2025 – Gata to Ringebu – 84 miles

Last night was a fabulous stop, off-grid, wild camping in the middle of a Norwegian wood, fabulous. Today, we are planning on another wild camping spot,stopping at a secluded place by a river. We have a few things to do, though. Jess needs her grey water emptying, fresh water, diesel, LPG, a wash and we need some local currency!

After breakfast, we set off, heading north.

First stop, Diesel, a litre here is about £1.40 – £1.50 which is not as bad as we thought. Next, we are driving to a marina, en route to empty the grey water tank and fill up with fresh water. After ducking under a 3m bridge, we arrive at the marina. (Jess is 2.95m, we make it just). Norway is great for free motorhome service points, maybe even better than France.

Next, Jess needs a wash. The heavy rain and mud from yesterday have left her looking like a rally car. We have found the most expensive car wash in the world. £10 gets us about three minutes. To wash Jess to her normal standard, that we have achieved everywhere else, would have cost £50.00!!!! She looks worse than before she went in!

Finally we need LPG. We have two bottles, one is almost empty, and we like to keep them full. You never know… This was a bit of a challenge as the place was off road in the yard of a garage, very rustic, and very muddy, and we have just had the most expensive ‘non-wash’ of Jess.

We are all done, and finally, we are on our way to our river stop. The weather is glorious, the roads are lovely to drive on, winding along the lakes. The scenery is just breathtaking, the best.

We pass a campsite about 30 minutes from our proposed stop, which looks fabulous, and after a bit of a ‘shall we, shan’t we‘ moment, we decide we shall. We turn around and head for it.

This is one of the best sites we have stayed in. Elstad Camping, near the town of Ringebu, is located right on a wide, long lake, you can pitch right on the edge. It costs us only 23 euros for the night, and it is just stunning. Across the lake, there are steep mountains covered in pine trees.

There is a Stave church here in Ringebu. A Stave church is a medieval wooden church which is a regular sight here in Norway. Once we get pitched up and comfortable, we head up the hill to the church. It’s a bit expensive to get in, £8.00, but inside it’s very cute and is worth the money. The surrounding grounds are spectacular and so beautifully maintained.

Back at the van, we share a beer and enjoy the rest of the afternoon and later dinner outside. It never seems to get dark here.

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Thursday 26th June 2025 – Ringebu to Geiranger – 130 miles

It’s a fantastic sunny day today, and we slept really well last night. The view this morning is incredible—towering, tree-covered mountains with a slow-moving river winding through the landscape. It’s a wonderful sight to wake up to, especially with smoked salmon and poached eggs for breakfast. Fabulous.

After finishing our hearty breakfast, we clean up and set off, making sure everything is ready after a full service. Tonight, we’ll be off the grid, so we need to have everything stocked up.

We’re still on the lookout for an ATM, but they’re scarce here, and very few shops and outlets seem to use cash. The Scandinavian countries, in general, don’t seem to like using cash, but we do need to have some for showers at campsites and some service points.

It’s a fabulous drive today as we climb higher, above 1000m, and the snow-covered mountains flatten out. Our drive takes us along rivers and lakes. The scenery is something else here in Norway. They’ve got some good stuff here.

We find our chosen overnight stop and pull in after negotiating a rather interesting road, narrow, with deep rivulets carved by other vans. We’re a little concerned the raised middle might scrape the underside. We make it, but only just.

It is a spectacular spot—difficult to describe how stunning it is. The temperature has dropped as we’ve climbed higher, and the mountains are snow-covered. We get settled in. This will be the furthest north we’ll go; in fact, it’s the furthest north we’ve ever been on a van trip.

Hayley suddenly has an idea: while it’s lovely here, we really should be heading to Geiranger, with its spectacular fjord. She finds us a campsite, and off we go. So much for the off-grid night by the lake!

It’s a good drive, but the roads are getting narrower, twistier, and more perilous. Your wheels hug the outer marker line, and some drivers either don’t understand that or are so scared themselves that they drive far too much in the middle.

Twice we have our wing mirror clipped. It’s okay—our mirrors have sacrificial covers and are designed to fold inwards—but the noise of clipping is quite disconcerting. Comes with the hobby. As long as it’s just clipped mirrors!

Mirror drama aside, the drive is probably one of the best scenic routes we’ve ever done. Every corner reveals another jaw-dropper—huge mountains and aqua-coloured lakes. We get a fantastic view of the Geirangerfjord, which currently has two cruise liners docked.

We arrive at the Vinje Campsite in Geiranger, which is quite high up. We have a very nice pitch with a view of the fjord and a huge waterfall that runs right through the camp. Noisy!

Once settled in, we set off down the hill for a walk to the fjord and the town of Geiranger. There’s a large cruise liner in, AIDAprima, which we think we’ve seen in Southampton before.

The place is a massive tourist stop. It’s busy, full of buses and people from all over the world. A popular place for cruise ships to stop. We walk around, the town is nice, but nothing really to write home about—everything is overpriced and done up for tourists.

We take the steep walk back up the hill to Jess and our little campsite, where we have a fabulous (and simple) dinner: beans on toast with a poached egg. We don’t normally carry beans, but Hayley has ‘stocked up for the wilds of Norway’, thinking we could be stranded without shops for days…!

We are wiped out after the challenging drive and the walk down to Geiranger and back, so we turn in early. A good day.

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Friday 27th June 2025 – Geiranger to Briksdalsbreen – 70 miles

Despite the waterfall outside the van, we slept well. Today we’re going to stay at a place near the Briksdalsbreen glacier. The drive is another challenging one, and today it’s Hayley’s turn.

We’re not sure why, but today there are so many coaches on the road—long ones—so the climb up the winding road is a difficult one. The traffic often comes to a standstill as coaches and motorhomes try to pass each other on hairpin bends. We are probably averaging 8 mph. The locals must be fed up with this chaos every day.

Once off the mountain road, Hayley thinks she is clear until she encounters a number of narrow tunnels of 4km each, which are not even wide enough for a centre dividing line, and have low rocky roofs. We swap over when we fill up with diesel, and Del has the next drive. The road leading up to the campsite we have reserved is even narrower, and Del is forced to reverse to let some traffic pass. It also has the creepiest tunnel ever.

Finally, finally, we arrive at the campsite: Melkevoll Bretun, which is surrounded by glaciers, mountains, and waterfalls.

The people here are lovely, and we get our pitch that Hayley had pre-booked. Again, to our right is a massive waterfall; to our left, a huge glacier; and straight ahead, another one. You can’t move for them!

We get dressed for a walk—boots, weatherproofs, etc.—and take a 4km hike along the Briksdal glacier trail. We get a few heavy showers of rain, but so what…

The glacier is in front of us the whole way and is quite an imposing sight. It’s hard to believe that these glaciers are moving forward down the mountain, while global warming is making them recede even faster.

We arrive at the base—or as close to the base of the glacier as we can get. Wow! is all we can say. We walk around, taking pictures for half an hour before heading back down to the campsite.

After a short break, we get changed and head for the on-site sauna. There’s a glacial stream next to it. You’re supposed to spend 20 minutes in a sauna, then take a dip in the stream before going back in. We do the sauna no problem, but the stream bit… that’s a bit harder. Hayley manages to get up to her knees before the pain of the icy water forces her out in a rather ungraceful fashion, losing her flip-flops and nearly falling over in the process. Ice-cold water, straight off the mountain… Hmmm.

After a shower, it’s back ‘home’ for a fantastic dinner of Swedish meatballs, asparagus, and crushed potatoes, washed down with a cold white wine.

A perfect end to a perfect day.

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Week 3. 14th – 20th June 2025. Lundakrahamnen to Gothenburg – 146 miles

Saturday 14th June 2025 – Landskrona to Annerstad – 89 miles

It’s a stunning morning today, with a gentle breeze and a bright blue summer sky. We have a quick breakfast since we want to try and get into a very popular campsite off the beaten path in a town called Annerstad, which might be full since it’s a lovely weekend.

We set off north on the E4 motorway. It’s a fantastic, scenic drive, especially in the sunshine.

After about 45 minutes, we stopped for a Fika—a Swedish tradition of sharing coffee with a pastry. Hayley has managed to book us into the campsite; there are only two spots left, and we have secured one.

We continue our drive, passing some beautiful scenery. It’s a rather lovely place so far, Sweden. After about 40 minutes, we arrived at the charming farm of Prästgården in Annerstad with a lush green field to park in and where cows graze next to a barn full of chickens and pigs. The host is very friendly and tells us we’re free to do and go as we wish.

We choose a spot right next to the cow field, and we have two visitors already—some curious cows.

It’s lovely here. The barn is filled with pigs and chickens. An unusual thing about the pig area is that they have paintings on the walls and a chandelier, quite charming.

The weather is so gorgeous that we decide to take down the bikes and explore the area. Our cycle takes us to a large lake, one of many around here. It’s simply stunning. The scent of fresh pine trees is fabulous as we cycle along. The lake is clean, bright, and inviting, shining in the high afternoon sun. It’s genuinely a fantastic ride in a beautiful place.

After about 10 miles and feeling a bit sore, we return to Jess, and sit in the shade with a cold drink and some time to stretch out. It’s warm today, and tomorrow is expected to be even warmer.

We have a reservation for tonight at the little restaurant on the camp that specialises in pizzas. By all accounts, and according to many websites, this place does the best pizza in Sweden. Every review gives them 5 stars, so we take a table outside in the evening sun and order 2 diavolo pizzas, beginning with a walnut and pear salad.

The pizzas are amazing and we both agree they are the best we have ever had, who would have thought it, in a tiny farm in the middle of Sweden?

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Sunday 15th June 2025 – Annerstad to Bolmsö – 31 miles

It’s a bright, hot, and sunny morning. We have coffee outside with the cows. Our road trip today will be about 45 minutes to our next stop by a lake in Bolmsö.

We find a lovely spot shaded by trees, with a beautiful view of the lake. It doesn’t take us very long to get level, (just about), plugged up and settled in. There is a free ferry—yes, free—that transports people and cars across the lake in about 10 minutes. So we shall have a look at that. Just below our pitch, there’s a small beach. Hayley tries to paddle, but decides the lake is way too cold, despite the 25-degree temperature and sunshine.

We board the small ferry without any fuss; people and cars board simultaneously. Everyone just looks out for each other—it’s a strange concept, but it works.

Since the ferry ride is just a continuation of the road, there isn’t much to see along the way, except for a small hut at the other end when we get off that serves coffee and ice cream. We couldn’t resist the ice cream.

Hayley chooses a salty liquorice-flavoured one; this flavour is very popular in Sweden and is delicious. Simple pleasures, eh?

Afterwards, we take the ferry back to the camp and relax, read, and just sit in the warm, still air. It has now clouded over a bit, but it’s still humid and 26 degrees. Tonight we dine outside, with our view of the lake. Afterwards we get cleaned up and decide to sit outside again, this time with a few drinks and a game of chess that ends badly for Del… We are outside playing chess in daylight at 10:30pm…!

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Monday 16th June 2025 – Bolmsö to Rydal – 93 miles

There were a few light rain showers last night here in Bolmsö. We’re moving on again today, taking a short drive to another camping spot by a different lake. We can’t get enough of these lakes. It’s a chilly, grey morning compared to yesterday, 12 degrees less—the sun never seems to last! We enjoy a hearty breakfast to cheer ourselves up before a quick Jess service, then we’re on our way, via the ferry to the other side of the lake.

We get the ferry to ourselves. It’s an earlyish Monday morning. The ferry is run by the equivalent of the highways agency; it’s a continuation of the road, so it’s free. Just drive on and off. No nonsense, no delays, it just bounces back and forth all day.

We stop by a Willys (stop it!), the Swedish equivalent of Tesco, and do a quick shopping trip filled with Swedish goodies—Dime bars, bread, smoked salmon and crackers.

After about an hour of driving through beautiful Swedish countryside, we arrive at Kvarnsjöns, but unfortunately, we’re a bit disappointed. There’s no real information available, everything is a bit spread out, and it just doesn’t quite hit the mark for us. Hayley then finds another spot, this time in Svenljunga. (Are you keeping up with these Swedish names?) This will be a free stop next to a small reservoir; there’s space for three vans.

When we arrive, we’re the only ones there. To get to it, you have to drive off-road along a rugged, uneven dirt road, but at the end, there’s this charming little hideout.

It’s very nice, but again, it doesn’t fully satisfy us. There’s no cycling or even walking paths nearby, and it’s only 2:30, so we fear we will get restless.

After a quick search, Hayley finds us a paid camping spot in the town of Rydal, just an hour southeast of Gothenburg. Rydal was historically big on textiles, similar to Bolton! There’s space for eight campervans right on the river, which the local boat club maintains. It also has a private sauna, which visitors are allowed to use; it looks good, let’s go.

Another 30-minute drive brings us here. It’s a beautiful spot—lots of trees, with a narrow river threading through. The van pitches are right by the river, and there’s also a small covered fire pit ideal for sitting while cooking your BBQ.

The sauna is available; to use it, you book a slot on their website, receive a code to open a key box that contains the sauna key. You get two hours, but if no one else is waiting, you can stay longer. The only catch is that you need to bring logs; it’s a traditional burner, not electric. We didn’t think of that…

The staff here are incredibly helpful. We email the owner about our situation, and he tells us to hang on—someone will bring logs soon. The logs cost ten quid, and the sauna itself is free to use. While Hayley prepares dinner on Jess, Del starts the fire in the sauna. We enjoy a delicious meal while it heats up to 80 degrees.

Later, we get changed into flip-flops and swimwear and head into the sauna. It’s perfect—hot! Inside, there’s a large window overlooking the river. Outside, a spacious decking area provides a refreshing cool-off. It’s a fantastic feature.

After an hour in the sauna with rests, we return to Jess for a shower, fresh clothes, and a cold drink . All in all, it’s been a great day. We plan to stay here again tomorrow, we have plenty of logs left over for another sauna and a BBQ.

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Tuesday 17th June 2025 – Rydal day 2

It’s a lovely, bright, sunny day today. We like it here, so we decide to stay for another day. It’s such a lovely place, with lots to do and see, and already we have a full day lined up.

We start off by having morning coffee outside, followed by a nice hearty breakfast of lots of stuff! There are canoes here for hire, but there is nobody here to help us except for a telephone number and an email address. Hayley does a little research, and it turns out the owner is not in the country, but is happy to give us the key code for the garage where the oars and life preservers are kept. All we have to do is pay for the rental using PayPal. Amazing trust – we go the code to the garage before making the payment.

We drag a three-seater canoe into the river and set off. The Swedish countryside is just fantastic. We weave our way along the river, there is nothing to suggest “man” is here, no pylons, poles, wires or signs, just the river and bird song, with the odd ‘plop‘ of a fish surfacing.

We do a good two hours, drop all the stuff off and let the owner know what we have done. Yesterday we had a sauna, and we still have some logs left over, so we decide to use them up and have another one. Del gets the fire going, gets the room up to 60 degrees, throws some water on the stones, and it’s not long before the temperature is at a nice 80 degrees, lovely.

The day has just flown by. It’s now 6pm by the time we have cleaned up, showered, and reset ourselves. We meet the two men who look after this place and compliment them on their work; they are grateful for the feedback. We spend a few minutes chatting away about the Swedish countryside and Sweden in general. They have lots to say!

It’s time for dinner, which we have outside. It’s a very pleasant sunny evening, which is finished off by Hayley playing a few Loretta Lynn, Britney Spears and Eagles songs on her baby guitar (she has a very unusual repertoire shall we say).

All in all, a very nice day indeed here in Rydel. A place that we will remember for a long time, and that one day we will return.

Tomorrow, Del is off to London on business, back on Sunday.

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Wednesday 18th June 2025 – Rydal to Gothenburg – 35 miles

We are sad to be leaving Rydal which has become one of our favourite little parking spots, but we must as Del has a flight leaving this evening from Gothenburg. He has a short job in London, so Jess and H are booked into a campsite in the city. This campsite just happens to be owned by Liseberg park, which has a world-famous roller coaster called Helix, so H certainly won’t be bored; however, Del won’t be to hand to hold the bag!

We arrive early afternoon, after a small stockup and full van service, we’re not used to the city feel and scenery, we prefer trees and lakes and nobody around, but cities can be interesting too, especially this one. This is Sweden’s second biggest city and a big draw for tourists. The campsite is huge (150 pitches) and fully booked as we are going into what the Swedes call the Midsummer Festival.

We take the short tram ride to the interchange in the centre for the airport bus, and soon, Del is away to work while Hayley will have some fun in the park!

As we are staying at the campsite, Hayley is able to get into the Liseberg amusement park for free this evening. It doesn’t include rides, but she pays to go on the standout coaster, the one she has been waiting for, the one that everyone talks about (in coaster circles anyway) – Helix. She gets a front row ride and loves it.

It’s not the best value to pay as you go on the rides tonight, so she will return tomorrow with a proper entrance and ride ticket and do the whole day, but for now, she is happy to walk around and see the lay of the land before tomorrow.

The Corrs are doing a concert tonight inside the park, and the ticket to get in is just £5 (what?!). Hayley has never really been a fan of the Corrs as such, but likes some of their songs, so she decides to stay and check them out.

The concert is fantastic, they are one of those bands that you know more songs than you think. Great musicians, catchy songs – a really enjoyable show (funny enough, their next stop on their tour is the Isle of Wight festival back home). Hayley gets back to Jess at 10:30 pm after a great day, it’s still daylight.

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Thursday 19th June 2025 – Gothenburg day 2

It’s yet another lovely sunny day today, but not as warm as the UK. Del has reported back that the UK temperature is in the upper 20s and expected to be in the low 30s by the weekend! Today is a big day for Hayley as she is going to the Liseberg Park Amusement Park, so she has a relaxed start to the day as they open at 1 pm. 

Once in, she manages quite a few rides, as the queues are pretty small.

It’s a public holiday tomorrow for midsummer, so it looks like most people are waiting until then to come to the park. After 5 hours and 14 rides (including being turned upside down 27 times), Hayley has finally had enough. She’s not getting any younger and is already the oldest person in the queues! She’s not as able as she once was to be chucked upside down and thrown around for long periods.

She heads back to Jess for some quiet time and to just relax after what has been another great day.

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Friday 20th June 2025 – Gothenburg day 3

Today, Hayley plans to explore the city, despite most things being shut for the Midsummer festival, which is the second most important holiday in Sweden.

After a few transport issues, she makes it into the centre. She has found out what the issue is with the trams this morning by reading about it in the British press. A tram took a corner at high speed early this morning and derailed, travelled across the asphalt and wiped out a pizza restaurant. Luckily, no one was killed, but it has left quite a mess and a few injuries.

As predicted, the town is pretty quiet, with most of the places Hayley planned to visit locked up. Even Ikea is shut until Sunday! She hops on a tram to visit the city’s main park. They have Moose there, we hoped we would see some casually crossing the road (not too close) in the quiet forest areas, but have had no luck.

She gets to see a couple, some nice goats and chickens and then walks down into the main lawned area. This is where all of Gothenburg is; it’s crazy busy with people dressed up and wearing the traditional flowers in their hair.

She watches a few traditional dances and then heads back to Jess. It’s another quiet night in, giving her feet a rest.