Kapp 2 Cape: Nordkapp to Cape Agulhas starting Oct 2012

Hi all!

I am so excited to finally be posting in the "current trips" thread!

woohoo!!

I'll keep posting here as long as I have reliable internet connection ... Europe should be fine, and Africa will be a 'wait and see'

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Oh finally!

This is the infamous blog from the Danish campsite! We are finally here! The adventure has begun!

The ferry ride over was particularly calm - the North Sea looked like a mill pond, and the sun was shining. Yes, it can actually manage that. It was gorgeous. The 18 hours flew by: dinner, a bit of sleep, and breakfast, and suddenly it was time to disembark.

We have decided to forgo our initial plans of wild camping in Scandinavia - African GirlChild has turned out to be more of a cold weather wimp than initially anticipated. We thought we would take advantage of the fantastic camping facilities that mainland Europe has to offer, and have stopped in Odense to savour Danish camping: indoor kitchen, heated ablution facilities, another heated room for eating / watching TV / catching up online. Quite luxurious by UK standards.

As with any house move, it takes a little while to settle into the new accommodation, and work out what goes where to make for simple living and easy access. We continue to tinker with arrangements, moving lesser used items lower down, and more used items closer to hand. You just don’t know everything that falls into each category until you are on the road!

Learning for today - jeans are a big no-no in colder camping. I nearly froze when camping in the UK due to wearing jeans after the sun set. As a result, I decided to invest in another pair of long johns (the first pair being employed as pyjamas). These, together with lined tracksuit bottoms, have vastly improved my ability to be outside as the temperatures plummet. Happy camper now!

And so our first night was celebrated with a glass of wine (reducing the weight in the vehicle) and meatballs! Tomorrow we leave the Danish shores for our long trek northwards up through Sweden.

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... more to come!

rgds
African GirlChild

Have Fun. Keep us all posted.

TJ

Do you know, when I first conceived this forum I thought it would nice for adventurers to first post in the PROPOSED section, then as the big day came, they could move over to the CURRENT section? This is exactly what you've done, without any prompting whatsoever; excellent!

One thing's for sure, it'll be a hellava while before you'll be posting in the COMPLETED section!

Well, it appears you are off and running. Must say, along with my joy for you, I also feel tad jealous. One day ...

Tom - you've no idea how long I have been wanting to start posting in this thread

Never fear - your time will come As we said in our talk ... it all starts with putting a date in the diary

rgds
African GirlChild

Hi all!

Keepin' you updated on our movements ... enjoy!

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One of the top tips of our talk at the Adventure Show was “Be true to the original reason for your adventure”

As we started our trek northwards, we realised we had slipped into a routine. Focussing on our need to reach Nordkapp, we packed up each morning: frozen fingers trying hard to close wet zippers on rooftop tents, grabbing a quick cuppa and a rusk before jumping into the cold vehicle and driving towards the next planned destination. Arriving in the afternoon at the next campsite, we would end up in the indoor cooking area cooking our meal out of the cold. This was followed by a hastily gobbled dinner outdoors (we are camping afterall) before heading back into the warmth of a common room to plan our next campsite, catch up online and play cards or backgammon. And lastly, braving the near freezing temperatures, we climbed into the rooftop tent and hoped for a dry night so that the tent wouldn’t be wet in the morning.

It was after a lunch of baked beans one day, huddled behind the vehicle over the stove that we just looked at ourselves.

This wasn’t what our dream was about.

Here we were, boot camp style, going through the motions day after day in the same automoton manner that I feel my last months in corporate work were. Reluctantly. Obediently. Waiting for it to pass. There was no stopping to take photos, no stopping to see sites, no exploring. Just driving.

So, we had a family conference in the car on the side of the road: do we follow our heads and endure 10 more days with temperatures dropping steadily just so that we can reach Nordkapp for the official start of our adventure – or do we follow our hearts, and head for the warmth and sun of Africa to explore, the real reason for our adventure?

Hearts won.

We turned westwards instead of continuing northwards, and headed for Oslo. Nordkapp will be our Summer adventure later – with long days, and ‘warm’ temperatures.

So, we arrived unannounced and a few weeks early at Viking Explorer’s sister’s doorstep: cold, damp and desperate for indoors. We were greeted with open arms, huge smiles, and lots of cuddles from the nieces.

As it turns out, this is probably wise. Today, it was 2C and snow … wet, cold snow. Too scared to think what 1,500km north in 5 days will look like ...

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Until next time

African Arctic GirlChild

That sounds great. Defiantly take some pics of the Colder scenery, Im a huge fan of winter.

"Vikikng Explorer" - Im Saxon, were practically cousins....

Sounds like you made a wise decision, have a good drive South.

Don't blame you. As it happens I've never visited Norway, but my memory of Sweden was in the communal car parks of blocks of flats - banks of electric outlets everywhere each leading to a vehicle to keep the engines from freezing overnight. Temperatures of -20 degrees and less ain't good for engine blocks! I'm sure the same is true of Norway, overnight heaters everywhere.

Jas wrote:

That sounds great. Defiantly take some pics of the Colder scenery, Im a huge fan of winter.

"Vikikng Explorer" - Im Saxon, were practically cousins....

Hey cousin!

I'm afraid, you'll have to head up north yourself to take the pics ... this bird is taking Viking Explorer and heading south with the birds ...

The winter scenery in Norway is indeed gorgeous - but not best viewed from a tent

kind regards
African Arctic GirlChild

roamingman wrote:

Sounds like you made a wise decision, have a good drive South.

Thanks!

Thought we'd go and see what the French Riviera has to offer on our way to meet Tuggy. Got a bit more time in Europe now, so hope to slow ourselves down and meander a bit ...

Tom Mc wrote:

Don't blame you. As it happens I've never visited Norway, but my memory of Sweden was in the communal car parks of blocks of flats - banks of electric outlets everywhere each leading to a vehicle to keep the engines from freezing overnight. Temperatures of -20 degrees and less ain't good for engine blocks! I'm sure the same is true of Norway, overnight heaters everywhere.

Yip - they do that in Norway too! Fortunately, we haven't quite reached those serioiusly chilly temperatures, but it sounds like Winter is coming early to Norway / Sweden this year, and promises to be long and cold.

Temperatures of -20 degrees and less ain't good for African GirlChild either!!

... and actually, even Viking Explorer has had enough of this. After the charming British Summer, we are both desperate for some warmth. We plan to take some time to meander through southern France and Spain on our way to Tuggy. Hopefully we'll have thawed out by then

kind regards
African Arctic GirlChild

Sensible move. Plans are meant to be changed en route to meet the moment.Hate to say this but you are probably going to arrive in Southern Africa in winter.Mind you it's possibly warmer than our summer !!!!!!

Margaret

Margaret

Yes, very glad we missed the cold.

But, we'll be arriving in South Africa in summer time ... Christmas 2013. And in any case, winter in Africa is warmer than summer in the uk ... I know, I depress myself and watch every year ...

rgds
African GirlChild

18th October 2012

On the road again …

Our detour from Jonkoping to Oslo gave us a few days to spend quality time with the Viking side of the family. We played aunt and uncle with Viking Explorer’s 2 nieces, and caught up with Viking Explorer’s sister and brother-in-law – something we haven’t really had an opportunity to do for a very long time. We did our best to fit into the busy daily routine of a family with children involved in different activities! And – we had a few days to thaw out! Swapping the rooftop tent for the basement was … well, luxury!

After Viking Explorer’s parents returned from their travels (roaming really is a genetic disease), we had a brief 24 hours enjoying being spoilt as only parents can spoil their children!

We also had quick catch-ups with aunt and cousins, and friends. Always enjoyable. Always too short.

We managed to secure the first visa for the trip! Viking Explorer requires a visa for Senegal, and so we visited the Senegalese Consulate General. I am sure this will remain the easiest visa acquired: in and out in less than half an hour – visa securely affixed in passport.

And we are back on the road. We discussed various options, and decided that after 5 days without a glimpse of sun, intermittent rain and chilly temperatures, the sun and warmth is a priority. So, we are catching a ferry almost as far as we can manage: Kiel in Germany. Let’s hope the sun is waiting for us …

rgds
African GirlChild

Long one this one ... sit back and enjoy!

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23rd October 2012

What a difference a day makes – and a thousand kilometres.

We woke on the morning of 19th to sunshine and – dare I say it – warmth! I am sure that it was unseasonable, but we arrived in Kiel in Germany and started reducing the layers. No more beanie, hiking boots were no longer required, and the short sleeves emerged! The weather topped a balmy 24C when we stopped for lunch at a rest stop on our journey south from Kiel. Just couldn’t actually believe it!

In an effort to make progress south, we utilised the super efficient autobahn system and headed around Hamburg towards Bremen. Our aim for the day was Osnabruck – and a campsite near there. Unfortunately, we were caught up in Friday afternoon traffic, which was strong competition to the M25 London ringroad on a Friday! We left the motorway – we really didn’t need to be there! – and made our way towards a campsite marked on our map near Dummer (!). Fortunately, it was open (something we were still to discover was a luxury in itself).

The campsite was on the shores of a little lake. Most of the lakeside was a ‘naturpark’ – a nature park with fields, forests and lots of birds (OK, mainly geese). The rest of the lakeside were dotted with small clusters of holiday homes, which looked shut up for the winter.

Our lack of exercise was revealing itself in slight grumpiness, and as we had arrived in daylight hours, we hopped on the bicycles and went for a little 45 minute ride along the lake. It was wonderful to be out in the fresh air and watch the sun setting over the water. The remaining ducks and geese were heading to roost.

This is what the adventure is about!

The night time temperatures were also a treat – rather than being bundled up and in the tent as soon as we could, we sat outside long after sunset enjoying the evening. It was 13C – but after camping near freezing, it felt rather comfortable!

We decided that the next morning we would delay our departure, and take the time to cycle all the way around the lake – a mere 19km, which may well have been 39km for the level of fitness we have lost. However, we were up and about before most of the locals (what time do they get going in Germany?) and so had the whole lake to ourselves as we cycled. Just gorgeous.

Our aim for the day was to reach the Mosel Valley, south west of Koblenz. This is one of the wine growing regions, and the river cut its way through steep sided valleys adorned with row upon row of grape vines. There seemed barely enough space for the small villages to fit between the base of the valley sides and river itself!

First priority was a camp-site for the night. First site was up in the mountains without a river view – it seemed a crying shame not to be able to see the water. The next site we found had reached the end of the season (warning bells started sounding!) and so was only open for 1 more night (we needed 2). Lastly, we found a campsite which was based on a tiny island in the middle of the river. Still open to the end of the month (fortunately), we managed to find a little spot overlooking the water. Idyllic!

Our plan for the next day was to enjoy the cycling paths up and down the valley. The Mosel valley prides itself on having cycling routes on both sides of the river from Koblenz at the north east end, almost to Trier on the south west end – a distance of more than 100km (I think!).

We awoke to fog! Well, shouldn’t have been a surprise really, being in a valley, and temperature inversions and all the rest of it. As we slowly prepared for the day, the fog turned to mist and the sun started to shine through … but it bore no resemblance to the clear skies and glorious sunshine of the day before. However, undeterred, we hopped on our bikes and headed up the river towards the village of Cochem – a mere 13km away.

It was eerie cycling along the river in the dimly lit surroundings – every now and then the sun would shine through. By the time we reached Cochem, however, the sun had managed to burn off the remaining mist and fog, and we were treated to clear skies and sunshine – finally!

We spent a few hours exploring the tiny town, walked up to the castle which overlooked the river, indulged in a German pastry and had our lunch on the river banks. Then, saddle sore after 3 days on the bikes – we trundled our way back down the river to the campsite. A mere 34km for the day, but a healthy start to getting back in shape.

Early start the next morning, as we planned to meander off the beaten track and look at the beautiful autumn colours. One of the aspects Viking Explorer misses about Norway is the very distinct 4 seasons – something which the UK lacks. He was looking forward to the yellows and golds, oranges and reds of the autumn trees, and the German landscape put on quite a show.

Our aim for the day was somewhere east of Strasbourg, still in Germany, and with the days still light until 7pm, we were happy for a slightly longer drive to find a campsite. We continued to follow the sunshine – having already started to take it for granted – until we found ourselves heading into a dark line of clouds. And that was it. Sun gone. Temperature dropped from 22-24C down to 16C. Shocked back into the reality of autumn.

We came up short on the end of camping season. The first campsite we went to was actually across the Rhine in France – and required a ferry crossing rather than the bridge on our map. We turned and headed to our second choice – closed for the season. Then our third – closed for the season. Aaarrggghhh. Fortunately, a kind couple at this last campsite gave us the name of a town about 10km away where there was another campsite not marked on our map, but they had no idea if it was open or not. Off we went … and to our great relief it was still open. By now it was 6pm. We had spent almost 2 hours searching. But at least we had a place to sleep.

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rgds
African GirlChild

And yet another ... finally had internet access today!!!

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23rd October 2012

Camping in Germany is a bit of an experience. At each place, we have been the only people in a tent. “The rest?” I hear you ask. Well, the rest have been semi-permanent tents and mobile homes. Basically, people living there.

They also seem to operate much more of a “pay as you go” system than we experienced in Scandinavia. And I don’t mean luxuries like internet and laundry … I mean the basics! Shower? Yip, you need to buy a token for that. Hot water to do your dishes? That’ll cost you too. Electricity to use the stoves? That too.

Internet has been sparse. The only place we had any internet (and it was even free!) was our current spot – where we have to pay for almost EVERYTHING else! The irony is astounding

To be fair, it has been at some more than other sites … but these seem to me to be the bare essentials I have already grown to expect when camping in Europe!

Now Africa … that will be different I am sure!

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rgds
African GirlChild

Hi glad to here you found the sun, and are know enjoying your trip, always nice to see relatives, yes we found Germany dear for campsites, should fide it a bit cheaper in France, yes we found that in a lot of the campsites in Europe they do live their more in little mini villages enlarging their tents and caravans.

Good luck with your travels.

Actually Roaming man - they have been pretty similar at this time of year. Been lucky!

Latest update - enjoy!!!

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The name of our adventure is dangerously coming close to being renamed – to SunSeekers! At the moment, that is all we seem to be doing – desperately following the sun, while keeping the chilly weather from nipping at our heels.

We departed Germany with an aim to stop over in Switzerland and spend time there. As the weather gods would have it, our journey from Freiburg to Bern was in low mist – so low, that it gets caught in your hair and makes everything wet. The picturesque countryside of Switzerland will remain, yet again, a mystery to be unravelled, as we saw almost nothing.

So, rather than setting up camp in the damp (!!) and waiting to see what the weather was up to, we carried on towards France. Such a huge pity.

Our journey took us to Montreux, where we managed to find an open campsite (although we didn’t need one), and a spot for lunch. We enjoyed our warm soup overlooking a very grey and misty Lac Leman (which I thought was called Lake Geneva). It bore no resemblance to the visit we made last August, when we stopped and ate icecream under clear blue skies in shorts and T-shirts.

We continued clockwise around Lac Leman, eventually making our way towards Morzine and Les Gets area from Thonon les Bains. We met up with a couple I had been chatting to on email for ages, had a quick cuppa and gathered useful advice on long range weather forecast. It seemed that our plans of a few days in the Alps was due to be cut short – as the first serious cold front was on its way, and temperatures were due to plunge way colder than African GirChild can comfortably camp in (-10C is not for wimps!).

So, we cut our stay to 2 nights, and decided to make the most of our single day in the Alps – which according to the forecast, promised sunshine.

We were not disappointed.

The day dawned chilly, misty – but by 10am the sun had banished all clouds and we were bathed in warm sunshine under clear blue skies. We hiked from St Jean D’Aulps (800m) up into the forest covered mountains, and enjoyed a picnic lunch basking like lizards in the sun at 1,200m. The autumn colours were magnificent!

Tomorrow, we are heading in the direction of Lyon, which should escape the brunt of the icy forecast.

Not before another cuppa with new friends.

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til next time!
African GirlChild

"SunSeekers"

We were in the alps in 2010, doing the Landy Rally, stopped at Val-De-Sair at mid day, went up to top of the mountain to drive the piste's no snow, highest of road corurs in Europe. Great sunny day, back to tent, work up in the morning 7am inside the tent was frozen outside every thing covered in a heavy frost, that day it was the quickest pack up and in to the motors in the 11 days,
so yes it can get cold very fast.
Lyon is a nice city.

regards roamingman

Roamingman - sounds chilly indeed!

We had the quickest pack up this morning: managed to pack up in the drizzle, instead of the poaring rain! Our timing between showers at 7am was a record!

We are managing to keep a mere 1 day ahead of the snow

Contribution from Viking Explorer - enjoy!

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Avignon, France

Our journey took another unexpected, but probably very sensible, turn today. You will have read about our decision to turn left at Jonkoping in Sweden and head for the warmth of my sister’s house in Oslo instead of braving the cold northern regions of Norway. You will also have read about our drive through Switzerland as we could not even see the car in front of us. Now, in Avignon, France, with the wind howling outside the window of the Youth Hostel and the temperature outside heading for zero (again), we have made the decision to turn right at the Med tomorrow and head towards Spain.

I miss the sun! When the sun shines I am happy and warm. When it is gone I get moody and sad. After the miserable excuse for a summer we had in the UK this year, I hate rain. With a passion. The first night at the Adventure Overland Show I had to practise anger management on myself. Last night, I lay awake in the tent for two hours listening to the rain. Then the wind picked up even more and I had to get up to secure the tarp from flying off… Not funny! I’m not sure I have managed to thaw out completely yet. In addition, Arctic GirlChild’s toes were like ice cubes today, so it is imperative that they thaw out nicely too. Hence our decision to find warmer climates.

Unfortunately, this change of direction will also mean not being able to meet up with friends and family along the way. We have had a plan to meet up with AGC’s aunt, uncle and nieces in Nice next week, and another plan to meet up with the Frequent Flyers in Barcelona in the middle of November. We will now have to revert to plan B and meet up with all of them when we arrive in South Africa.

And so our journey continues. But we are not going to leave Europe as a tick in our to-do list. Far from it. We will be back. There is so much to see and do, and even the few nights we have stayed in Europe on the way south have given us a desire to revisit. The Mosel valley with its vineyards, the Alps with the views and the endless options for hiking and biking (and skiing but we are talking summer here…), and the bird parks near Lyon and Marseilles. And of course Nordkapp. And the best of all, we plan to do it in the summer when there is almost a guarantee to see the sun for more than ten minutes at a time.

Viking Explorer
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We are looking forward to seeing Tuggy - much earlier than expected, but no point sticking around in the cold ...

Perpignan is the plan for tomorrow - let's hope it is as sunny as the weather forecast predicts ...

rgds
African GirlChild & Viking Explorer

Hiya GirlChild,
I think we we're running just in front of you on our route back to Spain from Daventry.
We planned on a week or so in the French / Italian Alps around Mont Blanc and we also
cut it short and made a be line for the sun since we were in constant low cloud for days
so Valence south of Lyon and a quicky down to Narbonne for the night which we know is open
till mid November.
Re internet in France, Mcdonalds in France all have free internet, whilst we dont eat the rubbish
there's often a Lidl next door and the car parking at Lidl has the free internet, failing that a bag
of chips gets you the free internet connection.
Spain, once south of Mercia your in Andalucia and our experience is that all or most Biblioteca's /
Library's offer a free internet connection to visitors, Mojacar Biblioteca during the day has a good
enough signal to pick it up on the beach right in front of the building.
We couldent get out of the UK quick enough as part of our trip found us on the side of a Cumbrian
Fell in lashing wind and rain with just our Oz Tent as it was way to wet to use the Maggiolina.
Best Wishes.

"way too wet to use the Maggiolina"

You see, that's what I don't understand about folk and their roof tents. What's the benefit of sleeping up in the clouds being buffited by wind and rain? Not having a go at you personally marjal, just don't understand the benefits of them? Even in the back of beyond, when folk say ... "It's safer sleeping up top away from animals", correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought lions, bears, etc. could climb?

As for an attack by humans, you're well and truly snookered for up top there's quite literally nowhere to go.

Give me a vehicle I can sleep inside of anyday. Worst comes to the worst, animal or human, you can simply jump into the driver's seat and you're away!