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Three months in Europe

julio - septiembre 2017
Una aventura de 88 días de Brad and Mandy Pearce Leer más
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  • Brad and Mandy PearceThree months in Europe
    Día 26

    Driving day towards Hirtshals

    29 de julio de 2017, Dinamarca ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    Snapshot
    Where - Copenhagen to Aalborg to Hirtshals
    Weather - showers, 18°C
    Distance - 470km

    The trip to Aalborg ( about an hour from our ferry departure point ) was only about 4 hours drive and we had all day to do it. The journey meant crossing to a large middle island of Denmark across an 18km bridge (toll was 240 Danish Kroner or about $50AUD)

    To break the journey we visited The Funen Village which is an open air museum from Hans Christian Andersen times. It was very interesting - a bit like Australiana Village I visited as a child ( can't remember if this was the name of it). We spent a few hours here.

    We stayed at Aalborg and our Airbnb was a quirky place, fully self contained and private which had nearly everything we needed (except we couldn't get the WiFi to work). The next day we drove to Hirtshals where we had time to visit the bunker museum which part of Hitler's Atlantic Wall and consisted of installations for cannons, machine guns, radar, beach obstacles and mines. Quite interesting (probably more so for Brad than me).

    That afternoon we boarded the ferry. Holds up to 800 vehicles. Our cabin is basic but really not that much different than the interior cabin we took on a Royal Caribbean cruise. Next stop - Faroe Islands    Leer más

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  • Brad and Mandy PearceThree months in Europe
    Día 28

    Faroe Islands - Part 1

    31 de julio de 2017, Islas Faroe ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    Snapshot
    Where - Tórshavn Faroe Islands
    Weather - blah! Misty rain on and off 15°C
    Distance - 300km

    After about 30 hours crossing the North Atlantic (remarkably smooth too), we arrived at Tórshavn, possibly one of the world's smallest capitals, at about 11pm. This is where the fun started...tried to type in the address of our hotel into the GPS and guess what!! No maps for Faroe Islands!! And... my phone wouldn't pick up any reception either. So there we were, armed with a tourist map of Tórshavn, in the middle of the night, trying to read signs of street names that must be required to have a minimum of 10 letters per name and are impossible to pronounce in English, and not even sure what street we were in, in the first place. By this time Brad was getting a bit antsy (...no, not a bit, read VERY antsy). We eventually found our way after asking some random people who were wandering the streets in the middle of the night. Then, the hotel room (which is fine), could not get further away if it tried and down a couple of flights of stairs and no lift, so when it's nearly midnight and struggling with heavy luggage, our stay on the Faroe Islands was not of too a good start.

    In the morning, a heavy misty fog had rolled in and could not see very far so the Faroes were failing to impress us yet. However, we started to explore, and this place is AMAZING!! I have never seen countryside like this. Brilliant green grass covered mountains, waterfalls everywhere, plenty of rocks but NO trees anywhere (except a few in the villages). We travelled out to the north eastern islands today which meant travelling under the sea through a sea tunnel and through several long tunnels, some of which are only single lane tunnels with areas to drive into if you met oncoming traffic. These roads were pretty freaky. The villages are so idyllic, the scenery fantastic, this place is beautiful. Unfortunately, the heavy misty fog rolled in again so we couldn't appreciate fully some of the areas we went to, so we called it a day and hoped the weather would be better tomorrow.    Leer más

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  • Brad and Mandy PearceThree months in Europe
    Día 30

    Faroe Islands - Part 2

    2 de agosto de 2017, Islas Faroe ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    Snapshot
    Where - Faroe Islands
    Weather - mostly cloudy / part sunny - around 20°C
    Distance - 200km Steps - about a million (not really, but it was about 20000, 12 km and 90 storeys climbed)

    Today was a much better day weather wise and we saw some of the most incredible scenery. We drove to a beautiful village where a waterfall tumbles into the ocean, overlooking some spectacular rocky crags rising out of the ocean...it looked wonderful.

    We were following routes on the tourist map called the Buttercup Drives as these were the ones that were most scenic. However, I think buttercup may be code for treacherous skinny one lane roads that may or may not be sealed. The reward at the end though was usually worth it with picturesque villages offering stunning vistas. It seems that it doesnt matter how small the village, there was always a church.

    Farming practices here see like very hard work. At one of these secluded villages there were a couple of farmers who are cutting the grass by hand (scythe I think), raking it up and collecting in large bags, rolling them down the hill and loading them into the Toyota. I spoke with them to ask what they did with it. It is used for fodder to feed the sheep in winter. Not dried like hay, he said compressed so I imagine a bit like silage. The sheep have to be brought in for winter and they would have to do it on foot - too steep for motorbikes or horses. I'm not sure but I think the sheep have tracking devices around their necks, otherwise I don't know how the farmer would find them. The sheep are used for meat as there is no money in wool (about 2 Danish Kroner per kg or about 40c)

    We had a lovely 3 days on the Faroe Islands and found it a very interesting place. Very lush and green but that would be because it rains all the time. We catch the ferry to Iceland next for a seven day trip around the country. I imagine it may be quite similar to Faroe Islands.    Leer más

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  • Brad and Mandy PearceThree months in Europe
    Día 31

    Iceland - Day 1

    3 de agosto de 2017, Islandia ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    Snapshot
    Where - North East Iceland
    Weather - Chilly @ 15°C
    Distance - 350km
    Steps - 10,500 or 7km and 45 storeys

    So Iceland is not the same as the Faroe Islands - it is much more open and some very different landscapes. We have been following quite a detailed route that has been prepared for us by the company we bought the self drive tour through. Or journey today led us through a lunar landscape, totally barren - a believe Neil Armstrong did some training in this area.

    After that we turned toward Dentifoss - Europe's most powerful waterfall. Unfortunately, this meant travelling over what turned out to be 50km of gravel road full of potholes and corrugations. BRAD DOES NOT LIKE DRIVING ON DIRT ROADS! So I had o endure comments every few minutes such as "this had better be worth it" to swearing at the road in general, to hurling abuse at other drivers who dared go past us at more than a snails pace. We did finally make it and the waterfall was quite spectacular (but not in the same category as Iguassu Falls that we saw last year.)

    Moving on we visited another smaller waterfall, then a rather unusual horseshoe shaped canyon with a peaceful pool at the bottom. We followed the northern coastline through the whale watching town of Husavik which looked quite attractive but we had a big day of driving and walking so made or way to our accommodation (a farm converted into a guesthouse).    Leer más

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  • Brad and Mandy PearceThree months in Europe
    Día 32

    Iceland - Day 2 - Geothermal day

    4 de agosto de 2017, Islandia ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    Snapshot
    Where - Akureyri - Northern Iceland
    Weather - sunny / cloudy 🌤
    Distance - 215km
    Steps - 22000 or 14km and 60 floors

    I call today our geothermal day because we visited areas where there was/is geothermal activity. First we walked around an area near Lake Myvatn that had some pseudo lava craters, formed when molten lava flows over water. We walked around the lake accompanied by millions of gnats - fortunately not the biting kind.

    From there we went to an area that has a kind of lava labyrinth with strange lava formations which was quite nice to walk through. Then we drove to the Myvatn Nature Baths which is a smaller version of the more famous Blue Lagoon near Reykjavik, a hot mineral spring, but we didn't go for a swim because basically all it is is a heated swimming pool that costs a fortune to use (as does everything in Iceland - it's a very expensive country)

    Over the hill and round the corner and we came to the solfataros of Námaskrõ which has boiling mud springs and smelly steam vents. Reminds me a lot of the Thermal Wonderland near Rotorua New Zealand. Then onto the Krafla area where there were craters and lava fields. Seemed to me that we had to walk an awful long way to look at something that really wasn't that interesting, but Brad thought it was OK.

    Final stop of the day was Gođafoss waterfall or waterfall of the Gods. Nice waterfall... but aren't they all! Made our way to accommodation- very nice view overlooking a fjord- where a couple of cruise ships (Cunard - Queen Elizabeth and a small Princess ship) were making their way out.    Leer más

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  • Brad and Mandy PearceThree months in Europe
    Día 33

    Iceland - Day 3

    5 de agosto de 2017, Islandia ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Snapshot
    Where - North West Iceland - Borgarnes
    Weather - cloudy, about 18°C
    Distance - 430km
    Steps - 11500 or 7.3km and 54 storeys

    Mainly a driving day today getting us from central Northern Iceland to the North East. We didn't do a great deal of sightseeing, saw an ancient rock fortress; a rock sticking out of the ocean; another volcano crater; and, of course, another waterfall (did I mention that there are plenty of waterfalls in Iceland)

    The fortress was at the end of a dirt road, great view from the top, then onto the rock, again along a dirt road. I'm sure there was some story about the rock but don't really have a clue - we probably could have missed this one, especially because I had to endure Brad's whinging about travelling on the rough roads. The volcano crater meant climbing lots of steps (again) but at least it was a easy staircase.

    (I'm running a few days behind in my blog so the next few entries may be posted all at once when we get back to Germany- leave on the car ferry in the morning and won't really have WiFi until Sunday)    Leer más

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  • Brad and Mandy PearceThree months in Europe
    Día 34

    Iceland - Day 4 - Reykjavik

    6 de agosto de 2017, Islandia ⋅ 🌧 11 °C

    Snapshot
    Where - South West Iceland - the Capital Reykjavik
    Weather - fine, max 18°C
    Distance - 200km
    Steps - 15250 or 9.7km and 16 storeys

    Today we visited the capital of Iceland - Reykjavik. We were really only interested in visiting a couple of sights and decided to go on a whale watching cruise. The cruise was abit of a fizzer - did see a couple of minke whales which the guide became overly enthusiastic about - but we had a nice chat to an American couple that made the time quite pleasant.

    When we came back we walked to the cathedral - met up with a girl from Sydney who was travelling solo, about to embark on an Intrepid tour of Iceland. She was horrified at how expensive Iceland is (citing $50 for a lobster sandwich - and she is not far wrong). Anyway, the cathedral is pretty impressive from the outside. We could not go in because there was a concert going on. Finally we took a photo of the boat sculpture and made our way to the night's accommodation. We were supposed to go to the Blue Lagoon but as we had not booked a ticket we decided to give this a miss. Our accommodation was at a horse stud and we got the photos of Icelandic ponies but did not go for a ride (Brad is not so keen on horses)    Leer más

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  • Brad and Mandy PearceThree months in Europe
    Día 35

    Iceland - Day 5 - Waterfall and Geysirs

    7 de agosto de 2017, Islandia ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    Snapshot
    Where - South West Iceland
    Weather - fine
    Distance - 280km
    Steps - 19500 or 12.4km and 52 storeys

    A great day today. First we visited a national park which was where there first parliament was held - no buildings but it was where the rocks had large fissures and were moving apart. Some perry views from the top.

    Next we went to the original Geysir- after which all other geysirs are named. This one erupts every 5 minutes or so, sometimes only 2m , sometimes 30- 40 metres. After that was Iceland's most famous waterfall Gullfoss which we viewed from top and bottom . Very nice waterfall but the highlight of the day was the waterfall known as Seljalandsfoss which is a waterfall you can walk behind. Got a bit wet and the path climbing back up was quite rocky and slippery but it was very pretty!    Leer más

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  • Brad and Mandy PearceThree months in Europe
    Día 36

    Iceland - Day 6 - Puffins and Icebergs

    8 de agosto de 2017, Islandia ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    Snapshot
    Where - Southern Iceland
    Weather - Cool, no rain
    Distance - 310km
    Steps - 14600 or 9.5km and 56 storeys

    Ok, today was another great day... even if it did start with another waterfall. For some reason they decide we need to view a waterfall from both the top and the bottom so they build a staircase to climb and Brad's philosophy is we have come all this way so we are going to see what is up there. So 407 steps later (I know, because I counted them), we arrived at the top and there was another pretty waterfall so it was probably worth it.

    We drove to to an area with bird nesting cliffs, hoping to see some puffins and to our delight we saw lots. Really cute fat bodied birds with short little wings that flap really fast when they are flying. They must get exhausted.... perhaps that is why they are called puffins...hahaha!

    We skipped driving to see glaciers as we have already seen them before and moved onto a glacier lagoon - fantastic sight! Great icebergs floating in a lake and there were even seals swimming around. This capped off another great day.    Leer más

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  • Brad and Mandy PearceThree months in Europe
    Día 39

    Iceland - Day 7 - The last day

    11 de agosto de 2017, Islandia ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    Snapshot
    Where - South East Iceland
    Weather - Still wearing warm clothes - this is summer?

    Or last full day in Iceland was not a particular scenic day. We came across the unusual sight of a line of mist rising from the sea. Not sure what it was... perhaps it was an area were there was volcanic activity and the water was warm meeting the cold air. Saw some black sand beaches where I commented that I would hate to walk across that in bare feet in the middle of summer and then I realised we were in the middle of summer and you are more likely to suffer frostbite than burn your tootie-toes. Took a photo of the massive glacier that covers a large area of SE Iceland. There were also some unusual landscapes with lichen covered lava rocks that covered huge areas. Very strange. So that's about it for Iceland as we leave on the ferry the next morning for Denmark (2 days) and then making our way to France to make our way across to England (another 2 days)

    As we don't have any photos for these travelling days, l shall record our enjoyment (NOT!) of the past few days in this footprint. First the ferry crossing. On the way over the crossing was really smooth so we foolishly did not pack any motion sickness tablets with us. The first day/night was OK but when we got up for breakfast we decided Nope! No food! Managed half a sandwich at lunchtime then spent the next 8 hours having a close relationship with the bathroom. NOT FUN!

    Then we had about a 5 hour drive from Denmark to Hamburg in Germany. First it rained pretty much all the way through Denmark, then in Germany there were the crazy no speed limit drivers. They really put you on edge. Made it to Hamburg ok - the next day we were driving to Belgium (near Bruges) about 700km. Now the autobahns work ok, however there is roadworks been done on them every 20km or so. This creates huge bottlenecks as 3 lanes are merged into 2. In one place close to the Dutch border they had closed off a road completely and we could not understand the detour directions and ended up going around in circles twice. Other people were equally confused. In the end we drove to a different area with the GPS going nuts at us (in 100m turn right; when possible do a
    u-turn ...blah, blah ,blah). Anyway, we got there and we were glad to be not driving in Germany anymore.    Leer más

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