A bientôt EU

[bvddobb]

You may like this book as an 'alternative travel guide'. Geert Mak made very much the same trip as you are now on, partly in a VW T2 campervan...

 

[Verity]

You had some iffy weather for the first few days, didn't you - I don't suppose that was conducive to adjusting your brains to several months of living in a small space with kids and dogs! It'll be fantastic through the summer though. The kids will love the outdoor living and hopefully they'll sleep like, well, babies after all the fresh air so you and your wife can recharge too.

You are very brave. I wasn't so good with the toddler/little kid stage. But now my boy is nearly 18 and doesn't come with us any more, and I kinda miss having him around, even though for the last few years pretty much all he did was sit around in our caravan with an ipad and enormous headphones on! Hopefully your two will entertain each other so electronic entertainment can be kept to a minimum ....

I am enjoying your posts, so keep them coming!

 

[Amarillo]

First AdBlue

Just filled with my first ever refill of AdBlue. 10.97 litres, 6.02 Euros, 54.9 cents per litre. I've no idea what I should be paying, so probably ripped off, but it was still considerably cheaper than I had feared.

 

[Verity]

First AdBlue

Just filled with my first ever refill of AdBlue. 10.97 litres, 6.02 Euros, 54.9 cents per litre. I've no idea what I should be paying, so probably ripped off, but it was still considerably cheaper than I had feared.

Bargain! We paid £14.99 for a 10l bottle at a garage.

 

[Jonathan Duke]

First AdBlue

Just filled with my first ever refill of AdBlue. 10.97 litres, 6.02 Euros, 54.9 cents per litre. I've no idea what I should be paying, so probably ripped off, but it was still considerably cheaper than I had feared.

I've been paying £10, for a 10l drum. On my third fill now, 1st was at 3555 miles, 2nd at 6512 and 3rd at 10,992. You got a good price there, was it from an ad-blue pump?

 

[Amarillo]

I've been paying £10, for a 10l drum. On my third fill now, 1st was at 3555 miles, 2nd at 6512 and 3rd at 10,992. You got a good price there, was it from an ad-blue pump?

Yes, from a pump at a truck stop just on the German side of the German/Danish border.

I didn't really think that 6 Euros was a rip off. I was expecting anything up to 30 Euros.

First fill 5000 miles, almost exactly. Says it's good for another 6000 miles.

 

[Jonathan Duke]

Yes, from a pump at a truck stop just on the German side of the German/Danish border.

I didn't really think that 6 Euros was a rip off. I was expecting anything up to 30 Euros.

First fill 5000 miles, almost exactly. Says it's good for another 6000 miles.

Best way to do it, I expect.... I'm sure the packaging and distribution costs, of the10l drums I've been using, equates to a significant percentage of the purchase cost.

 

[SimonK]

Enjoyed reading this thread so far. It's very interesting to read your thoughts on the social aspect too.

I'm considering a Beach to replace our two lease cars when they come to the end of their respective contracts. I'm enjoying reading how you are getting along as a big group, as I have my own concerns about two adults, a Lab and a Border collie in one

 

[Amarillo]

Enjoyed reading this thread so far. It's very interesting to read your thoughts on the social aspect too.

I'm considering a Beach to replace our two lease cars when they come to the end of their respective contracts. I'm enjoying reading how you are getting along as a big group, as I have my own concerns about two adults, a Lab and a Border collie in one

I've been tempted to throttle each of my sons on at least one occasion, and I've been tempted to throttle Mrs Amarillo on at least half a dozen occasions, but never once have I been tempted to throttle either of my collies.

 

[SimonK]

I've been tempted to throttle each of my sons on at least one occasion, and I've been tempted to throttle Mrs Amarillo on at least half a dozen occasions, but never once have I been tempted to throttle either of my collies.

That's good to know. I'll just leave the other half at home ha

 

[Amarillo]

Day 8 Middelfart

Our four nights in Lubeck were up, and it was time to move on. After breakfast I set up the van to travel mode, left Clare to pack the bags while I took the boys and dogs for a last walk around the lake. It was a blustery day.

Only one of us can pack at a time, while the dogs can be tied up and left to themselves, the boys can't (if only): they need constant supervision. I returned after 50 minutes, Clare took the boys only to the playground and I packed the car and took down the tent. It was still wet.

We paid for the campsite and left at 12:08.

Refuelled and topped up with AdBlue for the first time before the Danish border and then passed out of the Schengen Area with a Danish border guard waving us through unchecked.

Until recently Denmark had a very similar relationship to the EU to the UK's relationship: both had an opt out of the Eurozone and Schengen, with no compulsion to join at a later date.

The landscape in Denmark is remarkably similar to Britain's too - very green and lush.

I'm a little disappointed by Middelfart, I was hoping it would be sandwiched between Upprefart and Lowrefart; Hihgfart and Lwofart; or even better, Dyrfart and Wtefart, but no, it is a simple Middelfart all on its own.

The campsite is ace- right by a fjord with a sandy beach for the boys to play. Dogs are banned from the beach.

 

[Amarillo]

Money

Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen, nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery. Says Wilkins Mcawber in the book David Copperfield.

We are fortunate enough to have a fairly steady investment income of around £1000 per week after tax, so that is our budget while away without tapping into savings

To date we have managed an average of 77 Euros per day, including £95 Dover to Calais and two refuels.

This is Mcawber's idea of happiness. I'm not sure he's entirely right, but at least we don't need to worry about money too much while we are away on our family sabbatical.

 

[Velma's Dad]

Wow that van doesn't get any less yellow does it? If you're going to post pics like that before I've had my morning coffee, couldn't you photoshop it down a bit?

 

[GillianC]

That's good to know. I'll just leave the other half at home ha

That is exactly what I do

 

[Verity]

Money

Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen, nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery. Says Wilkins Mcawber in the book David Copperfield.

We are fortunate enough to have a fairly steady investment income of around £1000 per week after tax, so that is our budget while away without tapping into savings

To date we have managed an average of 77 Euros per day, including £95 Dover to Calais and two refuels.

This is Mcawber's idea of happiness. I'm not sure he's entirely right, but at least we don't need to worry about money too much while we are away on our family sabbatical.

Wow! You're in profit without working - perfect! We will probably never achieve that, but we are working towards something similar in our own small way. There is a plan in place, but my poor husband is still slogging away just now ... we are very aware though, having lost a few friends at ridiculously young ages recently, that we don't want to work like dogs only to find we've dropped dead or become infirm before we can enjoy our saved up for retirement. Hence getting into hock and buying the Cali now. As I have MS and my mobility might be compromised in the future (hopefully not), we intend to get as much healthy happy use out of the van while we can, and hopefully for the rest of our active days if we look after him well!

What you're doing sounds great, and I hope your lads will remember it when they are grown up. We always tented and caravanned with our son, and he has had lots of fun and seen lots of interesting places and formed lots of happy memories throughout his childhood. When my sister and I were kids, we either went to Grandma's flat in Croydon or Auntie's semi in Birmingham. No comparison!

 

[kave]

Denmark is part of Schengen btw as well as Norway. In the Nordic countries, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland we have been passport freee for along time and still are.
Sweden and Denmark dont have the Euro but the danish curency is tied to the Euro while Swedish currency are not.

If you travel to Copenhagen and then to Sweden I recommend travelling "Strandveien" between Copenhagen and Helsingör and then take the ferry to Helsingborg in Sweden. No need to book that one since it goes really often.If the weather is nice you can have an excellent swim just north of Helsingör.
If you like a good place to wild camp when you arrive in sweden I have the perfect place on the Beach with a toilet near.

 

[Amarillo]

Denmark is part of Schengen btw as well as Norway. In the Nordic countries, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland we have been passport freee for along time and still are.
Sweden and Denmark dont have the Euro but the danish curency is tied to the Euro while Swedish currency are not.

If you travel to Copenhagen and then to Sweden I recommend travelling "Strandveien" between Copenhagen and Helsingör and then take the ferry to Helsingborg in Sweden. No need to book that one since it goes really often.If the weather is nice you can have an excellent swim just north of Helsingör.
If you like a good place to wild camp when you arrive in sweden I have the perfect place on the Beach with a toilet near.

I am corrected on the extent of Schengen.

The route you advise from Denmark to Sweden is exactly the route we intend to take. We plan to take the ferry to Helsingborg on 16 June, perhaps 17 June, and then make our way to the Gothenburg area before going on to Oslo. Your kind offer of a wild camp is very generous, and one we'd like to accept if you are anywhere close to our route.

Can you email me? tom<at>britsc<dot>com. I have turned off the messaging system as I'm only using Tapatalk from my phone and I'm not really sure how it works with Tapatalk.

 

[Amarillo]

Wow that van doesn't get any less yellow does it? If you're going to post pics like that before I've had my morning coffee, couldn't you photoshop it down a bit?

Did you spot Clare's blue crate of wine and Champagne in the final photo? We're saving the best for crossing the Arctic Circle and then reaching Nordkapp.

 

[bigmac77]

Yes spotted them, what is in the other blue crate on the left? It looks like fire wood?

Maybe 4 bottles of fizz one for furthest north, south, east and west.

 

[Amarillo]

Yes spotted them, what is in the other blue crate on the left? It looks like fire wood?

Maybe 4 bottles of fizz one for furthest north, south east and west.

About 5kg of dog food. They munch through 800g per day. I'm used to paying about £50 for 28 Kg (two 14 Kg sacks). I bought 4 Kg of Made in Germany "happy dog" for 16 Euros, about 2.5 times the price I would pay at home.

We do plan to visit the E, W and S extremes of mainland EU. The N extreme would involve a long detour first the Norwegian side of a river then back on the Finnish side of the same river.

The four extremes of the single market mainland is possible, but that would be quite a hike over a boulder field to reach the N extreme.

So the four extremes we visit it may well be.

 

[Amarillo]

Wow! You're in profit without working - perfect! We will probably never achieve that, but we are working towards something similar in our own small way.

We certainly are very fortunate and that is something we don't always remember.

 

[Amarillo]

Day 9 - Middelfart

Appropriately windy today, I think my boys have gone feral

Great facilities for babies and children at this campsite. Several playgrounds, excellent nappy changing rooms - Ben's out of nappies, but as occasionally happens, had a poonami (think tsunami with poo replacing the water). He was on a massive trampoline at the time, bouncing all about - I will spare you further detail. The nappy changing room has a shower with the tray at waist height, just right for dealing with such a crisis.

This afternoon we walked into town, 4km. There was a rural footpath all the way, with scary signs insisting that dogs must be kept on the lead. No one was about, so ours walked free. We did some shopping, and bought some strawberries. The shopping and strawberries went in the back of the Burley, the boys in front. Somehow Jack found a way to suck the strawberries through the mesh between the two compartments. Despite Ben accusing Jack of eating strawberries, this was unnoticed until we unloaded the boys at the playground.

Copenhagen tomorrow - maybe staying in a chalet to ease the stress.

 

[Verity]

Day 9 - Middelfart

Appropriately windy today, I think my boys have gone feral

Great facilities for babies and children at this campsite. Several playgrounds, excellent nappy changing rooms - Ben's out of nappies, but as occasionally happens, had a poonami (think tsunami with poo replacing the water). He was on a massive trampoline at the time, bouncing all about - I will spare you further detail. The nappy changing room has a shower with the tray at waist height, just right for dealing with such a crisis.

This afternoon we walked into town, 4km. There was a rural footpath all the way, with scary signs insisting that dogs must be kept on the lead. No one was about, so ours walked free. We did some shopping, and bought some strawberries. The shopping and strawberries went in the back of the Burley, the boys in front. Somehow Jack found a way to suck the strawberries through the mesh between the two compartments. Despite Ben accusing Jack of eating strawberries, this was unnoticed until we unloaded the boys at the playground.

Copenhagen tomorrow - maybe staying in a chalet to ease the stress.

Ah the joys of parenthood. Savour these comedy moments. They will one day be the stuff of legend

 

[GillianC]

Ah the joys of parenthood. Savour these comedy moments. They will one day be the stuff of legend

Or the stuff to recount at celebrations or weddings!
You certainly have your hands full Tom. A chalet for the night sounds like a very sensible idea.

 

[Amarillo]

Day 10 - Copenhagen

Packing really is a faff. We have too much stuff. First the van needs to be prepared for travel mode: down stairs bed cleared, made into a seat and child seats installed, then the four kitchen drawers removed from the tent and put under the multiflex. Heavy items (gas, dog food, wine, Cadac) lower down; lighter items higher up (duvets, sleeping bags). Then the tent comes down and it stowed at the very back of the boot. Finally bikes, and kiddy trailer loaded and secured. All this with two feral boys running about asking if we can go yet.

Once on the road sanity returns, boys fall asleep and I can have a proper chat with my wife.

A great drive from Middelfart to Copenhagen, lush green countryside and an amazing Bridge with a huge toll 240 Kr (£22.50). We found a campsite to the south of the airport, and to our joy they had a chalet we could stay in for two nights.

Spaghetti Bolognese for dinner washed down with Sainsbury's Taste the Difference prosecco. While dinner was being prepared I took the boys on their bikes to the dog running area, I too went on my bike and found that Meg and Jess were perfectly happy to pull me along so I didn't need to pedal.

One of the boys lost his bike in the long grass and it too ages to find. On the way back, Jess slipped her lead and chased a rabbit to the amusement of some campers and the fury of others.

At least on Friday we should have an early start, with the van pre-packed and ready by 8am.