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Showing posts from January, 2026

Round up and figures, now we're home!

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Did we enjoy it? Of cause we did it was a trip of a lifetime! Would we do it again? Yes, but to go that far we needed longer - it was A LOT of driving and another 2-3 weeks would have done it. Would you do the same route / areas? To be fair, Stockholm and Copenhagen were the nicest cities we went to - don't get me wrong Oslo, Stavanger, Amsterdam etc were nice and clean and safe, but there was something about Stockholm and Copenhagen that was magical and we would love to go back. The scenery in Norway was stunning and I would love to see it again in the Summer. We would also love to explore The Netherlands, Denmark and Germany for that matter, a lot more, they were surprisingly pretty and different - which is lucky as they are closer! What were the people like? In a word - lovely! We found them all to be sooo very friendly, helpful and polite (and all will - and are even eager to - speak English) in all but one country - France! The French are such a belligerent lot! I ...

Day 28 - 06.01.2025 - Hallines nr Saint-Omer (France) to Home

Up at 05:40 this morning - a bit of a rough night last night waking up sooooo hot I couldn't breathe and acid reflux - shit, just shoot me! Anyway, packed, breakfast and ran out of hot water 3/4 the way through the first shower and there is sleeping for 6 in this place!! The place was just about upto temperature when we left, turning all the heaters off again! And I took the first 2 cases down to the car.  Now the patio outside the door to the AirBnB was an ice rink as the air con unit had been on all night; but I made it past that, down the first set of 10 or so concrete steps, which were icy; along the walkway (again covered in snow and ice - it was -5°C); and after about the 4th step down the second set of about 15 concrete steps which were in shadow, both my legs shot out from under me and I bounced down the next 10 or so on my back! OUCH!! I picked myself up carefully - nothing felt broken, just sore - and put the cases in the boot. Then very carefully back up the stairs to fe...

Day 27 - 05.01.2025 - Dülmen (Germany) to Hallines nr Saint-Omer (France)

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Late morning this morning, woke at 07:20. Got ready, breakfasted and left at 10:00 - couldn't get into the next AirBnB until after 5pm and 10am was the latest we could stay at this one - I didn't want to leave, it had been fantastic. We could finally see the view from our hotel apartment in daylight... Anyway we had plugged BB in overnight so we left with 100% and a completely defrosted and toasty car, but had expected to be charged for the privilege, but was told just as we left that it was included - result! Anyway set off and Marie searched for a Supercharger on our route-ish near a supermarket in Germany, which she found and added into the route. We arrived at 11:32 and Marie headed into the store whilst I waited for BB to charge for 15mins, then moved her and followed Marie into the store.. Found some great stuff at incredible prices and we were there for about an hour. Then drove through Germany into Belgium. There we had stop 2, at 14:...

Day 26 - 04.01.2025 - Copenhagen to Dülmen (Germany)

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Well this morning started bright and early at 05:30. It had been snowing on and off all night and was -7°C. Up showered, dressed, breakfast, packed and out by 07:30. We had had about 6in of snow and as I'm packing BB and clearing the snow off her lights, the AirBnB owner turns up with a mini tractor with a snow plough attachment! Before we left he had cleared the street and pavement! The main road was clear-ish, so we were able to be on our way to the first charger (as we had used more than expected due to draining into Copenhagen). First stop was at 08:11 for 22mins and was a big hub all under a solar roof... While BB was charging I went inside the service area and partook - there was bird song playing and odd musical notes every so often and they were very posh! On the way out I picked us both up a croissant for 2nd breakfast! Onwards... Stop 2 was just after all the bridges and one we had been to before, arrived at 09:34 and took 25mins. Stop 3 was the l...

Day 25 - 03.01.2025 - Day trip to Copenhagen

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We had a lie in this morning not getting up until just after eight. It has been snowing all night and whilst having breakfast, Marie noticed that she hadn't seen any buses go past on the main road (we can just see the tops of them as they pass, from our chalet). So we could only assume that they weren't running as often as they should. A quick check on Google Maps suggested that we would have to catch two buses and it would take just under an hour to get into central Copenhagen - assuming they were running properly, which obviously they weren't. A quick check on Google Maps also said it would only take 20mins to drive. I found which parking app was prevalent in Copenhagen and found some good on-street parking in the centre of the city for DKK155 (£18) for 3hours, so preheated BB whilst we showered etc and set off - by this time it was 11:30. The roads were pretty bad but passable and we got a suitable space and parked up at 12:00. We then walked through a park and past a mu...

Day 24 - 02.01.2025 - Oslo to Copenhagen

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Woke up before the alarm again this morning at 05:40. Looked out the bedroom window to this.. It was -5°C and we'd had 2 inches of snow. Not a lot, but with the very steep narrow roads in this old part of Oslo - it was going to be a challenge. We were all packed and ready by 07:50, and we headed off. Big Blue was fine going downhill, but when it came to a steep uphill section with a mountainous speed hump, she didn't have the traction. So a quick 3-point turn and found another route that was less steep. The roads out of Oslo were pretty atrocious, as the gritters and plows only seemed to be on the inbound side not the out! Anyway off we went!  Above is the main dual-carriageway from Oslo, south, to the Malmö Bridge back to Denmark - fun! First charge stop was at 11:10 for 14mins and we spent the entire time deciding whether it was too early for lunch and what 'we' wanted... By the time BB was ready to go after the 13mins, we moved 200...