Day 41 - Legoland to Wanderup

Wehad another good day at Legoland trying out some of the rides that we didn't do yesterday. A couple of these were roller coasters that were a bit too scary for Michael. Timothy got to drive around in a little electric car for around 15 minutes. Michael is too young to do so.

We left Legoland later than I had hoped and drove south over the German border. We then turned off the motorway and headed for Husum near the Atlantic coast. However, I felt tired and the boys were arguing so I stopped at a hotel. They didn't have a room so we set off again only to realise that we had a flat tyre. I pulled over into a side road, parked and started to change for the spare. However, the spare wouldn't fit on. The centre hole is too small for the Imp's hubs. I got this tyre and rim from Bernard in Collie who presumably got it one of his Imp acquisitions. Strange that all the rims are not the same.

So I was scratching my head wondering what to do when a Dutch chap, Norbert, stopped to ask what was wrong. After a short chat he rode away but came back a few minutes later suggesting that we might be able to camp in the garden of the house opposite. Which indeed we did.

Thankfully, we had stopped outside a tractor service shop and this morning they swapped the good tyre fro the bad rim to the rim with the damage tyre. Now we are in Husum and will head South into Holland.

Day 40 - Legoland

Legoland was better than expected.  The boys were expecting a big Lego museum so they were very pleased to see that there was a mix of models made of Lego and rides. We got through about two thirds of it yesterday with two goes on the canoe splash and three goes on the Viking boat splash.

Timothy's favourite thing was the play where that actors all end up falling into the water. Michael's favourite was the film they showed before we went into the aquarium.

Nearly all of the rides are included in the ticket price so its just a matter of queuing up to go in. I had expected to be queuing for ages but the biggest lines were taking less than 20 minutes with many around 5 minutes.

The miniature villages are fantastic. I guess they can keep all of the best bits and leave out the power pilons.

We had lunch in the castle which was perhaps a mistake as it was very expensive and Michael barely ate anything.

We left the park at around 7:30PM absolutely exhausted.

Days 38 and 39 - Copenhagen to Billund

The night in Copenhagen was good and I think we all slept well. I might have slept better if I was confident that I could transfer money into the cash card account I'm using overseas. Thankfully, after a really big breakfast Ros was on Skype and was able to do the transfers for me. At least I think she did. I still haven't been able to take any money out.

I had made a bit of a blunder when buying the parking ticket as I had paid until noon and later discovered that the Tivoli Gardens don't open until 11. In the end though, that was fine. We walked around the old (touristy) town and returned at 12 to the car bough parking until 4PM and then went to the gardens. While the gardens are superb the site is dominated by restaurants. One quarter of the site is filled with amusement park rides. The boys were quite adamant that they did not want it go on any rides so I bought an entry only ticket. I should have known netter because when we got over to that area they immediately decided that they wanted to take a boat ride. Then Michael wanted a ride a the carousel. So I had to buy tickets at a rather recalcitrant vending machine. Still we all had fun.

We had lunch on the pirate ship restaurant. How could I drag them anywhere else. The food was not up to much but the boys didn't care a jot. They dressed up and ran around with pistols and cutlasses. They had a great time.

We then drove on to Roskilde where we camped for the night. The camp site was picturesque. It is set right next to the fjord and has sections divided by tall hedges. There was a playground and a bouncing pillow for the boys so I didn't see them until the tent was up and the mattresses inflated. I had to go and find them so that we could go for a drive to get breakfast and lunch things and then go the the harbour for fish and chips.

This morning they played while I packed up the tent and such. Then we had breakfast and drove back to the harbour to the Viking ship museum. This was great. We even got to go for a row and sail in a small replica Viking boat in the fjord. After that the boys wanted to stamp a coin for themselves and Michael wanted to paint a Viking shield. We left about 4:30PM about two hours later than I had hoped.

It was a good drive to Legoland but I couldn't find the camping place at first. Its quite huge and legoland looks to be the busiest place in the world. We will go I. Tomorrow and find out.

Time for bed. We are all exhausted.

Day 37 - Jonkoping to Copenhagen

The boys woke around 7AM and we had cereal before I tried to get them to write in their diaries. Timothy is still a couple of days behind but doesn't need much encouragement. Michael on the other hand needs pushing all the way. He is better when we work out what he is going to write about before he starts. Of course, knowing that he can go off exploring once he has finished doesn't help.

While they explored, I cleaned the cabin, topped up the oil in other Imp and cleaned its windscreen, applied the Rainex that I had brought from home and bought petrol. Then we set off southward. It was a clear cool day and the car ran well although as the day progressed I had to drive to the temperature gauge but could keep it around 87°or less. We stopped around 11AM just because I was feeling sleepy. We stopped at one of the motorway service centres which are every 10 to 20km along the way. Fortunately they have Wi-Fi internet so I could book accommodation and publish yesterday's blog.

We stopped again around 2PM for over an hour at the same brand of motorway cafe. The food isn't up to much but they had the internet for me and a play area and a bouncy castle for the boys. After that it was a drive down to the border stopping to buy petrol mostly to use up out Swedish Kroner.

Between Sweden and Denmark there is a long causeway, bridge and tunnel. It was windy but not so much so that it made driving difficult. Driving into Copenhagen was a bit different. Here the roads seem to be ruled by bicycles. At every junction, including those with traffic lights, there is a pedestrian crossing and the bikes have right of way. So we missed a few crossings because there WS a constant stream of cyclists. Not that this is  bad thing but it makes navigating more difficult. Having the road that the hotel is on being blocked off didn't help the navigation any either.

The hotel is old and tired but cheapish and very close to the Tivoli gardens. Unfortunately, I paid for parking until 12PM tomorrow thinking that we would visit in the morning but it turns out the gardens don't open until 11AM. I'll have to come back and buy another ticket at 12 if we want to stay longer.  We may go to a Viking museum to the north of here tomorrow afternoon.

Day 36 - Stockholm to Jonkoping

Today we woke up to rain and the rain continued nearly all day. After cereal we took a short walk to find an ATM to get some Kroner out. Then we returned to the hostel, packed up and asked the chap at reception what he advised we see and where to park. We drove to the old part of town right next to the river. From there we caught a ferry to a place where there are several museums. The one we were aiming for was the Vassa museum. This is a 64 gunned ship that sunk on its maiden voyage in 1628 (I think). The ship was recovered in the late 1960 - early 70's  and a museum built around it. The boys were quite interested and the displays were done very well. From there we caught the next ferry back because our parking ticket had expired.

We would have stopped to walk through the old town but as it was cold and wet we got in the car and drove South to the Swedish Imp Club contact, Lars Hagermark's house. We took a look at the Caledonian that he bought from Ireland and talked about engines and all things Imp before having some lunch and coffee.

We set off Southwards again around 3:30PM. It was raining and visibility was poor. We were all cold so the boys wrapped themselves up in sleeping bags and after a while slept. It was a long drive down to Jonkoping. We stopped about 80km short for some food and to book accommodation. I chose poorly and we have rented a rather overpriced cabin beside a lake. Its small, has four bunks, no sink or toilet and needs to be cleaned in the morning to get a deposit back. I should have braved it and camped.

Tomorrow we will probably press on to Copenhagen.

Day 35 - Naantali to Stockholm

Today we had to get up early as we had been advised to be at the docks by 7:30 for the 9:30 ferry to Sweden. In predictable fashion both boys were fast asleep. I left them as long as I could but had to wake them after 7AM. I packed up the sleeping bags, air mattresses and took down and packed the tent while they were being silly.

The ferry terminal is pretty much next to the camp site so we joined the short line of cars around 7:45. Then we had cereal. However, we need not have bothered as two meals are included in the ticket. When it was our turn, we drove up a ramp and into the bow of the ship. Michael wouldn't believe that we were inside a ship, he insisted  that we were in some sort of parking area. The cars are parked in an outside area towards the aft. Because it is such a smooth crossing the cars are not tied down, just left with the handbrake on. The many trucks are parked below. I hope we get to drive off first.

Breakfast was not really needed but we tried it anyway. We set off while we were eating. Before too long we were making 20 knots plus in absolutely smooth water between picturesque islands of all sizes. There are many cruising yachts dotted around. I could spend weeks sailing around out here.

The drive from Kapellskar to Stockholm was a pretty easy 80km. We stopped around half way to use the internet in a pizza place so that I could find and book accommodation in Stockholm. I had thought to camp tonight but by the time i'd have packed up and we had driven into the city, we wouldn't get to see much and still get out in time to get a couple of hours south by tomorrow night. So we are in a hostel. Its quite new and very nice. There are two bunks that is four beds and we just discovered that the extra door is to our own bathroom.

Day 34 - Naantali

Naantali is a coastal tourist town.  After waking at a reasonable hour the boys set off on an adventue spotting squirrels  while I searched for them. Eventually I gave up and had a shower. On returning to the tent I found them son they showered to. Then we walked into town to find breakfast and an internet connection. We even found Ros on Skype so caught up on news from home.

There are cafes and restaurants crowded around the marina in the old part of town. From the marina you can walk across a bridge to Moomiland, a theme park devoted to favourite characters from local television. However, we decided to take the ferry to Vaski Island. This is set up as a pirate adventure where you have a map and a question to answer at each of 21 activities. These range from puzzles and logic tests to the rope slide, low pipes and archery. The boys favourite activity was the archery. They improved rapidly and after their fourth go were hitting the target. They did less well at the blow pipes where they didn't seem to have a strong enough blow to project the dart far enough. The rope slide is a flying fox where you sit on the sliding thing. The first time only the low rope was working so we came back at the end of the course and did the bigger rope as well. Both boys were excited about the rock climbing but I don't think they enjoyed it as much as they expected to. We caught the 17:15 ferry back to town. This was a motor sailed made to look like a single masted square rigger. The boys though that was an added bonus.

We stopped at a restaurant for dinner. Timothy was very keen to try the escargot advertised on one of the boards outside. So we had snails in blue cheese sauce and seafood pizza. Revenge for all those eaten seedling. On the way back to the camp site we found a supermarket and bought some things for breakfast and lunch. We got back around 8PM. I had only intended going out for breakfast.