Flowers in Cold Places

Ian Castle writes:

Joy and I have made four extended visits to Sweden, Norway, Finland plus Denmark and have clocked up a total of 26 weeks there.  We love the wild places and the sparse spectacular scenery which is especially good in April, May and early June, the roads are clear of snow and the melt causes spectacular water falls.  To breath the cold/cool air is better than all the champagne in the world.  Mosquitoes are not a problem until later in June.  There are plenty of places to stop for a night and if you need a camp site for electricity and laundry you will find sites closed until July but often willing to let you stay while they carry out maintenance work.  I had hoped to prepare a list of ‘parking’ places but although the spirit is willing the mind is weak; best if you just buy some maps and go.

Getting to Scandinavia has become more difficult as DFDS ferries no longer run from Harwich to Esbjerg.  So you have to drive through the Netherlands, Germany and into Denmark.

There are a few basic rules:

Make sure you will not get stuck in mud etc. look carefully where you park, carry a strong rope so others can pull you out.  Always carry a spare bottle of water.  Keep your fuel tank full (most filling stations supply drinking water to fill your tank).  If you rely on gas for heating and fridge make sure you carry the correct adaptors or best to rent local bottles when you arrive.  When you see a food store stock up, the range of fresh and frozen foods has got much better over the past 5 years.  Beer and wine is expensive we take a fair number of wine boxes.  Empting your toilet; nearly every picnic and parking area has a toilet BUT they are composting pits so NO chemicals are allowed.