Denmark
Day 36: Ferry to Gothenburg, ferry to Kiel
04/08/19 20:00
They get up at 4 o'clock in the room opposite to us. I guess they have to catch the earlier ferry to Gothenburg. I cannot sleep anymore and use the time to take a shower.
They don't like care much about details in this Bed & Breakfast (minus breakfast). The sink in our room is 4 cm away from the wall on one side, the toilet ("The One") is not mounted correctly and the shower curtain is not big enough. You can choose between flooding the sink area or the toilet. I chose to give both a chance to get wet and use an extra towel to clean up the mess.
Lars sleeps until 6:30, we pack our stuff and head for the ferry terminal to Gothenburg. We are directed to the lane with trucks.
Our total length, Twizy with trailer, is 4,10 meters, still less than what a regular car could be. Nevertheless they forced us to book an extra ticket for the trailer. The trailer itself could have a maximum length of 4 meters, just a bit short of our 4,10 meters. This is just crazy. Or greedy.
On the ferry we get parked right next to the motor bikes because we are tiny and cute.
We are now with the cool guys
We wait in the café. It's not open yet and later we hear that it will not open at all. But they have a cart where you can buy pricey but bad coffee.
3 hours and 15 minutes to Gothenburg lie ahead of us.
The ship arrives on time and we are one of the first cars who can disembark. Border control doesn't want to check ID cards but ask me to do an alcohol test. Not much of a surprise we can continue. We park the car nearby and walk to downtown Gothenburg.
There is a Hard Rock Cafe in Gothenburg, we are hungry and we get some burgers there. Lars is happy and we are both filled up completely.
Bad-ass tram in Göteborg
After some walking around downtown Gothenburg we buy something to eat for later and go back to our car and drive to the ferry terminal for the ferry to Kiel.
Crane at Gothenburg harbour
Check-in for the ferry to Kiel starts at 3 pm and shortly after we arrive there and can directly go on board of the ship.
We stroll around the ship.
More cranes
At 17:45 Uhr the ship leaves for Kiel and the way we came in this morning we also get out in the evening.
Kids are now able to meet Happy, the friendly porpoise, Stena's mascot. Lars doesn't want to meet Happy and I drown my frustration with one (!) beer. Take this, blood-alcohol-test from this morning!
They don't like care much about details in this Bed & Breakfast (minus breakfast). The sink in our room is 4 cm away from the wall on one side, the toilet ("The One") is not mounted correctly and the shower curtain is not big enough. You can choose between flooding the sink area or the toilet. I chose to give both a chance to get wet and use an extra towel to clean up the mess.
Lars sleeps until 6:30, we pack our stuff and head for the ferry terminal to Gothenburg. We are directed to the lane with trucks.
Our total length, Twizy with trailer, is 4,10 meters, still less than what a regular car could be. Nevertheless they forced us to book an extra ticket for the trailer. The trailer itself could have a maximum length of 4 meters, just a bit short of our 4,10 meters. This is just crazy. Or greedy.
On the ferry we get parked right next to the motor bikes because we are tiny and cute.
We are now with the cool guys
We wait in the café. It's not open yet and later we hear that it will not open at all. But they have a cart where you can buy pricey but bad coffee.
3 hours and 15 minutes to Gothenburg lie ahead of us.
The ship arrives on time and we are one of the first cars who can disembark. Border control doesn't want to check ID cards but ask me to do an alcohol test. Not much of a surprise we can continue. We park the car nearby and walk to downtown Gothenburg.
There is a Hard Rock Cafe in Gothenburg, we are hungry and we get some burgers there. Lars is happy and we are both filled up completely.
Bad-ass tram in Göteborg
After some walking around downtown Gothenburg we buy something to eat for later and go back to our car and drive to the ferry terminal for the ferry to Kiel.
Crane at Gothenburg harbour
Check-in for the ferry to Kiel starts at 3 pm and shortly after we arrive there and can directly go on board of the ship.
We stroll around the ship.
More cranes
At 17:45 Uhr the ship leaves for Kiel and the way we came in this morning we also get out in the evening.
Kids are now able to meet Happy, the friendly porpoise, Stena's mascot. Lars doesn't want to meet Happy and I drown my frustration with one (!) beer. Take this, blood-alcohol-test from this morning!
Tag 35: Arrival in Hirtshals, Hirtshals to Frederikshavn
03/08/19 20:00
We are being woken up by the alarm clock. We have to get out of our cabin by 11, 1,5 hours before we reach Hirtshals.
Breakfast today is reduced to bananas and a canned fruit cocktail. We have bought the canned fruits in case we have nothing to eat. We have to reduce weight and we don't have much more to eat. The bar is not open yet, therefore no coffee for me.
Breakfast: A bit more colorful (and a missing coffee)
We sit a bit in the sun on the deck before packing out stuff and getting out of the cabin in time.
Just after 12:30 Uhr the Norröna arrives in Hirtshals. Some drivers can go to their cars, we have to wait another 40 minutes as we are on a deck that needs to be lowered.
We go to our car, pack our stuff in the traiiler and watch the cars below us getting off the ship.
About an hour after the Norröna reached Hirtshals we can finally drive off the ship. Without any border controls we head for Frederikshavn. We would make it without another charge in between but we are not in a hurry. We charge for 50 minutes in Sindal Kommune.
We get something to eat and have lunch in a park in the shade. Around us are a number of indigenes robotic lawn mowers loitering around. They seem curious but they keep a distance.
We head for Frederikshavn, where we charge first and then walk to our bed & breakfast (minus breakfast, which is not included).
The room is ok but there is only one combined toilet/shower for 15 rooms. That's the worst quota so far. This will be exciting tomorrow morning!
It's just one night and we have to get up early tomorrow morning anyway.
Velomobil in Frederikshavn - Great!
We get something to eat and end our day with german television.
Breakfast today is reduced to bananas and a canned fruit cocktail. We have bought the canned fruits in case we have nothing to eat. We have to reduce weight and we don't have much more to eat. The bar is not open yet, therefore no coffee for me.
Breakfast: A bit more colorful (and a missing coffee)
We sit a bit in the sun on the deck before packing out stuff and getting out of the cabin in time.
Just after 12:30 Uhr the Norröna arrives in Hirtshals. Some drivers can go to their cars, we have to wait another 40 minutes as we are on a deck that needs to be lowered.
We go to our car, pack our stuff in the traiiler and watch the cars below us getting off the ship.
About an hour after the Norröna reached Hirtshals we can finally drive off the ship. Without any border controls we head for Frederikshavn. We would make it without another charge in between but we are not in a hurry. We charge for 50 minutes in Sindal Kommune.
We get something to eat and have lunch in a park in the shade. Around us are a number of indigenes robotic lawn mowers loitering around. They seem curious but they keep a distance.
We head for Frederikshavn, where we charge first and then walk to our bed & breakfast (minus breakfast, which is not included).
The room is ok but there is only one combined toilet/shower for 15 rooms. That's the worst quota so far. This will be exciting tomorrow morning!
It's just one night and we have to get up early tomorrow morning anyway.
Velomobil in Frederikshavn - Great!
We get something to eat and end our day with german television.
Day 7: Ferry to the Faroe Islands
06/07/19 20:00
Last day in Denmark before we embark with the ferry to the Faroe Islands in the afternoon. We check out of the motel late and test the generator once again if the shaking and bumpy roads did have any negativ effect. The generator started and charged the Twizy - so far so good.
We have enough time to charge the Twizy and buy food for the trip on the ferry.
At 12:30 we check-in at the harbour and wait for being allowed to drive onto the ferry. Together with us the usual mix of regular cars, camper vans, 4-wheel-drives and expedition trucks wait to be loaded.
There is even an expedition truck from California heading for the Faroe Islands.
"I've not seen one of these on the ship before."
Our 4-bed-inside-cabin turned out to be a 2-bed-cabin with a window, but at the very front of the ship. This will mean more motion while on sea.
We do a tour of the ship. Nothing much has changed but Lars can hardly remember it. We call wife/mother and daughter/sister back home before the onboard mobile provider was activated, which makes calls immensely expensive.
Roaming will be deactivated until we arrive in Iceland.
The Norröna is moving heavily. Lars doesn't want to eat and we therefore skip our plan to have Burgers and Pizza for a hefty price. He sticks to his chewing gum preventing sea sickness.
A quick stroll around the ship before we go to bed … in a rollercoaster.
We have enough time to charge the Twizy and buy food for the trip on the ferry.
At 12:30 we check-in at the harbour and wait for being allowed to drive onto the ferry. Together with us the usual mix of regular cars, camper vans, 4-wheel-drives and expedition trucks wait to be loaded.
There is even an expedition truck from California heading for the Faroe Islands.
"I've not seen one of these on the ship before."
Our 4-bed-inside-cabin turned out to be a 2-bed-cabin with a window, but at the very front of the ship. This will mean more motion while on sea.
We do a tour of the ship. Nothing much has changed but Lars can hardly remember it. We call wife/mother and daughter/sister back home before the onboard mobile provider was activated, which makes calls immensely expensive.
Roaming will be deactivated until we arrive in Iceland.
The Norröna is moving heavily. Lars doesn't want to eat and we therefore skip our plan to have Burgers and Pizza for a hefty price. He sticks to his chewing gum preventing sea sickness.
A quick stroll around the ship before we go to bed … in a rollercoaster.
Day 6: Trip to Rubjerg Knude
05/07/19 14:00
Slow day in northern Denmark: Blue sky, no storm
We decided to visit Rubjerg Knud, a drifting sand dune, southwest of Hirtshals. It is also the highest sand dune in Denmark.
It was a very pleasant drive.
A 1,2 km hike from the car park brought us to the dune and the lighthouse.
The view from the top was really great. The dune has passed the light house in the last decades, causing the neighboring buildings to collapse.
The lighthouse is at risk to collapse due to coastal erosion. It is currently planned to move the lighthouse 40-60 meters inland. In one piece!
We headed back with one charging stop Hjørring. We probably didn't need it. In Theory we had a range of 72 km today.
We decided to visit Rubjerg Knud, a drifting sand dune, southwest of Hirtshals. It is also the highest sand dune in Denmark.
It was a very pleasant drive.
A 1,2 km hike from the car park brought us to the dune and the lighthouse.
The view from the top was really great. The dune has passed the light house in the last decades, causing the neighboring buildings to collapse.
The lighthouse is at risk to collapse due to coastal erosion. It is currently planned to move the lighthouse 40-60 meters inland. In one piece!
We headed back with one charging stop Hjørring. We probably didn't need it. In Theory we had a range of 72 km today.
Day 5: Trip to Skagen
04/07/19 17:00
If you end up in northern Denmark with some little time to spend you gotta go to the very end of Denmark, regardless of the weather.
Driving very slowly we went non-stop 48 km to Skagen. We had 25% remaining battery, also due to the heavy tail winds.
We charged the Twizy and went to the city center. Skagen is a really nice small town but unfortunately today a big cruise ship has unloaded its content, full of shopping-crazy americans and asians. It was cold and rainy.
Back to the Twizy, then driving the few kilometers up to the northern tip of Denmark.
Both chargers were blocked by Teslas who were not charging. They just wanted to save the costs for parking - it's free at the chargers. We were able to charge somehow.
It stopped raining almost completely. We headed for the beach.
Denmark's northern tip
Unfortunately a number of people from the cruise ship made it up here, thanks to smart danes who offer transportation from the car park to the northern tip of the beach.
it started to rain again and on the way back we fighted agains the heavy winds. We were quite wet when we arrived at the car park.
In Skagen we charged the Twizy to 90%. Due to the heavy winds we had to do another charging stop on the way back. Just to be sure to make it to our Motel.
Driving very slowly we went non-stop 48 km to Skagen. We had 25% remaining battery, also due to the heavy tail winds.
We charged the Twizy and went to the city center. Skagen is a really nice small town but unfortunately today a big cruise ship has unloaded its content, full of shopping-crazy americans and asians. It was cold and rainy.
Back to the Twizy, then driving the few kilometers up to the northern tip of Denmark.
Both chargers were blocked by Teslas who were not charging. They just wanted to save the costs for parking - it's free at the chargers. We were able to charge somehow.
It stopped raining almost completely. We headed for the beach.
Denmark's northern tip
Unfortunately a number of people from the cruise ship made it up here, thanks to smart danes who offer transportation from the car park to the northern tip of the beach.
it started to rain again and on the way back we fighted agains the heavy winds. We were quite wet when we arrived at the car park.
In Skagen we charged the Twizy to 90%. Due to the heavy winds we had to do another charging stop on the way back. Just to be sure to make it to our Motel.
Day 4: Randers to Hirtshals
03/07/19 19:30
With 166 km we covered the longest distance today. Starting in Randers we went via Hobro, Arden, Aalborg, Brønderslev and Hjørring to Hirtshals.
While charging hasn't been a problem in the previous two days, we had all kind of problems today: inactive chargier, chargers not releasing the cable and chargers not locking the cable
Additionally some other things didn't want to work as designed: The Twizy resets any tuning and our GPS tracker couldn't lock the GPS signal for about 1,5 hours after Aalborg for no apparent reason. I have no clue, why.
The first charger In Aalborg was in the outskirts, the second one not available. We decided to head for a charger in a car park downtown, willing to pay for parking. Getting there wasn't easy as the main street was closed for the "The Tall Ships Race 2019" event taking place.
You don't get a paper ticket when entering the car park, instead the license plates get scanned. Before leaving you pay by entering your license plate number. But what does the system register if you enter with a trailer? (Answer: it was the trailer's license plate not the Twizy's)
Something with dinosaurs in Aalborg
Aalborg was really pleasant. On the water line numerous 'Tall (sailing) Ships' were docked along the water line, part of the "The Tall Ships Race 2019".
On board the "Statsraad Lehmkuhl"
We finished the remaining trip segments and arrived at the motel in Hirtshals at 19:30.
While charging hasn't been a problem in the previous two days, we had all kind of problems today: inactive chargier, chargers not releasing the cable and chargers not locking the cable
Additionally some other things didn't want to work as designed: The Twizy resets any tuning and our GPS tracker couldn't lock the GPS signal for about 1,5 hours after Aalborg for no apparent reason. I have no clue, why.
The first charger In Aalborg was in the outskirts, the second one not available. We decided to head for a charger in a car park downtown, willing to pay for parking. Getting there wasn't easy as the main street was closed for the "The Tall Ships Race 2019" event taking place.
You don't get a paper ticket when entering the car park, instead the license plates get scanned. Before leaving you pay by entering your license plate number. But what does the system register if you enter with a trailer? (Answer: it was the trailer's license plate not the Twizy's)
Something with dinosaurs in Aalborg
Aalborg was really pleasant. On the water line numerous 'Tall (sailing) Ships' were docked along the water line, part of the "The Tall Ships Race 2019".
On board the "Statsraad Lehmkuhl"
We finished the remaining trip segments and arrived at the motel in Hirtshals at 19:30.
Day 3: Vejle to Randers
02/07/19 18:00
After a good night's sleep we had a breakfast that matched our nice hotel.
Interesting cheese slicer: freshly sliced cheese is a must!
Today's tour had 70-80 minutes long charging stops in Horsens, Skanderborg and Tilst/Aarhus with the final destination in Randers. While the Twizy was charged, we explored the differences of danish shopping streets. Which fashion shops or chemist chains are present, which are missing? Where are toilets and which churches should we visit?
While all charging locations were almost always empty yesterday, we today got the last available charger in two locations.
Charging stop in Skanderborg
(we wanted to eat less and healthier today, with the exception of the breakfast. In Tilst we stumbled upon a Carl's Jr.. My last burger from Carl's Jr. I had back in the eighties. I had to have a burger! Ok, the burger wasn't bad but also far from being spectacular! What elsa has denmark to surprise us? Bob's Big Boy? Taco Bell? Wendy's?)
Next stop: Keeping the weight!
Maybe we will make it to Hirtshals tomorrow. This should be possible.
Interesting cheese slicer: freshly sliced cheese is a must!
Today's tour had 70-80 minutes long charging stops in Horsens, Skanderborg and Tilst/Aarhus with the final destination in Randers. While the Twizy was charged, we explored the differences of danish shopping streets. Which fashion shops or chemist chains are present, which are missing? Where are toilets and which churches should we visit?
While all charging locations were almost always empty yesterday, we today got the last available charger in two locations.
Charging stop in Skanderborg
(we wanted to eat less and healthier today, with the exception of the breakfast. In Tilst we stumbled upon a Carl's Jr.. My last burger from Carl's Jr. I had back in the eighties. I had to have a burger! Ok, the burger wasn't bad but also far from being spectacular! What elsa has denmark to surprise us? Bob's Big Boy? Taco Bell? Wendy's?)
Next stop: Keeping the weight!
Maybe we will make it to Hirtshals tomorrow. This should be possible.
Day 2: Flensburg to Vejle
01/07/19 21:49
After unloading the Twizy we brought back the van. We now needed to get rid of the ramps.
Transportation of the ramps to DHL: looks unsafer than it actually was
DHL happily accepted our parcel for a huge amount of money.
We had a quick breakfast before heading for Denmark. FIrst stop was Aabenraa. Finding the charger was easy, we were able to unlock it and after 80 minutes, some strawberries, bananas and soft drinks later we headed for Haderslev. 60 minutes of charging later (and two burgers for the teenager) we continued our trip to Kolding where we juiced up our battery for 100 minutes.
Haderslev, closed (unfortunately)
Another short trip and we arrived at the hotel we booked online. Very luxurious at a very good rate, with pool and other amenities. The hotel even has its own charger.
Fun fact: the Danish Golf Museum is located on the hotel's premises. Not really interesting for ignorants like us. This might be different for golf-afficionados.
Transportation of the ramps to DHL: looks unsafer than it actually was
DHL happily accepted our parcel for a huge amount of money.
We had a quick breakfast before heading for Denmark. FIrst stop was Aabenraa. Finding the charger was easy, we were able to unlock it and after 80 minutes, some strawberries, bananas and soft drinks later we headed for Haderslev. 60 minutes of charging later (and two burgers for the teenager) we continued our trip to Kolding where we juiced up our battery for 100 minutes.
Haderslev, closed (unfortunately)
Another short trip and we arrived at the hotel we booked online. Very luxurious at a very good rate, with pool and other amenities. The hotel even has its own charger.
Fun fact: the Danish Golf Museum is located on the hotel's premises. Not really interesting for ignorants like us. This might be different for golf-afficionados.