Getting back
Day 40: There is no place like home
08/08/19 20:00
Like our trip to Flensburg on day 1 we rent a van to get the Twizy back home. I pick up the van in Kiel in the morning. It's a Ford this time which is wider but a bit shorter.
I drive back to our apartment. The Twizy and the trailer fit but there is not much space left.
I lash the Twizy and the trailer, we load our luggage and say goodbye to wife/mother, daughter/sister and our dog. They drive home tomorrow.
There is the usual traffic jam in Hamburg, the next major one is just before Hanover. It feels like there are very long roadworks, separated by short sections of normal "Autobahn".
It takes ages today. After 4 hours we have our first stop and we haven't covered even half of the distance of 580 km.
After almost 9 hours we arrive at home. We unload our luggage/Twizy/trailer and are happy to be back home after 40 days!
I drive back to our apartment. The Twizy and the trailer fit but there is not much space left.
I lash the Twizy and the trailer, we load our luggage and say goodbye to wife/mother, daughter/sister and our dog. They drive home tomorrow.
There is the usual traffic jam in Hamburg, the next major one is just before Hanover. It feels like there are very long roadworks, separated by short sections of normal "Autobahn".
It takes ages today. After 4 hours we have our first stop and we haven't covered even half of the distance of 580 km.
After almost 9 hours we arrive at home. We unload our luggage/Twizy/trailer and are happy to be back home after 40 days!
Day 37: Kiel, Family
05/08/19 20:00
At night the TV switches on by itself a couple of times to show the welcome loop from Stena. "Happy" ist not mentioned which will not make him happy, I guess. I switch off the TV repeatedly.
We get up at 7 in the morning and head for the bar at the deck to get a coffee. We are already in the Kiel fjord.
The ship arrives at Kiel, we go to the car deck and wait to be able to drive off the ship. My wife, my daughter and our dock wait for us in the harbour.
Old VW busses: They match the trams in Gothenburg
We finally get out of the harbour and meet and hug our family! We are finally back together after 5 weeks and one day!
They load part of our luggage and we drive 37 km with 83% battery to Plön, where wife, daughter and dog spent their vacation. We have three days together, before we rent a van to transport the Twizy back home on Thursday.
Lars gets his favourite food: potatoes with curd
We go to the lake's beach.
It feels really good to be back together with the family.
We get up at 7 in the morning and head for the bar at the deck to get a coffee. We are already in the Kiel fjord.
The ship arrives at Kiel, we go to the car deck and wait to be able to drive off the ship. My wife, my daughter and our dock wait for us in the harbour.
Old VW busses: They match the trams in Gothenburg
We finally get out of the harbour and meet and hug our family! We are finally back together after 5 weeks and one day!
They load part of our luggage and we drive 37 km with 83% battery to Plön, where wife, daughter and dog spent their vacation. We have three days together, before we rent a van to transport the Twizy back home on Thursday.
Lars gets his favourite food: potatoes with curd
We go to the lake's beach.
It feels really good to be back together with the family.
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 34: At sea
02/08/19 22:00
We sleep in. With an inside cabin you do not have any reference to daylight anyway and the smartphone is at the other end of the cabin.I wake up at 8 in the morning (have a look at the phone) and sleep again before we get up at 11 o'clock CEST.
We go on deck and have breakfast. The sun tries to get through the clouds and it is 20° Celsius.
The overall appearance of a breakfast on board is very important: shades of yellow and brown interact beautifully with each other!
The leaf of bread we brought with us got moldy and we stick to a marble cake we bought somewhere in Iceland which now is now kind of marble cake crumbles. I get a coffee at the bar.
Some of our fellow travellers already stick to something more nutritious from the duty free shop
The sun comes out and in the more sheltered areas you could sit in a shirt.
We pass by the Shetland Islands after noon.
The Shetlands
Lars eats a hot dog, I get another coffee.
The chairs right next to us are being blocked by Germans by leaving their stuff on it. They have been away for hours. You can travel long distances, but you will not lose your behaviour patterns.
I's time to play Bingo on board, which we skip. Lars watches "Men in Black: International" in the movie theatre.
We try the Pizza for dinner this time. Yesterday's burger has not been a success. The pizza looks good at first sight. They put lots of cheese on it. Lots! Really! About 8 mm of cheese! We cannot finish the pizzas, it's just too much. One pizza for both of us would have been enough.
We buy a can of beer and a soft drink and sit on the deck in the sun at 23° celsius. On the horizon we can see an oil drilling platform.
We go on deck and have breakfast. The sun tries to get through the clouds and it is 20° Celsius.
The overall appearance of a breakfast on board is very important: shades of yellow and brown interact beautifully with each other!
The leaf of bread we brought with us got moldy and we stick to a marble cake we bought somewhere in Iceland which now is now kind of marble cake crumbles. I get a coffee at the bar.
Some of our fellow travellers already stick to something more nutritious from the duty free shopThe sun comes out and in the more sheltered areas you could sit in a shirt.
We pass by the Shetland Islands after noon.
The Shetlands
Lars eats a hot dog, I get another coffee.
The chairs right next to us are being blocked by Germans by leaving their stuff on it. They have been away for hours. You can travel long distances, but you will not lose your behaviour patterns.
I's time to play Bingo on board, which we skip. Lars watches "Men in Black: International" in the movie theatre.
We try the Pizza for dinner this time. Yesterday's burger has not been a success. The pizza looks good at first sight. They put lots of cheese on it. Lots! Really! About 8 mm of cheese! We cannot finish the pizzas, it's just too much. One pizza for both of us would have been enough.
We buy a can of beer and a soft drink and sit on the deck in the sun at 23° celsius. On the horizon we can see an oil drilling platform.
Day 33: Seyðisfjörður, Ferry to Hirtshals
01/08/19 19:56
The youth hostel ist poorly soundproofed. Late last night a group of Chinese people arrived who woke up the whole floor before continuing their conversation in the room next to us. You could understand each word.
We get up at 6:30, probably waking up our Chinese neighbors this time. We slowly pack our stuff and head for the ferry's check-in.
The Norröna arrives and the first cars are being unloaded. Just after 9 o'clock we are about to drive onboard.
We are on the car deck that will be moved up
We cannot go to our cabin yet, as it is still being cleaned. We wait on the deck in the sun.
Unfortunately we get an inside cabin, exactly what we have booked.
Goodbye, Iceland
We say goodbye to Iceland. It has been an exceptional trip. The weather was almost always good. We only had rain a few times. We always were able to charge our Twizy if we have asked for it and the people have been extremely nice and friendly.
We have been photographed numerous times. We do not know what people did with the Twizy when we didn't watch - we know what some people did while we watched or even were sitting inside.
We walk around the ship and visit the duty free shop and buy some gummibears. Finally!
We rest a bit before getting dinner in the fast food restaurant. Lars doesn't trust his stomach and we share a Burger with fries.
This wasn't the worst idea as the burger wasn't very good and the fries failed as well.
We get a bier and a soft drink in the duty free shop and look at the sea for a while.