12 June Rynkynranta to Raahe 135.4 miles
I arrived in Raahe late afternoon. First impression it was a quiet little town, it was very pretty. After a quick driver around I decided I would stay and find a campsite.
It was a lovely site. Very green, tall trees and right by the sea too. The two girls were so friendly and helpful.
It started to rain so I quickly set up camp and made dinner.
As it was a Saturday evening I didn’t realy want to sit in my tent all night, so I headed into the town for a look. I found a lovely bar car called …….. , the barman was so friendly wanting to know everything about me and the expedition. It was a real pleasure talking to him, he introduced everyone in the bar to me which lead to a fantastic night with a lot of the locals showing me around telling me about themselves. So a big thank you to everyone in Raahe.
13th June Raahe to Vaasa 203 miles
It was a pleasant drive down the coast to Vaasa with so much beauty with tall trees lining each side if the road. I parked in the middle of the city to get wi-fi . I found a place that looked like it was on a small island on the other side of the city. Ahh camping by the water again. As I needed to get some work on the computer done the girl on reception was kind enough to let me do it there and plug my laptop in as their wifi was down. She was loverly as I spent most of the evening there. Her name was …… so we just catted wile we worked. She offered to show me around the city the next day which I gratefully accepted.
14th June Vaasa to Rauma
I met ….. around ten o clock in the morning as she was in doing paper work. We walked into the city, only a 10-15 minuet walk. It was quite warm and sunny. It was great being shown the city and what buildings were what. Early afternoon ……. Had to go and I was still making my mind up whether to stay another night….. well the weather soon made that decision for me as it clouded over and started to rain. I packed everything away and got on the road. As it was early afternoon when I left I didn’t do a long drive and ended up in Rauma.
Well it was another pleasant campsite by the water. It was nice as I was actually spending a night alone. So it gave me a chance to think about things. As I am now quite used to being on the road I still have no idea what to expect in the future As I’m rarely alone.
15th June Rauma to Truku 108.8 miles
16th June Truku to Helsinki 131.7 miles
17th to 20th June Helsinki
This is the longest I have stayed in one spot, Not a bad thing though as I really wanted to see the city. I have been unable to get a boat till Sunday as I was booked for a car and not the height of a 4x4. two of the bikers are heading south as well so will be tacking the same boat to Tallinn .
12 June Rynkynranta to Raahe 135.4 miles
I arrived in Raahe late afternoon. First impression it was a quiet little town, it was very pretty. After a quick driver around I decided I would stay and find a campsite.
It was a lovely site. Very green, tall trees and right by the sea too. The two girls were so friendly and helpful.
It started to rain so I quickly set up camp and made dinner.
As it was a Saturday evening I didn’t realy want to sit in my tent all night, so I headed into the town for a look. I found a lovely bar car called …….. , the barman was so friendly wanting to know everything about me and the expedition. It was a real pleasure talking to him, he introduced everyone in the bar to me which lead to a fantastic night with a lot of the locals showing me around telling me about themselves. So a big thank you to everyone in Raahe.
13th June Raahe to Vaasa 203 miles
It was a pleasant drive down the coast to Vaasa with so much beauty with tall trees lining each side if the road. I parked in the middle of the city to get wi-fi . I found a place that looked like it was on a small island on the other side of the city. Ahh camping by the water again. As I needed to get some work on the computer done the girl on reception was kind enough to let me do it there and plug my laptop in as their wifi was down. She was loverly as I spent most of the evening there. Her name was …… so we just catted wile we worked. She offered to show me around the city the next day which I gratefully accepted.
14th June Vaasa to Rauma
I met ….. around ten o clock in the morning as she was in doing paper work. We walked into the city, only a 10-15 minuet walk. It was quite warm and sunny. It was great being shown the city and what buildings were what. Early afternoon ……. Had to go and I was still making my mind up whether to stay another night….. well the weather soon made that decision for me as it clouded over and started to rain. I packed everything away and got on the road. As it was early afternoon when I left I didn’t do a long drive and ended up in Rauma.
Well it was another pleasant campsite by the water. It was nice as I was actually spending a night alone. So it gave me a chance to think about things. As I am now quite used to being on the road I still have no idea what to expect in the future As I’m rarely alone.
15th June Rauma to Truku 108.8 miles
16th June Truku to Helsinki 131.7 miles
17th to 20th June Helsinki
This is the longest I have stayed in one spot, Not a bad thing though as I really wanted to see the city. I have been unable to get a boat till Sunday as I was booked for a car and not the height of a 4x4. two of the bikers are heading south as well so will be tacking the same boat to Tallinn .
20th June Helsinki ( Finland ) to Tallinn ( Estonia )
21st June Tallinn
22nd June Tallinn to
24th June ( Estonia ) to Riga ( Latvia ) 203.6 miles
25th June Riga
I managed to do over 100miles without going any were. I drove into Riga as I was staying in one of the suburbs I got in contact with a local guy who did classic car restorations in the middle of know where, so I managed to get the light switch fixed
26th June Riga ( Latvia ) to Kaunas ( Lithuania ) 215.7 miles
27th June Kaunas to Trakai 56.1 miles
After staying on what looked like a glorified car park I headed out on the road. I wanted to see a 14-15 century castle that had been restored. Wile on the road I couldn’t believe it another Defender 110, we pulled into a lay bye were I found out it was a family of fore heading to Australia . The family was Andrew, Anne, Jessica and AJ. As they were heading to the castle as well we thought it would be better to meet there and really see what they were doing. It was only a further 20 mins . We found a campsite quite near so after stopping it was great having a proper talk with fellow travellers in how they had been getting on and what there route was ect The camp was so beautiful and found out there was a boat from the camp to the island.
28th June Trakai
29th June Trakai ( Lithuania ) to Minsk ( Belarus ) 140ish miles
30th June Minsk to Brest
There was nothing interesting about the road from Minsk to Brest it was straight and very boring. But it was nice to meet some people along the way.
1st July Brest ( Belarus ) to Keiv (Ukrain)
It was morning and time to leave as I overstepped thanks to my phone. After a quick bite for breakfast I got everything together paid and left the 1970s hotel and not the most friendly if I say so. I picked up the Defender from the secure parking and headed out of the city towards the border. It was a quiet border into Ukrain but still managed to cause a stir with all the border control with the land rover they even signed it. They were all great ad very interested.
Well hear I am in Ukrain. The most noticeable factor is the road condition, there not great and with a few hundred miles to go before I get to Keiv I knew it was going to be an interesting drive. It turned out to be very interesting with people selling things in the middle of nowhere.
2nd July Keiv to
After a good nights sleep I decided to track down the land rover dealer in Keiv, I had two addresses one of which was close so drove over to the garage which turned out to be the Jaguar part of the franchise. They showed me the way to go, the land rover de4aler was just outside the centre of the city. They were very interested in me and the expedition. They have been kind enough to give the Defender a once over and a service as I’m due to hit Russia in a few days. The company is BMU British Motors Ukrain. As I sit hear in the dealer I cant believe the noise as I look out the window the rain is coming down like nothing else!!!
Friday 2 July 2010
Saturday 12 June 2010
Breif up to the 12th may
I have driven over the last coupple of weeks from amsterdam to cuxhaven in gremany then on to hirtshals in denmark were on the 2nd June I gotb the ferry To kristiansand (Norway) and stated up the west cost. Over thnext few days I met some wonderful people in Forde I met Pieter and Renske with ther family, they were doing a tour of Norway from the netherlands. It was a fun night just chatting and playing cards. The next day the 4th was a long day leaving forde quite late and rolling into tronehime at just after midnight. The whole town was out as it dosnd get dark and it was a friday night.
I had an early start on saturday the 6th june. I was driving through some amazing parts of Norway the scinary was breathtaking I had never seen anything like it before. I just cant describe my feelings on this route at the time. I was heading for Nadvic and as always there was another ferry crossing. I met a loverly girl on the ferry called Britt who lived in nadvic. She had also dond alot of travelling around the globe. We got chatting and she offered to show me were to camp.
I ended up camping outside her house. She was very kind and welcoming, inviting me in cooking me dinner. Westayed up till the early hours sharing stories of travell experiances.
In the morning I was able to have a shower, but was time to say goodbye to Britt and head NORTH.
The 6th of June was great as it was the day i passed the Arctic circle, so I had to stop to take a few photos.
I carried on untill I reached Atla. My first nights camp inside the arctic circle!
IT was the the 8th June when I arived at NORDKAPP!!!! It was an amazing feeling as its a big mile stone in the exppedition!
I decided to stay 2 nights as it was a fantastic placce to be! I spent 48 hours at nordkapp and seen each day through with all it has to offer!
The last night was so windy i was a little worried aboutn the tent.
But when I woke next morning It was it was still as bad but everything was intact.
I have never put the tent away in a blizared untill now but hey it was interesting fighting with wind and Snow YES snow!!!
Everything was packed so i said my goodbyes, including George a scotish cyclist who I had met the previous day.
Next stop finland.
Its quite amazing how diferent the countrys are. I was also stopped on the border to finland and asked if they could serch the vehicle...... it was a first for me.
It has bee quite plesant driving through the country very flat and very straight roads!
Yesterday I saw the real Santa in lapland as I was leaving the arctic circle. It was a little fun and a must for me!
Well hear i am in oulu heading south so0 i will try and do a better job of keeping all of you up to date.
thanks for following
Ben
I had an early start on saturday the 6th june. I was driving through some amazing parts of Norway the scinary was breathtaking I had never seen anything like it before. I just cant describe my feelings on this route at the time. I was heading for Nadvic and as always there was another ferry crossing. I met a loverly girl on the ferry called Britt who lived in nadvic. She had also dond alot of travelling around the globe. We got chatting and she offered to show me were to camp.
I ended up camping outside her house. She was very kind and welcoming, inviting me in cooking me dinner. Westayed up till the early hours sharing stories of travell experiances.
In the morning I was able to have a shower, but was time to say goodbye to Britt and head NORTH.
The 6th of June was great as it was the day i passed the Arctic circle, so I had to stop to take a few photos.
I carried on untill I reached Atla. My first nights camp inside the arctic circle!
IT was the the 8th June when I arived at NORDKAPP!!!! It was an amazing feeling as its a big mile stone in the exppedition!
I decided to stay 2 nights as it was a fantastic placce to be! I spent 48 hours at nordkapp and seen each day through with all it has to offer!
The last night was so windy i was a little worried aboutn the tent.
But when I woke next morning It was it was still as bad but everything was intact.
I have never put the tent away in a blizared untill now but hey it was interesting fighting with wind and Snow YES snow!!!
Everything was packed so i said my goodbyes, including George a scotish cyclist who I had met the previous day.
Next stop finland.
Its quite amazing how diferent the countrys are. I was also stopped on the border to finland and asked if they could serch the vehicle...... it was a first for me.
It has bee quite plesant driving through the country very flat and very straight roads!
Yesterday I saw the real Santa in lapland as I was leaving the arctic circle. It was a little fun and a must for me!
Well hear i am in oulu heading south so0 i will try and do a better job of keeping all of you up to date.
thanks for following
Ben
bray dunes to amsterdan
As I woke on the first day I took a few minuites to think about what on the road ahead.
It was amazing how the land changed as i crossed the border into Belgium, it became as flat as you like with plesant roads to drive on. I always try to keep off the main roads.
I never know realy were im going just as long as the compass is facing North (for now).
You never know who you will meet along the way.
wile being on a llittle detoure I came apon a unimog who looked like to be going somewere. we both ended up pulling into a fuel station, wile having a chat to the ocupents it was revealed that they new my cousion! In all the places and so soon too. The Unimog team were Adam, Chloe and Sam. They were heading for Amsterdam as was I were Sam lives but after that Adam and Chloe were on th way to South Africa.
AS we were going the same way we went in convoy.
We arived just outside the city were we went ower own ways. We aranged to meet the following evening for dinner and chat.
I stayed at a campsite called zeeburg, verry frendly people and alsorts of travelers.
that evening i met a guy called Marcous who was an american working in germany and in Amsterdam for a weekend.
so spent the night with him drinking the loverly beer.
It was amazing how the land changed as i crossed the border into Belgium, it became as flat as you like with plesant roads to drive on. I always try to keep off the main roads.
I never know realy were im going just as long as the compass is facing North (for now).
You never know who you will meet along the way.
wile being on a llittle detoure I came apon a unimog who looked like to be going somewere. we both ended up pulling into a fuel station, wile having a chat to the ocupents it was revealed that they new my cousion! In all the places and so soon too. The Unimog team were Adam, Chloe and Sam. They were heading for Amsterdam as was I were Sam lives but after that Adam and Chloe were on th way to South Africa.
AS we were going the same way we went in convoy.
We arived just outside the city were we went ower own ways. We aranged to meet the following evening for dinner and chat.
I stayed at a campsite called zeeburg, verry frendly people and alsorts of travelers.
that evening i met a guy called Marcous who was an american working in germany and in Amsterdam for a weekend.
so spent the night with him drinking the loverly beer.
1st cornwall 2 france 26th-28th May
SO sorry its taken so long to do this but im not getting on the internet as much as I would like.
I left Cornwall on May 26th and headded straight for London as I needed to say goodbye to my family. It was lovely to see them before I left on this adventure.
Being on London gave me time todo a manic run aroun and pick up anythin g else I had forgotten.
It was Friday 28th of May and time to leave London, but not without calling in to the Royle Geographical Society for a quick goodbye. Thank you Spike for tghe tea and cake befor I left what a way to be sent off into the world!
It wasn't long befor I was sitting at Dover waiting for the ferry. To be honest it hadn't hit me yet on what I was doing but it wasn.t long though, as I watched England disapear over the horizon it did. That was it when would I see the country again.
It was a lovely afternoon as i drove off the ferry into France. It wasnt long before i found my first place to stay, a small seaside place called Bray Dunes.
Setting up camp for the night just tinking about how this will soon be routeen.
I left Cornwall on May 26th and headded straight for London as I needed to say goodbye to my family. It was lovely to see them before I left on this adventure.
Being on London gave me time todo a manic run aroun and pick up anythin g else I had forgotten.
It was Friday 28th of May and time to leave London, but not without calling in to the Royle Geographical Society for a quick goodbye. Thank you Spike for tghe tea and cake befor I left what a way to be sent off into the world!
It wasn't long befor I was sitting at Dover waiting for the ferry. To be honest it hadn't hit me yet on what I was doing but it wasn.t long though, as I watched England disapear over the horizon it did. That was it when would I see the country again.
It was a lovely afternoon as i drove off the ferry into France. It wasnt long before i found my first place to stay, a small seaside place called Bray Dunes.
Setting up camp for the night just tinking about how this will soon be routeen.
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