27 May

27 May 2011

We have eventually reach our turn around point, Halmstad in Sweden!!  We left Holland on Wednesday morning with Johannes riding with us until lunch time.  We asked that he take us through all the small towns and small roads, but eventually we all decided that it was just going too slowly and so decided to get onto the freeways and travel at a reasonable speed again.  Holland is so built up that the villages are so close together that it will take you an hour to travel 50km.  On one of the small roads I was riding behind Johannes when I saw two things fly off his bike, I immediately slowed down and both Larry and I stopped next to the road.  Larry could see one of the items lying in the road and turned round and picked it up, Johannes’ passport and he then started looking for the second thing, we were still unsure of what it was and eventually I found his driving licence.  Johannes has just bought a new BMW 800 and a new tankbag, he thought that everything was securely zipped into the bag!!

We carried onto to northern Germany, crossing two large rivers by ferry, the difference with the African ferries was amazing.  After having ridden for about 8 hours and only covered about 450km we decided to look for a camping site, we found a camp site next to a large fresh water lake and set up camp next to a cyclist traveling long distance.  We were saddle sore and very tired but we are still battling to get to sleep early as the sun only starts setting at about 10pm.

Thursday morning we set off for Sweden having decided that we would stick to the freeways and try and get some distance done in a reasonable time.  We were soon in the rolling hills on Denmark with lots of fast moving traffic, a large percentage of these huge trucks.  There seems to be a huge amount of freight moved by trucks the further north we get.  Denmark is made up of a number of islands and there have been some huge bridges constructed connecting the islands.  We crossed one of about 18km (at a cost of R157 per bike), there were warning signs before and on the bridge warning about strong winds, and they were not joking.  Riding behind Larry I could see him leaning into the wind at an angle of about 60 degrees and everytime he passed the huge concrete supports of the bridge he would bounce upright for a few seconds and then back to his impossible angle!  We eventually got to the ferry crossing to Sweden, from Helsingor to Helsingborg – very modern, with duty free shops, cafeteria, although the crossing only takes about 20 min.  100 km more, and we arrived at Himmelkulla Gard, near Halmstad.  Riding through this part of Sweden was easy, traffic mild, along the West coast of Sweden.  Modern, lots of industry, but still with forests, and agriculture.

Pc has a 45 hectare property, with lots of outbuildings, and the bikes get to sleep in a shed for a change! Everything is green, lots of barley growing.  Weather is a bit mis, with some rain, but it gives us a chance to have a rest, and catch up.

We will be here for about a week, will see some of Sweden, and then head back to Holland, to ship selves and bikes to Nairobery!! Pc has all sorts of tricks up his sleeve, regarding the next few days, something to do with a gathering tom night, a look at some wild boars, a tour to the north, a hunting expo, a visit to people who work with hair, a newspaper person, a meal with real South Africam borewors!!!

So, time moves on!