EmmJays Travel Journal
May 1968
I met up with my travel companions in Earls Court, London May 1968. I was 19 years old and it was my first trip to Europe, so I was very excited. I had worked in London to save enough money to spend two months camping on the continent. With the van packed with tents, cots, food and eager travellers we drove to Dover and caught the midnight ferry to Zeebrugge, Belgium. The ferry, The Free Enterprise owned by the Townsend line took 4 hours to cross the English Channel. When we reached Belgium we all had an espresso ... hm-mm good!
Zeebrugge, Belgium
My travel companions and I, eight of us in all, left Zeebrugge headed for Amsterdam, Holland via Gent, Antwerp and Breda. We had breakfast beneath the Atomium structure on the outskirts of Brussels. The countryside was flat and mainly agricultural. The houses were magnificent and reflected so much charm. The people we met were very friendly and seemed somewhat shy at times. I knew that the Belgians spoke Flemish and French but so many also spoke beautiful English. One of our fellow travellers was born in South Africa and her Africans came in handy when we met with the Flemish speaking people. My French (high school level) was appalling, but they put up with my effort and replied to me in English.
Amsterdam, Holland
Gilbert, our Australian driver parked the van in a busy shopping area in the heart of Amsterdam and we were off exploring. We spent 2 hours on foot before making our way to the house of Anne Frank at 263 Prinsengracht. A solemn experience, but a good learning one. I did not take history in school as I opted for economics instead, so my knowledge of the plight of the Jews during WWII was somewhat limited. I had two school friends who were Jewish but they never discussed the Holocaust with me. Looking back, I wish they had have.
Amsterdam to Hamburg
We camped overnight in the Netherlands and on the road after having a few scrumptious bites of local bread and cheese. Germany soon appeared on the horizon. We drove along roads lined on both sides with the most beautiful trees I have ever seen. The people we stopped to talk to were very friendly and went out of their way to help us find our campsite. The camp, Stillhorn was only a few miles outside Hamburg.
In the evening we ventured down the well known Reeperbahn (my spelling might not be too hot, but it is the best I can do). We stopped at the Mathauserbrau Munchen Beer Hall at St. Pauli and had a beer or 2 or 3 or 4 (between us ... don't want to give the wrong impression). The beers were sold in litre mugs. The band, dressed in traditional costume played away and we all linked elbows and joined in a singalong. The custom is to drink heartily and then bang your stein hard upon the wooden table. It was so much fun. We all slept well that night.
Copenhagen, Denmark
We all piled into our van and left Germany, once more through the most impressive scenery. Our route was via Putgarden and Rodbyhavn to Copenhagen. We took a ferry from Germany to Denmark. I have been on ferries many a time, but this one was like a luxury liner. The Theordore Heuse ferry passed other ferries on the way and the people waved across to each other. I think in North America they would have mooned the other passengers! Anyway this was Scandinavia and the people here seem to have a degree of decorum that we are missing.
We stayed at Avendore campsite. In the evening the Tivoli gardens was first on the agenda. It ended up the only thing we saw all night as it was so magnificent. There were fountains, flowers, stalls of all types, pagodas and people galore. The fountains were majestic. The tulips around the fountains were a rainbow of colour. There was marble work and tile displays to explore. We saw an open air play, which was free to watch (and even a ballet to boot).
The following day we ventured once more into the heart of the city where we visited the Royal Palace ... the changing of the guard, of course. Very touristy thing to do but it is an integral part of Danish history. It was colourful. The guards wore bearskin hats, royal blue tunics and black trousers.
Time now for some serious shopping. Off to Magasin du Nord. The shop was enormous and very well designed. I spent nearly 3 hours wondering across its floors and up and down spotlessly clean escalators. I bought nothing! The main drag is Amagerton-Osterg. A very narrow winding street which is absolutely chockablock with interesting shops. I grew up in a very conservative country so the concept of seeing a 'Blue Movie' was considered somewhat naughty. We all agreed that we had to go to one, so that evening we all went. It was not in English, of course, but you certainly knew what was going on. The next day while sightseeing I returned to Magasin du Nord and picked up a pair of clogs ... Swedish style. They were ever so comfortable.
Jens Olsen's famous clock is to be found in this wonderful city. It is the oldest and most accurate clock in the world, according to the Danes. It is a very complicated looking clock, I must say. In the late afternoon we trouped out to the harbour to see the Little Mermaid. She was so small and dainty. She was not in the best of condition. Apparently there had been attempts to sabotage the statue and luckily it survived the onslaught.
Denmark to Norway
It was a picturesque drive from Denmark to the Norwegian capital, Oslo via Helsingor. We took a ferry to Halsingborg which was very scenic. The lakes were like glass. The trees stood silently along the shore and some were abundantly in bloom. As the ferry left the dock we passed Hamlet's castle. We were not long on the ferry before we docked again. Into the van and heading north once again through Gothemburg along the west coast of Sweden to Oslo. The border was in a huge gorge with a fast flowing green river rushing through it. A bridge over the river separated the two countries. We just rolled on through the border with just a friendly wave from the border officials.
Oslo, Norway
From a castle on a hill we could see the harbour which was littered with small fishing boats and one huge ocean liner. Frognor Park was my cup of tea. Superb statues everywhere which took the originator 30 years to complete. The idea behind it all was the evolution of man. At the far end of the park there was a needle-shape sculpture surrounded by nudes. They were very life like and brilliantly arranged. It was a beautiful day to spend hours exploring this park. Some of us took a ride on a local train and got lost. It took us way up into the mountains, which was great because we all really enjoyed it.
Trondheim, Norway
Later back to the camp we shared our adventures with each other. The following morning we headed north to the Trondheim and we camped on the snow close to the fiord. It was so cold that we moved into a cabin for the night. We left early the next morning and drove until we reached a sign on the side of the road ... 'Arctic Circle'.This was our destination. The trek north took as alongside snow covered fields, and in some places the snow was 12' high on either side of the road.
Norway to Lapland
There was no border check entering Lapland. The drive onto Bode was an experience for me as I had never seen snow . My travel companions were from Canada, USA, South Africa, Australia and the UK. They were not as impressed with the snow as I was. I took a lot of pictures - all hard-copy stills. Tall slender trees all around us and an occasional wood cabin summed up the scenery. We were fortunate to see reindeer and some moose. Driving was a bit dangerous as the roads were icy in places. A deer ran along the road in front of us for some time, just to add to the driving experience.
We passed another group of travellers along the way only to see them once again several hours later at our campsite.
Bodo is a town surrounded by mountains and glass-like lakes. There was a seaplane service to the Trondheim and some of our group took the plane to see the fjords from the air. I purchased seal skin slippers to keep my feet warm in my sleeping bag ... it worked. The stores carried beautiful jumpers with traditional Laplanders designs woven into them. We went to a movie that night. After the film we ventured high up on a mountain edge to watch the sun bounce, not set. It was a huge crimson ball and the sky turned orange, pink, mauve, purple and yellow as the sun made its way to its lowest point. It started to slowly rise again. No night, the next day had already started. Unfortunately we had to leave the land of the midnight sun that day. I wanted to relive this one all over again. Maybe one day I'll get to do it again.
Lapland to Sweden
From Lapland we headed south by road, through snow covered countryside to Storuman in Sweden. We saw loads of reindeer in the woods. When we reached the campsite it was closed and there was no water or the required amenities for camping. Some Swedish teenagers came over and they joined us for the afternoon. They sang songs that were popular at the time and we sang some of ours (with apologies to the real artists). They showed us some of the current dances that teenagers like and overall we had a great time. We got to bed about 4am. The kids told us that we would see people coming out of their homes starting at 2am in the summer months. This was just a one night stay and we were on the road again heading south toward Sundsville.
We kept to the coastline all the way and the scenery was magnificent. Stayed at Sundsville that night. On the road the next day along the coast to Umea, a small town. Travelling by road and camping doesn't give you immediate access to money changing facilities or places to eat. We relied on the locals to guide us appropriately. The Swedes were very eager to help us when we needed it.
Stockholm, Sweden
The coastline to Stockholm was a very scenic. The cameras were clicking constantly. The camp, Angtoyplan was near Tunnelbana. Driving into Stockholm we got 3 flat tires and a shattered windscreen. The other van load of people we had met earlier on the road said they would follow us, but they didn't make it at all. The temperature had risen and was about 21C when were disembarked the van. Stockholm has its own version of Denmark's Tivoli which they most appropriately call Greenland. It was mostly a fairground. The city was clean and very expensive. The shops were beautifully designed and I did a lot of window shopping. We only had two days in Stockholm so we just walked around and took in the local fare.
Sweden to Finland
Helsinki, Finland
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