So, since we last spoke to you guys we have managed to get the waste tank sorted, well kind of sorted… It still bubbles up now and again but not so much anymore.

Also we are now in Denmark, having left Germany later on yesterday.  We’re heading further north and strangely, it’s getting warmer (although this may not be weird to those living in Australia!)

We left Germany after staying the night in Flensburg, a nice little harbour town.  Our overnight stop was on a small spit of the harbour, which we only found out in the morning was next to a sewage works!  It didn’t smell at all, which was lucky, for in this heat any smell rapidly turns horrible!

Sunsetting in Flensburg

The town of Flensburg itself dates back to the 1200’s and the town has a bit of a time warp feeling to it.  One moment you could be standing outside of the througholy modern invention of McDonalds, the next you are negotiating yourself through a small alleyway and into a small side street, with bright yellow buildings either side.  This old world architecture hides another modern invention, the internet cafe!

The sunset was absolutely beautifully on this evening.  Our “next campervan neighbour” described it as being almost as good as the sunsets he had seen in Africa, although he also pointed out how little the sun looks up here in the north, something I had never thought of!

Well after that night we headed off in the morning (or mid-day ish)  to find some more bits for the campervan and we also plugged in our two door speakers that we have been waiting ages to do.

Then we shut the vents, turned the coolbox on, turned the isolator to the “on” position and off we went to Denmark.

As if in anti-climax Denmark was only a couple of kilometres away. So – hello and welcome to Denmark it was for us… we had our new course plotted and set for Dalby, on the central island of Denmark.

Stay tuned to hear more tomorrow (yes, I’ve figured out how to do delayed posts)

Happy travelling

and please leave a comment, even if just to say hi!

Ah, my homeland.  Yes Blog readers I was born and spent my younger years growing up in Germany.  It is a country that offers much more than many people think and one that is very motorhome friendly.

We are currently sat in our incredibly comfortable van, Luke is making a cup of tea and I am here updating you.  Ten minutes ago things were very different.

We had forgotten to check the levels of our waste tank, it was only when we noticed some water on the floor that smelt ever so slightly of our dinner just a few hours ago that we realised our mistake. So we rushed round, removed the spare wheel, boxes of stuff and offending waste tanks in haste, sprayed everything with some Dettol and soaked up the water with some tissues.  Well – we have learnt our lesson.  The real killer though is that we have put our electric heater on to dry everything out, but it is so bloody warm already!

We have had some really brilliant weather here.  From our first overnight stop in Belgium, where our lie-in until 10am not only meant that everyother van had already left the services, but also meant that we were swelteringly hot!!

Anyways we have not done too much sight seeing, we have been on a few errands, getting used to the camper lifestyle, finding out where we are going, getting used to the van (particularly the dodgy steering) and just settling in.

We’re currently in NeuMunster, in Northern Germany (on the little bit that connects Germany to Denmark), In a brilliant Stellplatz that costs us 6euro per night, and includes free wi-fi internet, awesome!

We would love to stay here, but we’re unfortunately limited to just one night.  Tomorrow we head off to the port city of Kiel.  Staying in a free camping place.  Unfortunately no internet there though.

So till next time -  Tcheuss!

Hang on – don’t forget to check out my flickr account for all the photos…. http://www.flickr.com/photos/11431278@N07

Right Ladies and gentlemen, we are off – at 11:59pm tonight. First stop – Germany.
Will update more later guys – gotta go put in the final electric connection… Nothing like doing things last minute.!

So – I know I haven’t posted in a while – but I have been busy, honest!

And to prove it there are some photos below of our wonderful campervan conversion.

Things are going a bit slower than I would like, but then I’m impatient.  We will finally be leaving next Wednesday.  And heading straight to Sweden

So – the photos of the van…

The starting point of converting the van

This is the stuff what will keep us warm

View from the back of the van

Front of van with bed one in the foreground

Well there you go, I will post more when she is fully finished and will do full posts on each of the steps when I actully have some energy.

Anyways, hope you are all ok.

Take care.

Si.

In memory of Kate – who still plays on my mind.

I have lost a friend recently, I hardly knew her. Only through blogs and emails. She had found my blog and wanted to use some of my own words on her blog that she really liked. I know I hardly know her, but she had hopes, dreams and was heading to a new life, the other side of America.

We exchanged emails, talked about our travels, our challenges, our lives.  Perhaps the beauty of the modern world is also its damnation.  We are able to connect with more people, know more people and think of them as friends, but we are also opening ourselves up to loosing more people.

Kate was a doctor, on her way to a new job, new life and enjoying her travels.

So, in memory of Kate, here is the post she liked.

I am listening to Beyond Time (ambient mix) by Blank and Jones. You can listen to it by clicking here.

Listen to it, close your eyes – don’t look at the screen, don’t look at anything. Picture yourself where you want to be. Take the moment of solitude before the bass kicks in to do a complete 360 shot of yourself, once the heavy bass kicks in dream of the discoveries you will make, the small things you see everyday that have made you stop and look twice. Allow yourself a little smile.

Seven Minutes and 40 seconds.

How often do any of us ever actually dedicate that amount of time to just closing our eyes and dreaming of somewhere else. And not the dreams before you fall asleep that you actually have very little control over, in this you are in control.

Seven Minutes and 40 seconds

Isn’t really that long, so why do we push ourselves continuously to be as busy as possible, cram everything in, work harder, play harder. Just stop.

For Seven minutes and forty seconds.

Don’t think about the music, don’t analyse it, don’t think about the lyrics. Just shut off.

I’m still not a hippy, I just wish that the whole world would take a day off, without insecurities or stresses most people are actually quite nice and a whole lot happier.

I hope that some of you will appreciate this. I look forward to my new life. Because I have suddenly realised that it’s not about the travel, it’s not about getting out of a job I didn’t like. I don’t know tha answer yet, but I’m going to go looking.

I realise that some people will just think that it’s because I’m “at that age”.

My question to you is this – when did you give up, when did you give in?

Think about this also for just a few minutes…

If I said to you that I want you to plan your life around me, around where I want you to be for 30 hours each week, at the times I specify – which happen to be during the day, when the sun is out, I will leave you the dark evenings though, so you can eat, have a few hours to yourself and get some sleep before you come back to do what I want you to do.

How much would you want for me to disrupt your life like that?

Kate, goodbye. I will miss our little catchups and quick chats, I will miss your enthusiasm for life, you never knew what I loked like, your last email asked me for a picture, I didn’t reply quickly enough because I was wanted to find a picutre that was “right”, then the van came along and I didn’t find that picture and send it to you, sorry. Goodbye Kate.

Yep.  Back to disappointment.

You see I have to wait for my insurance documents to come through the post before I can go and get my Road Tax before I can actually drive the van off the driveway! It’s been six days!!! Come on Direct Line, seriously – send the bloody bit of paper!

Anyways readers, I have ordered around £300 worth of stuff this morning.  Hopefully all delivered between tomorrow and Monday – so I’m going to keep this post short. Otherwise I will just end up ranting about how much I dislike my insurance company!

Anyways, must go and put some more wires in for our 6 Sony XS speakers and 1200Watt Subwoofer, much fun!

Some photos from our cleaning and re-spraying days are below, enjoy!

Happy Travelling!
Overland Si

Morning everyone, it is 8am here in sunny Kent, UK.

I have a shopping list of over £500 to get today to start the campervan conversion.

More information and pictures coming later this evening!