Day 19: Kungsbacka (Sweden) to Kloveron (Sweden)

On June 1, 2025June 1, 2025 By Sharron YaxleyIn VikingsLeave a comment

What a day. Lots of memories.

After a big breakfast we packed our bikes, just as Cecilia arrived on the train from Varberg to Kungsbacka. The train station was just over the road from our hotel, big waves indicated our presence.

Weaving around the town outskirts, we were soon on the wonderful bike path.

Cecilia and I chatting away, although I find this hard as I have minimal hearing in my right ear and the added noise from the wind, makes it difficult.

We rode through the village of Saro. A pretty village with quaint buildings adjacent to a national reserve and lovely coastline.

Clear path signage and quirky art work.

We are now in the Bohuslan region of Sweden. There are about 3,000 islands and 5,000 skerries (islets), forming part of the Gothenburg archipelago, Sweden’s second largest after the Stockholm archipelago.

The Bohuslan coastline was named 7th by CNN Travel amongst the world’s last great wilderness areas.

Lots of wows today.

Heading inland towards Goteborg (Gothenburg), Sweden’s second largest city, boasting a population of over one million. It takes 17 km or so riding through the suburbs to reach the centre.

Fortunately there were excellent pathways.

Some photos of the city.

We had a nice sojourn in the park, heading over to the central station to say ‘see you later’ to Cecilia as she was catching a train back to Halmstad, before journeying back to her home town of Huskvarna.

One final job. The Kattegatleden we had been following starts/finishes at the train station. It is a messy sign.

The sign has been enhanced with a Bikealicious sticker, the club that Cecilia leads on Zwift, boasting over 11,000 members.

Having Cecilia, or Cissi as she also calls herself, ride with us was special. Over three days she has shared around 135 km with us.

Given her mobility and complicated and compounding other health issues this is inspiring.

Cissi does not make excuses. She could easily sit at home and do nothing, as many in her situation may do. But she has an inner spirit and resolve that does not allow the word ‘I cannot’.

She finds a way! Through Zwift and her ebike this is the answer to her expanded horizons, adventures and satisfaction.

A fabulous communicator, to me, she is the heart and soul of Bikealicious and Zwift. Not those accumulating lots of km (like me pre open heart surgery) or being fast racers this is real!

So see you latter Cissi, thanks for the memories! ❣️💐xx

It took many km to leave Gothenburg behind, predominantly industrial areas. The path followed a major highway for some distance, before we started to peel more to the west.

The imposing fortification high on the hill was near the larger town of Kungalv.

This is the site of the former border with Norway, constructed in 1308 by King Haakon V Magnuson.

They are grilling Vikings nearby.

Nice villages and forests.

Back to the Bohuslan coastline. The last 5 km were fantastic.

It was busy both on and off the water.

Our riding destination was Mastrand. A popular town for celebrities and ordinary holiday makes, sailors and fishing.

We purchased some food for dinner, then rang our host, who promptly turned up at the agreed spot to transfer us to the island of Kloveron.

Kloveron is a hidden gem in Bohuslan with 15 residents calling it home. We are staying in a converted cottage with views towards the island of Marstrand.

The government decided to change the name of the island to Klaveron, but the islanders call it Kloveron still.

Eating our dinner we have a new friend. She thinks chicken scraps should be for her. She belongs to the owner Magnus, who also operates an adjacent boat repair business.

The island is peaceful and quiet, yet we meet three people.

Mum and daughter returned to the island as they lived here for many years. They popped past to grab an icecream. Magnus sells those in a self serve room.

Then a young lad of about 13 engages us in conversation, quickly swapping to English. He tells us his parents have a summer house here.

We have a bit of a wander.

A magical place to finish our day.

We have now cracked 2000 km in 19 days. The final two weeks we do a lesser amount per day.

I think north west Sweden is amazing. The forecast is not great for tomorrow ( wind, rain) but hoping it’s not as bad as predicted so we can continue to enjoy this wonderful coastline.

Thanks for reading.

Day 17: Angleholm (Sweden) to Falkenberg (Sweden)

On May 30, 2025 By Sharron YaxleyIn Vikings2 Comments

Tony woke feeling heaps better and started eating the various bits of food we did have with us.

We had spent the night in a functional and clean cabin in a park and hit the road early in search of more food.

Quick look at the beach where the waves were angry with the wind. It was still there and in our face.

We rode through lots of little villages and once we started crossed the peninsula had some relief from the wind. All shops were still closed.

For some distance we followed what appeared to be an old rail line with dense vegetation either side, and later, cows grazing in the forests.

Randomly on the side was this Japanese inspired art installation.

We sourced plenty of food at a wonderful Willy’s supermarket around 40 km into our ride on the outskirts of Bastad.

We sat at a table in the sun, out of the wind devouring our late breakfast.

I could have spent sometime just wandering and looking as Swedish supermarkets offerings are so interesting.

We crossed the bridge over the river Lagan, near Mellybystrand

The Kattegatleden is a 390 km coastal cycling pathway that we predominantly followed. Mainly sealed, there are some open road sections and non sealed. The non sealed is in good condition. Two examples from today.

Distant coastal views, the wind in our face, but peaceful places to be experiencing.

Another nice and neat church and cemetery.

Tony was fascinated with this frog as it slowly made its way across the pathway to safer longer grass.

After 66 km we were in Halmstad, where were to meet someone special.

The agreed meeting place was the large Picasso statue, one of two in Sweden.

Here we come….

At this point, I was singing ‘Cecilia’, the Simon and Garfunkel song.

Let me introduce Cecilia, a Zwift friend who has travelled by train from Huskvarna, many hundreds of km away.

Our first greeting.

Cecilia is the head of the Bikealicious club. I do as many of their events as I can when time zones align ok.

Cecilia is multi talented, speaking three languages, having been born and raised in Chile, moving to Sweden as an older teenager.

Cecilia took this photo of us by the Nissan River.

We grabbed some lunch, sat in a park before hitting the road.

Cecilia would be joining us for the rest of the ride to our overnight destination of Falkenberg.

Halmstad castle dates from the 1600’s. The county governor lives there.

Halmstad airport with this interesting plane, including ‘occupants’ at the entrance.

It was lovely riding with Cecilia.

Cecilia has a Trek ebike as she has various joint and mobility issues. This is a real game changer for her, enabling her to participate with us for a section of our day.

I liked this quirky promotion.

The path headed back our closer to the coastline.

Through farmland and open roads, crossing cute bridges.

Finally we arrived at our destination of Falkenburg after 114 km, and 502 m climbing.

Cecilia is staying further in town, so after cleaning up Tony and I did a 6 km round trip walk to spend the evening with her.

Cecilia is a Zwift treasure. As I listened to her, the pleasure and passion she gets from helping others is evident.

Despite the challenges she personally faces, she is there for others.

The world would be a better place if we had more Cecilia’s in it. ❣️

Todays route.

Thanks for reading. 😊❣️🚴💪

Day 16: Lund (Sweden) to Angleholm (Sweden)

On May 29, 2025May 29, 2025 By Sharron YaxleyIn Vikings2 Comments

Breakfast, we met the owner, Stefan. Friendly and chatty, asking what brought us to Lund from Australia. Explained our trip knowing full well what the next question was. “So where are your bikes now”. Gulp….

Leaving Lund we were impressed at the older architecture. It is one of Sweden’s oldest cities with over 1,000 years history.

Kungshuset is another interesting building, built by the Danish King Frederick II in the late 1570’s, intended as a residence for the Bishop of Lund.

The skies are very white with clouds as you can see below with this photo of Lund’s cathedral that dates back to the 12th century. It was built when Lund was still part of Denmark.

We started off with raincoats on as it was lightly spitting but the rain was not an issue today bar remnant puddles.

From Lund we headed towards the eastern Swedish coast and Landskrona, an interesting town, on the shores of the Oresund.

The Oresund is the stretch of water separating Sweden and Denmark.

First roundabout entering Landskrona.

Nice building and statue I’m yet to identify.

We headed to the waterfront and the Landskrona Citadel, a fortified building constructed by Christian III of Denmark.

An aerial view picture borrowed shows two moats. We rode around the path you can see between the two moats.

A few of our pictures.

Back along the waters edge, this is a water tower. In the far distance is Copenhagen.

We noted many lovely statues today.

We also noted the former battery fortifications all along the coastline each 100-200 metres.

The island beyond the jetty is Ven, where you can do day trips. Apparently a nice ride in the bike too.

We continued along the coastal path, mixture of sealed and gravel, to the outskirts of Helsingborg.

Cute houses along the harbour.

Another statue, outside part of the University of Lund’s Helsingborg campus. We figured maybe the building once manufactured boots.

Central Helsingborg was busy. A cleanup,effort was happening just to our right with grass being removed from the pavers by a large scrubbing brush attached to a machine.

Nice old harbour building at the entrance to the dock.

Flags are flying as it was windy! So much wind! None of it tail today.

Along this broad boulevard, we struggled to do 15 kmh into the wind.

We climbed a hill and lots of tourist buses were parked. Sofiero Slott was one of the Swedish royal family’s country estates. With the death of the King in 1970, it was gifted to the city.

Lots more windmills today.

Our route took us out along a peninsula that features numerous little fishing villages including Viken, Hoganas and Molle.

The headwind was crazy and we did contemplate cutting across the peninsula and heading to our overnight stay, but we kept going.

Some lovely vistas.

This type of thatched roof is not uncommon.

I did like the simplicity of this slide in the water. Good old fashion fun including scalding your legs on a super hot day.

Nice villages, with great decks to sit on.

Gravel path. Seemed like an old rail line and we got occasional wind reprieve with the trees providing some protection

I liked this statue. Made me think of my dad, a photographer with a passion for old cameras. He has a beard and glasses too.

I was looking for an iced coffee but I got found first. These two ladies were very curious, aged 87 and 90. They later tooted us as they passed in their car. The lady on the right, has been to Australia.

Another guy, one who was in a boat just out of picture, then joined in. He wants to do a ride in Italy starting in Trieste and heading beneath Venice. Chatted with him as we have ridden that area.

Then two other blokes rocked up asking if our bikes were Madones (Trek). No they are Checkpoints (Trek). Ah!

Still no iced coffee and the ice cream shop does coffee, it does ice cream, but it does not do iced coffee…..bit tricky it seems!

So we got cracking with another 30 plus km to finish our longer day of 129 km.

We did enjoy some tail wind for about 20 km too!

Finally the last few km was along a trail.

We are in a cabin tonight. Very functional, quite busy and it had a restaurant, unlike the scary scene from Hel in Poland.

Unfortunately Tony has been quite unwell tonight and no longer benefits from the meal.

Hopefully tomorrow he will feel better as we meet someone special tomorrow.

I have investigated train options just in case.

Todays route.

That’s it folks, thanks for reading.

❣️😊🚴💪

Day 15: Simishramn (Sweden) to Lund (Sweden)

On May 28, 2025May 28, 2025 By Sharron YaxleyIn Vikings2 Comments

We were the first to breakfast. The owner Stephen was there but beyond us saying hi, he did not speak, and left the building shortly thereafter. We smiled.

Ideal as we could get the bikes out through the breakfast room without raised eyebrows.

So nobody knew, and no traces of our bike storage faux pas, we left Simishramn.

The weather was sunny with blue sky, but the forecast was for rain later in the day.

It was windy, our constant companion on this trip.

This is the church over the road. St Nicholas church dates from the 1100s, originally built as a chapel for fishermen.

The first section of coast was mainly rocky. Today was going to be our last day following the Baltic Sea.

We rode through small villages by the sea. A few views.

We turned off the main cycle path to head to Ales Stenar, a megalithic monument, in the shape of a stone ship.

We pushed our bikes up a dirt path, following other tourists, but rode the flatter top section.

Lots of tourists heading in.

The feature is 67m long formed by 59 large boulders, weighing up to 5 tonnes each.

Research and scientific testing indicates that they were placed some 1,400 years ago towards the end of the Nordic Ice Age.

The purpose could be a burial site or alternatively a sun calendar.

My question, regardless of original purpose, how they got the boulders here, into position.

An aerial view from a local tourism group

We left down this path. I ended up walking my bike down, squeezing the brakes as there were steps and slippery looser sections.

I am slower than Tony walking my bike down. It is steeper than the photos look too ha ha,

There were some lovely cafes just opening along the foreshore and we grabbed a coffee and Swedish treat.

We took the time to put on our over booties as the skies were clouding in and we could see rain to the west, our direction.

Back up to the main path and we headed towards Ystad, where we had been on Day 1, staying in the water tower, catching the ferry to Bornholm Day 2.

It had started to lightly rain just as we said farewell to the Baltic, here at another smaller group of stones. These are known as Disas Ting. This was a burial site during the Iron Age as skeletal remains have been found.

Further theories date it to the early Stone Age and believe it to be a large megalithic tomb. A Stone Age settlement was known to have existed nearby.

We headed inland, across this road and up quiet road.

This section of the day was to be our favourite, full of wonderful slotts (castles), frames, homes, churches and nicely undulating roads.

Charlottenlund Slott is a more modern castle built in 1849.

It was around 12.30 pm and we were peckish to we stopped at this bus stop to eat some of our supplies. Bus stops provide great shelter.

We liked this garden.

Old wagon and milk vats, reminded me of Benny Hill for some reason…

A church in the distance across the fields.

Marsvinsholm Slott dates back to the 14th century, originally owned by the Danish royals. The current castle was constructed in the 1600’s after it fell into private ownership.

An aerial view from the website Marsvinsholm Slott shows just how expansive the property is.

The roads were delightfully quiet.

Skarby kryka (church) was built in the 12th century with additions in the 15th and 18th centuries.

A lovely garden, well maintained. Our goal here was more water! Cemeteries nearly always have fresh water available.

You can see the gardening maintenance tools all nearly stored for users, and the tap!

Looking towards a lake, the fields are lush.

Rolling hills and roads helped keep us warm, as the temperature had dropped.

A view through the vegetation of Snogeholm Slott, on the shores of a lake of the same name. there was a fortress on an island in the lake back in the 13th century.

In 1690 this castle was rebuilt after the former burned down, but the current castle dates to the 1870’s.

The last German Kaiser, Wilhelm II, also eldest grand child of Queen Victoria, spent time here hunting.

This is our last photo of the day. It was blowing very hard here.

We found a supermarket nearby where I entered to buy some food. It was not raining when I entered. When I came out it was spitting. Tony had checked the radar and said we were going to get wet.

So we gulped down our drink and put our heads down, now into head and side winds, and raining. We had 40 km to go, and it rained for 35 km.

The last 5 km the rain stopped, and the wind dried us out.

We navigated Lund via a cycle way that went through parklands, and only had a few cobbled streets to ride. Lots of cyclists everywhere here.

We arrived at our accomodation dry, but our bikes were grotty. It is amazing how much sandy grot attaches itself when wet despite being on sealed surfaces for 99% of the day.

Another self check in B&B, with accomodation on the first floor.

As I transported our luggage up over multiple trips, Tony cleaned the bikes.

Our intent was to take them to our room that had washable floors we could wipe down.

Task completed, and another breakfast room to get the bikes past (but not through!) tomorrow.

We went for a wander for dinner and found a nice Japanese restaurant. Lund is a very vibrant, happening city with a population of around 130,000.

It is also University town and that was evident as we people watched.

Today we rode 119 km, climbed 685 metres, so a solid day.

Rain is forecast overnight, and due to STOP by 8 am. Fingers crossed…

Today’s route.

Thanks for reading.

Day 13: Karlskrona (Sweden) to Solvesborg (Sweden)

On May 26, 2025May 26, 2025 By Sharron YaxleyIn Vikings2 Comments

We slept well on the ferry. It was a very smooth crossing and we docked around 8.30am at the Port of Karlskrona which is about 11 km away on the next peninsula.

Love this sign. I hope I get to see one, but not running across the road in front of my bike!

Getting out of the port was a bit messy as my map took us to construction spots with roads blocked, but we figured it out and were soon on our way.

It was cool, about 10c with strongish winds.

Our first stop was Nattraby, to meet Jennie, a cyclist I met through Zwift. Jennie lives locally and proudly supports her Galaxy club, and rides a purple bike (Galaxy colours) that she built up herself. Clever lady.

We followed a path by the Nattrabyan River, popular with tourists on boats from Karlskrona.

Nice boat houses dot the river.

The safety buoys and ladders appear at regular intervals.

Nice forests and nature reserves.

Pretty churches, we visited one to fill up our bidons.

Not sure what this is, but I liked it.

This is a former school building now owned by a famous ceramicist. It was closed when we went past.

In Ronneby the Mandeltarten is a very popular cafe with picturesque gardens and views to Brunnsparken.

Jennie purchased some items for us including their famous Mandeltarta cake. Seriously the most amazing tasting cake ever. It’s made with almonds, and the outer base is like a chewy meringue almond flavour with creamy custard filling.

After cake and coffee we headed into the park to find the troll.

The trolls! Looking down upon us.

This is where we bid farewell to Jennie. She came out in what turned out to be Sweden’s Mothers Day to meet us, ride with us, and chat.

She insisted on buying the local treats. ❣️❣️

We have so very much enjoyed our time with Jennie, all made possible through Zwift, where we both cycle train and ride events.

As will be seen in the next few weeks, Zwift has opened up the world for connections with like minded people.

Thankyou Jennie ❣️

As we said farewell we all put on our rain jackets as there were just a few spots of rain.

We continued riding through the magnificent forest.

We were just inland from the coast for the rest of the day, with various peninsulas and bays.

The roads were undulating which helped keep us warm as our legs worked harder each little climb.

The last 50 km was all on sealed cycle paths, thankfully, as the rain set in, and for the most, a headwind.

The camera rarely came out now. The last three photos of the day cover 50 km.

This is an amazing piece of infrastructure for walkers and bikes. The bridge we are standing on, and the next with arches are car free.

The town is Solvesborg, our destination.

After 121 km, and lots more climbing (872 m) we arrived at our funky cabin, in the back yard of a Swedish couple.

As it was still raining, and our breakfast supplies were in the fridge, we had breakfast for dinner…cucumber, tomatoes, 4 eggs, cheese and the most amazing home made bread ( a sweeter bread, tastes like might be some dates in it?).

I found porridge in the cupboard. With one litre of milk and yoghurt, breakfast is sorted.

Another great day touring!

Our route below. Thankyou for reading 😊❣️💪🚴

Day 12: Katy Rybacky (Poland) to Gdynia (Poland)

On May 25, 2025May 25, 2025 By Sharron YaxleyIn VikingsLeave a comment

We woke up to a beautiful, crisp morning overlooking the Vistula Lagoon.

We had a light breakfast, purchasing some items from a small store on our way back from dinner last night.

We had trouble leaving the property. Not because we’d fallen in love with it. All exits were locked, some with large padlocks. So back to the house to request our exit.

I think they wanted to make sure we did not leave without paying the four zloty (which I’d left in an obvious spot with the keys).

After leaving Katy Rybacky via a dirt trail through a lovely green forest, the first village we rode through was Sztutwo. This town was previously known as Stutthof.

The first concentration camp outside German borders was established here in 1939. It was the last camp liberated by the Allies in 1945.

Around 65,000 innocent people lost their lives here, 28,000 being Jews.

This is the first such camp we have visited.

The entrance by the rail line where prisoners arrived.

Over 25 guard towers surrounded the site, with electrified wire.

There are multiple layers of wire across a few meters depth.

Passing through the Death Gate was viewed a terminal passing. To the left are the women’s quarters, right men.

At the far end of this picture, by the trees are the gas chamber and crematorium.

I chose not to walk to the far end to visit either.

This photo is in one of the women’s buildings. Pictures and history adorn the walls.

There is a lot more I could write on the specific history of this concentration camp, but sadly differs little to the horrors and atrocities of all. Most of us are very aware of the stories, and hope that such history never repeats itself.

Moving along we rode through the same forest as yesterday to the ferry. We missed it by about one minute!!

However our wait was only about 30 minutes. The arriving ferry had at least 50 cyclists on board.

That was a theme today. Hundreds of cyclists were out and about on the paths, from the serious guys on their roadies, to older people and families with young children.

They all use the bike paths, without fail.

We stopped at the supermarket to grab lunch. We met a Polish man who is touring with his wife and young son. He was super chatty.

We had planned to look around Gdansk but when we got there, it was swarming with so many people, being a Saturday. We were using the bikes like scooters, dodging people as they wandered around seemingly aimlessly with no surrounding awareness.

Gdansk was also due for 2mm rain during the afternoon. We changed plans and headed for Gdynia to be closer to the ferry.

We did stop to view this lovely statue. The Kinderstransport monument depicts children waiting for their train to arrive. Many children died during the war. 130 were transported to England to safety from the Gdansk region.

We arrived at the Port of Gdynia super early, but we were able to check in.

We took the spare time to clean our bikes.

A few hours later we were amongst the first to board. Our bikes were wheeled on with us as they are carbon. Non carbon bikes are stacked onto a trailer that goes I to the vehicle hold, but special treatment for carbon.

We thought the bikes were going to our rooms, but a purser grabbed us and took us to a locked room to store them on level 7.

Our accomodation is level 8, and I lashed out with a Panorama Cabin.

Still in port, view off one deck looking at some of the Polish navy.

This is our spacious cabin, with two front facing windows and one to the left.

View out the front window, still in port.

The Poland section of our ride has concluded. We have ridden 635 km in Poland, out of our cumulative 1243 total after Day 12.

We rate Poland. Beautiful beaches and forests being highlights.

To ride the Baltic path, the minimum touring bike is gravel. Our tyres are 42mm wide and coped fine.

Goodnight from Poland.

Day 11: Gdnyia(Poland) to Katy Rybacky (Poland)

On May 24, 2025May 24, 2025 By Sharron YaxleyIn Vikings4 Comments

Big day today. 129 km riding, around 85 km of that on dirt, gravel and other non sealed surfaces.

We made it to the Russian border.

We completed the entire length of the Polish Baltic border from Germany to Russia with 533 km of riding, the majority off road.

That was satisfying.

But the day started with a huge buffet breakfast in Gydnia, far better than what we would have had in that crappy, desolate campsite.

We needed that fuel for the day ahead.

We had three cities to navigate first off. Gydnia, Sopot and Gdansk pretty well are continuous cities. The population between the three exceeds 700,000.

Lots of stopping, crossing at traffic lights, avoiding aimlessly wandering people who have trouble differentiating walking lanes vs bike lanes, despite the painted symbols and signage. They are impervious to bike bells ringing.

Highlights were the beaches at Sopot. Beautiful beaches, with plenty of cafes and restaurants along the foreshore.

This spot is looking towards Gdansk. You can just see the far Port of Gdansk.

Some very fancy looking hotels. This one was aptly named.

This is perhaps the most magnificent lighthouse I’ve ever seen.

Another section of beach set up for beach volleyball with plenty spectator seats.

In Gdansk it was a busy Friday morning with people everywhere. It took quite some time to navigate.

Once in the old town, plenty of beautiful old buildings to say ‘wow’.

We likely have time tomorrow to look around Gdansk as we need to head back his way to catch our ferry to Sweden.

We rode across the Martwa Wisla (river) to Sobieszewo

At Swibno on the Vistula river we needed to wait for the ferry.

Then when it did arrive we stood on board for nearly 30 minutes.

In the meantime….a nice little boat onshore

Finally the ferry got going and lovely looking towards the mouth of the river, that flows into the Baltic Sea.

Lots of cyclists on board too. There were four cars. This ferry cost 10 zloty each ( about AUD $4.10).

Immediately we hit dirt and forests. We are amazed just how much beautiful forest we have ridden through. Poland has done a great job preserving these forests between the coastline and civilisation. What an asset.

The Vistula Spit canal (Nowy Swiat ship canal) is very new. It crosses the Polish section of the Vistula Soit that is jointly shared between Poland and Russia.

It connects the Vistula lagoon with the Bay of Gdansk.

Prior to this new canal, all Polish watercraft that wished to leave the lagoon (including the Polish navy) had to enter Russian waters and leave via their canal.

This raised many security concerns, hence the new canal. Russia were opposed as they ceded control of who entered the bay.

We have noted a strong Polish military presence this trip. We have passed by many active military area, heard live rounds being fired, noted many personnel, vehicles on the roads, low flying aircraft ( presuming surveillance).

Poland has committed to enlarging their defence to be the largest in the Eu, spurred on by their borders with Russia, Belarus and Ukraine and the sad war being waged.

Crossing looking towards the Bay of Gdansk (Baltic Sea)

The beaches and forests continued to be lovely as we progressed along the Spit.

Quirky art work in the town of Krynica Morska where there was a short boulevard section.

After 99 km of riding, we made it to the border. The sight we were met with we did not photograph. It is an armed border with obvious security in place with vehicles. There are times to not get the camera out.

We just pretended not to notice, and wandered down to the beach. Well wandered is an exaggeration, look at the sand, we dragged the bikes to a fence.

We wandered down to the beach, Poland to the left, Russia to the right.

Looking along the Polish section to the west.

The beach border. The wire fence is not that high. From the beach you can see a Russian observation tower. I am sure there are eyes!

The Dear Tourist sign makes it clear that you are at the border of the European Union (EU) and Russia and you cannot cross.

Lots of others things you can’t do here either. Not sure what the bottom right one is.

It was satisfying to make it to the border. We had completed the Polish coastline from Germany to Russia, predominantly on non sealed surfaces which adds extra challenges, particularly for me.

Now it was time to turn back as we were at the end of this road quite literally.

We had another 30 km to ride to get to our lodgings in Katy Rybacky. Feeling weary with 15 km remaining we stopped and grabbed an iced coffee revival.

We came back mainly on undulating sealed road, bar a 5 km section that has been ripped up that was worse than the coastal track.

Our accomodation is a well appointed unit at the home of an older lady who seems to think I understand her Polish. She goes on and on and on. I smile and nod, hopefully in the right places.

However, on paper she wrote she needed 4 zloty. I was aware there was a tourist tax here of 1.70 each but so far have paid using euro I have left over.

Nope, zloty!!

So off we went looking for dinner and four zloty which is about AUD $1.60 .

We found a nice dinner and was able to communicate with a staff member asking if there was an atm anywhere. Yes, in the next town 10 km away!!!!

She understood my issue and I asked if I could pay extra 5 zloty and receive 4 zloty cash. Nope.

What she did was so very nice. She got her purse and gave me 4 zloty and a hug. I was very touched.

So we have 4 zloty sitting here for our Polish lady.

What a day! We can look back with a sense of achievement with Poland as it has been challenging and we met it.

Todays route.

Day 10: Leba (Poland) to Hel Peninsula (Poland)

On May 23, 2025May 23, 2025 By Sharron YaxleyIn Vikings6 Comments

The best laid plans can go wrong despite everything.

Today was to be one of those days.

After a lovely Polish breakfast, where the young chef explained what he’d made and had so much interest in me liking his food, understanding its local origin and no chemicals.

He’d made this lovely crepes with a light creamy filling. I enjoyed those with locally cured beef.

Everything has onions though. Onion and I are not best friends and these little balls he insisted I try…onion, onion and a bit more onion.

I secretly hid them in my disposable serviette, popped into my jersey pocket to deal with later.

We packed our bikes and Tony decided to pump up his front tyre. Lots of cursing, his tyre totally deflated and he could not get air in.

We were going nowhere.

I recalled seeing bikes at the back of the shed so went back into the small castle to enquire. A man arrived a few minutes later and said he had a compressor.

The wheel was removed, taken to the compressor and we had air and off we tootled.

After only a few km of sealed road we hit non sealed surfaces. Another 45 km or so today of varying surfaces.

This was shitty! When I see Tony sliding ahead if me and release his foot from the pedal cleats, I know to go slower than slow.

Riding through sand is hard, many points you push your bike.

At this nice junction in a forest we stopped to remove some clothing. It was only 11 degrees Celsius, cloudy, but with occasional sun we had warmed up.

Again today we mainly followed EuroVelo 10 and 13. Whilst having our routes clearly on our bike computers, it is always nice to see the EV signs.

We had sandy and muddy pot holes.

The undergrowth vegetation had changed. Lots of heath like plants.

These were cute. In two villages were thesedog poo bins. We could do with some of these near us for the ones too lazy to pick up after their dog and dispose appropriately, including a couple of public areas I try to maintain.

It is very pleasant riding through here. Nice trail and forest.

We crossed a bridge in the forest. Views to the right and left.

In Wladyslawowo we searched for a bike shop. We had been very conscious that our pump was faulty and if either of us got a flat we’d be a bit stuck and need to wait for the next cyclist to venture along.

Wladyslawowo is a large town and whilst searching saw a few interesting buildings.

Found the bike shop and this lovely bloke who is Polish but speaks great English.He has been touring around Poland for around 2,000 km so far. He went into the shop to assist with interpretations in purchasing a replacement pump.

We arrived on the Hel Peninsula, a 35 km sandbar separating the Baltic Sea from the Bay of Puck.

The plan was to ride to our accomodation, some 8 km short of the peninsula end, ride up there sans gear, grab dinner and head back to our lodgings.

Tonight we were booked into camp huts that looked ok in the pictures. I had lots of difficulties finding somewhere suitable for the bikes as most accomodation is privately owned apartments who were not keen on bike storage.

The bay was calm.

For the most, this was the cycle path surface.

Boats out of water.

Continuing on our merry way.

We were staying in a campground that had many good reviews. It looked like this from Booking.com images.

We could not figure how to get in there. There was a caravan storage place for derelict caravans and a desolate, abandoned, graffitied building with fences and locked gates.

We rode up and down the road.

We noted a small pedestrian gate not latched. We pushed through, riding through long grass, past what looked like the setting for a horror movie.

The place was abandoned and desolate and plain creepy.

We got to the cabins and quite clearly, they had not been used for some time.

There was noone waiting to greet us as per our check in instructions. I messaged them as there was no phone number.

Surrounding the cabins, maybe 50 metres away were more crappy looking caravans. One had a car and motorbike.

We just needed John Jarratt’s Wolf Creek character to pop out and I’d have screamed.

We could not stay here even as the only guests. We did not feel safe.

We made the decision to bolt.

The plan tomorrow had been to train to Gydnia for our next section so we headed to the nearest railway station. The ferry left too late in the day.

There is a one way train from Hel! Good to know.

There were ticket vending machines. I purchased two adult tickets but it would not let me do the bikes. The machine does not print a ticket.

The train arrived, we boarded. There were two other bikes on board. The Polish conductor protested in Polish re our bikes. He did speak minimal English enough to say that there was no room for our bikes.

I pleaded my case. He ended up rolling his eyes and blew the whistle and the train departed, with us on board.

He came back multiple times with long messages in Polish.

I handed over our credit card and he charged us for the bikes. Problem solved.

We later found out from a lady using her Google translator that only two bikes are permitted. We were bikes three and four.

The reason I could not add the bikes to the ticket was that those two owners had already booked bike tickets.

Fortunately they both got off within two stations.

So a bit of tension and we arrived into Gdynia to find a hotel. I had a quick look and noted two larger ones that may cope with bikes.

Took a mountain of energy to get the bikes out of the station, down stairs, up stairs, up ramps that were designed by non cycling engineers.

We found the Mercure hotel by chance. It was one of the two. I went in, booked a room and our bikes are in our room!

So here we are. I have requested a refund from Dodgyville Camping and Booking.com.

With self planned tours, you need to think on your feet and come up with solutions. You are self reliant. But it’s worked out ok.

The only down side is not seeing the best parts of Hel.

We have ridden 113 km today so another solid day. Here is our route.

That’s it for today. Thanks for reading 😊❣️🚴💪

Day 9: Ustka (Poland) to Leba (Poland)

On May 22, 2025 By Sharron YaxleyIn Vikings4 Comments

Another fine day.

A great start to the day with a lovely breakfast. The lady spoke to us in English with an Irish accent. Turns out she is Polish but lived in Dublin for 9 years.

She gave us wrap to make some rolls to take with us today. Super nice of her.

We headed off via a paved pathway through forest, running parallel with the beach.

Again we would follow EuroVelo 10/13 for most of the day.

The village of Wytowno put old bikes to use plus an information board with local history.

Towns and villages all have similar signs. The lower sign was also used in Germany.

In Rowy wooden carved statues appear every hundred metres or so.

The Slowinski National Park is another Baltic coast park. It was formed in the late 1960’s to protect the area known for its large, shifting sand dunes. The dunes are encroaching at up to 10 metres per year.

The three lakes were once bays off the Baltic. Forests have been swallowed as has a village!

Sand dunes and touring bikes don’t play together well. Horse riding and trekking are the recommended ways of seeing the dunes.

Shutter stock images:

Meantime, we’re in the forest section. Someone made themselves busy with this pile of rocks.

The trails varied. These are good sections. we did have some very pot holed sections and far too many km of mislaid, multi angled concrete slabs that were jarring.

We did around 45 km today off road.

Another village, more wood carvings.

Little lakes surrounded by peat bog marshes.

We had lunch on a bench seat to the left of this sign. I was having very light food due to an upset stomach. Too many different foods perhaps.

This is where we deviated from EuroVelo for the rest of today’s ride. It went through more unpaved forest and given my tummy and Tony’s sore neck we opted for the busier, sealed arterial road.

We do love to the storks nests. In this village we counted five. In the second image you can see the nest is formed on a man made ring provided for this purpose.

The nests are incredible structures. So high up.

The last 10 km featured a nice sealed and separated bike path. The headwind made it tougher, but nice to be on a path.

Leba was the last town in today’s ride, another busy tourist town, with the wind biting hard.

After World War II, Leba was occupied by the Red Army. Eventually after the Potsdam Conference, unit was returned to Poland.

Leba was where the defence prime Rheinmetall tested long range weapons back in the 1940’s. Up until 1973, Meteor sounding rockets were also launched.

Three days running we’ve seen similar ships.

A beautiful white beach. Not sure if the dredging equipment is for the river channel or do they move sand around?

Tonight’s accomodation is an old 14th century castle in Nowacin, on the shores of lake Sarbsko. Our bikes are well secured in a stone outbuilding.

At the entrance is this dude. There is small change on the tray.

After dinner we wandered to the lake. Hire boats were available.

84 km today. We still have three full days riding left in Poland.

One thing impressing us is the amount of green forest that is preserved, and just how many people are out and about enjoying the forests and parks. In wet weather, they are still out and an out, just with appropriate clothing.

Todays route.

Thanks for reading. ❣️😊🚴💪

Day 8: Kotobrzeg (Poland) to Ustka (Poland)

On May 21, 2025 By Sharron YaxleyIn Vikings4 Comments

Sunny skies. Yes! today we had 122 km to ride to get to Ustka, another town on the edge of the Baltic Sea.

We headed back up to the beach and turned to the east. Paved boulevards through more forests.

Nice long white beaches, only broken with the erosion control posts.

We were to follow Eurovelo10 and 13 for most of today. EV10 is a Baltic route over 13,000 km long. EV10 is an iron curtain route some 10,000 km long.

The surfaces today were mixed. Overall very good compared to yesterday, interspersed with dirt and gravel section, and other parts with those cement slabs with holes so you go bump, bump, bump for the length.

We were cyclists 22 and 23 to enter this section, and nearly 71,500 have passed through since January.

We were riding along narrow stretches of Land with the sea to our left and inlets, lakes or other waterways to our right.

Gaski, a name I can pronounce, as there are so many Polish names I cannot get my tongue around.

This cute statue was near the Gaski sign.

The beach here was long and unimpeded.

It was 10 am and whilst the sun was out, maybe 15 degrees Celsius and there was a strong, coolish breeze. Never too early to sunbake on the Baltic.

Random nicely renovated wooden boat in the forest.

We headed inland twice today to go around large sea lagoons.

Predominantly farmland, with rapeseed (canola) the dominant crop along with wheat and occasional vegetables.

I think the next two pictures are Darlowo.

Riding back along a narrow slither of land, with the cement blocks seen below, we did encounter a few sand drifts.

This was a push the bike up section. The path may have originally gone to the higher side on the left, but there was a large washed out section not yet repaired.

At the next town we learned how to use a tap and go toilet with all instructions in Polish. There was a turn style preventing you entering the toilet, with cameras watching.

We did eventually press the right sequence and pay 4 zloty each to use the loo. There was no light in the toilet for 4 zloty either! One zloty is about 41 cents AUD.

Jaroslawiec was the last larger town of the day, located on the coast. Another lighthouse, and shops selling the same soft toys, buckets, balls and a plentiful supply of icecream shops.

A really pretty inland lagoon.

A nice village church.

Then we had a long gravel section weaving through farmland and wind towers.

The final section of about 6 km into Ustka was an excellent sealed path. The sign below has been on paths the last three days.

Translated, it says Western Pomerania, the region of Poland we have been travelling through.

As we found our lodgings, two blokes in cycling gear were locking an exterior door to a bike shed. Awesome!

Today was a longer day, flattish, but still with surface challenges. After 122 km we were glad to be here, shower, launder our clothes and head off for a walk.

Walking is good after cycling as many hours as we have. Stretches different muscles and helps with the lactic acid build up.

The town is quaint, some with painted images.