2 months and 3 days...

...until we go! And today I've been planning the New Zealand part of the trip. We only have 8 days in NZ as we are using a lucky layover there on our way to Sydney. To get the most out of our short stay we have booked a Campervan for 7 nights and plan to drive around, stop where we want and be real Drifters (!!) he he he. I spent my day off today infront of the computer (where I am still) searching for the good deal of Campervans and with the help of Thorntree I found Escape Campervan Rentals who specialize in fun, colorful and no frills campervans. It will be so much fun driving in one of these crazy looking vans, on the WRONG SIDE of the road. I hope there won't be many people on the road the first time we drive out... it could get dangerous!

Drawing Close

We now have less than three months until we leave on our trip around the world. We will be busy until then, so we probably won't post much. But as soon as we leave on september 12th, we will post more frequently, so we hope you will all visit our site more often.

In the mean time, we bring you some pictures from our three-day-trip to Jutland this week. Steinunn, her parents and myself got to see some of the natural attractions that the western part of Denmark has to offer. We also visited my mother in Ørum.



The first interesting stop on our trip was Grenen, the northernmost tip of Jutland (and Denmark). It was extraordinarily windy out there as you can plainly see by looking at the grass bending in the wind on the picture above. The concrete structure is a bunker that the Nazis abandoned, when they lost World War 2.



Steinunn in front of another Nazi bunker.



A side effect of the wind was the incredible amount of sand that flew through the air. This picture shows what I look like when trying to avoid getting sand in my eyes. Behind me, the two seas Kattegat and Skagerrak collide.



We had the wind in our backs on our way out on Grenen. On the way back we would have had the wind and sand blowing directly in our faces, which would hardly be a very pleasant experience. So we opted to take Sandormen back. It's a carriage drawn by a large tractor (pictured above).



A few kilometres south of Grenen is the old fishing village Skagen. These fishermen's houses are iconic for Skagen.



A little further south lies the sand covered church. It was abandoned around 1775 because the sand was relentlessly filling up the building. Only the tower is visible now.



On Wednesday, we visited one of the highest hills in Denmark. Himmelbjerget (147 metres). This is the view from the 200-year-old tower that tops the hill.



The weather was perfect for visiting Danish tourist attractions (Himmelbjerget, not the toilet).



Last, but not least: Pelle, the incredibly cuddly cat.

Steinunn learns to ride a bike...

After living in Denmark for almost six years, I have finally invested in a good bike. Now Danish people can finally stop asking me why I don't have a bike...
We went out for a test drive tonight and biked to the city limit and around. It was fun, but I must admit that I am a little bit affraid of the cars and keep looking for the rear mirrors like in a car. I guess I'll have to get used to biking for transport, not just for fun like I have before... - before being when I was a kid in Iceland. But given my history with cars and traffic, I think that investing in a bike helmet would be a good idea...

A weekend in Sweden

We were invited to a 60th birthday last weekend in Sweden. The weather was fantastic and getting away from our daily rutine was incredibly nice. Plus the company of all those happy people didn't hurt. Here are some pictures.

I wish it was...

...september 11th. Not because it's the day of the NYC incident, but because that day me and Søren will be jumping around like little kids, screeming with excitement about our next days travel. On September 11th we will finally pack our backpacks, finally have one last look over all our documents and finally, finally, finally be hours away from our adventures start!
But instead it is May 5th and in less than a day I must hand in an essay that I am only half way done with. And after that I must become the super group member and write a project that I am not that interested in... :(

Back from Iceland

I just got back from Iceland on Sunday, after spening 9 days with the family. As always, it was relaxing to come home, sleep long and eat good food. I spent most of my days with Jenný and Breki and got cought up in Brekis bulldozer ethusiasm... kinda funny. Anyway, here's a pic of me and Breki (notice that I have cut my hair kinda short!).And another one of Jenný and Breki by his 'Idol'
Good times...

Small travels...

First of all, I really love this new design Søren made! Talented guy he is..

Anyway. Both me and Søren are getting away from Roskilde for a few days soon, but not to the same place. I am going home to Iceland on Friday and will stay until Sunday next week, and Søren is going to visit his mum in Northern Jutland for a few days starting next Tuesday. Both of us are in great need in change of scenery, just to be able to continue our writing. Sitting at RUC everyday doing project and smaller essays can drive a person insane. I have had 2 weeks of pure hell with one deadline after another and Søren is at RUC every day from 9-4, writing away with his Thesis buddy Taus. So, going to Hotel Mamma for a few days will do both of us some good. I will however, bring all my school stuff with me and have assignments to finish. Plus an essay to start on. But that's allright. I will work in the mornings and spend the afternoon doing something else. It will be nice to hang out with my cute nephew Breki and do simple things like playing with LEGO, reading a book and chasing the cats with him. Yeah... it will be nice :) Then when I get back, I will be ready to face the last month of project work, filled with new energy!

New design and pictures

Today, I took some time out to learn very basic HTML, so that I could make some design alterations to our blog. It has been changed so that it fits better with all the travel posts that we will be writing in the months to come. We have changed name as well, but that will be temporary. We are trying to come up with something more original than "Around the World".

On a completely unrelated note, here are some pictures that I took in an old chalk quarry south west of Roskilde, which has now been converted to a recreational area. The first three pictures are of the same tree, but from very different perspectives.

Lone tree in black and white.

Lone tree from frog perspective.


Lone tree with dramatic sky.


Red barn over hilltop.

The fall of the mighty American dollar...

I know that it is no laughing matter for the U.S. economy how much the dollar has dropped, but... it's soooooooo good for us!!! In 2005 we went on a study trip with RUC to NYC when the dollar was really, really low compared to previous years, or about 5.6 to the DKK. Now it just keeps dropping and is around 4.8 to the DKK. We couldn't be planning this trip at a better time. For example, we will be staying at a decent hotel in San Francisco and for a whole week we will pay 1600dkk. This price would have been impossible to get a few years back. Plus gaz is ridiculously cheap... but the reason for that is more political and less funny.
Anyway, now we would just like to see the Australian dollar drop as well.. he he... but I guess their economy is a little bit better...

We are the mighty planners....

It's not just about the destination, the journey itself is equally important. Our 'journey' has already began as we pour over guidebooks, search the internet for the best, and cheapest, hostels and motels and look at pictures and routes on Google Earth. Before we actually strap on those backpacks and head out, we will have travelled the route a million times in cyper space and our minds.

We have created a plan for the California stretch of the trip as we have limited time there and lots to see. Our preliminary plan looks like this:

12-15/9
Los Angeles - 2 days in La La Land should be enough to see all the cliché's

15-16/9
Drive to Visalia and onwards to Sequoya National park and spend the day there. Hug big trees.

17-19/9
Yosemite National Park - we allready have a place to sleep here as it is recomended to book it loooong in advance. We will be sleeping in a Tent Cabin and it is recomended to leave all food in the car as some Black Bears might want to taste it if we don't.

20-21/9
Drive towards San Francisco and sleep somewhere on the way.

21-27/9
San Francisco - hang out and see the sights. This city is considered one the most vibrant in the world so we are excited to see it. Also, one of the largest China tows in the world can be found here, which will be fun to experience.

27/9
Take a Greyhound bus down to Los Angeles. It takes around 9 hours so we'll be nice and tired when we arrive in La La Land again.

28/9
Hang out in L.A. before taking a plane to Rarotonga just before midnight.

This plan is under construction... but will probably stay somewhat the same...

We're back....

This blog has been dead for some time, but now we have decided to start it up again. The last post was in August we have been quite busy since then. Søren has finished his internship and is now writing his Master thesis. Steinunn strarted Communication, hating it at first but has now learned to like it and is doing Module 2 now. Apart from studies we have been to Greece in August with the Icelandic family, and spent Christmas in Iceland. Being togeather for Christmas in Iceland was really nice, and fun for Søren to see Iceland during the darkest time of the year. Taking a dip in the outdoor swimming pool when it was minus 8 outside, was also a first for Søren.
Year 2008 will be an eventful year for us. Right after Søren hands in his Master Thesis we are off on a trip around the world for 3 months. Steinunn is going to take a semester off and then come back and finish the last year... no problem!

We bought our tickets through flightcentre which is a British travel agency Jenný's friends are travelling with right now and offerd really good prices on around the world tickets. Deciding where to go wasn't that difficult, since we just wanted to GO and kind of wanted to go everywhere. However, going to some island in the Pacific was a priority for both of us.
Our plan looks like this:

12. September
Copenhagen - London - L.A.
We have 16 days in California and plan to rent a car and drive to Sequoia national park, check out some Gian Red Wood and drive up to San Francisco were we will spend a few days. On the way back to L.A. we are gonna see Big Sur.

28. September - 10. October
Rarotonga - Cook Islands
Snorkle and do very, very little... just enjoy being there. Søren will celebrate his 26th birtday on this magical island :)

10/11 October -18. October
Christchurch - New Zealand
We didn't plan to go to NZ but since we have a layover here anyway we decided to stop and spend a week. We've been looking at what to do there and have begun regretting having only a week to spend there.

19. October - 1. November
Sydney - Australia
We'll have 2 weeks in Sydney and around and plan to take it easy and explore the city. There are also many places to see around Sydney and we plan to visit Blue Mountains at least.

1. November - 1. December
Thailand - Laos - Cambodia
The plan is to stay as little as possible in Thailand, but go directly to Cambodia. Our plan for Asia is vague at this point, but we do know that we will go see the Angor Wat, the killing fields etc. in Cambodia. For Laos we just want to explore, with no real destination in mind.

1. December - 4 December.
Singapore
We also had a layover here on our way back to London and decided to use the opertunity and spend almost 4 days in this clean Asian city. And who knows, maybe shop?? :)

4. December - 5. December
Singapore - London - Copenhagen

And we'll be home again :)

So, what do you think? Leave us a comment.... :)