France - Le Mans

The Grandstand

I met up in with my bro Stig, Bjarne, Keld, Anders and Sorgen (my Danish uncles and cousins) in Le Mans for a boys weekend at the legendary 24hr race. The race favorite was a Dane Tom Kristensen in Team Audi. 40 000 patriotic danes made the pilgrimage down for the race. There were 500 000 spectators and it was good to hear all the different nationalities cheering on their teams.

Anders and the crew on the bank

The race started at 5pm Saturday and ran through the night untill 5pm Sunday. The weather was over 30 degrees it was HOT, midday seisters were a nessecity. We stayed up and toured around the perimeter of the 13km course until 4am Sunday morning.

The Dunlop Bridge

Unfortunately Tom Kristensen had trouble with his gear box and did not manage his 7th Le Mans victory. It was good news for Audi though as their other car managed to win and become the first deisel powered car to do so.

Lunch in the shade

It was a great weekend at the race and if I go again the following items are a nessesity: Ear plugs, camping chair, chillibin (fully loaded) and sun umbrella.

Denmark - Copenhagen

Nyhavn: Copenhagens Cafe and bar mecca

Copenhagen was my final destination in Denmark before heading down to France for Le Mans. I had a few days with my brother and his family. I had not spent much time with them since we moved to New Zealand (not suprisingly) so it was great to hang out. Bror is a real football fanatic so every evening we were out in the garden kicking the ball around. Bjork (3) speaks about as much Danish as me so we had some great chats.

In the sun: Linda, Bjork, Neils and Bror

Neils and Linda took the day off work and we went for a walk around downtown Copenhagen. After two weeks of scorching weather it seemed it was not going to end, this day was no exception.

The swan family

Copenhagen was heaving with people... and swans.

One of Copenhagens many canals

The Hans Christian Andersen parade at Tivoli

I met up with Anne and Helene for dinner at Tivoli. Tivoli is a fantasy/ theme park right in the centre of Copenhagen. Hans Christian Anderson is the famous Danish auther of many classic fairy tales such as The ugly ducking and The emperors new cloths. At Tivoli they have many tributes to his work such as this parade where a host of his characters marched around and entertained the crowd. After the parade we drank coffee until we got booted out at midnight. Tivoli is a great place and I look forward to going back there to check out some of the many summer concerts and roller coasters.

All lit up at Tivoli

The next day I caught the train down to Le Mans in France via Hamburg in Germany. It was an 16hr trip which included a ferry ride from Denmark to Germany and a night train from Hamburg to Paris. The night train was cool as you slept in a cabin with 6 bunks, it was sort of like a hostel on wheels. You went to sleep at Hamburg and woke up near Paris 9hrs later. Also on the night train were the supporters from the world cup game between Ecuador and Costa Rica who had played in Hamburg that day, so it was party atmosphere on the platform.

Denmark - Odense

One of many old thatched roofed cottages

On the way to Copenhagen I had a few days in Odense where I have a lot of family. The weather was primo and we went for some great drives around the countryside and I even managed a swim in Store Belt near Nyborg.

Fields of Lavender near Nyborg

Denmark - Holstebro, June 06

A Danish flag on a jetty near Nyborg

I threw this photo in here because it is a good opener. The Danes are great people and very patriotic, one thing a visitor notices very quickly is the number of flags around the place. They are literally attached to everything, in fact if you stood still too long you may well find one attached to your head. Flags must out number the Danish population 60 to 1, a bit like sheep in New Zealand I guess..

Dinner with Mormor and Niels
I got one of those great cheap flights that Europe is famous for from Manchester to Copenhagen. On route to Holstebro I had a night in Odense with Mormor and Niels (my gran and brother), we had a great meal and then watched the world cup warm up game between France and Denmark. The score 2-0 so a good effort from the Danes. The next day I headed up to Holstebro to visit some good mates of mine Poul and Christina.

The main stage at the Skive Beach Party
Summer is the season for music festivals in Denmark and if you search the web you will see that there are festivals every weekend through the summer months. The most famous being Roskilde. These festivals are known for good times so when Poul and Christina suggested we go to the Beach Party at Skive I jumped at the chance. PS these photos are taken from the Beach Party website so I take no credit.

They started playing at lunch time..

The beach party was 4 days long, it started Thursday and finished Sunday. We camped in a paddock next to the venue which had been converted into a makeshift campground complete with a large marquee that served up breakfast in the morning and a disco at night. We camped with a couple of Poul and Christina's mates but met up with plenty of their other mates at the venue so it was all good fun.

..and played into the wee hours of the morning
My knowledge of Danish rock bands is pretty sketchy so most of the music was new to me, it sounded good though and the atmosphere primo! The weather was average the fist couple of days but awesome the last two and we all got nice and sunburned. I thought the week I had in Hawaii would have prepared me for it but I guess when the sun sets a 10:30pm you have a very long exposure.

Danish wind mills near Hassing
Flags and festivals are not the only thing the Danes do well, they are also passionate about their windmills. Its not often you can rotate 360 degrees and not see a windmill, they are everywhere. After the music festival we went for a champion meal at Poul's parents pig farm near Hassing. No suprises when we were served up all you can eat pork. Awesome!

Sunset on Denmark's wild west coast with Poul and Christina

After dinner we went out for an ice cream on the west coast near the farm. It was a magic spot and a great place to make the most of the long Danish twilights.

Gitte on the west coast near Ringkøbing

After my week in Holstebro I had a day in Ringkøbing with another mate Gitte.
Ringkøbing is a nice quiet Danish town, a great place to chill out after the beach party.

England - Manchester

The Forebouys Newsagent where I was a paperboy

I had 10 days in Sale, the town in Manchester where I lived for 10 years before moving to New Zealand. It was great to see all the good things had not changed since we left for Nz 10 years ago.

Longboats on the canal into Manchester headed towards Sale

One of Manchester's greatest assets is the network of Canals which run into the centre of the city from the surrounding countryside. They were built during the industrial revolution to transport goods to and from Manchester's many Textile Mills. Nowadays you can rent a longboat or grab your bike and travel around the country on the network, or simply grab your fishing rod and watch the world go by...

Our old house at 92 Brooklands Rd

It was good to see our old house again and also the huge trees in the garden where I built countless tree houses. I visited our old neighbor's the Bleakleys and had a good beer and chat.

Shay's seat, a great spot even on a rainy day!

I went for a walk with Sarah and Shay, the family friends I was staying with. We went for a walk to check out Shay's seat, a seat gifted to shay by his whanau. Half way along the walk it started to pour down and we got nice and wet.

Old and new. The old canals in Manchester with the new Beetham Tower behind
I spent a few days walking round the centre of Manchester which has seen a real revival since it was devastated by an IRA bomb in 1996. A lot of the old disused textile mills have been converted into apartments. They are also building a lot of new buildings like the Beetham Tower, at almost 50 stories and 200m high it is the tallest residential building in Europe. It is very close to the set of Coronation Street so you may well see it on the TV soon.

Steph, My sister Katrina's best mate from sale

I met up for coffee with Stef, my sisters best mate from Sale.

The Kings Ransom pub in sale, where I spent a few nights hanging out with my old school mates

The old school mates at the pub, Ibby and Gaz

It was great to catch up with old school mates. We went to the pub a few nights and watched the England warm up match for the soccer world cup against Hungary. It was fun to see English soccer hype in top gear, most pubs were covered in England flags and every second car had a flag attached to the ariel. England won the game 3-1 so it was a good start.

The classic British Countryside

A Sunday walk in the Goyte Valley

Picnic in the Goyte Valley with Sarah and Shay

I went for another walk with Sarah and Shay, this time to the Goyte Valley. Shay did not have a bench there but with the fantastic scenery it would be a great place for one. We found a nice spot for a picnic.

Mrs Banta the Lollipop Lady who helped us across Brooklands Rd when I was at school

When walking along Brooklands Road I had a real surprise when I bumped into Mrs Banta, the Lollipop lady who used to help us cross the road to school as kids. She has been doing the job for close to 16 years now and still going strong. Good effort.

Walking along the canal in sale, a great trip

The weather was mixed, we had both heavy rain and brilliant sunshine. I had a primo time in Manchester and it was great to see that a lot of the bad things had improved whilst the good things had stayed the same.

Wales - Cardiff

Millenium Stadium

After Chepstow I had a couple of days in Cardiff staying with Erica and James. Cardiff is a major rugby town and home of the famous Millenium Stadium. On the sataday night the Millenium Stadium was to play host to the Heineken Cup Final between Munster(Ireland)and Biarritz(France), it was great to soak up all the atmosphere and see the crowds of people walking around in their rugby shirts. It rained most of the time I was in Cardiff so it would have nice muddy game. I had a good night on the town with James, Erica and their mates, we had a few drinks at a flat and then hit the clubs.

Walkies time with Erica, James and Osker