Overland with Kids

AJ says:

“We saw dolphins and sea lions. I liked the sea lions best because they could clap. The smaller one could bite it’s tail and the fat one could sing and got angry when it didn’t have it’s own fish. We ran up and down some huge sand dunes, dug holes and pretended to do a poo in them. I had a go on the floating hampster balls in the sea and jumped up and down and crawled around in them. I liked them alot and wanted to have another go.”

The Curonian Spit

Having left Trakai, we decided we’d better start making our way onto Latvia. We had initally made a plan to visit the European Russian enclave of Kalingrad and then make our way up along the Curonian Spit back to Lithuania and then out across the border but decided to reject our plan due to ever decreasing timescales to make Russia proper. But we changed our mind again and double-backed once en-route to our next country, deciding it would be a crime not to see, if nothing else, at least a small part of the Curonian Spit on the Lithuanian side.

The Curonian Spit is a small thin long strip of land (like an island) shared between the Baltic coast of Western Russia (European Kalingradand enclave side) and Lithuania. The whole strip measures approximately 100+km in length which is shared roughly equally between the two countries. It is only possible to reach the Spit by ferry in Lithuania (foot passengers via the Old Ferry Terminal and cars etc. by the New Ferry Terminal - both from Klapeida). We paid 43 Lt for our vehicle and ourselves - approx £10 - and it takes only a few minutes to cross.

The whole of the Curonian Spit is a UNESCO World Heritage site and contains some of the world’s most amazing sand dunes, some of which are huge, others eroding, shifting or have disappeared. Over time villages have either been buried or moved as a result. There are elks, deer, rare fauna and much avian wildlife. One side seems to have nothing but endless, immaculate never-ending sandy beaches while the other contains walks, cycle routes, small villages, sculpture parks, cemetries, a national park and several other areas of interest. There is a good campsite based there in Nida but we were told it was expensive so we decided to visit on a day trip instead.

Already set-up in our pop-up tents at a good value campsite location on arrival in Klaipeda called Kampingas in the Pajurio Seaside Regional Park near Karkle (also very beautiful and nationally protected), we decided to take advantage of the continuing bright nights (White Nights) still lasting until approx 10.30 - 11pm at night before getting dark - this way we could make the day stretch as long as we possibly could during our visit to the Spit.

For Jessica and AJ, our first port of call had to be Smiltyne for a visit to the Dolphinarium (containing a special show of dolphins and California sea lions) - a perfect choice as we could have coffee and a quick breakfast and then see the peformance. The children were mesmerised as were ourselves - so much so that we lost our museum tickets for afterwards on the floor somewhere in the auditorium. It was excellent value for money (45 Lt), great fun and we all thoroughly enjoyed the show and it’s professionalism. Afterwards, we could see the sea lions in the river floating around the old fort where the Dolphinarium is based, watching them sunbathe and have an opportunity to take more photographs. We visited the Lithuanian Sea Museum after managing to get a free pass on explaining our plight (we’d paid 45 Lt) with it’s live fish displays containing everything you could think of including the whole cast of Nemo which the children got great fun from, stuffed birds and turtles, all sizes of shells and coral sea life from various parts of the world plus plenty of computer-generated interactive displays and educational boards which the children enjoyed getting to grips with.

Following a quick lunch and then a meander through the Curonian Spit National Park where we were able to walk through forest paths eventually leading to a long ridge of grass covered sand dunes and a sandy beach coastline, directly facing the Baltic Sea - we then drove down to Nida and onward to the border with Kalingrad where we were very tempted to cross and go and have a look. Instead we opted to investigate the huge golden sand dunes nearby, the Valley of Death where soldiers died in a war camp based there and were buried, a sun dial which was partially ruined as a result of hurricane, see the Curonian Lagoon, the small fishing ports, the lighthouse and the adjoining land areas which belong to Russia.

We left our campsite at 11am and arrived back at 11pm having only seen a tiny speck of what the Curonian Spit has to offer but were glad we got the chance at all. Before leaving, the day was completed for the children with a go on some huge plastic hampster balls which float in the water. They had a ‘ball’ so to speak running and jumping and crawling and just relaxing in them - ‘every home should have one’ we reckon - to burn off the energy of young children.

We wished we had travelled from Trakai onto Kalingrad afterall - then upward across the entire spit and back into Lithuania as there is a border crossing there. We had thought about it but as ever - were worried about the time. In retrospect, we should have just done it as originally planned.

The Hill of Crosses

En-route finally to Latvia, we visited Kryziu Kalnas to see a small hill completly covered in devotional and memorial crosses (many for people who had died or in days gone by, had been deported to Siberia). At some stage the Soviets had destroyed many of them but people would come and risk their lives to put more in their place during difficult times. Many of the older crosses are made of wood and have been beautifully carved with strange figurines and others with Jesus. People still come today and leave a memorial cross of any shape and size - some are tiny, others plain and many of the them very intricately ornate. We saw some crosses that were dated as recently as last month. People also leave stones, coins and rosary beads in remberence. It was a lovely, eerie little place and worth stopping to have a wander and to remember lost ones. We wished we had brought something with us ourselves to leave but left our silent thoughts instead. AJ decided to pick a couple of tiny flowers and leave them in amongst the rosaries of a couple of the crosses.

Land Rover and Life Wihout the Caravan

Without the caravan now and an altogether lighter load, we feel like we’re flying most of the time  - we were never at risk previously of exceeding the speed limits but now have to watch ourselves. The versatility we have with parking, over-taking - we were slower than the lorries before or it was almost impossible for us to overtake them most of the time - is amazing. The ease of driving and general handling - all feels like a real luxury all of a sudden. Fuel consumption though is higher as a result - always a trade off it seems between weight and slowness and our new found freedom.

We need a lockable box for the roof - currently we are using a heavy duty ground sheet and ratchet straps which are a pain. We also need some small materials to help us fix the awning we rescued from the caravan to use on the side of Land Rover for all-weather protection (e.g, when using pop-up tents so we can sleep underneath with some cover).

We finally invested in a compresssor as we were finding air not so easily available. We also need to get a grease gun if we can. Otherwise the vehicle has been behaving - we haven’t managed to get to a mechanic as yet to check fuel starvation issue but we know there are a few mechanics in Western Russia we could check out.

The Tents

The two pop-up tents we brought with us initially for emergency purposes are only cheap, quick pitch tents which are very lightewight and not the greatest quality. It will be interesting to see how long they last. There’ll be places where no campsites will be availabe and where these won’t be suitable for us to use. So far, the tents have managed to get us out of a scrape and are helping us make our way through the Baltic states - there are plentiful campsites and the weather has been on our side with warm glorious sun shine.

The only problem we are finding is the perspiration and pong each morning from dad (Andrew) - poor AJ has been relegated to sleep with him while the girls who have nothing but sweet perfume odour have charge of the other tent (bliss). Not that we have needed to worry so far but each of us sleep with one of the children for their added security - also much more roomy for us all to cope.

Campsites in the Baltics

We are in Latvia currently and have discovered that campsites in the Baltics are plentiful and many operate 24-hours - you can turn up any time of the day or night - it stays so bright so late currently. We feel we are turning up in the middle of the afternoon when in fact its bedtime. Campsite facitiies are very good and well positioned near cities and coastal areas generally. We have been able to obtain maps of all three countries somehow pretty easily - listing all campsites in each.

Education

Jessica - Read and completed the book Beast Quest - Ferno the Fire Dragon. Reading The Pig Scrolls and a book about Did You Know Facts. Writing a story about Eagle Boy based on her own adventures. Maths using hours and minutes to add, divide and take away. Looking at the map compass and devising co-ordinates based on the campsite. Spellings based on places we’ve visited. Lots of journal writing.

AJ - Maths - jumping numbers. Reading Petey (Paul Shipton) and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs. Spellings. Lots of Journal writing. Making up two stories 1) Boss of the Spies 2) Turkey Pirate.

Education suffered slightly due to re-organising our stuff and Andrew being unwell. Due to amount of sight-seeing and interests - keeping journals up to date have been the main focus.

Mileage to Date

8,717

On the Road Costs

Based on 94 nights and without visa costs for Kazak, Russia, Mongolia and China - 93.00 Euros / £77.50 per day.

Durations in each country (13 excluding UK)

UK (1 night), Netherlands (4 nights), Belgium (0 nights), Germany (9 nights), Austria (5 nights), Hungary (2 nights), Romania (5 nights), Moldova (3 nights), Bulgaria (32 nights), Turkey (11 nights), Ukraine (9 nights), Poland (6 nights), Lithuania (5 nights), Latvia (1 night)

Accommodation Types (Total 7)

Ferry (2 night) Camping (40 nights), Rough sleeping (11 nights), Hotel (12 nights), Helpx (23 nights), Homestay (3 nights), Travelling (3 nights).

Next Stop

Currently in Latvia then heading for Estonia.

Bye for now
A, A, J and AJ
XXXX

Diary (Blog)