Stendorren Nature Reserve is part of EU’s Natura 2000, the largest coordinated network of protected areas in the world comprising over 18% of the EU’s land area. Stendorren includes 185 hectares of land with marked hiking trails throughout and suspension bridges connecting several of the offlying islands to the mainland. It’s a popular place, with…
Tag Archives | Nordhavn
Gryt Archipelago
A beacon has stood on Gubbo Kupa since medieval times, historians surmise, as part of a warning system of incoming enemy vessels. The cairn there today has been in place as a navigation mark since 1826. Like most hilltop navigation marks, the site offers sweeping views of the area. From the island of Hasselo, we…
Hasselo
The island of Hasselo is home to the exclusive pub “The Thirsty Winterswan“. It’s only open in the fall, winter and spring, and only for 3 hours a week: on Saturdays from 4pm to 7pm. The concept appealed to us greatly and we tried not to get our hopes up too much in case it…
Misterhult Archipelago
Sweden monitors its coast closely and has even reinstated EU-internal border controls in places. So we weren’t surprised when a Swedish Coast Guard vessel made a beeline for Dirona when we came into view while anchored in the Misterhult Archipelago just north of Kalmar. Their visit was brief and friendly, and we otherwise spent two…
Kalmar
Kalmar was one of Sweden’s most important cities between the 13th and 17th centuries and its city seal, dating from the mid-1200s, is the oldest known in Scandinavia. Prominent when approaching by water is Kalmar Castle, one of Sweden’s best preserved renaissance castles. The castle was involved in a number of conflicts, and played a…
Oland
Oland is the second largest island in Sweden and has a history of settlement dating back to at least 8000 BC. The island is famous for it’s beaches—one guide lists 55 around the island—and Swedes flock there in the summer. But Oland also has a wide array of other attractions including Iron Age ring forts,…
ENVOY’S 2109 CRUISING
We are home in Auckland, NZ while Envoy is in Greece’s Lefkada marina.We hope to know by this time next week – Thursday 2 May that all is on track for our return to the Med for several months of cruising – watch this space!
Springtime For Elvis
April: For a dose of reality, it’s good for us to leave the beach, the manicured seaside estates with palm trees swaying in the balmy sea breezes, and make the grueling 1000 mile drive up to funky old Memphis for some much needed contrast —and, to see what our old home town is up to.
We were pleased to find our neighborhood booming with cool new developments that have been squeezed into the renovated old buildings. The, circa 1909, Brewery next door has been transformed into luxury apartments and the old train station will soon be an upscale boutique hotel. An eclectic mix of restaurants are popping up everywhere and they appear to be busy, business is good. The area is thriving with young folks zipping around on those annoying little electric scooters and the trolley cars are running again. Yep, it seems like Downtown Memphis is finally enjoying a long awaited resurgence.
Springtime is the best time in Memphis
Springtime means Azaleas and Dogwoods are blooming everywhere you look and the locals are happily leaving their unpleasant inclinations indoors as they come outside with smiling faces and warm neighborly attitudes. I guess everyone’s been held hostage by winter’s grip and finally, spring awards them with a deserved respite from the cold, damp, river winds downtown Memphis has endured for months.
April is the month for local festivals before the massive Memphis in May International Festival cranks up and downtown is inundated with hundreds of thousands of tourists.
Our local fav is the Crawfish Fest – we can’t seem to find Crawfish in Jupiter or anywhere along the east coast, but in Memphis, in April, they’re everywhere, every weekend.
Loflin Yard, one of our favorite bars, is an indoor/outdoor watering hole that’s the backyard for the many downtown urbanites who have no yards. Folks bring the kids, their dogs, the whole family and enjoy. Shade to chill in the summer and fire pits to sit around when it’s cold.
Good music and good food = good times.
As we always do, we’ve enjoyed our stay. Hanging with our oldest friends and walking through the authentic funkiness that Memphis has an abundance of brings back the whole spectrum of memories — however, with some regret, we’re sad to say, it’s about time to pack up and bid adieu.
It’s time head back to Jupiter.
There’s a boat trip in our future.
Adios, Bluff City — See y’all in the Fall
Nordhavn 57-26 Istaboa
Springtime For Elvis
April: For a dose of reality, it’s kinda nice to leave the beach, the manicured seaside estates with swaying palm trees, Jupiter’s near perfect winter weather, and make the 1000 mile drive up to funky old Memphis for some needed contrast, and, to see what our old home town is up to.
We were pleased to find our neighborhood booming with cool new developments of renovated old buildings. The old brewery next door has been transformed into luxury apartments and the old train station will soon be an upscale boutique hotel. An eclectic mix of restaurants are popping up everywhere and they appear to be busy. The area is thriving with young folks zipping around on those annoying little electric scooters and the trolley cars are running again. Yep, it seems like Downtown Memphis is finally enjoying a long awaited resurgence.
Springtime brings out the best of Memphis
Springtime means Azaleas and Dogwoods are blooming everywhere you look and the locals are happily leaving their grumpy ways inside as they come out with smiling faces and neighborly attitudes. Everyone has been held hostage by winter’s grip and finally, spring awards them with a deserved respite from the cold, damp, river winds downtown Memphis has endured for months.
April is the month for local festivals before the massive Memphis in May International Festival cranks up and downtown is inundated with hundreds of thousands of tourists. Our local fav is the Crawfish Fest – we can’t seem to find Crawfish in Jupiter or anywhere along the east coast, but in Memphis, in April, they’re everywhere, every weekend.
As we always do we’ve enjoyed our stay, old friends, the authentic funkiness that Memphis has an abundance of, and the excellent food; however, it’s about time to pack up and bid adieu.
It’s time head back to Florida.
There’s a boat trip in our future.
Adios, River City — See y’all in the Fall
Nordhavn 57-26 Istaboa
Hastholmen-Ytteron Nature Reserve
After Karlskrona, we spent a couple of nights anchored at the Hastholmen-Ytteron Nature Reserve at the eastern edge of the Karlskrona Archipelago. Much of the area we’d travelled through was a restricted military zone until 1997. Just west of where we anchored is the island of Torumskar, where an international incident occurred in 1981 when…
