Return to Harwich
Unlike the time we sailed to Spain in the tail end of a hurricane, we had a nice flat sea and beautiful sunshine so spent most of the voyage on deck. Then a drive home from Harwich remembering to drive on the left. It was a wonderful trip but I’m also glad to be home.
Back in Delft
Arrived back at the lovely campsite in Delft where we started out exactly a month ago. Had enough time for one last trip in our Kayak along the waterways near the campsite and a nice meal in the old town of Delft.
A Sunbathing Cat and Kitty Balls in Friesland
For our penultimate night we are camping in the large garden of an inn in the village of Moddergat on the north coast of Holland. A short walk and a climb up the dyke (a cat was sunbathing on the steps) gave us beautiful views of mudflats and the Frisian Islands in the distance. We won’t have time to visit them but would love to return to do so. The dyke extends as far as we can see in both directions.
We cycled to Lauwersoog where the dyke continues and a sluice has been built to prevent flooding, cutting off an area of sea which is now Lauwersmeer. There is a large lock for boats to pass from Meer to sea, which involves a section of the road lifting to let them pass.
The highlight of the cycle ride was a friendly Dutch couple we met at a roadside honesty stall selling yellow plums. They told us in Dutch the plums are called “Kitty Balls”. It took them a while to make this understood and involved the man gesturing at his trousers.
Bad Zwischenahn
Bad Zwischenahn was mainly a “pin in the map” mid way between the Puttsgarden Ferry port and Hook of Holland. A convenient place to stop over for the night having navigated the north Germany traffic jams and motorway roadworks as well as a fairly unpleasant trip on the Hamburg ring road. Bad Zwischenahn was by contrast an oasis of calm. A German spa town complete with municipal spa bath. Mellany and I lowered the average age of the population by several years! The town boasted a fine campsite and a traffic free cycle route into the stadt centrum where various physiotherapy clinics were at your disposal should they be needed. The lakeside setting for the town was nevertheless rather lovely and we enjoyed our cycle into town to find a cashpoint ( as the campsite predictably only accepted cash).
Somewhat lowering the tone of the campsite as our detritus is strewn across our perfectly manicured pitch - including the kayak drying off after yesterday’s thunderstorm.
Mellany bought a mug to add to our collection and remind her of her Bad Zwischenahn experience.
Farewell to Denmark
Last night at Maribo So after the thunderstorm.
And this morning
We packed up and took the 45minute ferry from Rodbyhavn to Puttgarden in Germany.
Kayaking and a Thunderstorm
We drove south back past Copenhagen, over several bridges and through a tunnel to reach Lolland, a large island in the south of Denmark only a short ferry hop from Germany. It was a beautiful sunny day reaching 34 degrees and we spent a wonderful afternoon kayaking (Danny did most of the work. My wrist is a lot better but I didn’t want to overdo things). Danny then went for a solo kayak until …
It started raining and was very windy. Luckily he made it back to shore before a massive thunderstorm broke out. Before and after pictures above. We’re now sat in our van waiting for it to pass.
Tonight is our last night in Denmark. Tomorrow we take the ferry to Puttgarden in Germany and begin our drive home. It’s definitely been an enjoyable trip and one to remember.
We had a visitor during the thunderstorm!
Kronberg Slot and a Sight of Sweden
This is Kronberg Slot, or Elsinore as Shakespeare imagined it in Hamlet. We drove the few miles up north to see it before we headed south.
Walking around its defences there’s a view of Sweden only a few miles away.
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art
After investigating Denmark’s (excellent) healthcare facilities we returned to our original plan and drove approx 30km north of Copenhagen in order to visit the Louisiana Museum. Our visit was partly as a result of the recommendation of my Danish friend Lis whom we previously met near Copenhagen. The Louisiana museum is situated close to the northernmost tip of Zealand near to Helsingborg where the ferries cross the short strait of water between Denmark and Sweden. In addition to the museum itself there was a large sculpture garden situated on a georgeous coastal setting with views across the strait to Sweden. I loved the sculpture garden and the terrace restaurant where we ate dinner accompanied by masses of flying ants!
Remember to Pack your EHIC Card
Yesterday evening I tripped and fell onto my left wrist. I thought it wasn’t too injured but after a painful night (and having to climb into the top of the van on my elbows to sleep) we wondered if I might have broken it and headed to the local hospital. I was seen within 10 mins and had a CT scan of my wrist (not just an X-ray) in half an hour. Luckily it wasn’t broken and I have a very fine bandage to wear. It was all covered by my European Health Insurance Card despite Brexit. And the parking was free!
After a nap and a restorative lunch in a lovely cafe as I’d missed breakfast, we visited the Louisiana modern art museum near Copenhagen. You can see Sweden across the water. It was actually very hot and sunny so I don’t know why the picture looks so gray
The tour continues! Only 2 more nights in Denmark though then we head home.
Smorrebrod, Free Spirits and a Cruise
We spent a few quiet hours at the campsite this morning recovering from our busy schedule and headed into Copenhagen for lunch. The sun was out and it was warm. We ate outside in one of the main squares, delicious smorrebrod, traditional open sandwiches on rye bread. One was avocado with pepper purée and the other herring with egg and dill. The only problem was they were rather small! Still that left room for a Danish pastry later.
We headed to Christiania, an area where people have lived in a free spirited commune for 50 years. It was relaxed with painted murals and produce in gardens, although Danny said parts of it reminded him of Camden market.
Then we used our travel cards to take the harbour ferry south and back again. It was interesting seeing all the modern apartments and swimming facilities by the edge of the harbour.
A Mermaid and Black Diamonds
The sun came out and it felt much warmer. We took the harbour ferry a few stops to see the little mermaid. She was smaller than I expected and closer to the shore.
Pictures from the ferry, which we then took south to Slotsholmen, an area of Copenhagen surrounded by canals on all sides. It contains the Kongelige Bibliotek (royal library). The old brick building is joined by a glass bridge across the road to two new “black diamonds” which seem to lean over the canal. It’s free to enter and inside the old and new architecture was stunning. Just don’t ask me what all the large pairs of pants are waving in the wind in the square outside. They were T shirts in different colours but I couldn’t find out what they represented.
And this is the back of the library with its beautiful garden
The Round Tower and Nyhavn
The day started shrouded in sea mist. This failed to lift even after we had travelled the 18km by metro from our campsite to the city centre. We started our day attempting to orientate ourselves by climbing The Round Tower. This 15th century Copenhagen landmark consisted of a tower with internal ramp along which horses could ascend to the top although quite wat they did once they got to the top seems mysterious.
From the round tower we walked to the Nyhavn canal. This is the picture postcard area of Copenhagen on the cover of most of the guidebooks. By the time we arrived the mist had started to lift and we could enjoy the spectacle of the coloured houses and canal side cafes along with the other tourist hordes
The Great Belt Bridge and Koge
Today we drove from the island of Funen to the island of Zealand on the 18km Storebæltsbroen (Great Belt Bridge).
We then visited a friend of Danny’s who lives in Koge, south of Copenhagen. She provided us with a delicious lunch and showed us the centre of Koge. We then had a lovely walk on the beach. We’re now camped just south of Copenhagen ready to visit tomorrow.
The oldest house in Denmark which is in Koge
The beach at Koge. You can just make out Copenhagen in the distance.
Vikings and Volleyball
We drove a short distance from Odense to the seaside town of Kerteminde. This is a pretty little seaside town with a small centre and a marina.
Our main reason for visiting Kerteminde was the proximity to the Viking ship burial museum in the nearby village of Ladby a few kilometres from here. We saw the excavations of the buried Viking ship at the museum together with a life sized reconstruction of the ship - afloat in the nearby harbour.
Returning to our campsite we noticed the reason why accommodation in this town seemed so hard to obtain. The Danish Beach Voleyball championship was happening pretty much adjacent to where we are currently camped. It was fun watching some of the games on the beach.
Hans Christian Andersen Museum
We left the beautiful Lake District and drove to Odense. This meant crossing the bridge from Jutland to the large island of Funen and leaving mainland Europe.
In Odense we visited the Hans Christian Andersen museum. (He was born here). The design of the building was wonderful. The exhibition involved wearing headphones which activated near exhibits and spoke to you (in English for us). This was a lovely, inventive idea but Danny’s headphones weren’t working properly and he got cross traffic or they cut out. We got half way round before he realised this wasn’t the intended content and swapped them. By this stage he was very confused. I enjoyed learning about HCA’s life and the exhibits of some of his fairytales. The best was a mirror you stood before and it showed you in fancy clothes, but people looking from the other side saw you as you were (the Emperor’s new clothes). There was also a stack of 20 fancy mattresses for the Princess and the pea. I hope there’s no pea under my camper van mattress tonight.
Some photos of Odense old centre. The footsteps are the HCA trail!
Extra pic from Danny: I enjoyed the display about the princess and the pea!
Danish Ice Cream
In Odense we experienced traditional Danish ice cream: a scoop of ice cream in a waffle cone topped with guf (which looks and tastes like uncooked meringue), a bit of strawberry jam and a dark chocolate stick. Very tasty.
The wristband which matches the pistachio ice cream beautifully is from the Hans Christian Anderson museum.
Himmelbjerget
At 149 metres, the Himmelbjerget (optimistically named Sky Mountain) is one of the highest points within Denmark. We cycled to base camp from our campsite only to discover that most of Denmark had arrived there before us. From the carpark/hotel it was little more than a 100 metre stroll to the summit. Today the storm had finally passed and the view from the top was enhanced by sunshine and warmth.
The Tower at the top of Himmelbjerget surrounded by the crowds who had successfully scaled the summit
View of the lake from the top. Our campsite is situated on the lakeside approx 4km to the left.
Not satisfied with our mornings exertions, Mellany decided that today would be the day that we would finally inflate the kayak that we had dutifully lugged all the way from London in the back of the van and which had been occupying a not inconsiderable amount of our precious cargo space.. We kayaked from our campsite almost to the foot of Himmelbjerget (the tower can just be seen on top of the hill). The lake was still and beautiful in the sunshine.
Hjejlen Paddle Steamer
This is the Hjejlen, the world’s oldest operating paddle steamer (since 1861). It sails between Silkeborg and Himmelbjerget, past our campsite. There were clouds of black smoke coming from its funnel. I think it needs to be converted to solar or wind power!
Silkeborg
Today we paid 90 Danish krone (£11) to cross about 50m of water (Danny says 10m) with our bikes on a solar ferry from the campsite to the other side of the lake. We cycled into Silkeborg and visited the museum where we saw the 2400 year old Tolland man who was found in a peat bog 72 years ago. Or at least we saw his head as the rest of his body is a reconstruction. It was both fascinating and macabre.
We then explored the town centre which was a mixture of old and modern. The European kayak marathon starts here tomorrow. Danny is in training but might not qualify. We walked by the river which was very scenic
We returned on the opposite side of the beautiful lake to avoid another ferry fare. We came across a swimming spot, the equivalent of Hampstead ponds, but we didn’t have our swimsuits. Danny would probably have gone in. I wouldn’t!
The cycling was surprisingly hilly and I realised I’d forgotten how to cycle up hills. It was a relief to arrive back at the campsite. On the way back we saw a deer and fawn cross the road which was lovely.
