Monday, October 16, 2017

Mt Eccles and the Great Ocean Road

A nice settled patch of warm weather, and the house up the road gearing up for a major party, decided us that it was time to hitch up the Teardrop and hit the road for a few days.  I have long wanted to get to Mt Eccles National Park, over in the west of Victoria. I have nearly made it there a few times, but fate has intervened.  We managed to overcome our reluctance to leave home, hearth and garden, and managed to get packed and on the road by 10.30. 

One of the unexpected benefits of having a gps in the car is that, not only do you get lost less often, but you also discover all sorts of little back roads that you never knew existed.  We seemed to zig zag across the countryside, each road getting a little smaller than the one before, until we were scooting along a little single lane road, very much like the one lane roads on the Isle of Skye. 

We got to the camp ground at Mt Eccles, to discover that we were the only people staying there.  The camping ground has a neglected, overgrown sort of feel about it, with long grass and lots of spikey weeds growing everywhere.  Anne was worried about snakes, which I dismissed as a product of an overheated imagination.  We parked, then set off for a walk.  Almost immediately, we came upon this fellow, about 5 feet long in the old money, sunning himself on the path.  Hmmmm.  That will teach me.

He was very cooperative though, we stood to one side, he slithered off to the other, and we went on our way. The park itself is spectacular - an impressive bit of geology - and actually has a nice, wild, peaceful atmosphere once you get over the lack of maintenance.  We had a great fire, a lovely dinner and a very restful night all by ourselves out there.

Next morning, we got the GPS to guide us to Port Campbell, for lunch, then onto Wye River.  The Great Ocean Road has had a bashing with fire and flood, and lots of road works along the way make for slow going, but a very nice place to be going slow.  We got a camp site right beside the eponymous river, and enjoyed the abundant bird life - wonderful bright king parrots, currawongs with beady yellow eyes, bower birds with startlingly blue eyes, brown and teal ducks herding clutches of ducklings along through the grass.  We even had a resident koala watching over us from the tree above.
It is amazing that there are some many wonderful places only a couple of hours from where we live, and that it is so easy to get out there and experience them, and that it is so restoring and reviving.  




Friday, October 6, 2017

Sail to near Point Cook and mouth of Truganina Creek

Another lightish airs day forecast.  I am definitely and unashamedly a fair weather sailor.

I headed out in less than 10 knots, ghosting through the weed beds and past the last boat moored in the little bay, last survivor of the Altona Boat Owners moorings.  The light southerly was pointing us more or less towards Point Cook, so that was the way we went, heading along at 1.5 to 2 knots in a very relaxing fashion.  That is about what I can push the boat along rowing, so I was happy to sit back and have a leisurely lunch and watch the world slip slowly by.

Out towards Point Cook there were gannets fishing, a spectacular display as they dive straight down into the water from a fair height.  Too far away for the GoPro to pick up anything unfortunately.  Similarly, the little penguin who popped up beside the boat is invisible in the footage.  I probably need another camera with some zoom capacity to pick up anything more than a couple of metres from the boat.

The wind picked up a bit, so I thought I'd follow the coast line back towards Altona, and headed into the mouth of Truganina Creek for a leg stretch.  There is a large expanse of shallow water along the coast there - really good fun scooting along in a few inches of water with the weed beds below. 

As usually happens, the wind kicked up a bit as the day wore on, so we had a fine broad reach most of the way back to the end of the Altona Reef, then ran down back to the beach.

I think my kamakaze beach landings are taking their toll on poor old Peregrina - the rear keel piece is getting quite worn, and the paint work, which is not that good to start off with, is suffering.  I will try cutting some aluminium strips to attach on the critical contact points.

A really nice day out.



Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Sail to Williamstown

The wind forecast was for light airs, for the first time for what seemed like weeks.  Too good an opportunity to miss and I got organised, sort of, to get Peregrina the Mirror Dinghy ready.

Eventually found all the requisite bits and got down and rigged and on the water by 11.00.  Once I going it looked like I could squeak past Williamstown on a single tack, so that's what I aimed for.  Sort of going wither the wind listeth. In fact I had to throw a couple of tacks thanks to the wind shifting and me being less than attentive at keeping the boat pointing as high as possible.  But we get past the time ball tower, and turned into the boat channel to head into the sheltered harbour just in time to meet the Spirit of Hamburg, a substantial container ship, heading out.  We chose the path of discretion, and kept close to the docks near the point.  The wake from a container ship at reasonable close quarters is indeed quite exciting in a Mirror I discovered.

I turned round just off the jetties of the yacht clubs, and tacked my way back past the point where the football stadium is, then eased off into a rollicking good broad reach home.  A grand day out, a bit more lively than I had anticipated from the wind forecast, but excellent fun.


Thursday, August 10, 2017

Through the mud

The weather forecast was looking bleak for the end of the week.  Following the grand advice, to do what you can while you can, I packed my trusty rucksack from the Camino, put in what I thought was about a day's food, and managed to wake up early enough to get onto the 7.41 train to Woodend. By 10 I was standing by a chilly Lake Daylesford at the GDT entry station.

I was surprised by how waterlogged everything seemed up there.  We have been having a fairly dry winter in Melbourne, and I live on sandy soil so water drains away quickly.  But along the trail, there was a lot of water in various forms - swollen creeks that I had to take off shoes and socks and wade through, large puddles spanning the track from side to side, and lots of mud that thoughtful four wheel drive vehicles had churned into an slippery goo.

The whole distance is around 50 k, and I wanted to get to Cresswick not too late, so I put in a long day on day one, walking till nearly dark.  I camped in the state forest near Barkstead.  It was a peaceful night with spattering of rain.  I took a tarp and bivvy combination which worked fine, everything was dry and I was warm.  It was nice to see the moon rising through the trees at some point when I woke up to roll over.

Seemed to take me a long time to get organised in the morning but I finally got back on the trail by 8.10.  I was glad I had stopped when I did, for even in the morning light, and with the GPS, I managed to loose the trail a few times.  It was a lovely morning, and I must confess I rather liked getting out of the regrowth forest - which seems sort of sterile and lifeless in places - and out onto some cleared agricultural land.   Mix of barnyard smells and open country reminded me of the Camino mornings, and I was lost in reminiscences when I walked past a marked turn and headed down hill for a good way.  Why is it always downhill when you miss a turn?

It was nice to get back into the forest towards Cresswick though - very pretty sections through there. Somewhere a few kilometres past the site of W.G.Spence's cottage I found this pressed metal shell decoration, lying in the mud by the track.


I don't know its origin or how it came to be there, but I took it as a good omen, and pocketed it.

As always, the last few kilometres of a walk is always the hardest.  I managed to slip on some particularly clayey mud, and twisted my knee, so I was a bit slow towards the end as well.  I met a lovely woman with a very friendly dog.  The dog was 12 years old, and had been living on a farm till its owner died recently.  It was now a town dog, and loving it.  It really liked meeting people and other dogs.  I had to give it a good pat, but as a consequence of dog patting, chatting and limping, I got round the corner onto the main street of Cresswick just in time to see the 2.49 Bus departing. I retired to the pub to have a glass of wine and console myself then hobbled onto the 3.49.  Next train stopping at Footscray didn't leave till 6.  Jess kindly came and picked me up, so I got home about 7.45.

My camera battery decided to give up the ghost so no photos.  I took a few gopro video clips which give some sort of idea of the conditions, though to be fair the mud is probably over represented.


So now I have a bung knee, which I hope will not prove to be a permanent fixture. I was glad to get a bit more of the GDT done, and I learned a few things.  "Less is more" is probably the most important thing - it would have been a lot nicer to knock off early, and loll about in the light on day one.  And it would have been  good not to feel under pressure on the second day.  Notwithstanding it was great to be out there.  The GDT Association do a fantastic job keeping the markers at every junction in good condition.  Chapeau to them.

Friday, August 4, 2017

To the Murray

Last week was grey and windy, so to stave off cabin fever I took the teardrop with my old home built kayak up to the Murray.  It was a spur of the moment thing, and I didn't get away till after lunch.  After nearly getting blown off the road a few times up near Kyneton and after almost running out of petrol - the wind with the kayak on the roof and towing the teardrop made a huge difference to petrol consumption - I made it to Koondrook.  Some tasty leftovers for dinner and a rainy cold night, but I slept well.  Perhaps too well for I didn't wake up till almost 9 am.  But I was out by 10, and launched the kayak at the convenient ramp, and rowed upstream for a few miles. I was looking out for a nice sandy beach for a lunch in the sun.  The NSW side is private property, and all the nice bends on that side have signs saying keep out, a bit mean if you ask me.  The Victorian side is State Forest, but the nice sandy bends seemed to have bossy possessive birds settled on them.  When I tried to land on this bend, I got told off in no uncertain terms by the pair of Eastern Masked Lapwings you can make out in the picture.
The GPS told me I was making about 2.5 knots against the current, and I rowed on for a few hours, looking for that perfect bend with nice sand, no houses on the other side, and sunshine.  I had to settle for one which was a bit on the muddy side and opposite three stonking great houses on the NSW side. Coming back I was making about 3.5 to 4 knots.  By the time I got back to the ramp, I was tired.  I am certainly not as fit as I was when I did the Murray Marathon 17 years ago.  But it was great to be back on the Murray.  I found myself day dreaming about just keeping on going, all the way down to the sea.

I stopped for the night in Barham Lakes CP, $15 for a nice grassy unpowered site with lots of birds including some magpies who appeared out of nowhere when I made a piece of toast.  They must have been watching me closely and decided that at last I was eating something that looked like Magpie food.

ABC news had a story prefiguring damaging winds to hit Melbourne next day, and after nearly getting blown away on the way up, I thought it would be a wise idea to take my time getting home.  I decided  on Terrick Terrick National Park as a likely spot, and headed that way next morning.  Driving south from Cohuna across the dead flat plain, you see a wonderful ochre coloured granite outcrop, Mt Hope. How could I resist?  I detoured, and spent a happy couple of hours exploring.


It is not far from Mt Hope to Terrick Terrick National park and its fairly basic camping ground.  I climbed to the top of Mt Terrick Terrick - not that hard as it is only a few hundred metres from the carpark - and decided to walk to the next granite outcrop, Regeis Rock after lunch. Getting there was basically a matter of heading more or less north through the open bush land.  It was great to just be able to walk without following paths or trails.  Perhaps it hooks into some archetypal memory of our ancestors walking into new territories.  Along the way there were some grand old trees, some with the scars left when the local aboriginal people had removed bark for things like bowls and shields.  Not much need for canoes out here.  

Climbing Reigeis Rock I thought I could hear the sound of young children's voices, carried faintly on the wind.  As I hadn't seen anyone all day and it seemed a long way from anywhere I thought it could be some trick of the wind in the place, or possibly a mental breakdown on my part,  but the wallabies seemed to be hearing something too.
When I got to the top I saw a dad with a couple of little kids heading on up, which was something of a relief as it showed I wasn't going crackers. 

I had the campground to myself, and found it rather strange to be the only person for miles and miles.  It was a wuthering night, with the wind roaring through the trees, but I slept well and got up in time to be on top of Mt Terrick Terrick to view the sunrise. There was a thick bank of cloud over on the horizon to the east, but still a lovely sight.  It was great sitting up there, layered up with the wind belting over the bare rock, watching the day begin.  It would be good for the soul to start every day like that. 

About three hours drive back home, through some evidence of the day before's storm in the form of trees and branches strewn about.  All in all, it was an excellent trip and an encouragement to get out and do more exploring.  


Friday, June 23, 2017

Copenhagen to Melbourne

We packed up for the last time, said good bye to the nice lady in the hotel,and schleped the bags and the box down to the train station about 10 minutes away. I ran down the stairs onto the platform with the bike box, left it there, ran back up to get Anne's bag and ran back down again. When I got back to the box, an older Danish lady was scrutinising the box suspiciously, clearly just about to call security and the bomb squad. We  smiled reassuringly, just dumb tourists here, and I think she was rather disappointed, for she stalked off after giving us a disapproving glare.  Here is Anne waiting with our stuff.

Thanks to the wonderfully efficient Danish railway - a train to the airport every 8 minutes, trip takes about 16 minutes from central station - we arrived without any problems, and managed to organise the VAT refunds - some one the spot, the Brompton one via post so it won't be quick. Then we checked in bags and box, ran afoul of airport security - I forgot the tube of sunscreen and the little bottle of hand sanitizer in my carryon backpack. I forgot nail clippers coming over and the same thing happened. But after having the bag's contents emptied out and a stern lecture, they let me through, and we fought our way through the crowd to the welcome haven of the business class lounge. Ii hear that the number of points you need for a business class flight has just gone up significantly - these might be the last business class flights for a while. 

Flight to Bangkok was almost deserted up our end of the plane, which made things relaxing. But it is a long and body clock confusing flight and getting off in Bangkok we were a bit stunned. 

But not as stunned as we were when we stumbled off in Melbourne some 12 hours later. Still, getting through immigration, collecting bags, getting through customs and out into a taxi all went really smoothly and quickly, and here we are home, tired but happy, with bags that won't have to be packed again for the foreseeable future. Yay!

After sunny blue skied Denmark, Melbourne is cold, and it is pouring outside.  But it is mighty good to be home.

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Copenhagen Canals and Christiania Freetown

I think we are beginning to run out of chuff. It was a struggle to get out the door this morning. We arranged to move rooms so we had to pack up every thing, which takes a bit longer. But slow cognitive tempo was the major factor.

Anne wanted to visit Christiania Free Town, so we went to the Tourist information centre for advice on how to get there. The lady behind the counter dispensed information grudgingly, and on what she considered a need to know basis. Get the 9a bus, it leaves from outside the station. We headed out, saw a 9a bus, hopped on to it, a got about three stops before we twigged that we had fallen for the old right bus but going in the wrong direction trick. Second time this month I have fallen for it. We caught right bus in right direction, but got off too early. We retreated to a nearby coffee shop with wifi, consulted Google maps, and on our third attempt made it to the right stop, a short walk away from Christiania.

The place is one of the last alternative communal social living experiments from the seventies. It has managed to survive at least, and it is said to be Copenhagen's second most popular tourist attraction.

I am not sure what people are expecting to see. I can't say I enjoyed our visit that much - it felt rather like the museum in Aarhus, like trespassing. And it was fairly grungy as well. Still, it is the place which invented and produced the first, eponymous, Christiania bikes, so it has made at least one great contribution to the general good.

It took us a while to find the way out, but we did, and caught a bus across to the spot on the canal where the tour boats depart. Our timing was good and we caught one just as it was about to depart. Seeing a city from the water has to be one of the best ways. The watery heritage of the city becomes much more evident, and you get to see some wonderful boats close up - including the royal family's splendid yacht - some waterfront appartments that I would be happy to own, kayakers, funky house boats, and some lovely swan families.

After the cruise we walked over to Nyhaven, and enjoyed a pleasant lunch and a beer, sitting in the sun watching the world walk by. Senior school students here are having their graduation celebrations at the moment. This seems to involve walking around town wearing natty nautical type caps, and drinking a fair bit. You can see the half empty wine bottle in this lass's left hand.

It all seems very civilized, and probably a lot less dangerous than schoolies back home. After lunch we stumped back along the shopping pedestrian mall, which was a mistake, as it leached away something of the benign good humour we had acquired with lunch. But we got back ok. I headed off again for a fruitless search for some little travel padlocks for our bags - the same lady from the tourist information centre sent me on a wild goose chase. But I got to see some more of the neighbourhood, good and bad. 

We have been lying low, doing some last minute research - if we actually get VAT refunds I will be pleasantly surprised, if we don't, I won't be surprised at all - and I have been pottering around preparing the Brompton for the trip home.
We have the train tickets to the airport, we have checked the plane tickets. Definitely time to go.

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Copenhagen again

This morning we had our last breakfast in the garden at the back of the hotel - a bit chilly as we were earlier than other days and the sun had not risen enough to clear the surrounding tall buildings. Also the day was colder - a brisk wind and a hint of change in the air. Indeed, walking down to the train, Anne wanted one last look in Magasin, a clothing store, and I nearly froze waiting over by the Domkirke. But Aarhus was still beautiful, with unexpected bits of beauty round otherwise unpromising looking corners. Walking through a short cut between carparks, there was a lane covered with splendid roses.

The Domkirke itself has a distinctive presence. In 1500, the church owned two thirds of the buildings in Aarhus. The Reformation shifted the balance, and many of the church buildings have gone, but the Domkirke  survives.

The train trip was comfortable, coasting along through the rolling hills of Jutland, past lakes and fijords and neat farms, and we arrived in reasonably good shape in Copenhagen 3 hours later. We know the station well now, and our arrival today was a considerable improvement on our first encounter after the train from Hamburg.

We checked into the hotel, and find ourselves up on the very top floor. It is relaxing up here, a feeling of being up above things. It has been a busy few days, so we designated today a rest day, and had a siesta.

We wandered down for a meal at a nearby Italian restaurant - friendly and very popular, but the food was fairly average. The trip is just about over, and we are looking forward to getting on that homeward bound plane.

Monday, June 19, 2017

Aarhus goodbye

Another bright clear morning and we enjoyed breakfast in the pretty garden at the back of the hotel. Anne went to explore some more shops, while I did some low key organising - going through my backpack throwing out old receipts and brochures, checking our money, and doing some research for the process of getting VAT refunds.

Jeppe came round at 12 and we set off to visit the Aarhus Art Museum, only to find it was closed on Mondays. We had lunch at the nearby Musik Parken, a relaxed open spot with good views across the city, not too many people and some great sculptures.

Anne voted to have a quiet afternoon, and Jeppe took me for a walk around some of the creative spaces and nifty public buildings of Aarhus. We went through one area which was recognizably once a railway goods loading area, but now has people making furniture, prints, and most important, craft beer. Some great interior spaces with massive wooden arched girders.

Next, we visited the open air museum of Aarhus, Den Camel By. In the 1920's, when some of the older buildings in Aarhus were to be demolished, someone with a great degree of foresight had them removed and reassembled on this large site on the edge of the botanical gardens. There are buildings from the 15th Century onwards, and the place is organised into chronological zones, currently up to the 1970s. There is a Jazz bar which Jeppe visited when it was operating, but which has been reconstructed on site. It still runs as a bar, with music, on Friday nights. There are appartments which faithfully reproduce the appartments of specific people - a single mother and her son, a group of Turkish immigrants, a Somali family. They were unnervingly realistic, and I couldn't shake the feeling that I was trespassing in someone's home. There were young people photographing themselves next to a VW Beetle much like the one I used to have. There was a grocery store, a radio shop, and a hairdresser all of which faithfully reproduced shop windows and interiors from the 70s, all eerily familiar.

The really scary thing was the sign announcing that a new area, reproducing apartments from 2014, would shortly be opening. Disconcerting to see 2014 as the stuff of social history.

The last area we entered as billed as a time travel experience, showing the development of Aarhus over time. It sure has been knocked about over the centuries by various invaders. I was absorbed in the stories of the German occupation during WW2, when a chap appeared who shooed us out, as we were a half an hour past closing time. I think we were close to having been locked in for the night.

We met Jeppe and Maia for dinner up at the food market. It was so good to see them and to spend some time with such generous, interesting, energetic young people starting out on an ambitious life together. We had an icecream near the Domkirke, then said goodbye and went our separate ways. I don't like goodbyes much. I hope we see them again in the not too distant future.
So, tomorrow, up early and pack, then back to Copenhagen. Only three more sleeps till we get on the plane and begin our journey home. We have really enjoyed our stay in Aarhus, which I think deserves to be the Europe Capital of Culture for 2017.


Sunday, June 18, 2017

Jelling

This morning we were a bit stunned when we woke up, despite having a very quiet and abstemious evening the preceding night. We went down the road for breakfast, then in search of a satisfactory coffee - a cafe latte with a double shot seems to do the trick. A beautiful quiet Sunday morning to be out and about.

Anne explored a couple of the nearby shops while I went for a walk down by the Domkirke and surrounding streets.
Jeppe and Maia picked us up at 12, and we drove to Jelling, to see in situ the Jelling stone. We have seen copies, in Lisbon and York, of this stone, which has been described - because the Runes refer to the country of Denmark and because of the image of Christ on one side - as Denmark's birth certificate.

When we first viewed the stone, the sunlight was bright and the sun was high, which made the carving difficult to make out. When we returned later in the day, the lower angle of the sun made the carving stand out in sharp relief.

After visiting the mound which stands in the exact centre of the site, and admiring the outline of the massive stone ship that must have predated the mounds, we visited the nearby museum. While the collection of artefacts is much smaller than Moesgaard it did a good job of conveying something of the context and history of the site. As well as having some very engaging interactive displays. Our favourite was an exhibit designed to convey the time it would take a Viking warrior to die from a variety of wounds - 10 minutes for an arrow to the neck, 30 minutes for a spear to a vital organ, 3 hours for an axe wound. The display emitted an appropriately gruesome noise and lots of simulated blood when you touched any one of the numerous weapons which were stuck into the unfortunate Viking warrior.

After the museum we visited the church, nestled between the two burial mounds, in the very centre of what was a pagan Viking site, then drove to Jeppe and Maia's new house. They don't get to move in till August, but it was good to see the house and location so we can imagine them in there. It is in a beautiful location.

We drove back to Aarhus and lounged around, enjoying their lovely apartment and admiring the great Danish design evident in the furniture and fittings.

It was good to be in a home setting - not a hotel or a restaurant, and we felt more relaxed than we have for a while. It made us extra glad we are heading back to our home soon. After a delicious dinner and interesting conversation, we walked with Jeppe to retrieve his car, getting a glimpse of Aarhus suburbia. Jeppe kindly dropped us off at the hotel.

A really lovely day, and although tired we feel sort of exhilarated, with lots of ideas for things we want to try when we get home.

Saturday, June 17, 2017

Aarhus Moesgaard Museum

I am sorry to say we drank rather too much wine last night. It was fun at the time, but we didn't feel quite so good this morning. Jeppe came by about 10.30 and while Anne had a rest, we went for a walk around our neighbourhood. It was Latin Festival here today, Latin as in the Latin quarter of Paris, and the winding cobbled streets were decked out with tricolour flags, washing strung across between buildings, pots of lavender, and other french themed sort of decoration. There was a group of girls in French maid outfits dusting anyone who came too close. There were chaps from the local cycling club, dresses like Tour de France France riders from the sixties. There was even a baguette with a stuck on moustache and a tricolour scarf, cable tied to a drain pipe. It was all very festive on a lovely clear sunny morning.

We visited the Domkirke, with its whitewashed bright interior and candle stick holders on the end of the pews - even the church is hygge. Except perhaps for the alarmingly graphic and violent paintings on some of the arches, that have been uncovered by removing the whitewash layers.

We collected Anne, then drove along the coast and through the thick forest that lies only a couple of kilometres from the centre of the city, to the Moesgaard Museum. For a city about the size of Geelong,  this is extraordinarily good. They have focused on a few main themes - the evolution of humans, the bronze and iron age people's whose artifacts and remains have been preserved in the bogs of Jutland, and the Vikings.

The presentation was almost too good - after an hour pondering the confronting evidence of hapless animals and humans sacrificed and thrown into the bog, we retreated up to the cafe for a cup of tea and some sunlight before heading back down to the Viking exhibition. We now have a much better idea of Viking Aarhus. The location of our hotel is well within the fortified walls of the Viking settlement. The evolution of humans is very immediately represented by a series of life sized figures on the main stairway - VR viewers around the stop of the stairs give a representation of the environment that each human ancestor might have experienced.

We climbed up the steeply sloping external roof to enjoy the views across to the nearby islands, then drove back into town, stopping for an icecream at the yacht marina, a busy place filled with Danish people enjoying a sunny Saturday. A bumble bee joined us as we sat in the sun.

Jeppe dropped us back at the hotel and we had a much needed rest for a couple of hours, then walked up to the train station to collect our tickets for our return to Copenhagen on Tuesday, and a low key dinner in a Thai restaurant round the corner.
We like Aarhus a lot, much easier on the nerves than Copenhagen. Maybe we should stick to smaller places in future.


Friday, June 16, 2017

Aero to Aarhus

There was a storm out somewhere to the north last night, and the lightning woke me up. I lay awake listening to the church bell ringing out the hour and the half hour till 2, then finally fell asleep again. But I was feeling a little fragile when morning came round.

After breakfast we went for a walk along the poplar lined path beside the bay. A lady with a friendly Labrador passed us. "He is going to a dog meeting" she told us as she passed, and sure enough, up ahead at the point there were some people sitting on chairs and a pack of assorted dogs milling about, and behind us were a trio of more dogs, with owners, heading off to the "meeting". It seemed very Aero that local dogs had an organised event to attend.

There was a minor alarm when, a few minutes before the ferry docked, Anne realised she had left something back in the hotel room. Luckily it was not far, and I managed to run back to the hotel and then back to the ferry before it left.

Our friend Jeppe was waiting at Svendborg, and we had a nice lunch in a traditional Danish inn, where I tried the pickled herring in the interests of expanding my cultural horizons. Jeppe drove us to Aarhus, crossing on the way the vast bridges that connect Funen to Jutland.
It was great to catch up with Jeppe, and very nice to be driven. We stopped in a cool looking neighbourhood on the outskirts of Aarhus for the best coffee in quite a while, then onto our hotel, passing the striking Rainbow Panorama ontop of the Aarhus Art Gallery.

We headed out a bit later with Jeppe and Maia to a nice cafe for wine o'clock, then went to an ambitious restaurant for a self-consciously upmarket dinner. Aarhus seems to take its newfound foodie status very seriously. It was nice to have two bright young locals to talk to about Denmark and it's enigmatic ways.

Aarhus looks like an interesting and lively city. We are glad to be here, and glad we will be heading home in week.

Thursday, June 15, 2017

AeroSkobing

A bright warm calm  morning, and we resolved to do as little as possible. We have an interesting chat with the young chap who is working as a waiter here. He is a bright young man, who came to the island as a social worker working with young refugees. He had lots of insights into the rivalries between East and West Aero, and into the local way of life.

After sitting around for a while soaking up the view we went for a slow shuffle round the village, had a coffee in the town square, then visited the AeroSkobing museum. It wasn't as engaging as the Marstal maritime museum. The maritime museum seemed more connected and engaged with something ongoing, while the AeroSkobing museum had various bits and pieces of old stuff, and some interesting stories around objects that illuminated some aspect of the village's past, but all a bit fragmented and remote. AeroSkobing's heyday was sometime in the past, and its main business now seems to be tourism. Which has its own energy - it is great to see people like the proprietors of this hotel rescuing a decaying place and building a vibrant business.

We wandered down to the waterfront and had freshly smoked mackerel, potato salad and a glass of Aero ale for lunch, while watching the engaging spectacle of people manoeuvring their boats in the confined space of the inner harbour. We saw a French motor cruiser have a close encounter with the ferry - which looks like it doesn't stop for anything.

Anne wanted to see if she could find out more about Rasmussen, the painter whose work we first encountered yesterday. After consultation with the local Tourist information, she decided to catch the bus back to Marstal to try the museum there.

While she was gone I walked a bit of the Archipelago Trail. I was hoping to get as far a mediaeval castle mound around the coast, but I miscalculated the timing and had to turn back before I got to it. It was a nice walk though, along the side of fields of young wheat, interspersed with poppies, Queen Anne's lace and corn flowers, with views over the rolling hills out over the sea. I have a theory that Danish horses are more reserved than Australian horses - I could not break through the reserve of these two.

Late afternoon the weather turned chilly. We hadn't booked and the restaurant was full, so we had a glass of wine and an excellent pizza on the terrace, getting only mildly frozen.
We have to pack up again and leave tomorrow. I think I could happily spend quite a bit of time here. There is plenty more to see and do, and, even better, it is a great place to do not much.

Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Aeroskobing and Marstal.


This morning, after a lovely breakfast on the veranda of the hotel, we went for a bit of a shuffle round the village, trying to get some pictures that would do justice to the magic of this place. Some of the buildings are so tiny, only shorter persons could live in them.

Next, we caught the free bus to Mastal, situated at the eastern end of the island, about 8 kilmetres as the crow flies, 12 by bus thanks to the circuitous route. The bus squeezes down some tny streets, seemingly with millimetres to spare, but we made it without scraping anything. Marstal is a pretty place, perhaps not quite as quaint as AeroSkobing, but still with many narrow streets and pretty houses. Hygge is big, and every window seems to have model boats or wooden birds or some artful object displayed.

After lunch we headed down to the Maritime museum. We didn't have great expectations, but it turned out to be quite remarkable and surprising. A very varied collection of objects nautical, lovingly displayed and cared for. It included a collection of work by J.E.C.Rasmussen, a 19th century Danish nautical theme of painter who lived in Marstal. He visited Greenland several times, and some of his work is a very humane depiction of life there. He apparently disappeared over the side of a boat returning from Greenland. We had never heard of him but we liked his work.

We had a very enjoyable couple of hours there. Our only difficulty, apart from the lack of English captions, was our inability to find the exit. To navigate through the maze like collection of rooms and buildings one had to follow red arrows painted on the floor. We followed arrows up stairs, through spaces constructed to look like ships, wove through street scapes with reconstructed shop fronts, startled ourselves multiple times coming upon life like figures in period costume, and all the time, the departure time for the bus was drawing closer. At last we came to a courtyard and there was a door with a not particularly conspicuous sign saying "udgang" . I thought "Exit" was an international standard, but obviously not in Marstal. A really fun museum though.

But we sprinted down and caught the bus with minutes to spare. Back in AeroSkobing, we walked over to the Vesterbro - the Western beach, and enviously admired the row of charming beach huts there. A bit like the bathing boxes at Brighton, there are restrictions - on size, no plumbing, no staying overnight. But most of them are done up really nicely - lots of hygge again. I would love to transport one home to put in the backyard.

We had dinner in a shop that sells freshly smoked fish, and ate at table watching the going on of life in the harbour. A new lot of cruising boats in, tonight some sort of group of five yachts who must cruise in convoy. We visited one of the "bog bix" which seem to dot the island. These are honesty box second hand book stalls, in a variety of locations. This one was in the Aero winter bathing club room on the breakwater. While Anne selected her book, I examined the photos of club members swimming off the nearby steps, covered not by gentle sunshine as today, but by snow, and the water filled with clumps of ice. Impressive. Even more impressive was the absence of a lock on the door of the club building - it says something about what a benign peaceful place this is.

We can hardly believe we have been here for little more than 24 hours. I realise that I really like islands. And this is a particularly nice one.

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Aero

Last night we were a bit later than usual getting out for dinner, and it took us a while to find somewhere that wasn't a)full and b)too expensive/trendy. The meat market area, with the food trucks, tables, benches packed with young Danes, and thumping party music, was a bit dismal, sort of like a film set for a gritty European movie. The darkening sky as rain approached didn't help.

So we were glad to find a table in a restaurant we had eaten at before, and get a reasonable dinner inside as the skies opened. But we felt a bit frazzled by the time we got home, and not sorry to be having a break from big city Copenhagen.

This morning we caught two trains, then a ferry, to get to Aeroe, each step a bit more relaxed than the last, till we stepped off onto the wonderfully picturesque island village of AeroSkobing. After checking in, we went for a shuffle round the village, and could not help but be charmed by the quaint cottages, lovely gardens, and little cobbled streets - it really is picture postcard.

Our hotel is old fashioned and a bit funky, but the couple who bought it a year ago are working away rennovating it. The restaurant is a key thing they have focused on, and it is a big hit, excellent food, and clearly the word has got out, for it was packed. What a difference 24 hours makes - sitting at dinner here looking out over the water we felt about 1000 percent better than last night.


After dinner we went for a walk around the dock area, with a smattering of cruising yachts and some larger boats that look like they run cruises for teenagers - guessing by the groups of teenagers sitting rather mournfully on the decks. The harbour is set up very nicely for visiting yachts though, with a very solid building with woodfired  barbeques, plenty of power hookups, nice facilities block, and even a second hand book shop. I think this would be grand sailing territory, with lots of little islands and lots of anchorages. A fair bit of wind too I suspect.

We are very happy to be somewhere so beautiful, and so relaxed. This is a sort of holiday from travelling, and I think we have chosen the right place for it. 

Monday, June 12, 2017

Roskilde

This morning we got down to the station reasonably early, bought a couple of all day tickets, and caught the train to Roskilde, site if the World Heritage listed Domkirke, and of the Viking ship museum. We got there before 10, and it was lovely to be somewhere a bit quieter. We enjoyed the stroll down the main Street, looking in the shop windows, without the feeling that you were getting in the way of a crowd of pedestrians behind.

In the pavement outside the church was the familiar Camino St
Ymbol  a of the shell. A long walk to Santiago de Compostela from here. I wonder if people actually do it.

The Domkirke itself is built of brick, with details picked out in colourful paint, and as the burial place of royalty and of the rich and powerful, it is packed with over the top marble monuments. Some of the tombstones on the floor were both creepy and incomprehensible.

But there was also some great woodcarving, in the stalls lining the main altar. I really liked this lecture, representing Luke the evangelist.

After a while, someone started up the organ, playing churchy music, which drove us out soon after. We walked down the hill to the museum through a solid rain shower, and got there in time to find out that the boat tours were all booked up till 2.30. I had rather fancied the idea of rowing a Viking boat, but it was not to be. My advice for visiting Roskilde is get down to the museum early and first, and visit Domkirke second.

Notwithstanding, the Viking museum was fantastic. The whole enterprise of raising, documenting, preserving and presenting what is left of the five Skuldelev Viking boats is impressive, and is vividly recorded through videos, photos, the boats themselves and models, replicas, and the ongoing activity of boat building. The way they have made building replicas of the boats part of the museum, and the effort they go to get school kids to engage with this part of their heritage is really fantastic. There were groups of teenagers rowing and sailing, clearly having a great time.



While we were having lunch we watched two teachers with a group of tiny kids, maybe 5 or 6 Years old. With one of the people from the museum, the teachers and the kids all donned mediaeval looking hoods, then set off carrying swords, barrels and fur hides in a procession round to one of the boats. The kids were totally serious about it, as if they were loading up for a raiding party. I can't think of another museum I have seen that engaged kids so much.

By the time we were leaving it started to rain again and we had a long wet stump back up the hill. One can see why the Vikings chose this place for a fortified town - any attacking force would be totally stuffed by the time they got up the hill. We were anyway. We caught the train back to town, and headed home for a nice cup of tea and a lie down.

We are going to Aero tomorrow, which I am sure will be nice, but we are feeling a bit weary of packing. Anne is on strike packing wise. But I guess the adrenaline will kick in and that will get us out the door.

Sunday, June 11, 2017

Copenhagen laundromat and museum


According to the mythology of the local bronze age people, a horse pulled the sun in a chariot up into  a the sky. Horse did a good job  a this morning, a beautiful sunny Sunday morning here, and after breakfast Anne was for a quiet morning, and I was good for a bit more exploration, so I volunteered to take our washing to the nearest laundromat, a couple of kilometres away. I unboxed the Brompton, and set off with washing loaded into its wonderful front T bag, joining the sedate flow of morning cyclists. I found the laundromat no worries, but once again dismally failed the laundromat IQ test.

First mistake, which cost me 24 DKK, was to select and pay for an out of order machine. Second mistake was to assume that the machine did both wash and spin - in fact there is a separate centrifuge machine for that. Third mistake was failing to grasp how the drier worked. It said 1 kroner for 48 seconds, but you had to press the button for each 48 seconds you wanted. Put in 10 DKK, press 10 times. Luckily nice Danish people in the laundromat helped me at each conceptual hurdle I floundered on, but I was a bit addled by the end of it all. Getting lost when I went for a ride while the washing cycle was in progress didn't help my confidence.

But, I made it back home with a bag of warm clean clothes, so it was overall a successful outing. After lunch we decided to have a look at the Nationalmuseet. I must confess we chose it because it was close by, but it turned out to be excellent. Those Danish bogs are terrific at preserving elements of the material culture of Bronze Age people's, and there are things like the clothes of the Egtved Girl 1370 BC - if you saw a teenager in the street today wearing them, it would not be too unusual - wooden shields, axe handles still with flint axe embedded, cauldrons, and even a finely detailed cart - the Dejbjerg Wagon - complete with much of it original decoration. And a fantastic model of a horse pulling the sun - the Sun Chariot. And some seriously good hoards. Really wonderful stuff, and well presented. A great Museum highly recommended.

We liked the curation style here, and enjoyed the more contemporary exhibits too, including the last hash stall from Pusher Street in Christiania Free Town. It is strange though to see clothes and artifacts in an exhibition context that we remember people wearing and using.

We also collected our tickets for the trip to Aero, so all in all a good, quiet day. Just as well as we are a bit travel weary at the moment.