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.

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.  

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.