Our Scandinavian Tour - Day 127 - 130

Saturday 8th September - 🌧️🌧️⛅⛅⛅⛅⛅⛅ with strong winds.
Mileage 42 from Tonder in Denmark to Nordstrand which is one of the Frisian Islands in Germany
Parking Co-ordinates 54.51802, 8.93207

Today, after only a couple of miles travelling, we waved a sad farewell to Denmark because out of the 3 Scandinavian countries we've visited on this tour Denmark was our favourite - therefore I'm sure that sometime in the near future we will be revisiting.  Once over the German border our first task was shopping (at Lidl of course), and then we proceeded over a causeway that links the Frisian Island of Nordstand to the German mainland.  The island only has an area of 19 square miles and just about all of it lies at least a metre below sea level so it's all protected by a dyke which provides grazing land for this areas many hundreds of sheep.  And they themselves are both a gastronomic delicacy and a tourist attraction especially in spring when the lambs are born.

We're going to stay here for 3 days and we've settled in on a small Stellplatz which is cutely called WoMoland.  The island itself is very 'German' and unfortunately none of the info boards have any English translation, but the site owner is a goldmine of information and he's told us about all the things we should try and see while we're here, and apparently it's even possible to visit England so that's been added to either tomorrow itinerary!

Part of our scoop from Lidl and at only 59 cents a tin (about 50p) it went down a treat!

Sunday 9th September - 🌧️🌧️⛅⛅🌞🌞🌞⛅⛅
Mileage 0  + 27 🚴🚴 miles

'Suddenly' we found ourselves
in England 😂

This morning we almost thought rain was going to stop play but although we got sprinkled to start with it turned out to be a beautiful day!  We set off on our bikes along deserted country roads with arable fields on either side of us where birds of prey circled and swooped and where smaller birds did all in their power to see them off!





Then we hadn't gone far when we saw the first sign for England - we certainly hadn't realised we were that near home soil - and we were even more startled when we realised we'd ridden all the way through within the space of about 5 mins!  However, during our traverse though the very pretty street we identified preparation for Christmas Dinner and also some very pretty thatched cottages with roses climbing up their walls.

🎅🏻Free Range Turkey🎅🏻

One of the pretty cottages with a weeping sunflower instead of roses!

After England we rolled into the deserted village of Morsumkoog and paused to admire their churches of which there were 3.  Apparently 2 of them are Catholic but only one follows the rules to the letter.  The other one comes under the charge of a Married Priest, and for the congregation of that one, many of the Catholic rules are relaxed.













We thought with it being Sunday all the seats might be taken but still there wasn't a soul in sight.

Outside the church there was a lovely play area for the children and also a perfect resting place for us to partake of our morning coffee.

Then once that was supped we headed for the coast at the hamlet of Suderhafen and from there we peddled along paved track that was on the seaward side of the dyke and more or less circumnavigated the rest of the island passing through the tiny port of Sttucklahnungshorn and finally leaving the magnificent track at Norderhafen.






Along the way we paused for our picnic lunch at Fuhlehorn and it was here that the shallow waters of the Wadden Sea came alive with hundreds of gulls, oyster catches, dunlins

Today's dining room for both birds and us!

The Port at Sttucklahnungshorn 

Finally, from Norderhafen it was just a couple of short miles back along more quite narrow roads back to WoMoland where we were very naughty and indulged in another of Lidl's fine Craft Beers which has a quote on the side that says 'Let's oil the Gears of Life' - so who are we to argue - and after 27 miles I think we needed a bit of oiling 😂😂😂


Monday 10th September 2018  ⛅⛅⛅⛅⛅
Mileage 0 + 30 🚴🚴 miles

Today we finished off our exploration of Nordstrand, and in doing so we crossed over to the German mainland via a causeway that only carries a very minor road and a bike track.  On the way we passed by Nordstrandischmoor which is a tiny island that is only accessible by a narrow gauge railway, and we also rode out on the peninsula of Hamburger-Hallig.  Here there was evidence of lots of experiments that were being done by Hamburg University concerning the effects of Global Warming and it's influences on the diversity of the area's eco systems, but once again all the info was in German and even with the help of Google Translate it was hard to fathom out what was going on!  Therefore we just admired the views before backtracking to the mainland for lunch.

The seaward side of the Causeway

And the other side!

Now have I mentioned the sheep?  There were huge numbers of them in this area, and they were roaming all over the dykes and also the track on which we were riding!  Often they didn't want to move out of our way (even when we shouted 'mint sauce' at them), and as you might imagine, where there's a lot of sheep there's also a lot of 💩💩💩 - and dodging it (in order to keep our bikes reasonably clean) became a bit of an art form that we'd rather not have participated in!


Therefore, rather than venturing into this 'land mined' area again we continued our ride on tracks beside quite roads and this eventually allowed us to cross back over the main causeway to Nordstand, and once there we nipped into a lovely farm shop and purchased 4 succulent 'Barnsley' chops which we will consume with said mint sauce (or maybe even rosemary and garlic)  sometime in the very near future!

Unfortunately today's ride didn't really compete with the loveliness of yesterday's 'but hey ho there you go' - and although it wasn't spectacular it got us out in the fresh air and ensured we'd earned our coffee and cake which we consumed on the way!


Tuesday 11th September 2018  🌧️🌧️☁☁☁🌧️🌧️⛆⛆
Mileage  127 (+ a short ferry ride) from Nordstand to Cuxhaven.
Parking Co-ordinates 53.87599, 8.70356

Today should have been a simple run, mostly down one of Germany's main arterial routes, from soon after we left Nordstrand to the coastal port of Cuxhaven (B5 then the A23) !  But that little plan didn't come to fruition!!  While we were in Denmark someone had mentioned to me that the motorway towards Hamburg (the B5) was closed -  but that little fact slipped my mind - that is until our nose was pressed up against a barrier that barred our way! 

Therefore, we had no other choice than to follow the Umleitung signs (diversion) which resulted in our journey being further and on much more minor roads - some of which were narrow and congested with all the heavy traffic that should have been on the motorway!  And all of this seriously upset Mrs Snoopy and resulted in a great deal of binging and bonging! On numerous occasions she tried to turn us around - and when John wouldn't comply with her instructions she spat her dummy out and just bonged some more!  But that all left us with a bit of a dilemma because if my dear husband wasn't going to follow her instructions he needed someone else to help him - and that only left me and Google!!  Now, for those of you who know me you probably understand about my non existent sense of direction - I've been known to get lost in a car park and if you turn me around 3 times I've got no idea as to which direction I'm facing 😧!  Therefore the responsibility of maintaining us on the right track weighed heavily on my shoulders, but I'm happy to say I made a reasonably good job of it - but it was a huge relief when Mrs Snoopy finished her sulk and resumed the role of chief navigator.

The very long queue for the ferry

But that wasn't the end of today's 'trials'.  Once back on the right track our goal was the tiny town of Gluckstadt from where we needed to take a ferry over the river Elbe to Wischhafen - but we knew we were in for a long wait when we tagged onto the end of the queue 1.2 miles from the port!  In all, this part of our journey took nearly 2 hours (only 20 mins on the ferry) - but I put the time to good use by cooking our dinner as we slowly chugged along 🌭🌭!

After that it seemed to be plain sailing for a while, but would you know it, as we neared our destination we got snarled up in another diversion in the town of Neuhaus, and here Mrs Snoopy must have wanted a second look at the town because she sent us on a circular route that passed along the same streets twice - and she would have gone for a 3rd circuit if John hadn't taken charge!

We eventually landed at Cuxhaven (where we've stayed on 2 previous occasions) at about 4.30 and by then the rain was coming down with a vengeance but we still had to venture out on foot because we needed cash to pay for our stay!  So all in all, today probably hasn't been one of our best but maybe you've got to occasionally have a bad one so that you appreciate the good ones more!

I think tomorrow we'll be off to Holland, but for now it's bye from us 😗

Our Scandinavian Tour - Day 123 - 126

Tuesday 4th  to Thursday 6th September 2018 - Mostly 🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞
Mileage 34 on Tuesday from Darum Camping to Romo Camping on the tiny island of Romo
🚴🚴 27 on Wednesday and 10 on Thursday.
Parking Co-ordinates 55.16231, 8.54571

Well, it must be said, that while we've been here I've been a bit lazy about writing this blog!!  My excuse it that the weather has just been too hot and lovely to be inside, and we've also had a bit of celebrating to do!!

🍾🎉🍾On the 5th of September it was 3 whole years since we started living full time in our motorhome - and hopefully we've got at least 3 more to come!!🍾🎉🍾



So while we've been here what have we been up to?  The answer to that would be nothing much on Tuesday.  We just drove the 30 odd miles from Darum to the tiny island of Romo which only has an area of about 128 square km, and to get there we crossed over the 9.2 km Romodaemningen causeway which attaches the island to the Danish mainland.

The whole island lies within the UNESCO listed Wadden Sea National Park and is made up of vast swaths of heaths and dunes,  along with mega wide sandy beaches that can extend the width of the island by over a kilometre at low tide - apparently they are considered Northern Europe's widest beaches.

Once we'd settled in on Tuesday we just put our feet up and enjoyed the lovely sunshine, so by Wednesday we were well rested and ready to start our explorations.  So with that in mind  our bikes took us on a complete circumnavigation of  the whole island but with lots of stops at points of interest on the way.

The first of these was Denmark's oldest and smallest school at Toftum.  It was attended by no more than 40 students in the 18th century, and now it provides a small work area that children can still visit - but at the mo it's undergoing renovation.  Then a little further down the road at Juvre we came across a fence that was made from a whale's lower jaw - I'm sure it's rather decrepit state was due to it's ancient age - it dated back to the 18th century when the population of the island lacked other materials with which to build.



Next came the huge expanse of Norreland Beach where the Danish Royal Air Force practice with their very noisy jets✈️ ✈️✈️!  The beach is closed to the public but there's a viewing platform that overlooks it, and on most days the jets shoot laser guided weaponry in the area.  We had a look from the platform but couldn't see much so we moved a little further up the coast and climbed up onto the dyke for a second viewing  - and that was when one of the noisy buggers flew over firing his weapon - the sound was deafening and it vibrated  the air and shook the ground which resulted in me jumping so far out of my skin that I had to walk half a mile to fetch it back!!  I tried to take a pic but all I got was a lot of blue sky - I really can't imagine how I missed it!

After that our ride continued mostly on off road track through pine forests, dunes and sometimes on the sandy beaches themselves, so all along our way there were plenty of  places for breaks and rests, however our last stop was at Romo Slagteren, and although we were there a while it wasn't for a break!

The Slagteren is a delicatessen and butchers shop that specialises is selling produce from the island and as we were celebrating our 3rd motor-homing anniversary we wanted something special for tea - and we got it.

The huge herds of sheep on Romo graze on grass from the salt meadows that are flooded daily by the Wadden Sea and this gives the meat a special taste - and apparently it also stops the sheep from getting worm infestations!! We selected a couple of fillets of salt grazed lamb that had been marinaded in garlic and rosemary, so with a posh salad and peppered potatoes, (and of course a drop of 🍷vino🍷)  our celebration went very well.

Then on Thursday we went along to Lakolk Stand to see the kites.  Here cars, motorhomes and pretty much any other vehicle can drive down onto the beach and several hundred had done to fly their kites.

But these weren't ordinary toys - they were bright colourful creative creations that were multi stringed and often kept their owners busy keeping them aloft, but it was a fantastic sight that filled the sky and stretched as far as the eye could see!

There was even a flying camper van!!

And if we thought it was busy today the weekend looks like being more so  because that is the date of the Romo Kite Festival, but sadly the weather looks as if it's likely to spoil their day with strong winds and lots of rain, so although we considered staying we've decided to move on as previously planned!

Friday 7th September 2018  🌧️🌧️🌧️⛅⛅☂🌧️🌧️🌧️
Mileage 27 from Romo Camping to a camper stop in Tonder
Parking Co-ordinates 54.93513, 8.87708

Well, what a night that was!!  The rain pounded down and sounded like nails hitting our roof, the wind howled and John snored 😂😂, so as you might imagine, I was very glad when morning came and some of the racket ceased!!  And my lack of sleep didn't really matter anyway because although this was our penultimate day in Denmark we hadn't really got much planned because rain was promised for most of the day.

Therefore, we dawdled over breakfast and once we eventually got going we only mosied a few short miles to the town of Tonder which is very near the German border.  Once there we parked in the town's Camper Stop and then dilly dallied about a bit longer so that we could have lunch before setting off for a short exploration of the town - and although it was quite a pretty one there was certainly no hussle or bussel about it.

We wandered through the old cobbled streets and as we went we learnt that this town is the oldest market town in Denmark having been granted that privilege back in 1243!
In 1532 it was hit by severe floods with water levels reaching 1.8 metres in the church despite the fact that the building sat 5.3 metres above sea level.
In  1550 Tonder lost it's direct access to the sea because dykes were built to the west of the town to prevent future flooding.
And the production of Lace is also deeply embedded in the town's history and this was evident in several shop windows.

After we'd toddled around the town we also ventured into a sculpture park where different types of material such as granite and bronze had been used to produce the works of 'art' -  but my only interpretation for the one on the left was of a very rude gesture, and the one on the right said it was a torso but I thought it looked more like a🐸!

After that our excursion was brought to an abrupt end because the huge black clouds that were swirling above us started to drop their contents on our heads so this resulted in a quick scurry back to T4rdis2 where we spent the rest of our afternoon chilling!!

So that's it - the end of our Scandinavian adventure - but not quite the end of this tour yet!  Our ferry home is booked for in a couple of weeks so we've still got a bit of time to tarry in both Germany and the Netherlands, but for now I'll sign off and we'll let you know when we get there 😗

Click here to see our Danish Camping Spots

Our Scandinavian Tour - Day 119 - 122

Friday 31st August and Saturday 1st September 🐇🐰🐇🌞🌞🌞⛅⛅⛅🌞🌞🌞
Mileage 0 - Parked at Dancamps Nordso on Denmark's West Coast
Walking miles 8 on Friday and Cycling miles 40 on Saturday
Parking Co-ordinates 55.94976, 8.14992

It's possible to cycle all the way
around the fjord but that's 110 😱km
and way beyond our capabilities!

I'm writing this tail tale on Saturday because after our long walk, and because it was such a lovely evening I just never got round to tapping any keys yesterday!

The little blue marker marks our campsite, so as you can see we're right between the North Sea and the Ringkabing Fjord, and really it would be hard to think of a more beautiful spot!  We're a hop skip and a jump away form the ocean and in the evenings the red orb of the sun sinks over the sand dunes behind us and then plunges into the sea.  Additionally, the site is very quite at this time of the year so all in all we seemed to have picked a very tranquil couple days.

However, as usual, we couldn't sit still!!  So on Friday we packed our picnic and walked for about 4 miles along the beach in a southerly direction - but we could have gone much further because the beach stretched in front of us for as far as we could see. Apparently this coast of Denmark offers unspoiled coastline in both directions for more than 500 km, but the North Sea is fickle, so although it looks idyllic the windy beaches are often battered by huge waves and rip tides are an ever present danger.   But that didn't matter to us because we'd no intention of getting wet - although the incoming tide did chase us up the beach on more than one occasion.

After 4 miles we paused for lunch and then turned back towards the campsite, but  instead of the beach we chose to walk through the dunes, and that was almost as picturesque with it's wind tossed lyme grass, rock roses and purple heather it often looked just like an artist's palette.  And here the walking was easy because it was along one of the many cycle trails that crisscross this area.

By the time we got home we were more than ready to put our feet up for a while, so the late afternoon was passed chattering and sitting in the sunshine with a nice cool beer in our hands.

On Saturday we decided we wanted to explore a little further afield so out came our bikes and we aimed them for the town of Ringkobing which is just below the top curve on the map above.  On the way we stopped of in the town of Hvide Sande which is home to the main entrance to the Ringkobing fjord via 2 piers that lead into it from the North Sea.

It is also here that  a sluice system can be found which was built in 1928 and to this day still controls the amount of water within the fjord, and we got an excellent view of the system by climbing to the top of a view point that used to house a German observation bunker.

Saturday's Dining Room

After that we found ourselves crossing more heath land which led us past the Lyngvig lighthouse and then onto a new bicycle path that was built a couple of years ago across the remnants of the historic Bagge's Dam.  The Dam originated in 1865, but now it provides a lovely trail across the shallow waters at the northern end of the fjord, and much to our delight, about half way across the 2 km track we found a  pretty picnic spot to stop at for lunch with the gently lapping waves of the fjord on both sides of us.

She's carrying Libra Scales -
My Birth Sign
Maybe we're related 😂😂😂

Soon after that we were in the town of Ringkobing and it was there that we cycled past a very amusing sculpture  - it's called Survival of the Fattest!

The town itself used to have a direct access to the sea via a strait but this was eventually cut off by moving sand banks so now boats arriving there have to come via Hvide Sande.  However, it was still has it's thriving harbour where all sorts of fishing paraphernalia and fish restaurants lurk, and many of the other streets are lined with flower bedecked houses that are inter-spaced with pretty little shops. 










By now our milometers were showing a little over 20 miles so after a short exploration we were ready to start our homeward journey, and with a bit of turbo power, and because we stayed mostly on tarmacked tracks our second 20 miles was achieved quite a bit faster than the first - but maybe we're getting a bit old because today's 40 miles was more than enough for both of us!






Sunday 2nd September 2018  🌞🌞🌞⛅⛅⛅🌞🌞🌞
Mileage 53 from Dancamps on the Ringkabing Fjord to Darum Camping a bit further South
+ 24 🚴🚴 miles
Parking Co-ordinates 55.43439, 8.64124

Today was a moving day - but not far - only a quick 50 miles, so we were settled in at our new home by lunch time.  Therefore, after we'd eaten we'd still got plenty of time for an outing to The Wadden Sea Centre, and to get there we cycled along quite roads and track  and also part of National Cycle Route 1 which runs for many miles along the Danish coast. 

Unfortunately our views of the sea were obscured by the Ribe Dyke which is 15 km long and stands 6 meters above the sea surface - a height that was decided upon as it corresponded with the level of the water in a storm surge in 1634!  It was built in 1911 and at that time much of the work was carried out manually, but the compacting of it was done by 4 oxen by walking them backwards and forwards several times!   The Dyke now protects vast swathes of arable land and many Danish homes from devastating flooding so although we didn't quite see what we expected we didn't mind because on the land side we were treated to striking views over ploughed fields and marsh land where huge birds of prey circled looking for their dinner.

But 'Oh Dear' we did get as far as the Visitor's Centre but just before we arrived John got a puncture, so by the time that was fixed it was nearly closing time and certainly not worth paying their £13 admission fee!  Therefore, we backtracked a short distance and sat on top of the dyke while we munched apple and sipped coffee, and from there we had lovely views over the sand flats, and more distantly of Mando Island.  The island is attached to the mainland via a 6 km causeway but twice a day the tide cuts it off completely, and although it was open while we were there we hadn't got time to cross today.  However, we were entertained by starlings 'murmuring' and also lots of other birds paddling on the muddy sand in what is Denmark's largest National Park.


Monday 3rd September 2018  ⛅⛅⛅⛅⛅⛅⛅⛅⛅
Mileage 0 - still at Dancamps
28 🚴🚴 miles

This morning we decided to visit the town of Ribe which is the oldest town in Denmark, and arguably one of the most beautiful with it's old cobblestone streets, numerous ancient half timbered buildings and Ribe Cathedral.   As usual we used pedal power to get there, but for many miles  before we reached the precincts of the town the prominent tower of 'The Church of our Lady' were clearly visible across the flat landscape!

The cathedral can trace it's history back to 1150 and at that time there were two towers of equal height on the west side, but on Christmas night 1283 one of them collapsed killing many of the people who were inside the cathedral and it was never replaced. 



The building sits in a lovely open square that has been recently renovated and is surrounded by lots of alfresco cafes and old hotels that offer all kinds of goodies to eat, so today we broke with our usual picnic tradition and instead enjoyed a meal outside the historic Dagmar Hotel parts of which are more than 425 years old!





John had a Wadden Sea burger (that was a bit fishy) and I had a Night Watchman burger (that was a bit cheesy)😂

In times gone by the Night Watchman would wend his way though the winding streets of Ribe and his duties would include watching for fires or floods and keeping order on the streets, but these duties ceased in 1902.  However, in 1935 the tradition was revived but only in the summer months - and apparently, here September counts as Autumn so for the time being they've gone back into retirement.

After we'd done feeding and exploring the town we started our homeward journey which took us back out to the Ribe Dyke and to the Kammersluse - a lock that allows sailing vessels into a canal that runs to Ribe and beyond.  Initially, John had suggested that we should eat at the hotel that is situated on it's banks, but apparently one of the specialities there was roasted eel with potatoes in cream sauce and I'm not sure I could have fancied that!

Looking out to the Wadden Sea

Looking down the canal that leads into Ribe

So instead of eating in the hotel we drank our own coffee on the edge of the canal and watched huge fish jumping clear of the water as they struggled against the current to get back out through the sluice gates into the Wadden sea!

We were being watched!

Then we'd just got `12 more miles to peddle home, but altogether in the last 4 days we've covered 100 miles on bike and foot so what should have been an easy ride turned out to be a bit of a battle especially as a strong wind was pushing against us!  Therefore, once again, we were very glad to use the aid that our e-bikes provide!

Tomorrow we're going to leave the Danish mainland and cross over to the Isle of Romo but we're very kindly going to give our bikes at least one day off!

Take care till next time 😙😙


Click here to see our Danish Camping Spots