Jutland...Parade

By Bea
Last Christmas we met Connie and Henrik, friends of Kirsty and Tim, during their annual holiday to Hua Hin. When they heard of our big adventure they offered to host us in their home town of Holsted, Denmark. I wonder if they really thought we would!? 8 months and many emails later we found ourselves in the driveway of a lovely bungalow in central Denmark. Fortunately Henrik was able to take time off work, being a baker he worked nights, and being the peak summertime season, days off were gold.

We sat down at the table at 1.00pm to a feast! They had prepared a Danish “Smorrebrod” a traditional festive meal usually around Easter or Christmas. A Smorrebrod are open faced sandwiches that you prepare yourself... but these are not just a ‘sandwich’!! The table is laden with an assortment of yummy breads from Henrik’s bakery, as well an array of toppings that included cold and hot seafood, assorted meats, baked pate, cheese, salads, vegetables and various pickles... accompanied by great wine of course. So much choice it was overwhelming, where to start! In fact it was harder to stop!! We got up from the table around 11.00PM.

Luckily we had planned to stay the night in their driveway!! It was a delicious lunch/dinner with great conversation and laughs. The slow lunch with friends is often overlooked in our hectic world but they can be amazing. The next morning the hospitality didn’t stop... we were greeted with another table full of yummy delicacies - including more bakery treats... to my delight!
Thanks Guys, it was amazing and great to catch up.

We rolled out of Connie and Henrik’s with many more destinations added to our itinerary, it had now become the ‘Sorensen/Toft Lund effect’, and headed to the west coast. In Esbjerg we visited a huge 9 metre tall sculpture of 4 men looking out to sea. Titled, funnily enough, “Men at Sea”. The day was extremely blustery and cold, so we didn’t hang around. Just long enough to admire the monument and take a few photos.

Blavand, the most westerly point of Denmark, has lovely sandy beaches and calm waters that, when sunny, would be worthy of a day lazing about, however today was not such a day.

The west coast of Jutland was a strategic part of the Nazi ‘Atlantic Wall’ that included around 8,000 concrete structures along its coast, of which 2,000 were bunkers. Many of them still exist and its quite eerie to stand on top of a sand dune and look down the coast and see them as far as the horizon. People hanging about sunning themselves on them, some are covered in graffiti, others in Blavand have, with added metal structures, become sculptures.

Tirpitz” is World War II museum based around one of the most significant bunkers along the coast, This bunker was to house 2 38cm SK C/34 navel guns that, when completed, would have had a range of 30miles, fortunately the war ended before it was finished. The museum itself not only exhibits the bunker but brings to life the human stories of locals who lived through this period. It was one of the best museums I’ve been to well laid out, interactive, informative and well worth the visit. Oh and the building by BIG architects is pretty cool to.

Since the weather was still not pleasant enough for any beach activities, we decided to press on up the very narrow peninsula to the small coastal town of Hvide Sande where we stayed the night.
The next day, the sun was out and it turned into a lovely summers day as continued our drive up the west coast through small towns of Sondervig, Kryle to Thyboron A pleasant fishing town where we stayed the night.

The summer weather continued the next morning, so by the time we arrived into Klitmoller a seaside town also known as “Cold Hawaii” the holiday makers were out and enjoying the beachside sun. Cold = yes, Hawaii? Hmm not so sure! There were hundreds of people with surf boards, paddle boards, wave skis, winds surfers etc... but no surf to speak of. We couldn't come all this way and not say we had swum in the North Sea could we!? So after a lunch of fish & chips (of course), we braved the cold waters and took a dip.

OMG it was so cold! We survived a quick dunk without a heart attack, but at least we can we say we swam in the North Sea!

Our journey along the west coast continued that afternoon and we made our way to the most northern tip and the lovely port town of Skagen.
The next day we took our deadly treddlies to explore further. We joined the hundreds of other people all making the pilgrimage to the most northern tip where the North Sea and the Baltic Sea meet and of course we had to brave the cold water and take a dip right where the waves (ok ripples) of each ocean collide... tick - done!

Leaving Kitmuller the previous day we had pulled off to the side of the road to check our whereabouts and reprogram the sat nav, when a guy pulled up beside us and wound down his window. My immediate thought was he would offer assistance... but no! He then threw a tirade of abuse at us saying “Go home. Go back to Germany. We don’t want any Germans here!”... we tried to tell him we are not German, we are Australian... but he just kept going... “You Germans are thieves. Go back to Germany! You look like a criminal!!!”... WTF!!!!??? He then drove off, leaving us totally bewildered. The Danes are such wonderfully friendly people but I suppose there are haters in all societies. After that incident, we decided it was time to get AUS stickers, mainly so people would forgive Pete’s appalling driving and so folks at campsites would chat to us English. Pete downloaded some images onto a thumb drive and as cycled around the town, we sought out a printer place. They were so helpful and printed off a roll of stickers for us. We now have a few Aussie stickers near the number plates! Although to be honest the other day a couple came up to us speaking in German! When we said we are not German, we are Australian, they quizzically looked at us, went back to the back of the van and then said “oh! yes!”

I must admit, one of the great things about the west coast is the lovely fresh fish and seafood. We have had several meals either buying freshly caught fish and cooking ourselves, or lazing in the sun, downing a cold local brew and enjoying a seafood lunch in a dockside cafe. Truly special.

We had reached the end of Denmark..literally so the next morning we boarded the car ferry to Sweden. Thank you Denmark for a wonderful introduction to Scandavania!