>Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator
(>Pictures at the bottom!)
It was a bit annoying when a stomach flu put me (Tom) to bed one day before our departure. Although everything was ready, there are usually many little things that have to be done before departure that can hardly be done beforehand or have been forgotten. So in the end Chantal had to lug the heavy luggage to the jeep and stow it in it, while I lay hunched in bed hoping for a quick recovery. Since we had opted for the motorail train for the trip to Hamburg, another departure day was not possible and so we – Chantal with her lifeless husband – went on a short farewell tour. The jeep was quickly up on the transport wagon in the Lörrach goods station and I (Tom) was even more quickly horizontal in the sleeper compartment.
The next day, on the delayed arrival in Hamburg, the gastrointestinal “disturbance” had disappeared. Although I was still a bit exhausted, I felt fit again for the next adventures in northern Europe. The ride from the train and through Altona station was, as in previous years, a special experience and we were already standing outside in Hamburg. We quickly left the metropolis on the Elbe, steered our vehicle in the direction of Kiel and again tried to take side roads so that we could experience Schleswig-Holstein away from the major traffic routes. The big towns were soon behind us and the longer we drove across the country, the more we felt like travelling.
In a bay we retreated to a campsite – wild camping is not so easy in Germany – and enjoyed our first swim in the Baltic Sea. In the evening, during dinner, we calculated our upcoming crossing to Hirtshals, from where the ferry to Iceland will depart, and realised with horror that our time planning was completely off. What others do in 5 hours, we calculated a whole 10 days. Presumably every cyclist would have travelled faster!
We immediately changed our plans for the rest of the journey up to the northernmost point of Jutland and reduced our speed considerably. From now on, enjoyment was our top priority and we zigzagged northwards along the eastern side of the peninsula.
But before we could enter Denmark, the Danes wanted to know exactly; vaccinated or a PCR test! They probably didn’t let everyone and everything in. On the other side of the border, everything was a bit more permissive for us Swiss and Covid19 was almost a foreign word.
After a short spell of bad weather, we experienced only beautiful and almost unbearably warm weather. While in Central Europe Peter opened the floodgates without restraint, we were able to experience pure summer weather.
In addition to many small and sometimes very pretty villages or hamlets, there were also larger towns on our way. In Denmark, too, building is going on everywhere, which immediately catches the eye in the cities. Entire neighbourhoods are being replaced by modern and contemporary architecture, which did not always suit our taste. On the other hand, the red brick houses are lovingly maintained and many corners present themselves in a postcard idyll.
Aarhus and Frederikshavn were already behind us when we pushed our way through the tourist bustle of Skagen. Not only we, but everyone else was enjoying the wonderful warm weather and the free summer holiday atmosphere. But we kept asking ourselves if this behaviour could soon have negative consequences again; maybe the delta will soon be followed by the even crazier gamma variant.
At the northern tip of Jutland, our photos were soon taken, and at the northwestern coastline we found a quiet spot in the dune landscape. As people were driving around everywhere with their cars on the paths, we also didn’t worry too much that we were doing something forbidden here. The rising and strong westerly wind gave us a rather uncomfortable night, in addition to the visit that soon followed. Deep in the night, we were visited by two policemen at our camp and their message was relatively clear: Wild camping was forbidden here and we had to clear the site by seven o’clock in the morning! Whether we had overlooked something in the local regulations or we had been ratted out by a dog walker – all in a car with a dog running behind, of course – we will probably never find out.
So we reached our destination port, or rather port of departure, earlier than planned. After the last supplies in Hirtshals, we drove back a little and looked for a sheltered campsite to stay until the imminent crossing to Iceland.
We are ready – Iceland, we are coming!
>Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator