Monday August 15, Flensburg – Regstrup, Funen, Denmark

Just on dusk and the view from the campsite with the bridge in the distance

Yes…good evening from Denmark, and we have finally got to Scandinavia.

Had a good night at our camp spot beside the water, and an 8.30 start this morning. First stop was at ALDI, the big German Supermarket Chain to stock up on some more wine….ALDI have a limited range but good prices so another 18 bottles got added to the stash. Picked up couple of Danish pastries for lunch at a wee pastry shop..yummy.

Then into Flensburg for some retail therapy. The sun was shining, and we parked in the same parking area as yesterday, and what a change with the shops open. People were wandering along the cobbled streets which are blocked off for cars, enjoying the warm day, eating outside and shopping…and what wonderful shops. Picked up a good map of Denmark, but the main purpose was to get a pair of walking/hiking boots for both of us. I found an Ecco shop (Vicki B you would have loved it), and got a really comfortable pair for myself, then at another shop Ian was very pleased to get a pair that fitted him like a T, just what he wanted. Meandered back to the van for a bite of lunch, and the yummy pastries (sinful but delicious – how to these people stay thin with all these goodies?) before heading north to Denmark at 1ish.

We had been told that we needed our passports for border control and were a little unsure about the extra goods we had on board, but we just got waved through and were on our way. Continued on the freeway, and the country looked a bit different, more rolling hills.  Ian, ever the farmer,  noticed the number of paddocks that had not been grazed and after talking to a local tonight, found out that they are subsidised for not grazing, just like UK…crazy. But a lot of wheat is grown and harvesting is in full swing.

We only had Euro with us, and knew we would need some Danish Kroners so pulled off to a small town of Aarup, and got some cash…2000 Danish Krona are about NZ$400. We are accumulating bits and pieces of currency as we head north, no doubt useful on the return. Pulled off the motor way before we left Funen and found a really nice campsite overlooking the water and the bridge that we will be crossing tomorrow. Finally, the weather has warmed up, and the wind has dropped, so after getting parked we took a walk along the beach. Felt so relaxing, and sort of keep pinching myself that we are finally here.

Getting into life on the road, ended up handwashing the towels and other bits and pieces after we had early showers tonight. We had read on a blog about how good a particular brand of camping towels were as they dried so quick, so we bought two from Amazon to try out, they only came in bright blue! Although not quite like normal towels, they do the job well and really do dry quick. So they are pegged out tonight along with the other bits and will see how dry they are in the morning. I could have used the camp laundry but at 35 Kr for a wash and the same for a dry, decided that I could manage by hand.

Finally back with internet coverage, so have loaded up photos from the past few days.

It is really interesting as we had just started to get a feel for Germany, it’s signs and some of its words and now we are on the learning curve again in Denmark. Certainly keeps the brain cells ticking over. As I took the rubbish to the bins tonight, I managed to interpret where the bottles went and where the general rubbish went…learning!

 And good news, had an email today regarding the challenge we made about the parking ticket we got in Dedham UK, they have accepted it and we don’t have to pay. Restored our faith!

Flensburg this morning

Flensburg..playing with my camera

Country lanes in Denmark

View from Ruakiwi of a Danish thatched roof - different with the wood at the top.

View from campsite - Ian cooking dinner!

Washing!