Moose on the Move!

... the story picks up in South East England...

Inexperience and overeagerness meant that we arrived at the ferry terminal in Dover a full two hours before our ferry was due to sail. It was quite exciting driving onto the ferry, a new experience for all of us, and after watching the famous white cliffs recede into the hazy horizon we wasted little time in checking out the whole ferry and then sitting down for some breakfast.

It was a two hour sail to Dunkerque (we had booked our ticket to there instead of Calais for a number of reasons, including price and the fact that we would be heading East as soon as we got off the boat) and it passed easily. Ferry is a lovely way to travel. Papa took responsibility for driving the first strech on foreign soil being, as he was, the most experienced among us of driving on the 'wrong' side of the road.

We were a real team when we set off; Papa driving the car, Elke trying to navigate, Mum translating French Road signs and Chris being the little voice in the back saying 'Keep right, keep right'.

That first day we drove through five countries! England, France, Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany, five! That's half last year's total in one day. And yes, we decided we could count all of them because we stopped for at least fuel or a pee in each of them. (I know it's a little flimsy but it's good enough for us).

That night we stayed with one of Papa's cousins (Birgit) near the Northern German city of Hannover. We arrived a little late, had a late dinner and then went to bed. The following morning we were shown around the doctor's surgery of Birgit's husband Martin. It has been installed in an old firestation. It's an amazing conversion with some really clever uses of the space.

Later that day the (Summer Solstice) we continued our mad dash northwards towards Denmark and my ex-host-family just outside Randers. During the middle of summer in Denmark the sun dosent go down until about ten thirty in the evening, I took a photo off the balcony that night of the sky at midnight still with sunset colours spashed across it. I love European summers!

We spent the next couple of days with my host family in and around Randers. We visited the high school I attended during 1997, we went to Den Gamle By (The Old Town) in Arhus which is a fabulous little park full of hundreds of years old buildings collected and moved from various sites around Denmark.

On the Thursday evening we were joined by the whole family for dinner. It was a lovely evening and we got to meet Andrea, the beautiful daughter of Martin (my old host-brother) and his partner Anette, for the first time. The evening was finished off in front of the TV watching Australia play in the World Cup. Are you seeing the football trend taking shape on this trip...?

Friday we headed as far North as you can in Denmark to a place called Skagen where two seas meet - the Baltic and the North Sea. It was a windy day and the waves were impressive, especially when they smashed into each other. Chris 'Eagle Eyes' Mooring spotted a seal floating in the waves, keeping an eye on all of us on the beach. The spit off the end of the land is constantly in motion (slowly of course), over time they have had to build several lighthouses because the coast keeps moving. A good indication of the amount the spit has moved are the concrete bunkers that were built on the north side of the spit during WW2 - they are now in the water to the south of the spit!

Every year in the summer the Danes celebrate Sankt Hans. It marks the summer solstice and involves the lighting of huge bonfires up and down the coast - this is to keep witches away - and generally a big party with music and dancing and a lot of good natured carry on. If you're ever in Denmark around the solstice I'd suggest getting involved in Sankt Hans. For this year's celebrations we went with the Andersens to their summer house in Blokhus and enjoyed the festivites on the strand there. Mum and Papa were caught on camera dancing in the light of the setting sun by the local news station!

On Saturday we bid farewell to the fabulous Andersens and drove off to the other side of Denmark (it's not a very big country) to visit Anette and Kent and their daughter Laura (who we visited in October of 2005 - for avid blog readers). Our hosts had a wedding to attend that night so we took the evening off, our first since we left home, and stayed home to relax. There may have been more soccer watching that went on that night.

On Sunday Anette and Kent took us into Copenhagen for a fantastic day exploring the city. We watched the changing of the guards at Amalienborg and took a fabulous boat trip around the city. After lunch we visited Rosenborg Slot (Rosenborg Palace) and took in the antique furnishings and crown jewels. It's brilliant that they not only let you into see them but allow you to take photos, just another sign of the commonsense and down-to-earthness of the Danes.

Back in Holbaek Chris took it upon himself to teach 16 month old Laura and her dad, Kent, how to play footy Aussie style. Laura was a little confused by the ball that refused to roll nicely away from her when she kicked it.

Monday was a miserable day weather-wise so we took care of a few housekeeping things, had a look around the town of Holbaek and made preparations to head south to Germany the following day. It was a great trip to Denmark and fabulous to show my parents and Chris all the places that were special to me when I lived there. Hopefully it won't be so long until we see all our friends there again.

Episope Three 'Returning Opa' to follow...