10 July 2014 (sunny and sweltering) 73 km

What is it with the Danish language ?

It’s hard enough to get your mouth around the place names, I would hate to try to learn it.

Cycling along and needing directions, usually, is no problem, because most Danes speak English.

They are also very helpful even if they struggle with English, as the universal sign and movement, always kicks in anyway.

What would you make of this?

Awake at 4.30am in our nature place campsite and we both thought we would struggle to go back to sleep, especially with the sound of the traffic on the not too distant motorway and also the high speed trains going past, but we hadn’t reckoned on just how tired we were from battling that wind all day yesterday.  Hence we finally rose from our slumber at 7am having both had very good sleeps, despite the lumpy ground and were ready for an early start.  A quick breakfast, packed up the tent and hit the road at 8.30am.

First off we had quite an impressive bridge to cross into the wonderfully named Middelfart.  Pete was asking for directions to Middelfart yesterday and I was cracking up because he could not bring himself to actually say the word.  He would point at the map and go “we want to go here” and the helpful Danish person he was asking would go “aah, Middelfart!” and Pete would politely go “yes, that’s it.”  Middelfart was situated in a forest area so was quite lovely to pass through but then we started to feel the heat of the day again.  

Didn't go across this bridge but had a great view of it.

There was not a cloud in the sky and we were on the main road for about 10km but it was getting quite busy and dangerous.  There are quite a few speedsters on Danish roads we have noticed.  So we turned off into Gamborg which was a nice little town and kept our eyes open for somewhere to

Would you like some jellyfish with your midges?

swim.  Thought we’d found a nice place but realised it was actually a private beach so decided we’d better leave it and noticed a couple of huge jellyfish as we were leaving – yuck!  We then cycled on through Fons, hugging the south west coast of the isle of Fyn down to Assens.  

The streets of Assens

We were absolutely sweltering by the time we got there and thankfully there was a lovely beach just as we entered the town and we didn’t have to go searching.  Gratefully sunk into the cool water and rinsed off all the heat and dust from the road.  There were plenty of people at this beach but again, they don’t really seem to swim – just bathe.  There was still the same blackish kelp we’ve seen all over the place but a lot more spaces without it where you could easily move between the bits of kelp and there was none of the brown murkiness we have found in so many other places.  The water was also cooler than when we swam yesterday and we were grateful for that.

They even take care with the pattern in their cobblestones.

Got out and had lunch without midges or mosquitoes but we didn’t manage to find any shade so had to sit out in the hot sun eating our ham buns, nectarines and choc chip muffins.  Then it was in for a final cool off before heading into town for a look around.  Assens is a lovely town with a lot of old buildings and a real Mediterranean feel.

The church in Assens

Then it was time to head further down the coast.

We were both feeling really drained from the heat and stopped for a half price Magnum (only $3 each today) at Ebberup which we ate in the shade.  Found it really difficult to extricate ourselves from the shade but eventually we did and plodded onwards.  The afternoon was very much a slog and we could well have been cycling anywhere in the Mediterranean.  The sky was blue and hazy and the sun was burning hot.  

Lots of wheat fields today in between the thatched cottage villages

The churches in the villages also had a Mediterranean look to them.

There were numerous thatched cottages in the villages we passed through – probably more than any other country we’ve been through thus far.  Thatchers would have a thriving business over here as there is no shortage of work.

At half four we decided to call it a day as we had no energy left.  Found a campsite by the sea but as usual the beach was rubbish but mercifully they had a great swimming pool.  So as soon as we’d set the tent up, we made straight for the pool where we had a couple of swims and a bit of a lie down on the loungers.  Then we both had cold showers (from choice) and felt revived enough to cook some dinner which we ate outside as a breeze came up and the sun went down.  It was the nicest temperature of the day.  Should mention that after our showers we washed our cycling shorts and these were both dry by the time we had eaten dinner.

Sat around talking to a Danish couple while the computer charged and the man invited me to see his wee wee.
"I giggled nervously and said "Your wee wee?"
"Yes", he said, "I have a little old wee wee."
He clearly didn't realise it takes more than a little old wee wee to tempt me away from my coffee.  He decided to see if he could tempt me any further by adding, "Yes, I have a wee wee cabriolet".
The penny dropped and I realised with some relief he was referring to his VW Cabriolet.  
Still wasn't enough to tempt me away from my coffee though.  So we continued with our blogging and went to bed about 10.30pm.