12 July 2014 (sunny and warm, late pm cool, drizzle) 57 km

The bridge we cycled over last night to get to Rudkobing on the island of Langeland

It’s amazing the sounds that occur first thing in the morning…..and I mean first thing…!

4am I was awake, having not slept too well, when really a small adjustment to my pillow [and I use the term loosely ] would have sent me back to sleep.

First off at that time was the hoon on the noisy motorbike who perhaps had been clubbing in the town of Rudkobing. Being a somewhat back in time, type of town, it may well have been ‘clubbing’ in the Fred Flinstone fashion. As per usual, this kind of person always works on the premise that if they are up, then so should everyone else be.

About a half hour later, were the usual coo coos, I am so familiar with. Being a Saturday I didn’t think there would be too much traffic around, but no….. the rubbish men here are very conscientious, collecting all your crap at 5am.

By 5.30am, all those who had wanted to go wees in the night, but managed to hold it in, were out and about. 6am ……think back parents……yes…those little ones are up and at em, no camp etiquette here, so at 6.30am I thought what the hell. I took my shaving/showering stuff, in its noisy plastic bag, opened as many zips as loudly as I could and flip flopped, with big slaps of foot on jandal, over to the showers to wake myself up……..oh no…… that’s right…..I’d been awake since 4am.

Julia here…..awoke at 6.30am with the sun shining on my face after a lovely night’s sleep.  The birds were gently cooing and as I stretched I could feel my muscles respond, ready for another day of cycling.  Looked briefly at the flysheet and checked with satisfaction that it was crisp and dry, ready for pack up.  Looked like it was going to be a lovely day and I turned my head to see if Pete was awake.  He was.
"Good sleep?" I asked.
"Grrr" he responded and then announced he was off for a shower.  Seemed like a good idea so I went off for a nice cold shower to cool me off before we hit the road.

Pete’s mood had improved after his shower and we had a cup of tea while I sent wage slips and started working out the PAYE and wishing I’d brought a calculator – I know there’s probably one on this tablet but it’s just quicker working it out in my head than trying to find out where the calculator is.  Met a Swiss couple, Baptiste and his wife, who are cycling with their two kids around Denmark for four weeks.  The kids would be about 7 and 4 and they are well set up with the 7yr old girl in a recumbent position at the front of her Mum’s bike, helping with the pedalling when she felt like it, and the Dad towing a little trolley with the 4yr old in.

After breakfast we packed up and headed into the town of Rudkobing, which is very old in parts like many of the towns in Denmark.  Rows of quaint, coloured cottages line the cobbled streets with roses growing out of the unlikeliest little cracks in the ground. 

Had a look around the marina before heading out of town on a deserted country lane, all the way to the other side of the island about 10kms away.  There we arrived just in time to catch the 11.30am ferry to the island of Lolland.  This was about a 45 min ride costing $25NZ each.  After stowing the bikes downstairs with the cars, we came up to the salon and eyed up the menu.  Mmmmm, looked good so we thought “why not?” and Pete ordered a hamburger and chips and I had a mince and corn crepe – both were delicious! 

Got off the other side and after checking the map board we followed a country lane for the first 10km and passed through the lovely little villages of Sandby and Halsted.  We then went on the cycle lane of the main road as it wasn’t too busy and the country lanes became a bit too indirect.  It was very pleasant cycling as the terrain was flat and the temperature warm without being hot.  

Wheat and windmills were the order of the day

We're impressed with the plentiful supply of WC's in Denmark

The tar on the road was still feeling the heat though and our tyres would pop little tar bubbles as we rode – it was kind of like riding over bubble wrap…pop…pop…pop.   We had a headwind which slowed us down a bit but also cooled things down a bit so we weren’t complaining.

There were also a lot of lovely churches

As it was we got to Maribo about 3.30pm and thought the World Cup final was likely to be on tonight so we should find somewhere to watch it.  Had a look through town while we were at it – quite a nice little town but weirdly empty so it had a neglected feel.  

Eighty, fifty and ninety years old

Went down to take a look at the church and smiled at an elderly couple we met down there.  She could speak English and we struck up a conversation and she was quite enchanted with us.  Turns out she was 80 and the man, who was her neighbour, was 90 although neither of them looked it.  They were so lovely that I couldn’t help but give them a hug before we parted ways.  I nearly didn’t but Paul Macartney’s words from Hey Jude echoed in my head (‘It’s a fool who plays it cool, by making this world a little colder” da da da daa da, dadada)  and I thought, I’m not going to contribute to this word being colder.

Pete here again………..So…..we’re in this town of Maribo and decide to find a bar that will show the World Cup, third and fourth play-off. Asked around, went into a bar where four guys were pissed out of their brains………..it was 4pm….! Still nothing. Found a supermarket to get tonight’s meal and breakfast…….asked in there……..nothing…!

We’d seen the signs for a camp coming into town, so decided to check it out. Arrived and got talking to a mum of two teenagers and what had been a lovely warm day…… turned to crap…!

It bucketed down. Big black clouds, going nowhere, just sitting overhead. The young mum brought up the forecast for the next two days and it’s rubbish. 

Maribo 

Stood sheltering under our groundsheet as the rain fell for at least 45 minutes before seeking shelter in the t.v. room where we spent another 45 minutes, Julia doing P.A.Y.E. and me glancing at the Tour de France. One highlight to the situation was that the game is on tonight at 10pm, although only the 3^rd/4^th playoff, not the final as we had thought.

When a gap appeared in the rain, we were into it. Tent up, gear stored, in record time. Had coffee and muffins in the tent as the weather packed in again, before we both wrote the blog and Julia dived off first to the showers. Had wanted to get to Copenhagen by Tuesday as Liverpool are playing Brondby in a friendly there, but if the weather report is correct and glancing out of the tent right now……it probably is……it will be hard slog to do it.
Had a late (9pm) but delicious dinner of bacon and scrambled eggs on bread buns and then made a coffee to go and watch the game with about fifteen other campers.  There was a very loud group who had been occupying the lounge for the past couple of hours and even though we couldn't speak the lingo, we could feel the hostility from the other football appreciators who wanted the loud group to shut up so they could hear the commentary.  It was very annoying from this group of about eight and eventually they went off to bed just before half-time.  You could feel everyone else breathe a sigh of relief.  We were all able to enjoy the rest of the game in peace and judging by the response every time the Dutch scored, we were all supporting the same side.  Shame they weren't playing in the final because they had a fantastic side this year and Robben was an absolute stand out every game we saw.
It was still raining lightly as we went to bed, wondering what tomorrow will bring.