Day 10, Thursday, August 14th: Rønne – Almindingen
Weather: sunny, very strong wind
Kilometres cycled: 43
Route:
National route no. 10 “Round Bornholm”, own route, Regional route no. 25
Ferry: arrival in Rønne
Bike: Rønne, Arnager, Grødby, Aakirkeby, Almindingen
What a night... I think I must have slept a bit, but every sound makes me sit up again, making me feel sick and lying down again quickly. And I’m cold, so cold.
Around me, people are lying huddled in their sleeping bags, some even on a camping-mat. I now have a different cushion: some maps, brochures and books. I have put on my coat, with the hood over my head. The fleece jacket is round my legs. I don’t dare to take my glasses off. After all, you have to keep an eye on everything.
At last it gets light. The sun rises and the harbour of Rønne can already be clearly seen. I arrive broken. Phew...survived.
Rønne and Rønne area
It is beautiful weather! I cycle to the centre of the town and have my breakfast. It is only 7 o’clock and very quiet. Now and then, someone comes walking or cycling past and I am heartily greeted. Gradually the town wakes up.
I cycle along the west coast to the south, hoping to go round Bornholm. After some 15 kilometres, I’ve had enough. After a sleepless night, cycling with a head-wind – and not just any old wind, but a Danish wind (= strong) – is no longer fun. I look in my book to see if there is a camp-site nearby. Preferably with a shelter, nice and easy. And preferably also in the other direction, so that I have a following wind.
Hm... the nearest one is still some distance away. And the wind is to the side. Come on then... there is a shelter.
In the middle of Bornholm, there is a large wood, Almindingen. A paradise to cycle through. Here is the camp-site where I want to spend the night. The shelter is even accessible for wheelchairs!
Near the shelter is a play area – very beautiful, everything made of wood – and now and again people with children and/or dogs walk past. Some start a conversation. Most of them are surprised that one can spend the night here. “Are you going to sleep here??” “Hm, hm”. “Now??” I look at my watch, it’s only 2 o’clock. “No, not now, tonight”. (Actually, I mean: lee-me-alone, I’m tired and I want to sleep now). “I’ve just come off the ferry and didn’t sleep last night, which is why I’ve had enough and am already here”. Why do I always feel I have to justify myself?
My afternoon nap doesn’t come off. I take a beautiful walk, cook a real meal – noodles, mackerel in tomato sauce and a pepper – and go to bed early. I have just dropped off when I wake up with a shock. I hear, in English, “This one is already taken”. I look round the corner and see two ragged-looking cyclists, like me. “Hallo”, I say. “Oh... were you already asleep, sorry to have woken you”. I see that it is only half past eight, a ridiculously early hour to go to bed. Doesn’t matter. And again I make excuses, that I have come off the boat, etc., etc.
Day 11, August 15th: Almindingen – Østerlars
Weather: sunny warm
Kilometres cycled: 27
Walking: about 3 hours
Route:
National route no. 25
Bike: Almindingen, Østerlars, Melsted, Gudhjem
Ferry: Gudhjem – Christiansø
Walk: Gudjhem, Christiansø, Frederiksø
Ferry: Christiansø – Gudhjem
Bike: Gudhjem – Østerlars
After a refreshing night’s sleep, I cheerfully get on my bike again. It is lovely weather and luckily the wind has died down. As I am now in the middle of the island, I can’t go round it. But what does that matter? Let’s go to the little island of Christiansø today, it is now good weather.
The ‘Rundkirke’, Round Churches, can only be found on Bornholm (and 1 on Funen). These characteristic round churches are over 800 years old and have two-metre-thick walls, plastered white. Formerly, they were not only used as churches, but also as store-rooms and fortresses for the defence of Bornholm. The 4 Rundkirke on Bornholm are: Østerlars – the largest and most well-known; Olsker – the highest and most elegant church; Nylars – the best preserved church with the oldest frescoes; Nyker – the smallest church with frescoes from various periods. All four are still in use for the Sunday service.
When I arrive in Gudhjem, I enquire about the boat to Christiansø. This little island lies to the east of Bornholm and is the easternmost point of Denmark. It will be some time before the boat leaves so I wander through Gudhjem
I can’t take my bike to Christiansø, so I leave it with other bikes and only take my jacket and cycle-bag with me. Off to the most easterly part of Denmark!
About 18 kilometres to the north-east of Bornholm, lies the Erteholmene archipelago. These islands are administered by the Danish Ministry of Defence, which owns and lets all the houses on the island. The three largest islands are Christiansø, Frederiksø and Græsholm and there are a few more smaller islands.
Only Christiansø and Frederiksø are inhabited. Together they have 96 inhabitants at the moment (2008) and are connected by a pedestrian bridge. No cars are allowed on the islands. In the winter, the islands cannot be reached in the weekends. In the summer, the ferries run more often. Tourism and fishing are the most important sources of income. Every year, some 80.000 tourists come to the islands.
Christiansø is a quarter of a square kilometre in size and 22 metres high, making it the largest island of the Ertehomene. The island is hilly and consists mostly of rocks, which makes it almost impossible for cycling (I saw one bike, a very old one, standing against a wall) It is the easternmost inhabited island in Denmark.
I have a few hours before the ferry goes back and wander round the island with a map
Click here for more pictures of the beautiful islands Christiansø and Frederiksø
Christiansø is named after the Danish king, Christian IV. In 1684, he had the island made into the first sea fort in Northern Europe. He did this because the Swedish king built a harbour for warships in Karlskrona. Military buildings and military forces came and a lighthouse. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the island was used as the state prison.
Frederiksø is the third largest island of Erteholmene, after Christiansø and Græsholm. It is named after the Danish king, Frederik IV, who had a harbour and barracks built. The island is 0,04 square kilometres and 8 metres high.
After a stay of four hours on the island, the ferry is ready to return to Bornholm
Day 12, Saturday, August 16th: Østerlars – Østerlars
Weather: cloudy, dry
Kilometres cycled: 92
Route:
National route no. 10 “Round Bornholm”, Regional routes nos. 24, 21, 22, 25
Melsted, Saltuna, Bølshavn, Svaneke, Årsdale, Nexø, Snogebæk, Dueodde, Slusegård, Kællingeby, Nexø, Rytterbakke, Paradisbakkerne, Almindingen, Østerlars
The ‘camp-site’ where I am now is in the middle of the island Bornholm. A perfect starting-point for various cycle-routes. I decide to stay here for the next few days and do day-trips.
So no heavy bike.
Today, south-east Bornholm.
Harbor in Svaneke / Water-mill near Slusegård
When I get back to the camp, the caretaker tells me that the sun has been shining here all day. As far as the weather is concerned, I was on the wrong part of the island today.
Day 13, Sunday, August 17th: Østerlars
“Day of rest”
Weather: Rain
Kilometres cycled: 0
It’s raining cats and dogs. I sleep in and remain lying in the tent. Today is a good day for reading, writing my diary, solving crossword puzzles and listening to music.
But a day without cycling is a day not lived and I get into a bad mood. I get a message from Maarten and Els.. They have taken all my books, which were still in their house, to my new one and are now putting them into my bookcase. “Your house is transformed”, Maarten writes. Immediately I want to go home.
What am I doing here in a tent where there’s no room to move and you get soaking wet if you run to the W.C.? I could be nice and warm and dry in my new house, doing odd jobs with my friends and sorting things out. And sleeping in a real bed at night, with a mattress instead of the thin and now leaking self-inflating mat. I could...
But I am now here, after all, and who knows, it may be better tomorrow. Come on, don’t grumble, put your best wheel forward.
After supper (biscuits, a pepper and an apple), it clears up a bit. I can’t wait to go outside. I play with the dog which makes him happy too and then take a walk.
Day 14, Monday, August 18th: Østerlars – Østerlars
Weather: sunny, rain at the end of the day
Kilometres cycled: 81
Walked: about 2½ hours
Route:
National route no. 10 “Round Bornholm”, own route
Østerlars, Gudhjem, Salene, Helligdomsklipperne, Tejn, Allinge Sandvig, Hammer Odde, Hammerem, Vang, Hasle, Nyker, Skarpeskade, Årsballe, Østerlars
It is lovely weather today. But not only the weather, but my mood has changed. What of doing odd jobs in the house when you sit on your bike and enjoy such beauty.
Helligdomsklipperne
Hammeren is a granite peninsula with moor vegetation. A beautiful walk runs along the coast and the little lake, Hammer sø. I leave my bike at Hammers Odde and take a long walk via Hammeren. After a lovely walk of about an hour, I get back on my bike and cycle to Hammerhus.
Hammerhus is an impressive old fortress from 1250, situated on a 74 metre-high steep rock. Hammerhus is the largest ruin of a fortress in Northern Europe.
A road leads from the parking lot, via a bridge over the (dry) moat, to a fairly low, 740 metre-long outer wall.
The inner wall is 450 metres long and 9 metres high. There are only a few remains of the corner towers. The actual fortress is in the inner courtyard, with the Manteltårn of six stories.
Somewhere along the coast is Jons Kapel. But where? The name suggests that it is a sort of church or chapel. I follow the signs but come to increasingly narrower paths. At one point, I have to leave my bike behind because I can’t get past the many large rocks.
Hm... Should I go back? But then you’ll see that, had I walked just a few metres further, I would have found the chapel.
I really don't understand, but I want to go on.
Okay, then no Jons Kapel. I walk all the way back, collect my bike, and walk on, pushing it. At last I come to the main road again and cycle a long way on, until I see another sign with Jons Kapel.
Shall I try again?
I cycle onto the path, until there is a notice saying you can only go further on foot. I begin to hope that I shall get to see it. It will have to be special, given the trouble I take. I then come to long, steep steps going down the cliff.
When I get down to the bottom, there is hardly room to stand. Opposite the steps, the cliff rises up perpendicularly.
I look round and see only the cliff, the steps and the sea. No chapel or church. It is a nice spot but I go up again, disappointed. I know I need new glasses but to miss a church in such a small space? I meet more tourists on the steps and ask if they know where I can find Jons Kapel. ‘You’ve just come from it!’ Hmm...I bet. I go on up and ask other tourists there. ‘Down the steps here’. ‘Yes, I’ve been there but I didn’t see it’ The lady looks surprised. ‘Didn’t see it??’ Suddenly the penny drops. ‘You expected to see a chapel, of course. It is the steep, high cliff!’
‘Oh...’
Once an Irish priest lived here and preached from his ‘pulpit’. I can’t imagine how he managed that.
It is beginning to cloud over and I decide to take the shortest route back to the camp. But I can’t resist going to look round the Rundkirke in Nyker.
Bornholm is beautiful, a real paradise! Especially the north-western part of the island., Fjords, cliffs, little harbour towns, woods. It’s sometimes tough cycling, you have to climb and descend more than in the rest of Denmark. But you are amply rewarded for your efforts.
One disadvantage: it is very touristy. Luckily, the majority of the tourists are cyclists.
I have come across many holiday cyclists here – Danes, Germans and Poles. In Poland, it is very much the new trend for young people to have a cycling holiday. Bornholm is the ideal destination as it is relatively near and easy to reach by boat.
There are also many Poles on the camp-site, especially young couples. Most of them have just begun their cycling career. Everything is still new: bike, cycle-bags, tent, friend. It sounds to me like a good test for the relationship, but who am I...
Rondkirke in Nyker
Click here for more pictures of the beautiful island Bornholm
