Day 2

Thursday 9th June 2011 - Day 2. Esjberg to Aalborg, Denmark

After a hearty smorgasbord breakfast (cereal, cheese and ham, cooked breakfast, pastries) went out on deck. The weather was glorious and we could easily have been on a cruise in the Med! Got chatting to an interesting couple from Gloucestershire who were retired farmers on their way to Norway to visit his brother for the second time in 30 years. After a couple of hours soaking up the sun, we docked at Esjberg at 1pm and rode 3 hours north to a campsite in Aalborg, stopping off for lunch (cheese and ham roll "harvested" from this morning's breakfast!) in one of the many picnic areas en route. First impressions of Denmark: flat, wide expanse of green fields, very clean, modern buildings and housing, definitely had a chilled atmosphere. Bloody windy though! The receptionist at the "Strandparken" campsite was very friendly and spoke excellent English. Paid 100 DKR for a campingcard and 288 DKR for the pitch, including 2 shower cards (20DKR each). Bought 2 Tuborg beers, an onion and some bacon which came to 37 Danish Krone (£xxx). Pitched under a tree and had a wander round the campsite. The facilities were by far the best we have seen which included lots of picnic tables, a communal cooking area incorporating 6 gas hobs, 2 microwaves, an oven, outside BBQs, a utility area containing washing modern washing machines, tumble dryers and an iron and ironing board and the toilet and shower facilities were large and absolutely spotless! In fact this puts British campsite facilities to shame! Used our new MSR Dragonfly burner to cook our chilli pasta. Apparently it emits a maximum of 130 decibels, compared to an airliner taking off which emits 180 decibels!! Guess we won't be using that one for our early morning brew. Despite being seasoned campers and au fait with camp cooking, the meal didn't go according to plan.... The pasta went very gloupy (some of it was gluten free) and was overcooked so that went in the bin. Making the sauce, Cathy knocked the (very tasty) fried bacon on the grass (wasn't gripping the pincer pan holder firm enough) but we went with the 3 second rule and put it back in the pan! Then the lid came off the saucepan when Nick was draining the pasta and half of it splat on the grass. Ignored the 3 second rule and left it there to clear up later! In no time we had a marvellous first Danish camp tucker meal of chilli penne pasta in a chilli tomato, onion and bacon sauce, washed down, not with Carlsberg, but with a few cans of Tuberg. Nom, nom, nom. Had a wander round the site. Other than caravans and a couple of tents, there were several types of 'Hytte' (cabins) ranging from very simple huts offering just beds (ie no catering or washing facilities) to very modern designer-style Hytte with full catering and washing facilities,