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Godt Nytår (Happy New Year in Danish)
Once the New Year had worn off it was time to get back to the business of training. Only a month left so apart from all the admin and planning that continues time also for some focused kayaking. Steve jumped on a plane from Stansted and within 2 hours was kayaking down with BV. The Nørreå is a river in Jutland, Denmark running from Viborg, East to the Sea near Randers. Denmark is flat so this isn’t a white water epic but a pleasant twisting amble through the Danish countryside. Or rather would be if we hadn’t got a schedule. Winter in a Scandinavian country with its long cold nights has created a word “hyggelig” that does not exist in English. Roughly translated as cosiness it is used to convey a meaning of closeness, warmth and niceness which is much valued in a country with a long hard winter. As darkness descended and we were still 8km from our pickup point it was feeling a bit unhyggelig on the river. However, we were treated to a calm moonlit night and it took on a magic feel of exploration as we chased swans down the river and paddled on.
32km later and back home we set about planning for the next day a trip to Silkeborg lakes about 30mins South of Viborg. Here Denmark’s largest and longest river the Gudena flows through a series of meandering lakes in a very popular summer tourist area. Two crazy Brits looking for space on the river in winter found plenty and despite the rain and drizzle we had another cracking day although Steve lost his watch early on. (See photo below of last known sighting!).
Otherwise we again cracked the Kms via a few unconventional portages round the few weirs and finished the day 29km later appropriately tired.
(See Route below)
The final day we headed West to find the North Sea to get some proper kayaking. We had a route planned but on the drive over feared the worst as the wind buffeted the van. As we umed and ahhed got the van stuck in the sand and once extracted decided to go for `standeasy’ (coffee break).
From the hotel we spotted a slightly calmer spot and after considering the offshore wind, strong rip tide and the chances of ending up on one of the many groynes we braved the elements for a real high seas workout. Who says Sea Kayaking is not an action extreme sport! Several big breaking waves later some eskimo rolls and a few landings where nature was definitly more in control (than me anyway) we finished on a high. Unfortuantly we hadn’t had time to get cameras out as we were rather busy with the paddling. Luckily the remote camera kit is developing nicely so next time we will have it all on video as well.
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