Lathams News: DAY 12 - HEADING NORTH TO EXPLORE THE COAST LINE....

This morning we had another early Chiropractor appointment. Steve was still having a lot of issues with his lower back and was finding sitting difficult for any length of time. He still was not aware that he had cracked a disc in his lower back.

I waited in the car for Steve whilst he went in to have his back seen too. The trees were in full bloom and I just wanted to sit outdoor and enjoy the beautiful sunshine and blue skies along with taking in the beauty of all these gorgeous trees out in full bloom.

Majestic in bloom.

Pete had suggested this morning that we might like to do a bit of a coastal drive up to Hundested stopping off to explore as we went. We were to then follow the coast road up to Liseleje and then come back throug Frederikvaerk and then through some of the smaller villages to return home.

We left directly from the Chiropractors and headed north. This was our first time out driving further a field from home on our own. We followed the coastal road up to Frederikvaerk and were in our element. It was a beautiful day and the countryside was amazing. Lots and lots of canola fields out in bloom. In fact the colours were vibrant where ever we looked today. The sky was blue, the fields were bright green or golden yellow and even the water in the fjords we drove alongside of were vibrant blue. Just a wonderful day to be out exploring..

Fields of yellow and green wherever we looked...

The colours around us were amazing...

Country driving in Denmark

The churches in Denmark all look the same..


Driving through the forest...

Denmark is very environmentally friendly and most of their comes from wind turbines which are everywhere in Denmark. We noticed them where ever we went. The number of active wind power turbines in Denmark has increased every year from 2011 until the peak in 2021, when it reached 6,271. Most of the active wind turbines in Denmark are onshore, around 5.6 thousand compared to 630 offshore.

Wind turbines are everywhere

Beautiful beautiful countryside where ever you go.

The richness of the colours.

Driving along the coast we found a place to pull over so we got out and went for a little walk along the foreshore. There are lots of little wooden fishing boats in Denmark. Slightly different to all the tinnies we have back home... They are just pulled up and turned over and left on the foreshore..

Again the wild flowers are everywhere. They are different where ever you go..

Lots of little wooden boats left up on the foreshore

From where we were, we could see a fishing harbour not far ahead so the plan was to go and check it out once we left here...

There were a couple of really nice typical Danish homes with thatched roof's where we had pulled up. The Danish people are very proud of their flag and country and you often see their houses with a flag flying.. However, their rectanglar flags cannot be left up over night as they believe that it invokes evil spirits. They can however fly their triangular flag overnight. Mostly they fly their rectangular flags to celebrate birthdays and special occasions...

From here we continued our journey until we came across some lovely holiday villages right near the sea. The roads were narrow but the little towns were very picturesque and we loved them. We drive through town and right down to Lynaes Harbour.

One thing we noticed when in some of the smaller Danish villages where that most of their streets would have a post in the middle of the road. This is to ensure that motorists slowed down and gave right of way to each other. It all seemed a bit bizarre to us. There would be two lanes from traffic until you came to one of these obstacles and then one car would need to give right away to the other car before anyone could proceed.

Lynæs is a lovely area and lies perfectly sheltered by the high cliffs of the headland at the inlet to Isefjord, just 2 km south of Hundested. This idyllic fishing village is one of Denmark's oldest – and is very popular with sailors from Isefjord, Roskilde Fjord and Kattegat. They flock to the charming marina here. This was pretty evident to us as the marina was full of boats and was quite busy.

Checking out the beach at Lynaes

Beautiful Danish beach homes..

On the beach at Lynaes

Checking out the Lynaes Marina

Lynæs arose after the Kikhavn fire in 1793 and is the next-oldest fishing hamlet on Halsnæs.

During the 19th century fishing from the idyllic harbor reached its peak, the ferry crossed over to Rørvig, and there was a steamer to Frederikssund and Nykøbing until late into the 20th century.

Now, most of the fishing cutters are based in Hundested, which now also has the ferry to Rørvig.

Checking out the Lynaes Marina..

As we arrived we noticed this tractor moving this rather large boat down towards the water's edge. We were interested to see how they would launch the boat and were happy to stand and watch the process. It was quite amazing, and reminded up of our visit to Norfolk Island as they also launch their boats using a big crane. There was no boat ramp at the marina so we can only speculate that all boats were launched this way.

The crane was swung around so that they could position the boat tp be picked up by the huge crane. The boat owners were there to oversea it all happen.

Lynaes is a great location in Summer especially for families a there are playgrounds and an adventure bridge at the harbour. There are also lots of BBQ's available for picnics and a lovely swimming area as well as shelters and bonfire areas. We can already see that it i a very popular place to be..

There were some great little cafe's and restaurants as well as an ice cream parlour. Ice creams are very popular in Denmark in the summer months. There is also a fish market here where you can bu y freshly caught fish to take home...

After watching the launching of the boat, Steve and I took a walk out along the pier to check out some of the boats in the marina. They came in all shapes and sizes, and there were plenty of them. There are so many boats in this country. Seems that there are almost as many boats as cars...

One thing about the Danes.... they love the great outdoors and so we found on our travels that there were picnic tables most places we went, some in the most unlikely of places. Here at Lynaes, they had picnic table on the pier.

Picnic and swimming areas...

Steve took the long walk out along the pier whilst I check out the marine life in the water below...

He met a fisherman out there and had a lovely long chat to him about fishing in Denmark and the sorts of fish that are caught over here.

Whilst Steve was out at the end of the pier a couple of ladies took a stroll along the pier, they were quite rugged up against the winter wind that was blowing so you can image my shock and surprised when they stripped down to a pair of bathers and then proceeded to go down into the water for a dip... It took them a few attempts to get into the water and when they did, they didn't last too long in there. We must be a bit spoilt back home with our lovely warm water and even sunny winters, as I could not even begin to imagine that it would be worth the effort to strip right down and then get into freezing arctic water to become freezing cold just to hop straight back out of the water and try and rug up again and try and get warm. I won't even swim at home in Winter and our winter temps are somewhere between 19-24 degrees.

Crazy Danes swimming

Sea marine characters are similiar the word round but I was fascinated watching a crab hide in the seaweed and then sneak in and out. I had fun trying to photograph it. There were also lots of jelly fish. In fact we saw lot of jellyfish everywhere we went in Denmark...

I watched this little crab hidding in the seaweed...

Lots of jellyfish in the water also..

We really enjoyed our little visit to Lynaes, it was one of those pleasant surprises that you just stumble across. We left here to travel the extra couple of kilometres to Hundested. Hundested lies at the entrance from the Kattegat to Isefjord and Roskilde fjord and is a charming authentic port town. It has a unique blend of a modern cultural town and an active commercial port where the fishing boats arrive daily with the day's fresh catch.

Hundested - those poles in the middle of the road help slow the traffic down..

We headed straight to the Harbour to check out some of the boats. We didn't spend too much time walking around here as we were already behind our schedule after spending so much time at Lynaes.

We were impressed with Hundested Harbour. It offers a great opportunity to enjoy the beautiful scenery, while there in the old fishing port is a culture and experience harbor. In the morning the fish is landed by local fishermen and later that exudes the atmosphere of galleries, restaurants, glass factory, a brewery and an experience platform, where you can touch the fish and catch crabs.

Beautiful views of the coastline and summer holiday houses.

From Hundested, we decided to drive up along the coastline and check out some of the lovely holiday houses we could see from the harbour. Our plan was to drive along the coast road to Lieleje where we planned to stop for lunch..

Our drive took us through some more beautiful countryside and some lovely beaches. Most of these Most of the beaches had cliffs as backgrounds and there were always staircases down onto the beach.

The beaches up north all had lovely fine white sand..

Danish country roads. - no centre line...

One thing we notice about country roads in Denamrk, is that there are no middle lines. Cars travel in the middle of the road and if there is on coming traffic you just move to the side of the road whilst you pass each other. This is very different to back home...

Lovely views of the coast line.... the colours of the ocean are quite stunning up on thi coastline also, even more so when the sun is shining on it...

Unusual table and chair perched on a hill top..

We are so thankful that Pete suggested this drive and the area up around here is really quite beautiful. We are quite enjoying our hire car also and it's lovely sun roof which allows us to enjoy the warm of their Spring sunshine without the cold winds blowing in the windows...

Love our hire car with it's sun roof...

From here we had to head in land to Melby on our way to Liseleje. Melby was a total surprise. In the distance we could see this windmill, so decided to see if we could get closer so that I could get a photo of it. What we didn't realize when we set off to find it was that you could actually go inside it. This was a real plus for us...

Coming into Melby - we spy a windmill in the distance

Melby Windmill is a smock mill located at Melby, Halsnæs Municipality. The windmill was built in 1878 for Hans Petersen, a sailor born in 1846 at Sjællands Odde. He operated it and a bakery until 1907. It has later been used as a sawmill. It was taken out of service in 1946 after the tailpole had been destroyed in a storm.

The windmill consists of an octagonal tower clad in shingles and topped by an ogee cap. The cap carries the four Common sails. It is winded by a tailpole. The mill stands on a stone case, which has an underpass for wagons.

Today after restoration by the locals, the windmill is owned by Halsnæs Municipality. It has been restored, but not to working order. It is open for tourists and visitors to visit and a key can be obtained from neighbouring houses if the door is locked.

Steve ejoyed the climb inside to check out the workings of the windmill. It was all made from wood, including the clog wheel. He found it really fascinating, not only the workings of the windmill but the craftmanship in restoring it all. He did take quite a few photos of it...

They did have sketches and plans of the windmill inside which was quite interesting. It gave details about the workings of the windmill..

There was a set of wooden steps to climb to the top of the windmill. They were pretty steep so it was probably a good thing that I didn't attempt them..

Steve really found the big wooden clog wheels fascinating...

Melby is a village located on the Halsnaes peninsula midway between Frederiksvaerk and Hundested. It's most notable landmarks are its church, its windmill and a former military camp. It is quite small with a population of only 790 folk...

The name Melby is also associated wit Melbylejren, a former military installation which is now located in Liseleje-Asserbo.

One of Melby's famous landmarks..

Melby Kirke is one of famous landmarks in Melby and is an original Romanesque stone church which was built in about 1100AD. The tower and current chancel date from the 16th century. Both are built in red brick and are decorated with white lesenes. The cross-vaulted interior is richly decorated with frescoes from the 1600th century.

The site also includes a church barn from the first half of the 16th century which was listed in 1967. Only about one quarter of the original barn survives since the rest disappeared when the building was renovated in 1722 after having fallen into despair. The east wall with the two doors and the south gable date from 1888 when the building was adapted for use as a burial chapel...

By now it was well and truly lunch time by the time we arrived in Liseleje. In fact it was going onto 2pm when we arrived. Liseleje is a seaside resort town which buzzes with activity all through summer. Liseleje has inviting cafes, restaurants and vintage boutiques, and for the kids, there is an awesome games palour which includes mini golf, and rides and then across the road there is Havtyren of the most beautiful natural playgrounds in the country.

Liseleje Bilbane Adventure Golf was a really fun looking adventure playground. It wasn't opened when we arrived but was open by the time we left. Situated right near Playground was a very popular ice cream palour. It was very popular and there were a stream of customers. We were hungry so headed to the restaurant next door for lunch. Although Pete hadn't told us the name of the restaurant, he had told us that there was a very good restaurant there that we could have lunch at. It turned out that we ended up at the restaurant that he was talking about...

Too cute..

Mini Golf with a twist...

We had lunch at Lisestuen's Cafe and Burgerbar... This was a real cosy little cafe and was pretty popular. They had a lovely outdoor eating area also, but as it was still quite cool outside, we decided to have our meal in doors.

The service here was excellent and we were waited on hand and foot. Unlike the meal we had the previous day when visiting the castle, the food here was good and plenty of it and it was reasonably priced by Danish standards. It was still more expensive than what we would be paying at home, especially when it came to the drinks. On the other hand, the drinks were much larger than we would get back home also.

We decided to share a meal and we ordered the Chicken fillet, bacon, potato boats with guacamole, mayonnaise, nachos, salsa, sour cream, jalapeños and curry dressing burger, but instead of having it in a bun, we asked if we could have it in a wrap instead and also minus the jalapenos. This cost us 145krone, which was equivalent to around $29 Australian for the meal...

Our lunch venue in Liseleje...

Table arrangements on our table...

Our drinks

The hot chocolate was really good...

The drinks were large

Our lunch was huge

Thank goodness we only ordered one meal between us, as there is no way I could have managed this on my own. I must say though that it was really delicious and the curry sauce was amazing. It is definitely a place I would revisit next time we go back to Denmark...

Cheers to a great day out together...

Our lunch was more than we could manage...

A teaspoon with a difference...

Paying for our lunch..

We were also informed that the ice creams from here were amazing also, but unfortunately we were way too full from lunch to indulge in one today and besides we didn't have Theo with us. His favourite outing with us is to go and have an ice cream...

We were feeling pretty full, so decided to take a bit of a walk before getting back into the car and heading back home. Across the road from the cafe, there was the wonderful nature playground Havtyren.

Havtyren - The Sea Bull

Havtyren is a large natural playground in Liseleje with many different playground equipments. There is a swing, a roller coaster, balance beams, arm stands, a covered house where you can eat lunch and the wonderful Sea Bull "Havtyren" which children can climb all over..

According to legend, the peasants stole some sea cows from the Sea Bull, who then went ashore, ploughing up the sand, creating a sandstorm that raged until all of Tibirke lay buried in the sand.

The Sea Bull is open all year round and can be found in the small forest on the right as you drive down towards the beach in Liseleje.

By the Sea Bull in Liseleje, you will also find a ropeway, an eel trap, and a seesaw in the shape of a gull.

Just 100m from the beach...

By now it was mid afternoon and we still had to drive home. We had told Pete and Maria that we would be home around 5pm so that I could help get dinner ready. We eat somewhere between 6 and 6.30pm so that we can get the kids into bed at a reasonable hour.

Heading home... - sun roof down, enjoying the sunshine..

We decided to take a different route home and head inland back to Pete and Marias. We still had to head back to Frederikvaerk. From Frederiksvaerk we headed inland to Olsted and then down through Horup back into Frederikssund... We passed through several lovely little villages which were absolutely gorgeous and so picturesque. In fact although the scenery was different to our drive up the coast it was equally stunning and we honestly felt that we would never tire of the beauty of this country.

Frederiksvaerk

Stunning landscape

Fields of green and yellow...

This little pink and blue cottage took my fancy...

We drove past this really cute little pink and blue cottage and as we drove around past it to find a place to do a U turn, we came across this lovely kirke. The grounds were really well kept and the church itself was quite different to a lot of the other kirkes we had visited. This one was half built from bricks and part from rock. I took a wander around the garden and took some photographs. I would have loved to have gone inside and had a good look. but it was quite late in the afternoon and Steve was still sitting in the car, so I just took a few photos and then we left...

From here we headed towards Horup on our way home and came across this rather bizzare little three wheeler car. We have seen a few of these over here now.

Using a GPS, you are never quite sure where you will end up and the next leg of our journey had us travelling down some rather narrow country roads. Again the scnerey was lovely, all farmlands, all green with scattered fields of vibrant yellow. This definitely is the best time to visit this lovely country..