Trips With Kids

Bornholm bicycle trip – Day 4

On the morning of the fourth day we moved from Svaneke to the south of Bornholm. That day were crossing the route along the eastern coast of the island. We were planning to drive up to the beautiful beaches in Dueodde.

The route of day 4 was as follows:

When we were packing, it turned out that one of the tent poles broke due to its age. We got a bit worried. In the end, we needed tent for next nights. We packed everything to the panniers and trailer and after breakfast we went on our way.

It was clear that we rest well. From the very beginning of the route children began racing on bike road.

Aarsdale

After a while we came to the small town Aarsdale. We crossed the bike road to the port and we took a short stop. A group of people were preparing for kayaking. Meanwhile Kris checked water condition in the sea. Unfortunately, it was full of algae same as in Svaneke.

We moved on. The route led us through the town. We saw the large number of properties for sale. On the way we found even the abandoned house. Next stop we had when we were leaving Aarsdale. We found beautiful windmill there.

Nexø

Our next stop was in Nexø. We came to the city center. In the central part of the city we found a harbor and we decided to drive there to see arrival of catamaran Jantar who runs here from Kolobrzeg, Poland. We were there right on time to see the vessel. We greet tourists from Polish and continued our journey. Size difference of this small ship in comparison with huge ferry we chose was extreme. We were glad that we chose the larger and more stable way to get to Bornholm island.

The town was full of Poles. On the streets we could hear conversations in Polish language. We passed a couple of tours and children’s colonies.

We found a Netto store. There is no dense network of small shops on Bornholm so we took some grocery shopping.

Butterfly Sommerfuglepark

Another highlight of our trip was a visit to the Butterfly Sommerfuglepark. Butterfly Park is located on the outskirts of Nexø. It is similar to palm house. We noticed terribly hot and stuffy conditions inside. Apparently, for the butterflies it is the perfect environment.

There was so many colorful butterflies in the building that we couldn’t count them. They flew freely around us. Agatha was delighted.

In addition to the butterflies in the park we found also other animals like turtles, bees and chameleon. And even an aquarium with piranhas. Danger!

Jem & Fix

We remained on our tent, which required a repair. We wanted to take advantage of the fact that we are in the one of the larger towns on the island so we looked around for a place where we could fix our tent. After a short time we found a bicycle repair shop, but the nice guy who was working there couldn’t help us. He pointed the way to the Jem & Fix store, which is the equivalent of Castorama or Leroy Merlin. We bought there Power Tape, which is suitable for everything. In particular, it was great to fix our tent.

Balka and Snogebæk

With happiness we went further. We passed through the villages of Balka and Snogebæk. That were a coastal villages, which consists mainly of summer cottages. There are thousands of them. Bicycle path runs along the forest. Finally we get to the Dueoddevej street. The first name that refers to our destination. I mean, we were close.

Aside the road we noticed a tall tower called Bornholm Tower. It’s an old secret military base, which is now available for tourists to explore. Prices were extra huge – DKK 75 for adult and DKK 50 for a child. We skipped the entree as we had another attraction planned for that day. As it turned out it was a good decision, because admission to the lighthouse which is a few hundred meters away was only DKK 20 for all of us.

Bunkers in the forest

In Dueodde we found something unusual. A place that is not popular and where no tours are comming. In the middle of the forest there are the remains of bunkers, which were to be launchers for long-range guns. Huge amounts of concrete was lying in the forest since the II World War. Currently this place is abandoned.

In time of war long-range cannons mounted in this place were designed to protect the coast of Germany against attacks from the sea. However the construction of these guns was never completed. Similar artillery positions can be found on the Polish coast – in Hel.

It was the first time we saw something like this. Kids were very impressed by the enormity of the structure. We walked the whole area around, were climbing to the walls and we checked the ammunition repository.

Dueodde Familiecamping

After a busy day we arrived at our campsite. We registered quickly at the front desk and we was given the instructions about the location to pitch our tent. We were very surprised because we got a place on the dunes, in the first row from the sea. View from the tent to the sea – who would have thought.

The campsite was extremely large. We saw there a lot of caravans, campers and tourists with tents. In the middle of the campsite some surprise was waiting for us. It was a building with a swimming pool. The pool was surcharge, but this is nothing. For the brave children there had to be reward.

At the pool you can use both the pool and the sauna. It was nice just to relax after the bicycle route taken. Time passed so quickly that we passed two hours in the pool. Common sense told us that it was time to leave. In the end we still had not eaten dinner.

We made a walk to the famous beach where as a legend said the sand is taken for production of hourglasses. We wanted to come back before it gets dark.

Kris Decided to pack up some sand and take it home. He wanted to build his own hourglass. He took the sand in his sandals, and later he filled plastic bag with it. That he promised he will carry this sand in his pannier.

Beside the pool was a building with a kitchen and a playground. Children as usual were playing when I was preparing a meal.

In the evening we charged our batteries and powerbanks to be ready for the next day’s adventure.