Bornholm bicycle trip - Day 4

On the morning of the fourth day we moved from Svaneke to the south of Bornholm. That day, we were following the route along the eastern coast of the island. We were planning to ride 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 had broken due to its age. We got a bit worried - after all, we needed the tent for the next few nights. We packed everything into the panniers and trailer and after breakfast we went on our way.

It was clear that we had rested well. From the very beginning of the route the children began racing on the bike path.

Aarsdale

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

We moved on. The route led us through the town. We saw a large number of properties for sale. On the way we even found an abandoned house. Our next stop was as we were leaving Aarsdale. We found a beautiful windmill there.

Nexø

Our next stop was in Nexø. We rode to the city center. In the central part of the city we found a harbor and we decided to ride there to see the arrival of the catamaran Jantar, which runs here from Kołobrzeg, Poland. We were there right on time to see the vessel. We greeted the Polish tourists and continued our journey. The size difference between this small ship and the huge ferry we chose was extreme. We were glad we'd chosen the larger and more stable way to get to Bornholm.

The town was full of Poles. On the streets, we could hear conversations in Polish. We passed a couple of tour groups and children's holiday camps.

We found a Netto store. There isn't a dense network of small shops on Bornholm, so we did some grocery shopping.

Butterfly Sommerfuglepark

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

There were 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, we also found other animals in the park, like turtles, bees and a chameleon. And even an aquarium with piranhas. Danger!

Jem & Fix

We still had the issue of our tent, which needed repair. We wanted to take advantage of the fact that we were in 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 Home Depot or Lowe's. We bought Power Tape there, which works for everything. In particular, it was great for fixing our tent.

Balka and Snogebæk

Happily, we went further. We passed through the villages of Balka and Snogebæk. These were coastal villages, which consisted mainly of summer cottages. There are thousands of them. The bike path ran along the forest. Finally, we got to Dueoddevej street. It was the first name that referred to our destination, which meant we were close.

Beside 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 very high - DKK 75 for an adult and DKK 50 for a child. We skipped the entrance 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.

Fun fact: Dueodde Lighthouse is 47 metres tall and it is the tallest lighthouse in Denmark. It was built in 1960-1962 because the older lighthouses were slowly being buried by the dunes. There are 196 steps to the top.

Bunkers in the forest

In Dueodde we found something unusual. A place that is not popular and where no tour groups come. 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 have been lying in the forest since World War II. Currently this place is abandoned.

During the war, long-range guns planned here were meant to protect German shipping in the waters south of Bornholm. However, the gun positions were never completed and no guns were ever installed. Similar artillery positions can be found on the Polish coast, in Hel.

Fun fact: this place is also linked to Hel. The Germans started building the battery at Dueodde in late November 1940. It was planned for four 380 mm guns. In February 1941, the High Command stopped the work and chose the Hel Peninsula instead. This is how the Schleswig-Holstein battery was built there, and the equipment from Bornholm was shipped to Norway.

It was the first time we saw something like this. The kids were very impressed by the size of the structure. We walked around the whole area, climbed onto the rotunda and looked into the ammunition storage area.

Dueodde Familiecamping

After a busy day we arrived at our campsite. We registered quickly at the front desk and we were given 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. A view of the sea from our tent - 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, a surprise was waiting for us. It was a building with a swimming pool. The pool had a surcharge, but that was nothing. For the brave children, there had to be a reward.

At the pool, we could use both the pool and the sauna. It was nice to relax after the ride. Time passed so quickly that we spent two hours in the pool. Common sense told us that it was time to leave. After all, we still had not eaten dinner.

We took a walk to the famous beach where, as legend has it, the sand is taken for the production of hourglasses. We wanted to get back before it got 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 a plastic bag with it. He promised he would carry the sand in his pannier.

Next to the pool was a building with a kitchen and a playground. The children, as usual, were playing while I prepared a meal.

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