Bornholm bicycle trip - Day 5

On the fifth day of our cycling tour around Bornholm, we rode into the island's center to Aakirkeby.

We spent the night at a campsite in Dueodde. Our tent was set next to the dunes. We had a really great spot for the tent - we had a view of the sea. After breakfast we packed up and went to the reception to pay for our stay.

Dueodde lighthouse

A moment later we were at the lighthouse in Dueodde. It is just a few hundred meters away from the campsite. We went to the top of the tower. Tickets cost us DKK 20 in total.

Fun fact: Dueodde Lighthouse is 47 metres high, the tallest lighthouse in Denmark. It was built of concrete in 1960-1962.

At the top, the view was beautiful because the lighthouse is much higher than the surrounding trees. We got beautiful sunny weather. Kids decided to count the stairs while going down. We counted 220 steps.

At the top, I broke the camera tripod when I tried to mount it to the rail. This was another loss during our trip. We had already lost sunglasses and a toothbrush, and had some new holes in our shoes. We didn’t worry about the losses, something like this could always happen.

After visiting the lighthouse, we walked to the beach. There the beach was much wider than near the campsite. The dunes were similar to those we knew from Łeba, Poland. The kids put some sand in a bag again in order to build their own hourglass.

Nexo Golf Club

We moved on. The bicycle path led along the road next to a forest. At some point we saw Nexo Golf Club golf course across the street. There was no fence, and we were curious how it looked inside. We went in for a while to see one of the holes. It's rare to have such an opportunity to see a golf course up close.

We continued along the bike path. The children began to race again. At one point, Kris rode off the edge of the path and took his first fall of the trip. And although it looked awful, nothing bad happened to him.

Degree confluence point 55N 15E

At one point the road turned sharply to the right. Near this turn, the degree confluence point was located. That is a geographic point where the 'lines' on a map cross.

This point on the ground is nothing special. However, it can be easily found on a map. Here, on Bornholm we could explore that point. It is located on a pasture where horses and sheep grazed. We could go inside. We had to watch out for the 'mines' left by the animals.

At the exact location, there is a plate with a cross and a plaque. We took a photo and then we went on.

Fun fact: the 15°E meridian is the central line of the UTC+1 time zone, Central European Time, which is also used in Poland. The same meridian crosses Poland too, for example Zgorzelec and Stargard, where a monument marks it.

More about this place can be read here

A further part of the road ran through the fields, which were not covered by forest. We felt the strong Bornholm wind. Riding in that direction required much more effort than usual. Along the way we passed a vineyard. Kids don't drink wine, and the fruit was still unripe. We also saw more small roadside shops. Here in the center of the island, they were better stocked than on the main routes. In one of them, you could even buy socks.

Auto Museum Aakirkeby

Near Aakirkeby we stopped to visit Bornholms Automobilmuseum. It was Bornholm's car museum. Although it was high season, there were no other tourists at all. We visited it all alone.

This museum has a huge amount of exhibits. At the beginning, we admired exhibits of technological development of the twentieth century. We had the opportunity to see old cameras, TVs, telephones, turntables, and adapters. There were also a lot of accessories related to automotive such as old fuel dispensers or workshop equipment.

Of course, the main exhibition of the museum was the cars. They were placed next to each other as in a parking lot. Each of them had a description that contained information about the brand, model, date of manufacture, and performance of the vehicle. Some cars also had information about  the price at which they could be bought when new.

A few cars were really valuable. We saw the first models of popular brands such as Opel and Ford. Unexpectedly, we found a Polish-made Syrena, a 'toddler car' (Fiat 126p), and a German Trabant.

We also had the opportunity to see prototypes of electric vehicles manufactured in Denmark. The exhibition of old toys and fire-fighting vehicles was also very interesting. We especially noticed the fireman's bike.

Visiting the museum was an amazing experience. We gained a lot of information, and the kids had the opportunity to see things that don't exist around us anymore.

Aakirkeby Camping

After a visit to the museum we rode to Aakirkeby which was less than a kilometer away. For accommodation, we chose Aakirkeby Camping. It’s a small, nice campsite located in the central part of the island.

At the camp we met another family from Poland, whom we had met previously in Svaneke. They had come here directly, and we had one extra night in Dueodde. You can see that everyone chooses a different route to explore the island.

One of the most interesting attractions was a giant chess set with pieces about a meter high. Children liked it very much.