Dronningmølle, Denmark

Monday 2nd August 1999

A bright sunny morning once again. The conditions seem right so I'm off for a swim off Denmark's north coast. Strangely no one else joins me but I thought the water was pretty good. After splashing around for a while I got out. There's not so much you can do when there are no waves. By the time we left the beach was getting pretty busy but we had to check-out and head down to Copenhagen once again.

Once more our destination is the post office. On the way we stopped briefly on one of the inner city streets. We were parked parallel to the kerb and as I sat in the drivers seat waiting for Anita to run an errand a car pulled up nose to the kerb in front of us and parked. The total length of the car was less than our width. The driver pulled up his sunroof then undid a latch and opened the whole front of the car, the steering wheel and all moving out of the way as he stepped out. It was one of the most bizarre things I'd seen.

We continued our way to the post office and found a parking spot just nearby, next to the train station. Mum and Dad stayed in the van as Anita and I headed off. As we passed the station we could see we were not in the best of areas. Plenty of less than savoury characters hanging about and Anita saw someone shooting up in a corner. We hurried on the post office to check if the mail had arrived.

Once there we were greeted again by the tantalising sight of the package from Australia that we had seen the other day. We again handed over our passports and the lady headed back. This time I was in luck as she returned with the letter containing my insurance details (for the new van) but no luck for Anita. With a little pleading and sorrowful looks Anita convinces her to bring over the package we can see so we can be sure it's not for us. It's not. We then start to try to arrange to have it sent on to another post office when it arrives and, in the course of the discussion, Anita mentions that the package might have been registered. "Ahh", says the lady behind the counter and scurries back, returning a few moments later with her parcel, quite clearly labelled poste restante. Turns out that registered parcels go in a different box and someone is supposed to put a card in the poste restante section to say that it's there. A look at the postmarks reveals that it's been sitting in that box for two weeks. At least we've got it now.

I have to return some of the insurance papers but we figure we should go first and retrieve Mum and Dad and the van from its insalubrious location. We get the car and bring it around to park right outside the post office. I fill out the insurance form whilst Anita writes a postcard to thank her Grandmother for the present. Once that's sent off I race down to the tourist information to check out the prices for the ferry crossing to Sweden. Turns out to be too expensive from here so we'll return to Helsingør for the crossing. Meanwhile Mum and Dad have been diverted by a large fire on the railway tracks just outside the main station. Ash is dropping on the van so we figure it's time to leave, all tasks accomplished.

We head back north again, initially on the freeway. Traffic is slow which we attribute to the afternoon rush hour but soon find out it's due to a burnt-out bus on the side of the road. The hot weather seems to be taking a heavy toll. We head back to the coast and then decide, rather than cross to Sweden tonight, to stay one more night in Denmark. We liked last night's campsite a lot so we call up and reserve a place, since it's very popular. When I switch on the phone there's a message on the voice-mail. It's Anita's mother with some sad news. Her grandfather has just died overnight. It wasn't unexpected as he'd had a stroke almost a year ago and never recovered.

We headed back to the campsite and repeated our last night's experience, walking down to the beach and strolling along through the water. Another lovely evening.