We are leaving for Norway in a couple of days and the weather up there is looking a little grim (9 degrees and all-day rain to be exact). On top of that we are both looking at ten days of isolation due to the Unspeakable Virus, so right now I am feeling extra fortunate that we got to enjoy some of the last real summer days of the year.
Danish summer is surrounded by an almost wistful mystique, probably due to the fact that it is so rare. But on the days where the sun shines brightly and a light breeze caresses the fields as you stare out over the body of water that you are almost certain to be in the near vicinity of – Man, those days are worth the wait.
As I have written before, finding a stretch of time that permits us to walk several days back-to-back can be tricky during a normal work/school schedule. So when I realized we had an entire weekend with no plans and nothing but clear skies and sunshine on the forecast I hastily booked us some ferry tickets to the Island of Samsø.
I won’t write too much about Samsø itself – you can read more here – but I will say that it is a pretty cool place if you are interested in sustainability. The island produces enough energy to be self-sufficient, and it is well known internationally. So well known actually, that when we were traveling in the US back in 2015, one of the girls we meet said she was going there with her classmates to study their methods. An impressive feat for an island so small you can walk around it in less than a week.
As you can see from the map above, we didn’t end up walking very far, due to a combination of me recovering from a cold and temperatures that were anything but.
We arrived Friday evening and had dinner at the port before walking a leisurely 5 km to Sælvig camping where we hastily pitched our tent in the dwindling light. The route followed the Western coast of the island and provided us with a spectacular sunset.
Sunset on the Western coast of Samsø
The next day we woke up late, took a dip in the ocean before packing up and crisscrossing the island, walking in whichever direction took our fancy. We knew we were headed for a primitive camping spot on the Northern part of the island, but we were in no hurry and made several stops along the way to buy provisions, check out the local road stalls and cool down with homemade italien ice-cream.
Summer vibes on Samsø
When we reached the camp spot we had clocked in around 17 km and I had just about reached my capacity for heat-walking. Until now I had not really considered that the heat could become one of the biggest challenges we will face on Shikoku. But unless we want to start working out in a Norwegian sauna, there is not really much we can do to prepare ourselves for this. It is simply a matter of a difference in climate and I we will just have to get used to it once we get there.
Luckily the camp spot (like everything else on Samsø) was less than 500 meters from the nearest beach. Less lucky, but also unsurprising, was the fact that we were not the only ones who had had the brilliant idea of camping out on one of the last sunny Saturdays of the season. This meant that the campspot itself was less than peaceful. It did not matter much though. After drying off we packed up the trangia and set out to find a dinner spot by the water.
All the locals complain that Samsø has been completely overrun this summer, due to a combination of international travel restrictions and a country-wide experiment that has made ferries free for walk-ins and cyclists. However, we only needed to walk a few hundred meters down the beach before we had the whole coast to ourselves, including yet another perfect West-facing sunset over the ocean.
Skipping stones
As we left the camp as the last ones on Sunday the temperature had almost reached 30 degrees. Batteries where low (both our own and our phones’s) so we settled for a lengthy brunch in the shadow of a parasol at the local brewery.
Samsø organic brewery in Nordby
Final order of business was meeting my aunt who lives on the island to see her newly renovated house. The temperature would only permit us to be near water at all times so we set out down the East coast and made plans to meet up with my aunt and her newly purchased SUP near Langør. As you can see on the map some miscommunication about where precisely we were meeting lead to a little backtracking, but hey, it’s all good training in the end.
Blue views and blue face masks
This was one of those glorious summer trips where everything just magically worked out because we hadn’t made too many plans that could go wrong. I know it might be wishful thinking but a really hope much of our Shikoku trip can be like this as well. I suspect the trick lies in letting go and going with whatever comes your way (the irony here is not lost on me, but you have to start somewhere right?)
On a more practical note, one thing I was missing on this trip was a holder for my phone as I was constantly having Jonas fetch and repack it from my backpack. I love my backpack and will write a Gearing Up-post on it one day, but it is so lightweight that all the belt-pockets have been left out. I think I will have to find a little attachable breast pocket for my phone as I intend it to be my sole camera on the trip.
I am finishing this post from a fjord far north of the polar circle. I have arrived in Tromsø and Jonas will follow in a few days. Looking forward to the trips we will take up here. Thanks for reading along.
