Day 20 part 2. Sæby to Smidie.
Whilst waiting I took some photos of coastal suburbia, the approaching ferry and the timetable. Damae then grabbed the camera to do some bicycle art in the few minutes remaining before the ferry docked.
The ferry was longer than a normal short ferry, and gave us lovely views in both directions. It was nice to be at sea again and we felt a little better for a rest in the sun.
A hour or so later after some more unmemorable (and thus easy) cycling we turned a corner and were confronted by an enormous new building in the 'middle of nowhere'. There were lots of people around and several coaches parked up. It turned out to be the Lille Vildmose Visitors Centre. 'The Lille Vildmose?' I hear you ask 'What is the Lille Vildmose?' Well apparently the Lille Vildmose is a unique bog environment with an ecosystem all of its own. The centre is a museum and study centre built to disseminate information about the area and its flora and fauna.
Unfortunately we arrived so late in the day that a visit to the exhibition was no longer possible. This was a shame as it would have been nice to see the inside of the building and how it worked as an exhibition centre. So instead we consoled ourselves with a visit to the brand spanking new toilet. We discovered that the cafe was still serving food and sat down to some chips and coffee and cake. Very good it was indeed. It gave us a nice rest towards the end of our cycling day and it was fun to watch people coming and going (going mostly as it was closing).
We then hit a section of off road whilst a bit challenging at times it was not demoralising. The first section in the sun quickly turned into a track between two rows of hedges and trees. Here the main hazard was a car that passed us and then came back, and a few deep ruts with mud in them. The second time we stopped to let the car past (reversing slowly back up the track this time) us we noticed narrow gauge railway tracks embedded in the mud.
A little further up we had to get off our bikes to get round the obstacle that had stopped the car from going any further. We noticed the railway tracks again. Curious we thought. The road then opened out after a short climb and we were in farmland again. The landscape consisted of large rolling fields with copses and hedges. It was all very similar to lots of middle England (the counties of Staffordshire and Cheshire spring to mind) and really way too hot.
It was in fact very rolling and definitely farmland. A bit further up we had to follow a combine harvester and dodge tractors after we'd cycled past a farm. Just a little further up there was a large mansion, maybe from the 16th or 17th century surrounded by large mature trees. In terms of the setting it reminded me a little of Slot Zuylen not far from where we live.
The rolling nature of the landscape was now becoming a little too rolling for the end of a day. As we hit Smidie Damae called out 'This is it!' and we stopped unilaterally for consultation. I'd wanted and sort of expected to go on for a few kilometers more. However Damae had checked the maps earlier in the day, and seen that there was a free campsite here in Smidie. She had decided that this was the place to stay. After some grumping on Stan's part (in retrospect confirmation that it was time to stop for the day!) we turned round and headed back to the centre of the hamlet.