DENMARK!!!

Denmark was only ever going to be a blur of countryside from our speeding vehicle, as a necessary stopover on the way to Norway. We were to only stay there one night on our long journey between the Rhine region of Germany and the car ferry from Hirtshals in Denmark to Kristiansand in Norway. And praise that it was so.

I'm unsure as to what others consider endearing in other countries, but if long grass, sheds, wind turbines and the flattest land outside of the Nullarbor Plain floats your boat, then you would be in luck with Denmark. Sadly this does not get my travel juices running.

Apparently the Danes were once a force in Scandinavia, calling their own much of Sweden and all of Norway. All I can say is - 'what the bloody hell happened Denmark, really?'. The Lonely Planet guide to Denmark mumbled something incoherently about Copenhagen and the Little Mermaid, but it really failed to make me wish we had stayed longer.

However, being ever the positive optimist (always seeking the silver lining inside the flat, grass-covered cloud), I found a little nugget of hope that Denmark may not be as bad as I first thought. On the boat from Denmark to Norway, we discovered a slab of Carlsberg for AU$30, thanks to the duty free situation. Nice.

Key activities on the trip:

• Driving at a legal and safe speed across Denmark
• Camping overnight at a town I can't even remember the name of

Highlights…

• Duty free beer
• A beach with actual sand was a resting place for us when waiting for our boat to depart.

Lowlights…

• Yes, a few.

In summary...

I certainly wouldn't be a walking, talking tourist advocate for Denmark, but to be fair nor should I be with our trip consisting of only one night and a lot of blurred countryside. The Lonely Planet guide may be right; Copenhagen may well be a nice place. But it would want to be to counter-balance the plain 'meh-ness' of the rest of the place.

I would liken it to…

The English Patient - starts slowly and doesn't really go anywhere from there.

Come to think of it, Princess Mary pretty much sums the place up for me - boring as bat shit.