LAND 42 The wind was already picking up, but I was protected from the worst of it in the gloom of Slotslyngen wood, full of twisted oak, dark granite, and wet moss. For the first time in many months I was wearing gloves, and had all my waterproofs in readiness for the stormy day ahead.
I headed north through the woods, eventually emerging close to Hammershus, a huge castle ruin dating from the 13th century and once the centre of power on Bornholm.
Passing through the new visitor centre, I walked up amongst the ruins, trying to imagine the lives of the soldiers, peasants and nobility that once lived here. The castle sits atop a granite outcrop with commanding views of the Baltic and felt very exposed to the powerful wind howling across the island from the east.
I was glad to continue northwards and was even more glad when a small flock of snow buntings accompanied me for a while – pushing against the wind, their wings flashing white.
In the lee of the West-facing Hammer Harbour I sheltered behind a hut and under my umbrella. Here, a jackdaw befriended me for a while, and again I was glad for the company. The storm had raised the sea level significantly and a rolling swell crashed into the harbour.
I headed towards ‘Hammerknuden’, a granite outcrop or peninsula almost separated from the rest of the island. I looked back down to the harbour where I could see an orange lifeboat preparing to sail out. In the sea beyond, I could see several large tankers sheltering from the storm in the wind shadow of the island. It was very difficult to control the paper, brushes, and paints in the wind.
Coincidentally, following the great storm surge of 1872, this area was sold by the state to German prospectors to raise money for the local populace, subsequently paving the way for the significant granite extraction industry and later German tourism that followed. Today the quarries are filled with water, surrounded by mountain bike paths and traversed by zip lines, and the area is one of Bornholm’s most popular beauty spots.
I spent many hours wandering around the peninsula, following small paths inland and trying to shelter amongst the small stands of juniper and birch and as much as possible. Goldcrest seemed to be sheltering in almost every bush, above me a kestrel zipped and zoomed above, somehow gracefully maintaining control in the gusts and blasts of the storm.
I tried to let the wind determine the direction of the watercolours, by holding a painting into the gale.
The day passed and, weather beaten and wind addled, I made my way down to Hammer Lake for the pick up.
LAND 42
WEATHER REPORT – Very windy, spitting in the morning. Temperature 5 – 8 degrees. Wind 12 – 18 m/s, from the east. Hours of precipitation: 1 hours. Hours of sunshine: 0 hours.
STOPS with the BIVVY – 0
KILOMETRES WALKED – 13.23 km
DAY LASTED – 10h and 10 m
PEOPLE TALKED TO – 1
BIRDS SEEN and HEARD – 33 species (2 new, Bean goose, Snow bunting) = 133 species in total.
LESSONS LEARNED – Fix or tuck loose straps into rucksack, so they don’t whip you in the face in the wind.
IN MY HEAD – I was very busy with dealing with the wind and planning my route
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