Piper Arrow

Flemming pulled out his OY-TOU from the hangar in Roskilde – what an elegant bird, I thought:

The weather was good, but with a low cloud mass over the water, so we were going to fly IFR, i.e. through the clouds. IFR requires special flight instruments, and of course proper pilot training with certification. I had flown IFR before, with my pilots friends, and always admired their skills. One of the most memorable was together with Niels and Christian for 5 years ago (time flies!).

Flemming and I were going to Endelave, a relatively small island in Kattegat:

We soon came on top of the cloud mass – and what a magnificent view we had!

Descending by Samsø on our right side:

Endelave harbour and the island’s church from 1400’s:

In Endelave airport, The Aviator helped me to choose a bike:

Flemming locked his OY-TOU, and we got on the road.

First stop – the Endelave church. Since 15th century, it has undergone some alterations, but one can still notice some of the antient walls made of huge rocks. Parts of its interiour are from 16th and 17th century.

Travelling by plane, I often land in small places where sometimes there are few thing to experience, like a local church or an old graveyard. Often, they are quite special and unforgettable. E.g. the small church of Drejø with a hand-made book describing all families buried on the graveyard, what they did for living, and even with family pictures. Or the Rallarkyrkogården – the Navvy cemetery around 200 km north of Arctic Circle in Sweden – and its sad story.

I took a picture of Flemming by the old oak door from approx. 1550, that leads to the nave of the Endelave church:

When you enter the island from the harbour, a large rock with inscription meets you there:

It was raised in a memory of S/S steamer AGDA that had been hit by a mine northwest of Endelave on 15th January 1944. Several violent explosions sounded, and the sea where AGDA had lain was lit by some powerful flares. A number of boats from Hjarnø and Endelave sailed out to help, but there were no survivors. All 14 on board died in the accident.

Flemming and I biked to the Endelave Inn, where we found a nice table in the corner. It was quite windy, but in a sunny sheltered place we had it warm and comfortable.

The Endelave Inn had recently got new owners, and we were excited to see the changes. I just want to mention, it was also good before. You cannot have a restaurant on an island and make low quality food. I remember arriving to Alderney (Channel Islands) some years ago, I asked for a restaurant recommendation. They told me, the food was great in any restaurant – otherwise the locals would’t go there, and the restaurant would have to close down.

In Engelave Inn, we had stjerneskud – traditional Danish fish dish. It was very good.

After the lunch break, we headed on the road again, making stops here and there, taking pictures.

On one of the crossroads, we saw a sign indicating there was something unusual. It showed up, there was a rock with remarkable carvings, called helleristninger, that stemmed from the Bronze Age:

They were in a form of 2 cup marks – I’ve never seen anything like that before. Very special indeed. That kind of rock carvings are beieved to have had a religious significance.

It was tough to bike in headwind and gusts. Flemming and I decided to go back to the marina for a cup of coffee there, and maybe even an ice-cream!

We found a table protected from the wind and relaxed there, before biking back to the airport. Checking the weather, we agreed to fly VFR on the way home – the cloud mass was gone.