Randers Fjord and a little Ferry on a December day.

 

Now is the season where the buzzard is sitting along the road in the top of a tree waiting for a prey to catch. The fields are not entirely covered with snow on the road from Århus and to Randers, but from Randers and all the way north the whole Jutland peninsula is covered with a thick layer of snow. I talked to my cousin this morning who lives close to Skagen, and she could not get out of her front door because of snow. 

Vilhelm Kyhn, painting

Now is also the seaon where you'll have to  examine the traffic service before taking a drive, and the season  for visiting some museums in the local area! There's no time for this in the summer season where Nature calls. 

It was a very cold day and it was good to sit inside a warm car enjoying a short panorama trip. There is only 38 km from Århus to Randers, it takes no time. 

Randers Art Museum had an exhibition I wanted to see before the finish in January, of a painter from the Danish golden age, Vilhelm Kyhn, who often described the Danish landscape in his paintings. He lived  before the time of the Skagen painters.  

The town Randers is known for its Christmas decorations in the streets, but I'm sure they have been forced to use the "saving ax" this year. Finansial crisis? It was not at all as pretty as it used to be. Some sweet Jule-children were singing Christmas songs on the town square.

We continued the trip along the northern coast of Randers fjord. Along the fjord lies a long piece of flat land, raised ancient seabed with cultivated and grazed fields, the soil is very fertile and many four- winged farms lie almost wall to wall along the fjord, especially at the village Vestrup. Some meadows are preserved, they have large bird migrations, especially in autumn. In the outernest section near Mellerup is a birds' sanctuary with a rich bird life.

The little ferry sailing between the villages Mellerup and Voer is one of the smallest ferry routes in Denmark. The 470 m long sailing across the fjord takes four minutes. There is place for three-four cars, depending on the size, and for 29 passengers. It is also one of the oldest ferry routes in Denmark's history, it can be traced back to 1610, where the tour was carried out by a barge (also called a kåg) - and it was being rowed across the fjord. The barge carried both passengers, cattle and horse waggons. The ferry traffic between Mellerup and Voer has a complicated history, but it got a royal license in 1740 (Kgl Priviligeret- see the image)

 





I have just found out today that a café opens in the ferry house from Easter. That sounds good. While we stayed there the other day, we took our usual thermo-coffee and a pecan-Danish in the car. I really must remember to put on some warmer boots. And thick socks, My feets were freezing after having stayed down by the water.  



Notice the ice-crystals in my photos. They were so beautiful in the sun. 



When the ferry was sailing over the first time, a dog stood on the deck, no one else, and the dog did not come back with the ferry. Maybe it was visiting someone! The little sweet ferry called "Ragna" took another trip a little later with a red car. Suddenly a big freight ship, loaded with wood, turned up, it seemed so big in the narrow fjord. The name indicated that it came from Estonia.

The ferry traffic in summer is more heavy, especially in good weather, when people from the northside of the fjord take the ferry to get over to the southside to a special good bathing beach near Voer. And since there now is a café in the ferry house in the summer season, there'll be more lively here - in this picturesque little spot at Randers fjord.




See you soon! Before Christmas! 
photo: 8 december 2012: grethe bachmann