MEETING strangers at night, in an unlit car park, is a little unusual for a family holiday. But here we are, in the grounds of Liselund country house on the Danish island of Møn (pronounced “moon”, or thereabouts). We are here to explore an area famed for the very low light pollution, as the first […]
MEETING strangers at night, in an unlit car park, is a little unusual for a family holiday.
But here we are, in the grounds of Liselund country house on the Danish island of Møn (pronounced “moon”, or thereabouts).
We are here to explore an area famed for the very low light pollution, as the first “Dark Sky Park” in Scandinavia.
With no torches allowed, we follow tour leader Susanne into the gardens, guided only by her voice and the crunch of gravel underfoot.
As we walk, our eyes begin to adjust to the darkness. Then we stop and look up.
Fortunately, it is a clear night. We can see thousands of stars, including a dense white cluster that must be the Milky Way.
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For our city-dwelling kids, it is a revelation.
Back home, the three boys had been excited to glimpse stars as we set off for the airport. I counted half a dozen.
“Can anyone name a constellation?” asks Susanne.
My wife points to the Plough — a great choice, we’re told, because it leads the eye to Polaris, or the North Star.
Susanne explains how sailors used Polaris to navigate the seas, then describes the signs of the zodiac.
And then . . . the kids spot a shooting star. And another! They are thrilled.
Next, we are led deep into dark woodlands and told to stand quiet and still for a few minutes.
A faint noise in the leaves by our feet is the rustle of mice, we are later told.
But that is not what Susanne is listening out for.
She pulls a pipe from her pocket and with it, mimicks the sound of a female owl.
Soon enough, a male owl responds, some way in the distance. Will it come to us? Will it swoop for mice?
By now, we have spent at least 15 minutes in dense, pitch-black woods. We do not even have the reassurance of a star-filled sky.
My eight-year-old son — slightly under the recommended age for this outing — holds my hand very tightly.
We decline an invitation to go further but Susanne leaves us alone while, in near-total darkness, she goes off to retrieve a bug trap hidden in the ground.
We exit the woods to examine her catch under subtle red lighting, while drinking herbal tea and reflecting on our bizarre woodland experience.
It had been a long day.
Earlier we enjoyed a visit to nearby Møns Klint, a forest-topped stretch of folding chalk cliffs reminiscent of England’s South Coast.
It was almost 500 steps down to the beach and, of course, the same number back up.
A few days before that, when driving down from Copenhagen airport, we stopped at Stevns Klint, a Unesco World Heritage Site and magnet for geologists.
The cliffs here, viewed from a beach that is relatively easy to access, reveal millions of years of history.
A layer of sediment 2in to 3in thick, known as “fish clay”, is evidence of the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs.
Our choice of accommodation was pretty wild — a pair of compact sailing boats moored at the village of Kalvehave.
We were not planning to sail anywhere. In fact, neither boat had sails or a motor.
But the windy conditions made us more than a little apprehensive on the first night.
What if any of us needed a trip to the harbour’s communal block in the middle of the night?
“What if we can’t sleep?”
“Whose idea was this, Dad?!”
As our heads hit the pillows, we were surrounded by glugging noises and the sound of rigging banging on masts all around, while our boats rocked from side to side.
But before we knew it, we were being served breakfast by our Anglophile host Gert — and all agreeing we had enjoyed our best night’s sleep for ages.
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All in all, it was an epic adventure in Denmark.
The kids will always remember this as the trip they truly discovered the night sky . . . and got seriously scared in the woods.
GETTING THERE: Norwegian flies from Gatwick to Copenhagen daily with fares from £29.70 one way. See norwegian.com.
STAYING THERE: Bed & Boats in Kalvehave from around £145 per boat, per night, including breakfast. See bedandboats.dk or call 0045 24 25 57 11
OUT & ABOUT: Naturguide Møn tours from around £175 per group. See naturguidemoen.dk or call 0045 20 30 33 46.
