Danish Xmas round 2 :)

Sitting on my bow cases to get the zips to close and racing out the door to rush to the airport to get the stack of 'don't forget' texts from various parties about things I had of course forgotten. Including spare arrow rests, peeps, nocks, socks, bathers, X-rays.... and starting to wonder what exactly I had packed. Oh yeah! Lots of thermals...lots and lots of thermals. You might recall I am allergic to being cold.

Scored the much dreaded middle seat the whole 24hrs from Melbourne to London and the not exactly hygienic oaf who hasn't yet discovered toothpaste or personal space in the aisle seat next to me. But immediately discovered that my single serve companion to the right was a chatty girl from Berlin with a shared obsession with spicy food. All in all a pleasant trip including a dash across Changi Airport in Singapore to get some chilli noodles in our 45min lay over and the same in Heathrow before we parted company to our separate destinations where chilli was likely as hard to find as sunny days.

And oh thank the powers that be for showers at the Heathrow One World lounge. I'm sure many think that first meeting at the airport after being apart for 4 months is a romantic concept all round. And on the bare face of things it is. But it's substantially more romantic if one can achieve a shower, tooth brush and change of clothes before hand.

So I rolled into Copenhagen, reasonably refreshed and finally got my welcome hug without the stress of 40hrs of transit filth to worry me :). We took a side trip to deliver a bow to a famous someone or rather who gave thanks with some very drinkable Champagne and then drove to Fyn for the night. And then a little archery before driving to  Berlin the next day. Coming from Australia it's a bit weird to drive only 7hrs and find yourself in another country...at home it doesn't even take you to the next state. Or rather 7hrs from home would likely put me in Bass Strait or well on my way to Antarctica.

Berlin was more about seeing the Xmas markets and having fun. I only had my backup bow with me and it wasn't exactly tuned and jet lag is always fun. So no expectations - just a chance to see another city I've never been to, catching up with friends and a great weekend with my guy :) The Xmas market was lovely, the Vienna Schnitzel was tasty and the shooting was terrible, but we had fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjdDzxJa-sg

Rocked back into Aarhus and Logan and Kevin totally came through for me and my new toys arrived just before Xmas. I even got to shoot them before we left on holidays. Got a shiny new Pro Comp Elite in black, Spyder in Real Tree Snow, some new Pro Tours and indoor arrows and clothes. So thanking Santa and the boys from Hoyt/Easton for my presents.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sWjY7Ht0lE

Then had to put the bows away for amber hunting, kite flying and snow angels on the beach in Blåvand. Amber, I am told, is easily found anywhere along the West Coast of Scandinavia. Just look where there's seaweed.... Well I have to say that Blåvand was the most pristine beach I have seen in a while and finding a piece of seaweed was not going to be easy. On our second day there was a snow storm and it was pretty hard to find your own hands in front of your face... but we did manage to fly a kite (don't ask). After 3 days we did find amber... about the size something so tiny I can't think of anything that small... but we found it!!!

Xmas was the anticipated rounds of pork, duck, potatoes, brown sauce, risalamande and marzipan.... about triple my usual insulin intake :D, and real burning candles on the Xmas tree to which my first thought was 'doesn't that cause house fires?' and the answer was 'sometimes'.
It was super pretty though  :)

Spent the next week in physio, gym and shooting. Working on my left side which is very weak and even getting insoles in my shoes to correct my balance. Got my Pro Comp Elite all tuned up for indoor and attempted to get a brief tune for outdoor in the 50m indoor range. The Pro Comp has a better balance than the Contender Elite and is a lovely bow to shoot.
Also roughly set up the Spyder so we could go and shoot a little 3D on the weekend. Didn't have pins or a 3D scope so it was more just play. Lots of 'I can see above, below and around the scope but when I look through it just disappears'. It was great fun though and a stunning field course. I really wish I had taken more photos. We had some video, but it just didn't do the place justice.

Back in Copenhagen we went to the movies to see Jack Reacher. It's all in English just with Danish subtitles. But a cinema full of Danes watching a movie is kind of entertaining... the whole cinema laughs at completely different things to an Australian audience and they're quite obsessed with candy. And we scored a parking fine despite obeying all the appropriate road signs. Apparently there is no such thing as free parking in Copenhagen even when the street signs say it's free.

My final shoot in Denmark was Nytårspokalen in Copenhagen. We got a little practice on the Saturday and one of the ladies brought home baked rolls for lunch which was just a bit awesome :) and I met some of the local archers. During the comp I was trying to persist with both eyes open despite the awful light and shot a terrible first round. Gave up and shot with one eye shut for the second and the score improved dramatically. Apparently being able to see the target helps :). I ranked about 5th, made it through the 1st match and lost the second match by a point shooting about my current average. Had a beer with the Norwegian boys before they headed home (okay they had beer and I had hot chocolate) and then it was time to go back to our rather odd little hotel (Hotel Fox) and relax before my long trip home the next day.

So now home again. Bow tuned, archer tuned (if a little jet lagged) and back to work. Happy New Year everyone :)