Family, Fishing & Forests

Ok, so no secrets now, you all know where we are and why! Hopefully we can blog as per normal!

This one finds us coming towards the end of our first week on the road in Sweden, and on a bit of a damp day - hence time for the blog! We are actually parked up at Sweden's longest suspension bridge in a service area something like the Aust services - not sure they'd be happy with 20+ motorhomes and caravans overnighting in the car park - short-sighted though as many have been in the bar for refreshments!

Anyway, much to catch you up on since the last "reveal all" blog came out. Seems we pulled the wool over pretty much everyone's eyes - only my mum thought she picked up something "not quite right" in the last blog - proves we are better at fibbing than we thought.

Thursday 6th June and after the fun the night before, we were up fairly early to celebrate Sweden's National day out on the boat with Kathy & Goran plus Craig. As mentioned on more than one occasion, I'm not the boatiest person, but with the sun shining, and talk of stunning archipelago scenery, I soon got drawn in. We headed over to their place, and then towed the boat out to Uddevalle where they could launch. The boat looked normal enough, reasonable size, but with a new engine which Jase got fairly excited about on inspection. We launched and as we pulled away from the jetty, it was clear we had quite a beast of a machine! Kathy took the wheel, and Goran (or Commander Bond as we named him) showed us the likely route, out from the mainland and around some the islands, stopping for lunch at Mollosund, and then out towards the actual ocean so the boys could try a bit of mackerel fishing. The boat was so powerful there was no chance of feeling swell, it was exhilarating, with stunning scenery (not that easy to capture while you are bouncing around!).

After a lovely lunch (thanks Mum B x) meeting up with Jase's mum, nephew and his girlfriend, we headed to the ocean and the boys dropped their lines - a rod for Jase and hand lining for Craig. Now, you couldn't write this, both boys were on the mackerel within 10 minutes of casting, and literally at the same time. First haul was 8 between then. Both rod & line went back in, and Jase got lucky catching another couple of good sized ones. At that point we had enough for dinner, so the gear was stashed away and Goran took the wheel to show us what the boat could really do! Wow. The trip back picked up some more lovely villages at the edge of the water.

Back at Kathy & Goran's the fish were expertly filleted and cooked up on the barbeque for a fab dinner. Thanks both for a really great day.

Friday 7th June, and our 16th wedding anniversary. Having both slept really well (all that sea air!) we had a fairly easy start to the day, first popping to Biltema (a shop combining the best of Halfords, Decathlon, B&Q and Ikea) to pick up some supplies for our next adventure - mozzy net and black out film being amongst the haul. We then headed over to spend a bit of time with Jase's mum. In the evening we were treated to the most amazing meal with Craig and Sofia at a local restaurant Albert. It was simply stunning & a real treat - thanks to you both too.

Saturday morning and a very wet affair. We met up with Sandra, Robin, Maddie plus Mike and Molly for a lovely lunch. Another thanks here to Robin for a really great bowl of nachos.

Luckily the rain had cleared by the time we were done, so we were able to walk back to Craig's pad. With a bit of time to spare, I managed to introduce Sofia to the Great British Bakeoff! Craig meanwhile was cooking up a storm with a stunning green curry for dinner, accompanied with Jase's legendary Nan Breads.

Sunday morning and the hard task of saying goodbye to everyone. For those in Sweden, we will be back in early September on our way home, but for now a massive thanks to you all for keeping secrets, appreciating the surprise, making us feel so welcome and generally being a totally top crew.
From Trollhatten we wanted to start heading north although with wet weather, we only did a few hours, ending up near Saffle on the shores of Lake Vanern. Vanern is Sweden's largest lake, the largest lake in the European Union, and the third largest in Europe after two others in Russia. It made for a lovely first night.

Monday morning and with thankfully clear blue skies we planned on putting a bit of time on the road and getting further north. Our end point was Mora, again lakeside. The views all the way were stunning lake after lake, and forest after forest. At times, the road looked like something from a Volvo advert!

We pulled up lakeside and Jase took the opportunity to give his fishing rod a try out. Catches on this occasion were a couple of branches, the bottom (which necessitated the shoes and socks coming off to release it) followed by a small perch! Too small to keep, but he was pleased to have continued his run of success.

Tuesday morning and we headed into the town of Mora ready to get the Mountain Bikes off for a ride. Fun and games first of all though in the car park as a local had taken it upon himself to yell at foreign motor homers, telling them aggressively that they must pay! Interestingly, this wasn't levelled at us, but our French neighbours. Jase stepped in and told the chap to butt out! He then headed over to the Tourist Information Centre to check the rules. The chap had been right to a point, but the first 12hrs were free, and overnighting was no longer tolerated as a new Aire had been installed lakeside. They were not happy with his approach though as they want to encourage tourism to the area, so he was reported to the police (who drove by within 10mins!). Happy we weren't breaking any rules, we headed off on our bikes for a good route around the local forest. Fair to say it was a lot harder than I expected (hence no chance for photos!), but good fun all the same.

Back at the van and after lunch we decided to drive a few more hours to another lakeside spot near Sveg. This one was stunning, and will be on the top 5 list I think. Just picture perfect - the sunset picture was at about 10.30pm!

Wednesday morning and unfortunately we had a few days of dodgy weather ahead. We headed into the town of Sveg for a few supplies and a walk around. First shops in Sweden aren't proving too shockingly expensive - so far we feel like it's on a par with France!

We then put a few hours drive in, heading for Ostersund and a spot alongside Lake Storsjon. The fishing kit came out again, although we may be finding that beginners luck is starting to run out as this one came up entirely blank! No matter, at this spot we had trains, boats, planes and a helipad for company!

Thursday and the worst forecast for rain and cold - about 10 degrees as a high! We planned another driving day, hoping the weather wouldn't be too bad. Luckily we were mainly in luck, and the journey took us past more stunning lakes (Sweden has over 100,000 of them!) plus a few snowy tops in the far distance. Although we didn't spot any reindeer or elk (moose) yet, we did spot these cranes and curlews.

We also stumbled the Dead Falls literally on the side of the main road, by the River Indalsalven. The falls were created some 9,000 years ago at the end of the last Ice Age. Sand and soil deposits had formed a ridge at the side of the falls, stopping the natural course of the river, and creating the falls. However, between 1793-5 works started to channel the water differently and prevent the timber being smashed through the falls. Disaster struck on 7th June 1796 when the spring floods were unusually high, with the water breaking through the ridge and emptying the lake in just 4 hours, silencing the falls forever.

Our next stop was a Thai Pavilion in Utanede, built to commemorate a visit of King Chulalongkorn in 1897. It was built in 1998 to celebrate the 101 year anniversary of the visit. Oh and the gold is real gold leaf with a value of 3million Swedish Krone (about £280,000 today).

Our final stop was at the High Coast Bridge which marks the start of the coastline drive. At the northern end is a car park that welcomes motorhomes and caravans overnight. The bridge is the longest suspension bridge in Sweden, and although it isn't as long as the Severn Bridge, the view is pretty cool out across the Bothnian Coast.

And so to today, Friday. The weather has delivered the cold and wet it was promising so we've stayed put. There's not much to see out there today, so seems little point in doing a coastal drive! Fingers crossed it will lift tomorrow and we can continue our journey north - firstly up the High Coast, and then back in land towards the coolly names Jokkmokk and Kiruna hopefully for Midsummer next Friday. If any Reindeer, Elk, Wolverines, Eagles etc are reading, please feel free to make yourselves known along the route - my readers need pics!

Stay safe all

J&J