Second day of the cycling adventure, so of course we encounter the first rain of the European holiday. The rain didn't start off so bad, but it soon turned into determined, soaking rain, that kept up it's efforts for the duration of our ride.
Before starting our epic semi-aquatic adventure, one of the other guests at the bed and breakfast took us for a botanical tour of the local area, showing us a few orchards. Apparently this area of Europe is still in glacial rebound after the last ice age, rising out of the sea at a rate of 1cm a year. This has meant new land has appeared since human habitation, which has resulted in a unique environment of human administered meadows, which a rich diversity of species.
The lady at the bed and breakfast was also pretty adorable. She showed us some of the dresses she made for her wedding, in the traditional Muhu style. It's pretty rare to visit a place where the old traditions are still being practiced.
Anyways, after we got going, the rain set in, and we plugged away for about 45km, getting wetter with each passing kilometre. It appears there is a reason why all the plants are so green around here.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Cycling in Estonia
Well, we've finally managed it - we're doing some cycling around in Estonia. We met the very helpful people at City Bike, who have provided us with some rather flash bikes, and advice to spend our time riding around the island of Saaremaa. Usually they organise a route, and suggested accomodation along the way, but somehow we've managed to dodge most of their good intentions, and we're now winging it around the island. They helped us book the first night, which was very handy as most of the people at our bed and breakfast don't speak English!
After getting our bikes and leaving City Bike richer by about 35kg of our luggage (we seriously owe those guys), I managed to get us lost in Tallinn for the second time in as many days, before Ro navigated us to the bus station. The bus driver was a bit non-plussed by our bikes, declaring that 'We have a seriouuuus probleeeem'. However, a decade of travelling to downhill races in inappropriate transport meant that I soon had the bikes stashed. The bus driver may have even smiled a bit.
We got off the bus at Virtsu, before getting on the ferry (or more precisely, in the loading lines for the ferry, not the best place to perform the reverse of my disassembly trick. I think I saw the bus driver smile again...) However, after that it was all smiles. The ferry was smooth and new (I think we just saw a news item saying that it just started service, but maybe they were just putting a red rope on it - my Estonian is pretty poor), and we started following the signposted cycling route once we got off. The islands of Humu and Saarema are picturesque and unspoilt, as well as being delightfully flat.
We're spending tonight at a beatiful bed and breakfast in Koguva, an historic fishing village. The houses are still thatched around here, and apparently most of the residents are descended from the original inhabitants. The cycling holiday is starting well!
After getting our bikes and leaving City Bike richer by about 35kg of our luggage (we seriously owe those guys), I managed to get us lost in Tallinn for the second time in as many days, before Ro navigated us to the bus station. The bus driver was a bit non-plussed by our bikes, declaring that 'We have a seriouuuus probleeeem'. However, a decade of travelling to downhill races in inappropriate transport meant that I soon had the bikes stashed. The bus driver may have even smiled a bit.
We got off the bus at Virtsu, before getting on the ferry (or more precisely, in the loading lines for the ferry, not the best place to perform the reverse of my disassembly trick. I think I saw the bus driver smile again...) However, after that it was all smiles. The ferry was smooth and new (I think we just saw a news item saying that it just started service, but maybe they were just putting a red rope on it - my Estonian is pretty poor), and we started following the signposted cycling route once we got off. The islands of Humu and Saarema are picturesque and unspoilt, as well as being delightfully flat.
We're spending tonight at a beatiful bed and breakfast in Koguva, an historic fishing village. The houses are still thatched around here, and apparently most of the residents are descended from the original inhabitants. The cycling holiday is starting well!
Tallinn and Raspberries
We've just spent two days sightseeing around Tallinn. The last time I visited was after being pithced off a bus at the Latvian border, and hitching a ride back with my tail between my legs. This time we arrived at 10:00 in the morning, to sstart the fun game of attempting to find accomodation, while weighed down with about 50kg of luggage. Flushed with success after managing to book ferry tickets, I had neglected to book a room - an oversight I was now regretting.
After some trotting around and recriminations, we managed to find a room in a hostel in old town, then set about doing some proper sightseeing. The old town of Tallinn has been well preserved, and is now a major tourist attraction. Some bit's were pretty nice, like the Lutheran church where we climbed up the steeple. Others were cheesy and touristy beyonds words - at the city square I was invited to try a medieval bear dish by a young tout who looked like he'd dressed by raiding a theatre troup's costume cabinet.
Tallinn's other treasure is good cheap food and beer, a relief after Sweden training me to associate hunger pangs with financial ruin. The biggest treat was a pancake restaurant called Kompresser. They had good savoury pancakes, but the biggest treat was one of the dessert pancakes, which had a topping of condensed milk and Raspberries! It seems people aren't to proud to pick them here, which is pretty cool. I've also seen them at markets, and even frozen in bulk in the supermarket.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Stockholm - Brollop madness
Still on the ferry, trying to get the blog up to date. Through the window, the northern sun is wrapping the Swedish archipelago in a warm yellow glow. The view is balanced by the disco of doom, which is now plowing through a bunch of very old and bland "hits" from the 60's and 70's. I was a bit worried when I thought the photo obsessed pelican was doing the rounds again, but it turned out to be a troupe of flouro clad dancers, of worryingly indeterminate gender. It's surprising what constitutes relief sometimes.
Anyways, back to the story. We left Kiruna the day after the mine tour (turns out that there is not a lot else to do...), and our little group started to split up. Hugh headed off to England, with Rob to follow the day after. As a parting gift Kiruna gave Hugh a dose of food poisoning, which looks to be even less fun when you're on crutches and an airplane. We split from Hugh at Stockholm airport, I can only assume he is still alive.....
For the rest of us, it was back to Stockholm for a last look. Rob, Ro and I headed out for the final dinner that night, then the tour became just Ro and I. Rob had a couple of days by himself before joining up with Hugh again (assuming he survived!), while we were heading out to Tallinn on the ferry the next evening.
Stockholm is presently in the grip of Royal Wedding Madness, otherwise known as Br öllop. The wedding is next weekend, and the city centre is filling up with a bunch of stages, dance areas, markets and other stuff related to the wedding. It appears the Swedes love an excuse of a party, and the wedding is a good excuse. On the upside for travelling tourists, they were also offering cheap icecreams, and free wifi in the city centre. Happy Times.
Once we checked out Stockholm, all we had to do was catch the ferry to Tallinn, and apparently simple task that we made a complete pig's ear of. We decided to not use the transfer bus (times weren't convenient), or the local bus (schedule was confusing), but instead took the train. The train, in it's defense, was ok, but the real kicker was that my map was incorrect, so that a walk that appeared to be a simple 1.5km walk (my current total baggage load is 27kg, and Ro's is similarly on the edge of her ability) turned into a 3km death march, complete with wrong turns up car entrances, a rock in Ro's shoe, and a horrible feeling that we would miss the ferry. We ended up making it, just, which at least meant we didn't have to battle any queues in checkin. And so I'm now in a surreal ferry nightclub, getting the blog up to date over a dodgy internet connection. I'll add some photos when I next get access to a good connection (apparently Tallinn is pretty wired), and try to make a bit more sense in the next few entries.
Kiruna - it's all about i-ron
I-ron (or iron, when not pronounced by drunk Kiruna youths), is the reason for Kiruna's existence. On my last visit here I was unable to do the mine tour, but I was determined not to be foiled this time. (An aside from the the cruise ship bar. Last time on this ferry, I spent my time trying not to be seen by a bunch of scarred up and very scary looking Russian labourers who were drinking their way from Tallinn to Stockholm and back again. This time, the band has stopped, but a bunch of retirees are doing the limbo. At least the photo-obsessed pelican hasn't come back...)
The Kiruna ore deposit is a shaped like a big credit card, jammed into a mountain. It's about 4km wide, a couple of hundred metres thick, and descends at least a couple of kilometres into the ground at a slight angle. The mine started as an open cut mine, but has been underground since about the 50's or so. Since the ore is on a bit of angle, the technique they use is to work from the side 'below' the ore. As the ore is removed, the rock from the side above (the 'fall' side) falls into the gap, which leads to the ground slowly subsiding on the fall side.
Guess which side the town of Kiruna is sitting on.
This leads to the development that they'll have to move the town in the next few years. They've actually tested out the idea of just picking up every house and trucking it down the road, but ended up being a bit of a hassle, so they'll just knock most of it down and rebuild again. I'm not sure which side this will be on, but hopefully it will be on the other side.
The mine tour was ok - we took a bus which went about 700m underground into the mine, where a tour guide took us through a bunch of installations that described how the mine worked. The mine seems a pretty simple affair - keeping in mind the credit card analogy, they drill down on the fall side, establish a level to work from, then knock out the ore from above the send it to the surface via skips. Everything is big, hard core, and occasionally surprising. The ore skips travel at about 70 km/h up the shafts, the dump trucks are electric with a windup cord (just like your vacuum cleaner at home), and a lot of the machinery is controlled by remote from the surface. Apparently a Peugoet once came up in the skip, so it would appear that miners are not devoid of a sense of humour.
Once they get the ore, they smash it into powder, bake it into little balls, then stick it on a train where it is taken to Narvik to get shipped to the rest of the world. They're very proud of their ore - it's the higher quality one (magnetite, as opposed to haematite), so it's more pure and less expensive to refine.
The Kiruna ore deposit is a shaped like a big credit card, jammed into a mountain. It's about 4km wide, a couple of hundred metres thick, and descends at least a couple of kilometres into the ground at a slight angle. The mine started as an open cut mine, but has been underground since about the 50's or so. Since the ore is on a bit of angle, the technique they use is to work from the side 'below' the ore. As the ore is removed, the rock from the side above (the 'fall' side) falls into the gap, which leads to the ground slowly subsiding on the fall side.
Guess which side the town of Kiruna is sitting on.
This leads to the development that they'll have to move the town in the next few years. They've actually tested out the idea of just picking up every house and trucking it down the road, but ended up being a bit of a hassle, so they'll just knock most of it down and rebuild again. I'm not sure which side this will be on, but hopefully it will be on the other side.
The mine tour was ok - we took a bus which went about 700m underground into the mine, where a tour guide took us through a bunch of installations that described how the mine worked. The mine seems a pretty simple affair - keeping in mind the credit card analogy, they drill down on the fall side, establish a level to work from, then knock out the ore from above the send it to the surface via skips. Everything is big, hard core, and occasionally surprising. The ore skips travel at about 70 km/h up the shafts, the dump trucks are electric with a windup cord (just like your vacuum cleaner at home), and a lot of the machinery is controlled by remote from the surface. Apparently a Peugoet once came up in the skip, so it would appear that miners are not devoid of a sense of humour.
Once they get the ore, they smash it into powder, bake it into little balls, then stick it on a train where it is taken to Narvik to get shipped to the rest of the world. They're very proud of their ore - it's the higher quality one (magnetite, as opposed to haematite), so it's more pure and less expensive to refine.
Cultural Experiences in Kiruna
"Why the hell would you come to Kiruna??!! This place is a hole!" - Local young male in pub, Kiruna.
Third post, second beer started, the band is playing 'Are you lonesome tonight', and I just had my photo taken with a man dressed up as a pelican. The blog is starting to acquire a Hunter S. Thompson vibe.
After being foiled by licensing laws in Norway, the boys (Rob and Hugh, and my good self when Ro wasn't looking....) were determined to make amends when we got to Kiruna. If anywhere was likely to have an interesting nightlife, we reasoned that the Swedish equivalent of Queenstown would provide it.
Well, we did manage to get a bit socially lubricated, but the night was sufficiently tame that most of it can be related here. First stop was a small pub, which was ok except for the bar staff's determination to server me green alcopop drinks. It appears your manly Kiruna Iron miner doesn't have long curly hair. With that lesson learned, and the pub closed, we progressed to the local nightclub with our local guide (who provided the quote at the top of the blog). Amusingly, Kiruna is blessed with 2 night clubs, so of course one is 'cool', with a huge line out the door (which looks weird at midnight, but full sunlight, and the odd hotted up Volvo doing blockies), and the other is dead as a door nail.
Spending an hour queueing with a bunch of Swedish teens didn't have a lot of appeal, so we decided on the 'uncool' club, which also doubles as restaurant. Rob is fond of pointing out that almost every destination so far has been 'just like Swan Hill', and then listing a few differences. At this club, the only difference was the language spoken - pretty damn funny. We met a few Swedes (who all expressed amazement that we'd willingly visited Kiruna), stayed until the club closed, then went back to our hostel, with mission accomplished.
No beer for Australians
Well, I'm still on the ferry, and my attention is being divided between the cormerant nests we're passing (apparently they don't divide like germs either), and a floor show which appears to be where musicians go to die. I'm fighting back by using the artists inspiration juice, but coherence is far from guaranteed.
After the great ferry trip, we decided to stay up and check out the midnight sun - a decision that had nothing to do with Norwegian licensing laws (you can get beer almost anywhere - until 6:00pm. oops). The sun looses quite a bit of kick late at night - it feels like the sun you get just after dawn on a cold morning, and it also behaves a bit like a sunrise/sunset, with some orange tones creeping in. However, the brain tends to notice that it's still light, and doesn't really feel like shutting down.
We took the scenic route back to Kiruna, stopping in at a little village complete with a leather sailed fishing boat, and several dozen fat salmon beneath the jetty (I suspect they'd escaped from a nearby salmon farm - they kept compulsively trying to eat bubbles on the water surface, so I think it was about dinner time for them). There is a bit of mountain pass between Narvik and Kiruna, where there was still a bit of snow on the ground, and the lakes still had ice on them. No one decided to go for a swim.
Abisko national park is a little bit after the pass, on the Kiruna side. It has the start of the Kunsgladen (again, may have got that wrong, will correct later!), a long and famous walking trail, a summer skiing slope, and a few other bits and pieces. The Sami camp nearby was interesting, they explained the various types of huts they used for their winter and summer camps. As they migrate along with the reindeer from the winter to summer grazing grounds, they have a bunch of different storage huts for their winter and summer camp grounds. The huts were of various types, which were graded by their ability to keep the wildlife out. It appears that keeping foxes and wolverines out for half a year takes a bit of doing, when all you've got is wood, rock, and reindeer antlers. There was also a fox trap on display. It was a touch cruel, so I won't describe how it worked, but was pretty much just a stick in the ground. I sometimes wonder how people think these things up, but I guess spending a winter fuming about getting your reindeer skins chewed would focus the mind.
After the great ferry trip, we decided to stay up and check out the midnight sun - a decision that had nothing to do with Norwegian licensing laws (you can get beer almost anywhere - until 6:00pm. oops). The sun looses quite a bit of kick late at night - it feels like the sun you get just after dawn on a cold morning, and it also behaves a bit like a sunrise/sunset, with some orange tones creeping in. However, the brain tends to notice that it's still light, and doesn't really feel like shutting down.
We took the scenic route back to Kiruna, stopping in at a little village complete with a leather sailed fishing boat, and several dozen fat salmon beneath the jetty (I suspect they'd escaped from a nearby salmon farm - they kept compulsively trying to eat bubbles on the water surface, so I think it was about dinner time for them). There is a bit of mountain pass between Narvik and Kiruna, where there was still a bit of snow on the ground, and the lakes still had ice on them. No one decided to go for a swim.
Abisko national park is a little bit after the pass, on the Kiruna side. It has the start of the Kunsgladen (again, may have got that wrong, will correct later!), a long and famous walking trail, a summer skiing slope, and a few other bits and pieces. The Sami camp nearby was interesting, they explained the various types of huts they used for their winter and summer camps. As they migrate along with the reindeer from the winter to summer grazing grounds, they have a bunch of different storage huts for their winter and summer camp grounds. The huts were of various types, which were graded by their ability to keep the wildlife out. It appears that keeping foxes and wolverines out for half a year takes a bit of doing, when all you've got is wood, rock, and reindeer antlers. There was also a fox trap on display. It was a touch cruel, so I won't describe how it worked, but was pretty much just a stick in the ground. I sometimes wonder how people think these things up, but I guess spending a winter fuming about getting your reindeer skins chewed would focus the mind.
Harstad - the tourist version
Greetings blog readers, after another travel related interruption to the blog. Updating the blog requires an alignment of internet access, downtime, and lack of fatigue on my part - which doesn't occur that often. I'm currently on a ferry from Stockholm to Tallinn, in the main ship nightclub which is showing a bizarre tribute to Tina Turner on the big screens, so I've got the downtime. However the internet access is dodgy (I suspect carrier pigeon based) and I'm pretty fatigued (as a result of the great ferry catching debacle), so the quality of the next few blog posts could be pretty rough. Anyways, back to the travel story.
After discovering that not a lot was happening in Narvik, we decided to travel up the coast and have a look around. We got up to a little town called Harstad (or something similar, the internet is too dodgy to figure out what the town was actually called...), which seemed to be buzzing with a little bit more life. We managed to organise ourselves a scenic trip on the ferry that services the nearby islands. It appears that there used to be little island farming communities near Harstad, but they've devolved into little summer holiday places. Apparently spending winter snowed in on a little island, at 66 degrees north, is a little tedious.
note - the disco people have upped the volume, and decreased the quality of their offerings - the coherence of this blog will be decreasing shortly!
Anyways, the islands were incredibly picturesque - little hamlets of red wooden houses on patches of green, surrounded by blue water, with a background of rugged mountains. We also went past a seabird nesting site - first time I've seen something like that, but my excitement was tempered by the fact that they were common seagulls. At least I now know they don't just divide like amoebas.
Arrgghhh - the floor show in the ferry has just started - the spruiker has just let us know that the MC for the night's middle name is 'entertainment'. I feel he has little chance of living up to his moniker.
After discovering that not a lot was happening in Narvik, we decided to travel up the coast and have a look around. We got up to a little town called Harstad (or something similar, the internet is too dodgy to figure out what the town was actually called...), which seemed to be buzzing with a little bit more life. We managed to organise ourselves a scenic trip on the ferry that services the nearby islands. It appears that there used to be little island farming communities near Harstad, but they've devolved into little summer holiday places. Apparently spending winter snowed in on a little island, at 66 degrees north, is a little tedious.
note - the disco people have upped the volume, and decreased the quality of their offerings - the coherence of this blog will be decreasing shortly!
Anyways, the islands were incredibly picturesque - little hamlets of red wooden houses on patches of green, surrounded by blue water, with a background of rugged mountains. We also went past a seabird nesting site - first time I've seen something like that, but my excitement was tempered by the fact that they were common seagulls. At least I now know they don't just divide like amoebas.
Arrgghhh - the floor show in the ferry has just started - the spruiker has just let us know that the MC for the night's middle name is 'entertainment'. I feel he has little chance of living up to his moniker.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Kiruna and Narvik
We've been in Narvik for a couple of days now, after flying up from Stockholm, renting a car in Kiruna, and driving across. I've got reasonably fond memories of Kiruna from a decade ago, but they seem to be of the same quality as my fondness for cheap beer from the same period. This time, it seemed to be a bit of a bleak outpost in the middle of nowhere.
Hence, we escaped in our little rental (a microscopic Clio this time, which upped the difficulty of luggage tetris) to the seaside town of Narvik. Narvik is a little utilitarian as well (I guess any town that is an iron-ore port in the middle of nowhere will have a few rough edges), but it is nestled in a picturesque fjord, and is currently bathed in the midnight sun.
We spent today attempting to hire a boat to do a fjord tour, but the tourist season is yet to start in these parts, and no boat owner has answered their phone yet. We ended up doing a bit of a car tour around Skjomen Fjord, which was pretty impressive. We came across a couple of little villages, but I'm not sure if they where year round places, or just summer getaways. There was one little house where there was a bunch of drying fish out the front. Whether this was a hobbyist, or a committed bloke from the old days, we don't know.
Hence, we escaped in our little rental (a microscopic Clio this time, which upped the difficulty of luggage tetris) to the seaside town of Narvik. Narvik is a little utilitarian as well (I guess any town that is an iron-ore port in the middle of nowhere will have a few rough edges), but it is nestled in a picturesque fjord, and is currently bathed in the midnight sun.
We spent today attempting to hire a boat to do a fjord tour, but the tourist season is yet to start in these parts, and no boat owner has answered their phone yet. We ended up doing a bit of a car tour around Skjomen Fjord, which was pretty impressive. We came across a couple of little villages, but I'm not sure if they where year round places, or just summer getaways. There was one little house where there was a bunch of drying fish out the front. Whether this was a hobbyist, or a committed bloke from the old days, we don't know.
Skansen and a Moose
Second day in Stockholm, and it was decided that we should spend some time touring the city on bikes. After discovering the first bike available was missing, and fixing the second one we were offered, we were off. Gamla Stan (??) was the first stop, where Ro discovered that salty licorice flavored icecream existed, and tasted good. According to her at least - I wasn't keen to sully my taste buds.
We then did a lap of the Royal Gardens (roaring with growth in the Swedish summer, and more than one gosling that was duly harrassed), then headed over to Skansen. Skansen is like a Swedeish Sovereign Hill, that has been running since the 1890s. We checked out a bunch of historical Swedish houses, and saw our first Moose!
The Moose was a bit intruiging - no tail, a boulbous nose, and some felt covered antlers. The baby ones were cute though, and Ro got to pat one. We also saw a Reindeer at close range, but he was halfway through molting his winter coat. I'm not sure how good he would have looked at his best, but he wasn't near it when we saw him. He made a disturbing arthritic sounding click with every step, but appaently this is a flaw of the species, not just our moth eaten specimen. The alleged purpose of the click is to make it easier for a group of reindeer to keep together in foggy conditions.
We then did a lap of the Royal Gardens (roaring with growth in the Swedish summer, and more than one gosling that was duly harrassed), then headed over to Skansen. Skansen is like a Swedeish Sovereign Hill, that has been running since the 1890s. We checked out a bunch of historical Swedish houses, and saw our first Moose!
The Moose was a bit intruiging - no tail, a boulbous nose, and some felt covered antlers. The baby ones were cute though, and Ro got to pat one. We also saw a Reindeer at close range, but he was halfway through molting his winter coat. I'm not sure how good he would have looked at his best, but he wasn't near it when we saw him. He made a disturbing arthritic sounding click with every step, but appaently this is a flaw of the species, not just our moth eaten specimen. The alleged purpose of the click is to make it easier for a group of reindeer to keep together in foggy conditions.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Fish speak and kyaks
Ok - we're still on the Bohuslan coast, and camping under the windmill. For our full day on the coast, we decided to rent a boat. We figured that we could check out the coastline, and also that Hugh wouldn't be left behind (he's on crutches due to an altercation with a car in Melbourne). The hunt for the boat turned into a bit of an epic, but we ended up seeing a bunch of the coast as a result.
Initially we tried asking around in Mollosund. This resulted in a helpful local putting introducing us to the owner of a rather substantial boat. We were pretty nervous about this turn of events, and in any case the owner said that he needed his boat that day. Possibly that was code for needing his boat again, but we weren't quibbling. Anyway, we ended up spending some time chatting with the locals, and saw a bunch of herring being dried in the traditional manner. Or possibly they were feeding the birds - one magpie in particular seemed to have a taste for the fish.
The trip turned out to be great success. Our hire-man convinced us to kyak around the island of Flaton, which we managed after a lot of effort. None of us capsized, but we all wished that we'd packed a bit more food, or even some fresh water. But the scenery was amazing, it was a great way to get a feel for the islands and geography, and the kyaking was great fun. We all slept pretty well that night, and the windmill was once again quiet.
Initially we tried asking around in Mollosund. This resulted in a helpful local putting introducing us to the owner of a rather substantial boat. We were pretty nervous about this turn of events, and in any case the owner said that he needed his boat that day. Possibly that was code for needing his boat again, but we weren't quibbling. Anyway, we ended up spending some time chatting with the locals, and saw a bunch of herring being dried in the traditional manner. Or possibly they were feeding the birds - one magpie in particular seemed to have a taste for the fish.
We then started a tour of the islands, under the guise of attempting to hire a boat. At almost every stop, we were either asked whether we actually wanted kyaks, then told that no-one had any boats. As we could clearly see boats (and more than one, at that) in the water, we pressed on. After about 3 hours, we finally found a man with a boat to hire. He promptly convinced us the boat was a poor idea, but that kyaks were 'not a problem', even if one of us had his knee in a brace. After a pretty random briefing (where the only problems appeared to be caused by German tourists), we were given a map and a route, and released into the wild like a group of freshly hatched ducklings.
The trip turned out to be great success. Our hire-man convinced us to kyak around the island of Flaton, which we managed after a lot of effort. None of us capsized, but we all wished that we'd packed a bit more food, or even some fresh water. But the scenery was amazing, it was a great way to get a feel for the islands and geography, and the kyaking was great fun. We all slept pretty well that night, and the windmill was once again quiet.
You can barely see the windmills
Ok - another out of order blog post. I'm not sure whether to go back and put my posts in the chronological order - I'm figuring that you don't tell all a trip's stories in strict order, and so I don't need to blog in order either. However, as people don't always seem to follow my stories, maybe I'll need to revise this idea.
Anyway, at this (I guess metaphorical, in-story point) point, we've just hired the car and departed from Malmo. We spent a night camping at a lake somewhere mid-Sweden, which taught us that mosquitos also enjoy lakes, Swedish camping fees are a bit steep (half a pair of jeans per tent!), and that the beauty of Rob's $20 tent is in the eye of the beholder. However, the lake and surroundings were idyllic.
Next stop was the Bohuslan coast, north of Gothenburg. It's a pretty place, where old fishing villages dot a winding coastline, that consists of a bunch of granite boulders and islets. So, we camped under a windmill. In our defence, it was the only bit of free ground that we could find, but it did detract from the scenery a touch. Thankfully, the windmill (or maybe the wind?) shut down at night, so its repetitive swoosh did not provide the sound track for our dreams.
Stockholm - out of order
Well, that is, this post is out of order. As far as a transplanted Australian can tell, Stockholm is currently in the state of harmonious order that we've observed throughout Sweden. The last week has been a bit frantic and out of range of wireless internet, so I'll be getting the blog up to date as I get the opportunity.
In any case, we've just travelled over from Gothenburg (site of a yet unblogged social event, otherwise known as Chad and Lisa's wedding) in the hire car (also unblogged, but referenced in passing), while hindered by a stomach disorder that I picked up at around the same time as the wedding (the stomach disorder will remain unblogged, but I will refer to it as "The Horrors", if I need to refer to it again. Which I hope I don't). We rolled into town at about 10 this morning, and returned the hire car without any scratches (meaning the money we effectively bet on not paying to reduce our excess paid off), and checked into a nearby backpackers without incident. After sitting around with numb expressions for a while, (an aftershock of "The Horrors" for me, hopefully the car trip for everyone else) Ro and I managed to get some site seeing in at the Vasa Museum.
The Vasa was firstly a boat, then a rather abrupt naval disaster, and is now a well preserved wreck. The brief story is that the King of Sweden at the time was involved in a war with his cousin (and as a result Poland), so he'd taken the step of taxing his country to the hilt to build a new warship (the Vasa). Said ship managed to sail a good 1300 metres or so before sinking due a wind gust in a calm harbour, in front of a large crowd assembled to witness the result of their taxes. Not a bad day's work for the captain, who managed to survive the sinking. However, the captain also managed to survive the inquest into the disaster with his head still attached to his neck, so he mustn't have been completely talentless.
In any case, the museum is big (it's got a whole man-o-war inside it), well done, and explains the story of the sinking, and subsequent un-sinking (maybe "salvaging"? ) well. Worth a visit if you get to Stockholm one day.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Sweden - land of the windmill
Have been in Sweden a couple of days now. We got over here for the bucks/hens night for the couple who are getting married next week, and the celebrations went well. We've now got about a week free until the wedding, so we're renting a car and heading up the Bohuslan coast. The orginal plan was to rent bikes and camp, but the our lost baggage and Hugh's unsuccessful career as a car matador has put paid to it.
Apart from the neat and expensive looking locals, clockwork-like public transport, tidy towns, and a general feeling of competent organisation, we've been struck by the large number of windmills. And not just any windmills, these things are massive, dwarfing any other structure out in the fields. It's not surprising that there's not any Orange Bellied Parrots out here, they'd only get a couple of miles before getting chopped to bits.
Keep posted for some windmill photos as we head up to Gothenburg.
Copenhagen - Cheese, but not Chocolate or Beer
Had a pretty touristy day in Copenhagen. Ro had decided that the time for messing about was over, and today we were going to have some Danish cheese, chocalate, and beer, in that order.
She hunted down a cheese shop in the morning, where we tasted a few regional cheeses, and took a couple away for lunch. The Blue that we had was pretty sharp, but my favourite was a local Gruyere, which seemed to taste very different from other aged cheeses that I've had. However, it could be the case that my cold had altered my taste, as it seemed to traumatise Ro a bit.
The afternoon we spent looking around the old city, and taking a canal tour. Though we did feel a bit like idiotic tourists on the canal tour, it was a pretty quick way to see most of the sites of the city. After the tour we were feeling a little peaky, so we decided to head back to the hotel before heading out for some beer (and maybe chocolate). Of course, after relaxing for what felt like a couple of minutes, we woke up and it was midnight. Ooops.
She hunted down a cheese shop in the morning, where we tasted a few regional cheeses, and took a couple away for lunch. The Blue that we had was pretty sharp, but my favourite was a local Gruyere, which seemed to taste very different from other aged cheeses that I've had. However, it could be the case that my cold had altered my taste, as it seemed to traumatise Ro a bit.
The afternoon we spent looking around the old city, and taking a canal tour. Though we did feel a bit like idiotic tourists on the canal tour, it was a pretty quick way to see most of the sites of the city. After the tour we were feeling a little peaky, so we decided to head back to the hotel before heading out for some beer (and maybe chocolate). Of course, after relaxing for what felt like a couple of minutes, we woke up and it was midnight. Ooops.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Patience in Copenhagen
Usually, these posts should be documenting great adventures. This is the other kind of post - one that documents pretty much nothing at all. I'm stuck in our room in Copenhagen, trying to organise our delayed baggage. It was not put on the plane from London to Copenhagen with us (as a weight saving measure), and so we've got to keep in touch with the airport and let them know our new address when we change hotels.
I had a look around for a photo of our luggage, but it looks like they were too heavy to ever get in frame. Hence I've included a photo of all our worldly possessions, minus what we took overseas with us.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Touring Dubai
We spent a day in Dubai on our way to Europe, which we split in half, taking in new Dubai in the morning, and old Dubai (or what's left of it) in the evening. New Dubai consisted of strolling the Dubai mall (yep, it's pretty big), and going up the top of the Al Burj (even bigger). Despite the heat haze, the view was pretty spectacular. It felt like you were in a plane more than anything else.
The afternoon was spent looking around the Bustakiya district, and checking out the Dubai Museum. The old architecture was pretty interesting; they used courtyard houses, with wind towers which would catch the sea breeze, and direct it through the house.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Suspicions run rife in Dubai
Just got into Dubai from an overnight flight from Singapore. Clearing customs was interesting - the customs guys were immaculate in nice flowing white robes, which they kept immaculate by not exerting themselves very hard. I was pulled aside and had my bag searched for drugs, which Ro found very amusing. She's taking it as another bit of evidence that I look a bit scruffy and disreputable.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Arrived in Singapore!
good luck continues, and we're not sleeping in a broom cupboard listening to raving insomnics again.
Ro's chilling out waiting for John to meet us.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
The check-in from hell
Well, we just said goodbye ro's parents, and have managed to check in
to our flight. Only adventure of note was getting stuck behind the
travellers from hell. They only took about 30 minutes to clear, once
they'd given up on their sideline business of importing milk powder
into Singapore.
to our flight. Only adventure of note was getting stuck behind the
travellers from hell. They only took about 30 minutes to clear, once
they'd given up on their sideline business of importing milk powder
into Singapore.
The joys of travel.
First iPhone post
Testing out writing a post from my phone. Strangely, there is no way
to post directly to the blog, so I need to send an email. We'll see
how this works out...
to post directly to the blog, so I need to send an email. We'll see
how this works out...
The first blog
Well, I promised I'd set up a blog for our friends to see what we're up to, and here it is. At the moment we're busy preparing for our flight (which leaves at 1:00pm tomorrow), in the typical mad rush. The next blog entry will be more interesting - it will include a list of all the things we forgot, and an update on how my cold (which struck today) is progressing.
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