We slipped up a bit this morning. Our departure from the campsite was not as smooth as we would have liked it to be, and luckily a German couple were watching us. I tried to move off the site, and found that nothing moved, as we had left the caravan handbrake on, which was bad enough. But then the German neighbour poked her head out of their motorhome and alerted us to the raised roof vent. Thank goodness, as we would have lost the roof vent somewhere along the road. Of course I realised that the reason we were so cold last night was due to the open roof vent, which I raised fully instead of lowering after cooking dinner.
We also left the campsite in the rain, and it was miserable, but after an hour the sun came out, and the clouds became white and fluffy instead of grey and forbidding. Our spirits lifted!
The southern end of Sweden is mostly flat, with some slighly hilly ground included, just for a little bit of interest. It is probably the most populated part of Sweden, however, there are decidedly less people here than in Denmark or the Netherlands. Consequently the towns are smaller, and there is less development, and more woodland. There is a lot of water around though;, rivers, lakes, ponds, canals.
We drove on the motorway, through endless forests and woodland, until we came to Lake Vattern, with the town of Jonkoping at the bottom end. Mind you it could be the top end, depends where you are starting from, but for us it was the bottom end.
We drove on the motorway beside the lake, which was very picturesque, and at this point the hills were actually high. When we came to the junction where the motorway veered off to the right, we took the minor road, 50, at Odeshog, as it had a green line running along the side of the road, on the map of course. A scenic road. Great.
But first, a stop at the traffic rest stop, for lunch, which we had prepared before we left, cold meat from Germany and cheese from the Netherlands, on wholemeal bread from Sweden. A very multi country sandwich. Denmark missed out.
The truck parking area was enormous, with plenty of room to park our car and caravan.
The coffee came from Hungry Jacks! Not too bad either. By the way we have had to pay for everything on credit card, as we have no Swedish Kronor, which was a bit of an oversight. Luckily there appears to be a cashless society here, as in Denmark, and we have had no problems using credit cards. This makes a change. In Germany and the Netherlands, we always have to have a wallet full of cash, as a large number of supermarkets, shops, camping grounds, restaurants do not accept foreign credit cards. Such a pain. Luckily the toilets at the services here are free!
I love the farm houses, and farm buildings, as they are built of wood, and are painted brown. A universal colour. The relevant paint company must be doing a roaring trade.
As we are further north, the lilacs, bluebells, forgetmenots and cow parsley are just beginning to come into flower, about four weeks behind England. The rape flowers have also just opened, and they have a bright yellow glow about them, which I have not seen before. Must be the northern light.
We drove back onto the motorway at Linkoping, then drove through Norrkoping and turned off at Nykoping, towards the coast and our next camping ground, in Oxelosund. We have just looked up 'koping' on Wikipedia, and it means 'market town'.
I reversed the caravan onto this narrow stretch of gravel reasonably successfully, but Walter wanted it placed more to the left of the pitch. Of course I became flustered, due to the Swedish couple watching me from the motorhome opposite, and then messed it up completely. I had to concede defeat, and Walter happily moved it about with the remote control. Show off!
The cabins behind us, are getting a facelift, from brown to white. Rebellion.
One of the beaches at Oxelosund, still being prepared for summer, with loads of sand being deposited on the right hand side, not in this photograph, ready to be spread out into a sandy beach.
Walter posing beside a very large rock, and looking very chirpy.
A woodland walk between the campsite and the beach.
A peaceful scene.
This evening we walked down to the water, in order to take some photographs of the setting sun, but of course it was far too early. It was only 8 p.m. But the sun did not set until after 10 pm. When I looked out of the window of the caravan the sky was bright red, but I was too lazy to go back and take more photographs.
We took a detour on the return trip to the caravan, and went past an area of very small summer houses, with very large gardens. The gardens were amazing, and the houses so cute. In other words they are allotments, with summer houses included.
I have just sent Walter out to check the electricity box, due to my laptop suddenly switching off, but of course it was not plugged in. The battery had gone flat. Walter was not amused. So on that note I think I need to call it a night, and head off to bed. Tomorrow we head to Stockholm.
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