23rd - 28th May

Sunday 23rd May - After a very dull misty day on Saturday, we awoke to sun but cold and damp again. We packed up fairly quickly and were on the road by 9.45am as we knew we had quite a long day ahead of us. As it was Sunday the roads were fairly quiet, not so many lorries thank goodness and the sun soon came out and warmed us up. We stopped about 1.00 for lunch after negotiating the Oresund Bridge between Denmark and Sweden (toll of 570DKK which is about £70!) We finally found the campsite - Sjostugans Camping in Almhult, Sweden at about 3.30pm, blowing a gale but still dry and sunny luckily.

 
It is a very pretty area, right by a lake and with woods around, but not a flat spot to be seen and certainly no marked out pitches. So long as you can get your electric cable to reach a socket that’s fine. So here we are, in our crooked little house, on a crooked little hill, by a crooked large lake, chocks around the wheels, brakes firmly on, one side up on ramps and feeling decidedly insecure - I don’t know if I will survive the week!





















We thought we would have treat tonight, so had a lovely meal in the restaurant that has a terrace overlooking the lake (236SEK £24 for 2 main courses and 2 coca colas) It started to pour with rain whilst we were eating, so we ran back to the unit and shut up shop for the night.



Monday 24th May - Today has been a day of sunshine and showers and is also a public holiday. Lots of Germans left the site this morning, so it is fairly quiet around now. We did some chores - removing mud from carpets, washing clothes and put the awning up. After a lazy lunch, whilst the sun shone we went for a stroll around the site and lake and then off in to the woods that lead back in to town. Back just in time for a cuppa as the heavens opened again! I don’t think our shorts are going to come out of the bag any time soon, but the brollies are being put to good use.



Tuesday 25th May - We set off this morning to find the ‘town’, were going to walk, but it seemed quite a way and was still raining on and off, so took the car. We found Netto, and used their car park whilst having a look around town. We picked up some useful maps and information in the Tourist Info office - now have a couple of places we would like to go and see whilst we are here. Almhult itself is the ‘home of Ikea’ where Ingvar Kamprad first thought of flat-pack furniture. There is an area called Ikea Way, where the very first store is, as well as a hotel, diner and his own house . We spent some time having a look around there and found lots of different styles to what we get back at home. There was a biting cold gale blowing all the time and we were quite glad to get back inside before we got drenched again. Our colds have now shifted a bit, but mine has turned in to the silly tickly cough that I had back at the beginning of the year, so I am somewhat lacking in sleep at the moment. Oh for some sun and warmth!!




Wednesday 26th May - Today has been a lovely day - sunny and fairly warm! We drove about 10 miles up the road to a place called Roshult, which is the birthplace of Carl Linne ( a very well-renowned man in these parts, apparently a botanist from a very young age who travelled all over the world collecting plant and mineral samples). His original house and gardens have been restored, now housing a museum as well.

















There are numerous walks around the meadows, fields and woods as well as a nature reserve. We took the “yellow trail” which was 2.5km of undulating terrain, accompanied by millions of gnats! After a coffee in the shop followed by picnic lunch taken in the car park of the church/graveyard, we had a look around the church which was very light and airy and beautiful. All of this was free!!!

Another 4km by car down a single track road found us at the orangey, where he used to nurture the plants brought back from foreign lands and still grow today,as well as the visitor centre, where we roamed around for more than an hour. This bit cost us 30SEK each which is about £3.….not bad for a day out! We even managed to sit out in the sun with our cuppas when we got back as well as taking an evening stroll around the campsite in the setting sun after dinner.



Thursday 27th May - We have now driven 1000 miles altogether, so thought we would spend the morning at home and wash the sheets and towels. At least there is a decent, cheap washing machine and tumble dryer here. After lunch we went for a walk through the woods to a sort of boat ramp thingy, where we sat and watched the world go by ….still in the sun!