The plan was to take a train to Kristiansand, Sweden from Oslo. After arriving at the station a bit later than we planned to, we discovered there was no train, but a bus. And there was no other way to get out into Sweden by train – at least, not for another couple of days. So, the bus it was – except we’d missed the early bus now, and booked onto the 6pm departure. Lunch in the park with the drug dealers is followed by a wander around town with Daniel (we go to the Opera House and watch a guy in a tuxedo patterned g-string scull several beers then paddle across the water to rescue a blow-up doll). Then it’s back to pack up our bikes for bus travel.
Our bus is wireless enabled! Free wireless internet! I am amazed by modern technology. While waiting for my flying car to be delivered, I start losing my voice, and we realise how far we’d have to cycle tomorrow if we start in Kristiansand. The decision is made to pay the extra and stay on the bus until Örebro. We arrive in town after 11pm, reassemble bikes and find a patch of forest outside town to camp in not too long after midnight.
The following day is spent largely lazing around in the tent as I try and coax my voice back into action. We watch The Empire Strikes Back over lunch, reliving our Rallarvegen experience (the Hoth scenes were shot around Finse), before finally packing up and cycling the enormous distance of 11km on the gentle Swedish roads (what a difference from the hills of Norway!). Our home for the night is courtesy of Erik and Mia, who extended an invitation out of the blue, offering us a place for the night if our trip happened to take us through their neighbourhood. In their ancient old farmhouse we have the tastiest meal we’ve had all trip, and learn all sorts of useful things about identifying wild chanterelle mushrooms as well as meeting their dogs, chickens and rabbits, and generally having a great time.
Finally on the road again, we marvel at how fast we can go on these nice sealed roads with their lack of big hills. A few hours later, we both realise we’re finding the scenery just a little boring after Norway, cycling through constant farmland and forest. An early camp in a forest, after a huge 125km day, then we’re up and pedaling for Stockholm to make the ferry for Finland.
Of course, once we reach the outskirts of Stockholm the signs to the city centre disappear, and the bike paths all go in odd and confusing directions. We luckily run into Alpo, a cycling angel who offers to lead us into the centre, and gives us lots of useful information and tells us lots of interesting stories along the way. He says he’s thinking of making maps for the poor confused cycle tourists he comes across who are as baffled as we were by the difficulty of making it into the centre of Stockholm.
Safely into the centre, we stock up on a few essentials, wander around having a look at the city, and then dine by the river before joining the ferry queue. Checking in with the cars, we get waved on first, then lean our bikes up against a handy surface and find a spot on the ferry to spend the night. The Stockholm-Turku ferry seems to be mainly a party ship, as going via the Ã…land islands (exempt from the abolition of duty-free within the EU) means they are able to sell duty-free liquor. From our corner we watch the latest Harry Potter movie before falling into a restless slumber some time after midnight.
Distance: 257km
Flaginess levels: High!
Public toilets: Available
Wifi availability: Good
Days of rain: 1/4
Bike friendliness: Ok
One reply on “Cycling: Sweden, the Return (22 – 25 August 2009)”
Wow, wi-fi bus, that’s awesome! Stockholm looks so different in the summer from winter, when everything literally froze over.