Trip through Scandinavian countries

He woke up with a twitch. His wife was still sounds asleep. He had slept well and didn’t quite realize where he was at first. Endeed, he was comfortably lying in the bed of his recreational vehicle, but why did the bed feel a bit tilted? Something else felt strange, too, but he couldn’t figure out what... Then it occurred to him: It was the absence of mechanical sounds, not one single person or car anywhere. The only sounds blowing in the wind were sounds of nesting birds and solitary fox hunting.

A few hours earlier he had parked the caravan at a resting place high up on the fjeld by the amazingly beautiful Vildmarksvägen (Wilderness way). It was still early in the morning, early summer. How did they – she and he – end up here? He closed his eyes and reminisced about this wonderful trip which now was near its end.

They came up with the idea of the journey after visiting the caravan and travel fair in Helsinki. The fair is a guaranteed launcher of travel fever. Back home in Tammisaari, about 90 kilometers southwest of Helsinki, a bunch of maps and timetables were assembled. It was her idea and suggestion that they should go and greet the early summer to southern Sweden. At this time it would be something new, since they have had their vacation in August for many years until now. Said and done, on the Independence Day of Norway, 17th of May, they took the ferry from Turku and arrived at the royal Swedish capital which greeted them with sunshine and warmth. After a few days filled with cultural activities, they drove the RV south towards environments with great history and nature. Places and sceneries like Nyköping, the lake Roxen, the monastery of Vreta, Vadstena, Omberget, the Östgöta plain with all its ancient church villages, all of this was memorized and saved onto film before it was time to take the ferry from Gränna over to Visingsö. When they approached the island, he thought of how many times they’d seen it all the way from the E4 road and discussed that they really should visit it someday. And it proved to be more than worth the while when they got to admire the serene nature on the island.

But the journey had to move on. Small detours through Smaland took them all the way to Kalmar, where the Stensö camping host welcomed them as hearty as many times before – with a glint in his eye. After enjoying countless variations of bird song, the journey continued over the bridge to Öland, where even more birds awaited at Alvaret. He thought to himself that it would be good to know a bit more about birds. He could tell the difference between a swan and a swallow all right, but the rest just appeared to be ducks in the horizon. The overnight stay at little Byxelkrok would later on turn out to be very special, since one of the photos he took there would win a few contests back home in Finland.

The next route taken was through Blekinge to Skane, passing the apple farms in their entire splendor at the Ivö lake and Kivik, and at Kaseberga the rocks of Ale were embraced by the wind and the nightingale. This was as far south as they could get, but still more nature to enjoy at the recently founded national park, Söderasen. The nature seemed to be smiling over there, and more beauty than that is hard to find.

It had been a while since Stockholm, though. It was time to enjoy the culture of towns for a change. Helsingborg had a lot to offer; the castle of Sofiero with rhododendrons in bloom for instance. The last symptoms of cultural hunger were cured with a trip to Copenhagen. Then the old matter of discussion revived: Would they”dare” try a CC-camping? Many friends in Finland had found them very good, but... they were more active members and had mobile homes. Because everyone had mobile homes at CC:s areas, right? What if someone would be insulted when they came with their RV? Well, it doesn’t hurt to try. They headed to Camp Norrviken, where the welcome couldn’t have been better. Can you imagine that they even offered to help park the RV. He almost felt ashamed of his prejudiced attitude towards the club camping’s. When they continued the journey north, passing Överlida towards Hjo, they had a strong feeling they wanted to return here again. Arriving at the beautiful and well kept camping, more successful picture taking awaited. The weather was on its best behavior with calm days and tepid, light nights. But what can you do, a caravanner cannot rest on his laurels, so after four days the car keys started to burn a hole in the pocket.

The following route to Arn offered sights such as Kungslena, Varnhem, Skara, Hornborgasjön, Billingen and Husaby with the magnificent Munkängarna on the way to Mariestad. The blooming white wild garlic could be counted in probably billions, spreading its original scent.

Was it perhaps the spirits of the ancestors that made them head towards the Finnish woods in Tiveden, or was it the attraction of the still waters of lake Unden. The supplies of impressions of our travels began to fill up, but there was still room for more. After Örebro and Maria Langs Nora, the forthcoming Norrland was simply irresistible. It was time for Mora, because there is a river named after the undersigned – at least that’s what he likes to think.

The Santa Clause on Gesundaberget was nowhere to be found, which had to be proof of that the real Santa Clause lives in Rovaniemi.They carried on northwards, past Östersund to Stömsund, where Vildmarksvägen begins – or ends. At Gäddede camping they decided to make a really early start. When they drove away from the camping the next morning at 2.30 AM, the only ones awake besides them were the sun and a fox cub. Three hours later he parked the RV at the resting place up on the Stekenjokk fjeld. They took a walk in the serenity and admired the melting snow, which made the little stream resemble more of a fast-flowing river. When they returned to the RV, the early awakening took its toll and they were off to bed.

Now awake, reminiscing this extraordinary journey about to end, he smiled. The journey had been relaxing and rewarding, they had seen extremely much, all the people they met were friendly and helpful, and on top of all – they felt rested. Now they could take on everyday life with its problems with whole new strength. The only thing left to decide was whether to travel home through Umea and Vaasa or go south to Kapellskär and take the ferry to Naantali. They decided on the latter option and along the way they visited Gävle and the fishing friendly Bönan, camping one final time at the CC camping in Kapellskär. The camping was close to the harbor and the reception was as great there as in Norrviken. He twitched a bit again when his wife took him back from his dreamland and said with her most flattering voice: - A little breakfast wouldn’t hurt now, would it?

No, it certainly wouldn’t.

We would especially like to thank Camp Norrviken and Camp Kapellskär for the heart-warming reception we got.

With best regards,
Arthur and Ulla Österdahl, Finland