Goodbye Sweden - Hello Scotland

Monday October 2, 2017

Monday was another day at home to get the washing done, sorting the many photographs and logging Sunday's caches.  Patricia and Dianne went to the shops in the meantime, but as shopping is not my hobby I declined the invitation to join them.  After dinner I packed my suitcase and backpack for the trip to Scotland.

Tuesday October 3, 2017

First of all I had to wish Mikayla a happy birthday (via facebook) as Australia was already 8 hours ahead of us. ;-)

We were up at 6am, because we had to leave at 7am.  Dianne was going to drop us off on the way to work.

It was definitely goodbye Sweden; another holiday filled with lots of memories.

Patricia and I spent a few hours at McDonald's again and then caught the train to Copenhagen airport.  There too we had to wait a couple of hours, but by then it was time for lunch, so the wait didn't take too long.

Next was our flight to Edinburgh.  A smaller plane than we are used to at the long international flights, but not unpleasant or uncomfortable.  It did feel strange though, that it was only a  short flight of a few hours.

I did have some British pounds from my last trip, but Patricia felt happier with a bit more cash in hand, so we went to the nearest ATM.  Neither her nor my cards were accepted, but luckily I had a European card as well, which was accepted.

And now we were on our own!  We needed to find the bus to our accommodation for the next few weeks!  Luckily Julie, Katherine's friend, messaged me that the number 35 bus did no longer exist and we had to look for Skyline 300. After asking here and there we obtained our tickets from the ticket office (because you need to have the exact amount on the bus) and found the bus stop and a bus waiting to take us to Moat Drive.  When we arrived Julie was waiting and took us to the flat, got us settled and left.

On the doubledecker bus

Selfie ;-)

As we were just a bit tired of the long day we found food in the fridge that would tie us over to the next day and had an early night.

Sweden - Saturday and Sunday (Home & Geocaching)

Saturday September 30, 2017

Another quiet day after a full week, spending the day reading, updating my blog, doing some washing, etc.

Sunday October 1, 2017

Unfortunately I had another bad night without much sleep, so I had problems waking up and didn't get up until 8:30am.

We were going to spend another day with Emma, and this time also her daughter Lena. We drove to Svedala where we picked them up and went on in Dianne's car, but not before we found a cache while waiting for the others to arrive.

1742 - Petroleum Tango #69

Next we drive from Svedala via Ystad to Kåseberga, picking caches on the way.  This road leads roughly along the south coast of Sweden.

1743 - Teatern i Ystad

1744 - Rörigt

1745 - Klövasten (earth cache of a split rock)

At Kåseberga we have a break and look around, before we climb the hill, where on top we find another earth cache.  Dianne, Emma and Lena decide to clamber down on the sea side to find a few answers for the earth cache, but it being too steep for Patricia and me we decide to make our way back down the hill on the side we came from.  On the way we see a farmer working the sheep dogs.  As what they do doesn't make much sense to us, we think that this is more or less to show off the dogs' talents and to keep the tourists amused. :-)

I had wanted to upload the video, but it is more than the allowed MBs, and I don't know at this stage what to do about it...  So, I can only show you a few pictures.

1746 - Ales Stenar (earth cache)

Ales Stenar is a site with 'standing stones', much like the various sites in the UK and Scotland, but much smaller than i.e. Stone Henge.  These standing stones however have the shape of a boat or ship and are also very old. 

It's a long and steep way down!

The farmer has left a note

Instead of walking all the way around the point Dianne, Emma and Lena had to climb their way up again, because Lena had left her jacket near the steps...

Sheep dogs in action

After the long walk and climbs up and down we were hungry and so we had a picnic lunch near the shops at the bottom of the hill. The next cache was on the way back at the spot where we saw the hang gliders.

1748 - Kasewood

I forgot to take a picture of the cache, but this was close to the site.

1747 - KalkbrottSwedish Igloo

This cache was at a very interesting place.  In the past these 'igloos' were used as lime kilns.

1749 - Östra Torps kyrka

1750 - 9an Smygehamn

1751 - Äspögården

After the last cache I took one more picture before we dropped off Emma and Lena after another wonderful caching day together.

The next two were taken somewhere along the road.  The mount is a Viking burial place and the statue I photographed in Ystad.  We also stopped at the southernmost point of  Sweden: Smygehuk where we had a well earned ice cream.  After we had dropped off the 'girls' we had our dinner at McDonald's.  Not always my favourite place, but good enough when you're hungry and Dianne didn't have to do the cooking after a full day behind the wheel.

Sweden - Thursday and Friday (Rengsjö)

Thursday September 28, 2017

And then we are ready for a full day around Rengsjö. Well, nearly, because before we were ready to take off for the day I found something rather unpleasant on the side of my waist: a tick! Something already had been bothering me for a day or two, but I couldn't see what it was and thought of a little scab, but it wouldn't budge.  When Ria asked to have a look she noticed it instantly.  Small, but definitely a tick.  Luckily she had the right tool at hand and had it removed in no time.  The wound only swelled a little bit over the next few days, but wasn't more than a little itchy, so I am hoping for the best.  Lyme disease is always in the back of your mind, in particular when you are in a country where the black-legged deer tick is prevalent.

Next Ria prepares a lunch packet and off we go to Västerby Hälsingegård, a world heritage site where Ria often works as a volunteer. 

We meet Ragnar and Göran, other volunteers, of which the latter shows us around.  Later we meet Kerstin and Carin, who show us their weaving looms and beautiful work.  Together we have coffee with Ria's home made cakes.

Patricia, Göran and Ria

All too soon it's time to leave, but it is quite a drive to our next destination: Järvzoo at Järvsö, roughly an hour's drive north again.

We see Scandinavian animals living in a semi-open zoo in their natural surroundings.  We obviously see wolves, moose, bears, owls, foxes, musk-oxen, wolverines, etc. on our pleasant walk.  Approx. half-way we have lunch at one of the picnic places, consisting of a large cabin and outdoor area.  Ria had planned for a BBQ lunch, but we couldn't get the fire started.  Luckily we had pre-cooked sausages, so combined with a bread roll and mustard we had an excellent lunch anyway.

Ria on the boardwalk

A large owl

Just a pretty view

"You are here"

Deer

Musk-ox in the centre with its white horns

At the cabin

Picnic area

bears

Wolves

Wolverine

View across the lake

Fox

We finished by 5pm and we made our way back via Bollnäs. We were home by 6pm and ready for dinner, which was really special: roast elk with home grown root vegetables. A meal for a king (or is that a queen in our case?)

Friday September 29, 2017

I am awake quite early, so I take some notes for my blog to be updated at a later stage. (A much later stage as it works out...) After breakfast Ria takes us to Växbo Lin where industrial weaving is done on numerous different looms. The end products are beautiful, but alas too much for my purse, as I have a lot more countries and places to visit before the end of this trip.  On the way back we stopped to take a few pictures of interesting surroundings, Ria's house and an old school house opposite.

One of the looms at Växbo Lin

Another one of the looms

A few sites on the way back

The old school house from below

Ria and Jan's house pictured from the school house deck

The school house deck

Ria and Jan's house from the site

After lunch it's time to leave again, as we have to catch the train back to Hyllie.  Ria sees us off with a delicious packed lunch and I can't thank her enough for being the hostess she was.  It's a pity really, that we couldn't spend more time together.  I still remember the few weeks in 2001, when I visited while she and Jan were still living in the Netherlands. Great memories!

Anyway, back to the story.  The train trip, with one change (or was it two?), was uneventful and we were back in Malmö at about 9pm.  Dianne picked us up and after a cup of tea and a sip of Baileys we were sound asleep.