I found my thrill on Blueberry Hill...

Hills and headwinds make you feel
Like you're cycling through porridge,
But tiny, tasty, wild berries
Are super things to forage!

Days 43 - 49   Distance 435 km

Kalmar - Copenhagen

Unlike their oversized and somewhat tasteless GM cousins we are so used to buying nowadays, the wild blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and cherry's we have been picking throughout Sweden may be small, but they are bursting with flavour and goodness!

And they kept our spirits up during a too-long week of wild camping. As always, if the weather had been on our side it would have been glorious - but the rain brings mozzies and confinement, the sun brings sweat and sunburn, and the cold winds and waters bring no joy to washing.

Also needing a mention - Steve snapped his chain! Luckily though we carry spares, and Mr Fixit can fix anything, anywhere...

Eventually, fully refreshed after a couple of nights in campsites where we managed to wash our entire wardrobe, we finally had "A Perfect Day!"

The wind was behind us, the roller coaster hills had flattened out, wild berries were abundant and we passed through unexpected scenery and castles...

We even had a mid-afternoon refreshing dip in the sea, and found a great spot to camp!

The tail-wind and the flat lands stayed with us all the way to Malmo, although we were on the edge of the Swedish heatwave and at times the sun was relentless. However, there was a festival going on just outside the campsite where we enjoyed beer and live music, and a great view of the bridge that connects Sweden and Denmark. This is the longest combined road and rail bridge in Europe.

Pedestrians and cyclists are not allowed across, so you have to take the train, and arriving in the middle of Copenhagen on a busy Saturday afternoon was somewhat of a culture shock for us!

Finding it impossible to navigate through the crowds and heat with the bikes loaded up, we decided to abort this city cycle tour and head out. We found a campsite about 20 km south of the city, where we are now sheltering from thunderstorms!

Islands NOt of the Caribbean...

Chilli and liquorice ice-cream...
Don't knock it 'til you try it,
We had to eat a whole tub -
It's the cheapest way to buy it!

DAYS - 30 -34      Distance 182 km

Pargas - Stockholm

With a total of about 15 hours of ferry rides we island hopped our way across this amazingly huge archipelago to Stockholm, and of course our dear friend The Rain accompanied us most of the way! The ferry ports are quite small here...

In the small town of Nagu - after sheltering for 2 hours in the supermarket from an absolute deluge - we managed to find some slightly higher, soggy-mossy-spongy ground to pitch the tent.
We thought Nagu was a small town until we turned up on the island of Kokar...really not a lot here...

The main island is Arland, and the 'capital' Mariehamn is a proper sized town. Arland is a home-ruled, Swedish speaking territory belonging to Finland. It's had its own flag since 1954 and joined the EU in 1995 although it still remains outside the EU tax union.
Here we found shelter in a restaurant run by Iranians, and wasted a few hours eating falafels before we could pitch the tent.

From here it's a 7 hour ferry ride to Stockholm, and quite mind-boggling how these numerous, huge ferries weave their way through this island labrynth.
We found a super spot to free camp in Stockholm, just a few kilometers from the city centre - with our very own tree protection!

We seem to have left the rain behind for now, and had a great bike city tour - especially as we hadn't realised the hour time difference so navigating the empty streets was easy!

Heading south now with more water-crossings zig zagging through the Swedish coastal countryside...