First thing this morning we chatted to a Swedish couple about ferries to Finland and they thought a good idea might be to get a ferry first of all to the Finnish Åland Islands (which lie much closer to Sweden than Finland) and then get another ferry from there to Turku in Finland. We shall look into it. We haven't booked anything yet.
We don't seem to have done much today except chasing around trying to find wifi! Towns visited without success were Hofors and Hedemora but we met with success in Avesta outside a Swedbank. The blog needs to be posted each day if possible and The Times downloaded.
After a late lunch stop, we began to think about where we might spend the night. There was a camp site nearby which we drove a mile down the road to have a look at. It would have been fine, I think, but I mentioned that there was another one about half an hour away that averaged 9.3/10 reviews so we headed for that. It was a lovely drive along winding forest roads. It is on the edge of the Färnebofjärden National Park and looks out over the large Färnebofjärden lake. Once again, we have struck lucky. It is a site that is idyllically placed and just has the essential facilities. It is by no means full as the Swedish summer season has finished. Apparently, the children go back to school the day after tomorrow.
I didn't mention that, yesterday, I had chatted to an English couple at the Kopparberget Copper Mine. They had an Auto-Sleeper Trooper (the one with the pop up roof) a 51 plate, with a Cotswold Motor Homes sticker in the back window. We bought our camper from the same firm. Quite a coincidence. Anyway, I thought no more of it but they are on our site tonight! A further coincidence is that, they having owned their camper from new, it was sold to them by the very same man at Cotswold that sold us ours. They are Paul and Sheila from Leicestershire. They are on a multi week tour of Sweden and have made several tours of Scandinavia over the last few years.
Amanda
We really were in luck
last night with our Greek feast. It seems that this was no regular
event, but a special end of season party for the site regulars, which
they were happy for other campers to join.
Today was an uneventful but nevertheless enjoyable day. An unrushed morning gave an opportunity to keep up with clothes washing, and to chat to a local couple, the wife Finnish, who gave us some very useful suggestions for our crossing to Finland in a few weeks time, which we will explore further. In search of internet access, we did some slightly random scenic driving, and dipped into the towns of Hofors and Hedemore. Both the Turistbyros were closed at weekends! In Avesta, classed as a city, we did find one open, but not until 1.56 and it closed at 2. I managed to download the paper, but there was clearly no room for negotiation and I was ushered out at 2 prompt. And the wifi was instantly switched off. Meanwhile Geoff was loitering outside Swedbank in the shopping arcade, which we have found useful before, I joined him and we both used their free wifi to complete the daily internet tasks.
We didn't hang around to explore Avesta. The old town looked attractive, but wasn't really old at all, We read up about the copper mining history - here the copper was used for the country's coinage - and then moved on, taking in an overdue lunch stop, for more scenic driving on the way to the Färnebofjärdens Nature Reserve. Here we found yet another idyllic lakeside campsite. As we pulled in we spotted the Autosleeper campervan from yesterday morning at the Copper Mine in Falun, and are parked next to them. They greeted us like old friends. They too had only come across one other British campervan in their travels. What's more, theirs was sold to them originally by the same person, Frank, from Cotswold Motorhomes in Cheltenham as we dealt with when we bought ours. Crazy coincidence!
The views across the lake this evening have been simply stunning, the water absolutely still and the reflections in it completely crystal clear. I have taken photos of "the view from my kitchen" as I cooked supper, but they just don't do it justice.
Today was an uneventful but nevertheless enjoyable day. An unrushed morning gave an opportunity to keep up with clothes washing, and to chat to a local couple, the wife Finnish, who gave us some very useful suggestions for our crossing to Finland in a few weeks time, which we will explore further. In search of internet access, we did some slightly random scenic driving, and dipped into the towns of Hofors and Hedemore. Both the Turistbyros were closed at weekends! In Avesta, classed as a city, we did find one open, but not until 1.56 and it closed at 2. I managed to download the paper, but there was clearly no room for negotiation and I was ushered out at 2 prompt. And the wifi was instantly switched off. Meanwhile Geoff was loitering outside Swedbank in the shopping arcade, which we have found useful before, I joined him and we both used their free wifi to complete the daily internet tasks.
We didn't hang around to explore Avesta. The old town looked attractive, but wasn't really old at all, We read up about the copper mining history - here the copper was used for the country's coinage - and then moved on, taking in an overdue lunch stop, for more scenic driving on the way to the Färnebofjärdens Nature Reserve. Here we found yet another idyllic lakeside campsite. As we pulled in we spotted the Autosleeper campervan from yesterday morning at the Copper Mine in Falun, and are parked next to them. They greeted us like old friends. They too had only come across one other British campervan in their travels. What's more, theirs was sold to them originally by the same person, Frank, from Cotswold Motorhomes in Cheltenham as we dealt with when we bought ours. Crazy coincidence!
The views across the lake this evening have been simply stunning, the water absolutely still and the reflections in it completely crystal clear. I have taken photos of "the view from my kitchen" as I cooked supper, but they just don't do it justice.
No comments:
Post a Comment