Ljungskile motorway service area - Sunday, 7 August

Geoff

I went off for a walk before breakfast, not too far, but I explored a path at the end of a residential cul de sac, which looked on the map as if it might be interesting. The path went over some smooth rocky bits, in front of a couple of weekend retreat type houses in superb locations. I almost felt as if I was trespassing as the path skirted the open gardens. Then there were some steps set in to the rock and then a concreted path around a rock face, leading to a wooden walk way across an inlet and then around a couple more houses. Eventually, there were more smooth rocks to go over and I was at the edge of the island, with water lapping at my feet, looking out to a number of islets. It was a magical sight and I was sorry to have to leave it.

We planned to have a short driving day today, thinking that we really needed to get to the bottom of our gas issue. We brought with us two Calor gas cylinders. I had thought that these might just last the journey with careful use but this was/is not to be. The first cylinder ran out four days ago, two weeks into our trip. It is the fridge that is using the most gas. Boiling water for tea and coffee and minimal cooking doesn't use that much. I've already asked a couple of other camper an owners what they do about gas but didn't get very far. We went into Göteborg this morning to see if the tourist information office might help. The young lady there kindly 'phoned a large camp site to ask if they sold gas cylinders but they didn't.

Anyway, with the situation still unresolved, we went to find somewhere for lunch away from Göteborg. It was in our Parkings app as a simple overnight stop and very pleasant it was too. I'd unloaded one of our food boxes to make room in the back of the camper while lunch was prepared and we'd driven a couple of hundred of yards when Amanda asked about the box. Whoops!

We pulled off the motorway some time later, having seen a large motorhome dealership, thinking they might be able to advise about gas. They were closed till tomorrow (Monday). Our next stop, some fifteen miles on, was the motorway service area at Ljungskile, which has a peaceful grassy, tree-lined parking area and loos and is known as a camper stopover. There is very little traffic noise. We thought we might go back to the motorhome place in the morning. However, with the free wifi at the 7-11 shop here, I found much information online and it seems unlikely that we will be able to get the gas we need. Calor is the market leader in the UK, CampingGaz isn't available in Scandinavia and it is likely that local gas cylinders wouldn't fit in our gas compartment. So, our plan now is not to use gas for the fridge at all and use electrical hookups where we can. We shall buy a butane single burner stove from a camping shop or Bauhaus (a chain like our B&Q) and use this for heating water and simple cooking. Our meals will be planned around this and we may just have to buy milk a little more often. We shall survive! I wish I'd researched this more before we started but life was a bit hectic with finishing work, etc. If we get really desperate, I have with me a Pepsi can stove and a bottle of methylated spirits!

So, we are staying in our service area tonight. There are two other camper vans (or, rather, motorhomes) next to us. As a long distance walking trail, the Bohusleden, passes through here, I shall go off exploring in the morning.

Amanda

The wind certainly did rock the camper all night but in a pleasant way. It brought back memories of windy nights in our caravan on the Norfolk coast.

Today was designated a day for sorting out a plan about the Calor gas situation. So after a last stroll around the stunning little harbour, and showers only discovered this morning, we set off back via the ferry into Göteborg. We did discover a lovely part of the city which we shall hope to revisit at the end of our canal cruise, but got no further towards a solution, so headed on up the motorway hoping inspiration might strike. A pretty coastal lunch stop and a few more motorway miles later and we are now stopped in a convenient and quite attractive rest area by the motorway, in the rain, and will stay here for the night. To cut a long story short, there doesn't seem to be any very satisfactory solution. We plan to be as economical as possible with cooking, see if we can buy a small supplementary freestanding gas ring, and only use the fridge when we have an electric hook up. So we have a plan!