At the start of today, we had no idea where we might go today. Nothing planned at all. Anyway, a rough idea formed and we blasted (at a sedate 60mph) up the E4 towards Gävle (pronounced "Yervla"), I think. Our late lunch stop was at a rest area next to the E4 but on raised ground so there didn't seem to be much traffic noise. There was very little traffic altogether. It was all laid out very nicely with a main parking area and then an adjacent area with tandem parking spaces either side of a central roadway. Next to the parking spaces were picnic benches and tables, some with roofs covering them. The loos were good and there was even a WC emptying facility so overnighting in the camper would be fine. However, we had further to go.
Our Camperstop book showed a possible place at Älvkarleby so we made our way to it, via a Co-op and a post box to post a couple of cards. We then located our stop for the night, a tarmaced area with ten camper spaces, with hookups, surrounded by trees -very nice. It adjoins, and belongs to, a hotel. We have the use of excellent showers and loos and even a sauna! All for 100SEK - about £9.
In season, this area is probably quite busy. There are only us and another camper van here. We have had a lovely walk this evening along a path the length of the small island of Laxön which as accessed via a bridge. It used to be used for military training, especially bridge building, as a wide river passes either side, not deep but very rocky. There is also a dam, below which is a lake which winds its way for some distance to the south. The former barracks seems to be used now for holiday accommodation and there is also a restaurant and cafe there. It really is very nice here.
Amanda
The cruise seems a bit like a dream already, as we
pick up the old routine. We were slow getting going this morning, but
there was no hurry. We dithered a bit over where to head for today,
having had no decisions to make for the last week, but we knew we
wanted to spend some time along the coast north of Stockholm before
crossing to Finland. In the end we decided to head straight up the
motorway to the furthest we wanted to go - just south of Gävle, which
is where we would have got to if we had kept going east from Lake
Siljan. After an hour and a half we stopped for a snooze and lunch in
a picnic area that was so pleasant we could easily have spent the
night there. It was well kitted out. But we were only twenty minutes
or so from our planned destination, at Älvkarleby. The only info we
had for the Camperstop was that there was a toilet and water, and
that payment of 100SEK, less than £10, should be made at the
hotel nearby. Well, we continue to be surprised by the variety of
these places. As we drove into the little town we found a good sized
Co-op supermarket which supplied everything on our shopping list, and
a post box for cards we needed to send. Slightly out of town, over an
old wooden bridge with magnificent tumbling rapids on either side, we
found the attractive hotel/conference centre and Camperstop. There is
room for ten campervans in a tarmaced area surrounded by trees, but
we are one of only two here. We have an electric hook up, the use of
loos, showers, (with towels) wifi (slightly erratic) and, should we
want them, saunas, a mini gym, and even a hot tub! All included in
the 100SEK. A walk before supper took us past the hotel, over
another wooden bridge to another surprise. On a rocky, wooded island,
surrounded by the rapids are scattered the attractive wooden, red
painted buildings which, from 1880 to 1985 made up the summer camp of
the Svea Engineer Regiment. The buildings are now holiday homes,
restaurants, cafes and places for other recreational activities. It
is all very quiet and peaceful now, being out of season here, but in
the summer it must be very lively! The walk continued across two
dams, forming part of a Hydro power plant built in 1915. The dams
separate the lake from the rocky rapids and link the island back to
the road, but can only be crossed on foot. Our walk then returned us
to our starting point over the wooden road bridge - remodelled in
steel in the 1950s but preserving the original look with wooden
facing. We saw three herons, or should it be heron, all at once!
Sitting outside after supper, surrounded by trees and with the noise
of the rapids in the background, we might have been on our own in the
middle of nowhere. What an unexpected and extraordinary find!
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