A lovely start to the day, weatherwise. The water we overlooked looked quite stunning. A couple of cars came along and launched small boats from the nearby slipway. The Dutch couple in the van next to us were interesting. They were from Rotterdam and were on holiday from their work which was skippering a commercial barge along the waterways of Europe so they live on a boat for most of the year (they even take their car on the barge with them). He is the fifth generation of his family doing that work and two of their sons do the same. They recommended that we visit a waterways museum and aqueduct at Haverud but it was out of our way. I looked it up and I would certainly like to include it in a future visit here.
Leaving Liljedal, we rejoined the E45 after a few miles and made for Torsby and the homestead garden of Kollsberg (http://hembygdsgarden.kollsberg.se/en/home/), an open air museum of local houses and other buildings. Lonely Planet described it as "dinky". It was well worth a visit and we had lunch in the café, having the traditional Finnish settlers' dish of motti och fläsk (oat porridge with pork). The porridge was rather dry oatmeal and rashers of bacon, over which some sort of clear gravy was poured and it was accompanied by lingonberries. It was very tasty. This was followed by a waffle with cloudberry jam and cream.
Leaving Torsby, the A45 continued, passing through forest and the occasional village. There was so little traffic. We passed by the Dutch Mountain Restaurant where we overnighted in the camperstop outside in 2016. We had considered this for tonight's halt but it was too early. Around 4.30 we pulled over into a lay-by to make tea. A cyclist passed by and then came into the lay-by. I went over and offered him a cup of tea which he gratefully accepted. He was Ed from The Netherlands. Having just retired, he'd left his wife at home and embarked on the sort of cycling trip that you do before you get too decrepit. From home he'd cycled to the Nordkapp, which is the furthest point north in Europe. He was now on his way down to Gibraltar before returning home. He was taking about six months, I think.
We knew where we were heading for our overnight stop. Some miles past Malung, we turned off on the E26 and are in some lovely woodland between lakes. The location is N60.78417 E014.15417. There are a few other units here but it is very quiet.The only facility is a single loo in a hut a couple of hundred yards away. Amanda declines to use it so we may need an early start in the morning!
Amanda
Our overnight Camperstop must count as one of the best ever. Spotless facilities, a hook up and only one other motor home to share it. Part of the fun of our travels is chatting to others on their own adventures and picking up tips. The Swiss couple who were here when we arrived echoed the warnings of the British couple on the site in Germany about driving in Norway being very slow, and they had overestimated how many miles a day they would cover. Both had decided to change their plans and return to Sweden. We were already aware that this might be the case, and maybe will be even more circumspect. We plan to be adaptable in any case.
A good chat this morning with the Dutch couple who had taken their place was most enjoyable. They are the fifth generation steering and owning a freight barge working out of Rotterdam, and two of their children have followed them and have their own barge.
Just before we left I spotted a Kate Adie book in the help-yourself library in the information room. I very nearly picked it up for Geoff, thinking it might make an excellent birthday present! Much later I discovered that he had left it there himself, swapping it for a book on fishing that caught his eye!!!
Setting off northwards on the E45 again we stopped at Torsby to visit the lovely little folk museum with various furnished buildings. We couldn't resist the lunch on offer at the cafe - a speciality dish, Motti och flask, roasted oatmeal with bacon, gravy and lingonberry sauce, apparently made by Finnish immigrants in the seventeenth century. A very tasty alternative to Swedish meatballs! Geoff followed it with waffle, cloudberry jam and cream.
Leaving replete, we stopped for our first shopping expedition to get some fresh salad and fruit. Then a tea break turned into tea for three when Geoff invited a passing Dutch cyclist to join us. Ed is cycling from the North Cape to Gibraltar, taking 6 months and wild camping. He has just retired, but his wife, eight years younger, has not yet. It is good for me to learn what other wives have to put up with so that their husbands can 'follow their dreams' to quote Ed.
Quite a bit of our road today has followed the route we took 2 years ago when crossing Sweden from west to east, and we passed the lay-by near Malung where we overnighted then but tonight Geoff his found us a beautiful lakeside Camperstop between Malung and Mora. No facilities apart from an earth closet in the woods which he can use if he wants to, but I shan't! But the setting is lovely and worth the SEK50 fee.
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