|
August 15 Tuesday sunny Bicycle touring Sweden In the morning, we were surprised to discover twenty campers and ten cars were in the parking lot. Sharon says she didn't sleep that well. She had woken up every time someone new pulled in. She says she feels safer sleeping in the woods than at a rest stop. We bicycled off, wrongly going in the direction we had approached the rest area. We had bicycled about three kilometres before figuring the sun showed we were bicycling north rather than south as we intended. Turning our fully loaded touring bicycles around, we passed the rest area a few minutes later, and, with some speculation, found a scenic road to take us south on our Swedish bicycle tour. The non-major roads in Sweden have no route numbers, so it's more of a guess on which road we are on at any given moment. Or so it seems to me anyway. For a place to eat breakfast, we bicycled a detour to a harbor and sat on some rocks overlooking a marina. Most of the boats in the marina are small rowboat style. There are a few sailboats. An inter-island passenger ferry arrived while we ate. A bus dropped off passengers -- mostly backpackers, but also a few elderly folk who looked as if they were residents who had been off the island shopping. The ferry operates across to an island directly opposite the dock. A late arrival showed up on the dock after the ferry had pulled away. Get this: the kindly ferry operator returned and quickly half docked its front prow. The late arriver jumped aboard. With his physical prowess, he reminded me of the Tarzan dude we had seen on St Marguerite Island when we were bicycle touring France, but at least this Swedish guy was dressed. We bicycled for a ways, then stopped to pick blackberries. Sharon had numerous scratches to show for her efforts of a minimal harvest. We took our touring bicycles down the the dock for a free ferry ride across. I wheeled my bicycle aboard confidently, just like I knew what I was doing this time. Once across on the cable-pulled ferry, Sharon was still on board when all of the cars had unloaded. She was peering intently over the side, admiring the many strange jellyfish floating placidly around the dock. When Sharon finally pried herself away from the mysterious jellyfish, we bicycled down the road to Torslanda Beach where we had cucumber and tomato sandwiches for a late lunch. Lots of people were enjoying the warm sunny weather. The regular bus service is very efficient. We've noticed lots of darkly suntanned Swedes. They must constantly lay out in the sun to get that black. The Swedish people are very athletic too. We see lots of them swimming, jogging, and riding bikes -- when they're not laying in the sun. We're near Sarö, Sweden, where Yvonne lives, a friend of Arran and Rebecca, our New Zealand bicycle touring buddies. I tried to phone twice, but there has been no answer. At 8:30 PM, I go to a campground and use the phone. I get through to Yvonne. Our plan is to meet Arran and Rebecca in Gothenburg, Sweden, tomorrow at noon. Everyone has left the beach area except for four teenagers celebrating a last day before classes begin. They gather driftwood for a fire. One comes over to borrow our lighter. The fire blazes cheerily for a half hour, and then it's out of fuel. Campfires in Sweden don't burn half the night like in America or Canada. |
