15.06.2020 until 11.08.2020
So far we have been up 2 official pitches that have electricity and water. Otherwise we like to be freelancers. The dogs slowly get used to everyday life in a motorhome and enjoy the long beach – and walks in the woods. Because the weather has been very mixed so far, there is next to nothing going on on the beaches. This is paradise for our lion hunters. You can work out and lie flat in the bunk in the evening. We're still struggling a little with technology and the vehicle. The vehicle became very loud after Malmö and the technology switched on 3 Day off completely. That was because of it, that the battery monitor has completely switched off the 12 volt consumers and thereby paralyzed the entire on-board supply. Also the gas flow is needed 12 Volt. By now we have found out, that the Victron Battery Protector comes with 11,5 V turns off. This was reprogrammed to a voltage of at a Victron agency in Simmrisham 9,6 V. A very nice team! for 200 Kronen in the coffeehouse everything was done quickly, but now I know, that the refrigerator is the problem. In the automatic shift it should be according to the description , 15 Automatically switch to gas minutes after the engine has stopped. He didn't do that. In our old mobile we did not have an automatic system and therefore relied on ourselves. We'll do that again for now, now a few pictures from the first week. We'll get back to you at the beginning of next week with the latest news from Sweden.
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA 
After visiting the Victron workshop and reprogramming the battery protector, everything goes well and we decide 2 Days near the workshop to drive on to Simrishamn. On the way to Kristianstad the volume of our car becomes more and more unbearable and we make up our minds, look on the internet for a workshop on our way. There is a workshop called Malte Manson MAN Truck and Bus near Kristianstad. We drive past there and the men on site took care of us quickly. After looking under the car, the cab was tilted and three men looked at the engine. One of them discovered the mistake very quickly. The cylinder head was heavily sooty in one place. They talked briefly and told us, that it wouldn't be a problem to keep going, because they would have to order the spare parts first and they would not arrive here before Friday. Then you would have to ask the boss first, whether you do that on Friday or maybe. could not do until Monday. The boss was called and there was still a question, whether I could pay by card. After everything was cleared up, We got all IDs and papers for Friday morning 7.00 Clock the appointment.
Our Henriette was on time 7.00 Clock in the workshop and left it at 9.30 clock. And she purred again softly to herself. A relief after almost a week of loud engine noises.
In the 2 Days we explored Kristianstad and its surroundings. There is not much going on here in Sweden due to the pandemic. We find a wonderful parking space at a nearby lake. At dusk we go for another round with the dogs. It was a bit like home! The killer mosquitoes were here. Clear, we were also in a bird sanctuary. So we flee back to our Henriette and spend the evening in the car. We continue on Thursday, to find a bathing beach. We'll find it, however, the dogs are not allowed to go to the water. The bathing area at the lake is laid out like a swimming pool by footbridges. So the children are in a locked area, in which you can also stand. The adults can also swim outside the enclosure. It is free to use and is well attended. Overall, we note, that the Swedish municipalities do a lot for the citizens. After taking turns cooling off, we continue into a forest. There we find an old gunpowder factory. There is water here and a long walk through the cool forest.
The next day we drive to the Lindö Udde peninsula nature reserve. Here, too, a great pitch in the middle of nature. There are bird watching opportunities in the area. You can see gray geese there, Watching Canadian geese and seagulls. We are also celebrating Quappo's first birthday here, our little Rhodesian Ridgeback. The sun is shining and we are all exhausted and enjoy the peace and quiet, the cool Baltic Sea and the warmth.
From here we drive approx 100 km along the coast and find approximately 5 km before Kalmar a nice parking space by the sea in Ekövägen. Again a swimming pool in the Baltic Sea . We enjoy the cool water here too. In the evening we go for a walk with the dogs and find porcini mushrooms, which we then prepare for dinner with pasta and herbs. In Kalmar we do a nice round in the castle park and treat ourselves to a few cinnamon rolls and a coffee in the almost empty town.
We spend the night in the archipelago in a 1335 already mentioned place called Ödängla. It is the most beautiful parking space so far, that we found here in Sweden. It's wonderful for the dogs, because they can play and romp right here by the water. The calm is almost eerie. We sit in front of the car and look at the small islands with binoculars and watch the birds .
Today we spend the last day on the east coast for the first time and spend the night in Oskarshamn in the marina. Quiet nice place right on the water. Most of the motorhome owners are charged in the large port. The town is like all towns so far as extinct.
Now we're after 2 Days back on tour. On a recommendation we went to Eksjö first. There are a lot of very well-preserved wooden houses in the city center, some of which are over 450 Years under their belt.
After Eksjö we went to Katthult. We saw cranes on the way. Our pitch was in the Norre Kvillis Forest National Park. This is a small jungle that has been around for approx 1950 is left to itself. Very nice walks are possible here. The overnight place is the parking lot from which the circular paths lead through the park. Toilets and waste disposal are possible here. It is very calm. Besides us there was another mobile home there.
From here we continue towards the coast the next day. The path leads us via Vimmerby to Västervik. Since we did not leave Norre Kvillis until noon after a second long hike, we only come towards 18.00 Watch there. The parking space in Västervik in the harbor is full and we have to continue to the nearby Gränsö That's just 5 km further and is located in a nature park with a castle. There is also a beautiful circular hiking trail through a deer enclosure and past beautiful bathing bays. Unfortunately it is windy and too cool and we only run one more lap with the dogs. The next morning after breakfast we go for a stroll through Västervik. Unfortunately, there is next to nothing going on here due to Corona. Lots of cafes, Bars and restaurants let us know how crowded it can be under normal conditions. In the city center there are beautiful wooden houses typical of Sweden. Because all supermarkets in Sweden are also open on Sundays, let's refill our supplies and continue to a nearby small place right on a cliff in the archipelago.
Västervik 
After a really absolutely quiet night, we continue to do a recommended hike in the nearby town of Gladhammars. Since we want to stay overnight, we leave the road and find a nice place in the middle of the forest at the end of a forest path. From here we walk the recommended route of approx 9 km and are lucky with the weather. The strong wind sweeps the clouds over us, so that we only get a few drops here and there. We'll find some chanterelles for dinner, Wild strawberries and blueberries.
From the coast it goes back into the forest. We visit the children of Bullerbyn. A nice little place with 5 Houses and an equally large parking lot that we use as a starting point for a circular hike. For the first time we pay a parking fee of 50SK . After looking at the map, we notice, that we are not right here for the circular hiking trail. Nevertheless, we take a look at the village of Bullerbyn. Astrid Lindgren's father was born here. On every building there were questions about the book "The children from Bullerbyn". After we looked at the houses and now know where Lasse and Bolle played, we continue to Perlane where we suspect the circular walk. First, let's take a look at one of the oldest bell towers in Sweden. This one is from the year 1392. we cannot find the circular route here either, but then just start running. Then we drive back to the Hökesjön lake.
A house in Bullerbyn 
Perlane 
The lake Hökersjön 
The lake at news
After we decided, to stay another night at the lake Hökesjön, our gas supply is running out. We look on the internet for a refill station in Sweden. As we can see from various reports, the gas supply in Sweden is rather complicated. Changing the gas supply and switching to Swedish cylinders is out of the question for us, because the bottles cannot be returned here in Sweden. The next filling station is in the 119 km away Jönköping. We’re about to leave and give up the space. Shortly before Jönköping we find a parking space in Husquarna with a view over the lake. The next morning we go to the gas trade and get ours without any problems 2 Gas bottles for 660 SK refilled. (Expensive!!) Then we do some shopping and find a beautiful lake in Vaggeryd in the forest. We go bathing, then we look for blueberries and organize the car for 4. bad one. In the evening we use the fireplace on the beach and enjoy the quickly passing clouds that are reflected in the lake and the peace and quiet. The dogs could romp and play extensively here. Now comes the news, that the post, which we had forwarded to Sweden, finally arrived in Hyältevard. So the way for the next day is clear. We drive back to Jutta and Ulf and enjoy their hospitality again.
Now we are in Hyältevard and pick up our mail. It is a prepaid card, which is intended for Susanne's cell phone. We bought another card in Sweden, to activate our router. The process of enrolling was not that easy, because you couldn't change and choose the language on the Internet. So everything was described in Swedish. But Susanne managed it after a few hours with a lot of patience. It runs. Now we can continue to work by our side again. The latest news from the Norwegian government, To continue not to let traveling vacationers from Sweden into the country, let us think for a moment, change the route, to travel back to Germany and from there the tour over Poland……. just keep going the other way around ? But after some back and forth we made up our minds, to stay on the way through Sweden. More news again next week.
In the Omberg Ecopark National Park we tackle a beautiful one, knapp 9 km long circular route and are pleasantly tired in the evening. We find a wonderful parking space nearby with a view and sunset (see pictures above) on the lake Vättern. The place seems to be known, because people drive here half the night to enjoy the view. After breakfast we continue to Vadstena, a nice place on Lake Vättern with a beautiful baroque castle. Here we see for the first time on our tour (despite Corona) many visitors and tourists.
After the city tour, we continue on Lake Vättern to Motala. We want old Gota there – channel, the idea was to connect Stockholm and Gothenburg, look at. It could never be used economically. Today it is mainly used for tourism with "houseboats through Sweden". Since it already 18.00 Clock is, let's go on, to find a nice place to sleep for our Henriette at some lake. We find it at the "Trollsfall", a small lake near zinc mining. Besides us there is another mobile home from Germany.
The next morning, after a refreshing swim, we continue to Askesund. Here water can be taken in in the harbor and on to the Tiveden National Park, which is said to be one of the most beautiful national parks in Sweden. It's raining. According to Susanne's most important app, however, it should only be up to 15.00 Clock raining. So we're waiting for them 1,5 Hours off, because neither we nor ours 2 Dogs feel like it, to go out in the weather and pass the time with games and coffee. Unfortunately the app was wrong and we leave the car against 18.00 Watch for a rain lap. But that's also fun and we'll see, what awaits us here tomorrow. After we picked another cup of blueberries, let's look for a place to stay at a fishing lake nearby and hope for better weather the next day.
The weather god means well to us and we run with him 10 km of the largest circular route, that goes around the lake. It is wonderful ! The route is a lot of fun, it is varied and leads through dense forests, over rocks directly above the lake and through loads of blueberries. In the evening we hear deep snoring from the dog cave – we challenged them today. They too had to climb over rocks.
The next morning we drive back to Askesund, because the water pressure in the system is getting lower and lower. We have to drain the water completely and then find the blockage. Because we can also take water there, it is not a problem. The culprits are removed. It's plastic shavings, that were not removed from the tank when the water system was installed. Injury, that the work was done so superficially here.
On the same evening we found the loneliest spot so far for our Henriette. It went straight into the forest, down a small slope and then we found a place, which was apparently made for us.
Today we went to Glanshammar via Örebrö
Due to Corona, we leave Stockholm to our right and drive via Skokloster, another castle, which around 1650 was not built by a king but by a general, towards Uppsala. In Skokloster you spend the night on the beach and make a nice circular walk through the forest and along the lake. There is also a lot going on at the castle.
The next morning the sun is shining and we enjoy it for a while on the beach, before we make our way to Uppsala.
Uppsala is a nice one, small student town – you can quickly see this from the many bicycles and bars. There is a small lock, to visit a cathedral and the old university buildings.
All photos are taken and the journey can continue. We still have to make a short stopover and get supplies in the shopping center. All the big shops are here on Sundays until at 22.00 Open and the ICA is still well attended. The Swedes are probably very happy to buy ready-made products – there are miles of shelves and chests of it.
We spend the night at the swimming lake Testing, here dies in the evening 22.30 Watch a mom and her daughter to take a bath ….. other countries, andere Sitten !
The next day (by the way, it's July 20th) we visit Öregrund, a very pretty little harbor town with a lot of tourists. We walk around a bit, eat a delicious ice cream ( special varieties here are liquorice and blueberries) and find a nice place right by the sea again. We even dare, to take a quick dip in the Baltic Sea, that is very refreshing !
The view from the window lets us crawl under the covers again: it's all gray and it's raining. At some point we will decide, to get up and move on. The next stop is in Gävle, There is a great city park here and the Swedes are picnicking despite the changeable weather, grilling, Play mini golf and chill out.
As a reward, Henriette is allowed to go out on the slopes a bit today: She has a lot of fun on the off-road route to our parking space. We find a very lonely place on a stone coast, make a nice fire and enjoy the sunset. the 2 Boys do some agility and rock climbing exercises, a nice end of the day.
We are happy: the next morning the sun is shining again ! We quickly collect a few blueberries and wild strawberries for breakfast, then we leave the nice place again.
It goes on to Enänger, we find a nice pitch right by the water, however, there is already a lot going on here for our taste: a car or a boat keeps coming by, at a late hour even a VW bus, who also stayed here. But the people are all super nice and relaxed, marvel at our Henriette and of course she 2 Hundis.
The day actually starts well: we have breakfast in the open air, then we continue north. To 10 Kilometers, however, the promising day comes to an abrupt end: Henriette just stops ? Hans-Peter tries to fix it, it seems so, as if she was running out of fuel (We already had that before we left Germany). It's no use, it just doesn't want to start. With the help of Jutta and Ulf, who are looking for a towing service for us by phone, comes after 2 Hours a nice mechanic with his big tow truck by. He checks everything on site and cannot explain himself, why the vehicle won't start. Ultimately, the valve will, that we had already exchanged in Germany, expanded again and lo and behold: Henriette is walking again – however, it can no longer be turned off now, that only works with stalling.
We pay the nice mechanic (bar, without invoice, it's cheaper in Sweden too) and drive back a little, to get to a workshop. We change our minds, and decide, drive to the MAN workshop in Sundsvall. On the way to our parking space, a spruce standing around stupidly tears off our exterior mirror – what a day ! I've already written, that of course it rained today ?
The next morning we drive to the workshop and after 3 Hours the world is all right again: new mirror on and valve adjusted. We look at the kites in Sundsvall, treat us to a cappuccino with a delicious Kanebullar and then drive to the island of Alnön in the pretty fishing village of Spikarna.
The journey continues towards Höga Kusten. On the way we take a look at the Merlo Castle in Timrå, that of a German emigrant, who made his money in the wood industry, was built.
We find a very, very beautiful pitch: Directly at the sea, surrounded by beautiful forests and we are all alone. Later a Swedish motorhome joins us, an elderly couple with a Dalmatian ! Much to the delight of our boys, this is a girl ! So there is plenty of romp and play, a real stroke of luck.
After breakfast and a small repair on the water pump, we make our way to the Skuleskogen National Park. When the weather is beautiful, we hike around 3 Hours through woods, Blueberries and streams. We like the park so much, that we decide, to spend the next day here too. So we spend the night right in front of the south entrance of the park and end the day with a nice trick game.
Monday morning: it's gray and rainy – we'd rather stay in the car a little longer and hope, that the rain will stop. The weather god has an understanding, so we can finally start. Today we scramble over huge scree fields, tall boulders and fallen tree trunks. We come to a large rock cave, it even jams a bit here, so many hikers are on the way. The tour is pretty exhausting, especially the slippery rocks are tough: we both slip, even the dogs have their trouble.
We leave the Hogä Kusten and spend the night in North Maling at a large place right by the sea. Our vehicle is admired again and in conversation with a Swede and the moose farm in Bjurholm is recommended. So we change the route without further ado and drive a bit inland the next day. The moose farm is disappointing, instead we actually see our first moose on the roadside !
In the late afternoon we arrive at Mårdselforsen Nature Park, a small park by the rapids of the Vindeläven. We cross the river on wobbly suspension bridges and various wooden bridges, a test of courage for the dogs ! But our lion hunters are brave and can do it. In the evening we find a place by the river – very beautiful, but there are gnats – very, very, many many !! Even for Erfelder, who are snark-tested, that's too much – we flee into the safe car.
The next day we flee from the pests and drive back to the coast. We find our night quarters in Bjuröklubb, There is a beautiful sandy beach here and the boys can really let off steam again. The next day we go on a hike to the lighthouse, again it goes over many rocks, Rubble and mud.
Slowly we would have to wash a few things again and so we are looking for a campsite with a washing machine. We end up at Fiske Camp and as you can imagine, this place is mainly about fishing. But first we take care of our laundry and afterwards 3 We are only really "clean" in washing cycles. All other campers are fishing with us, grilling and smoking busy, There is a great fish pond here with trout and salmon.
We continue along the coast until shortly before Luleå: we spend the night in Möröm. A small town with a nice harbor. In the evening we see a few more cranes in the meadow, otherwise nothing is going on here. Unfortunately, the moose won't come by today either, which has supposedly already been sighted here.
In Luleå we find another super beautiful sandy beach and can here (for the time being probably the last time) swim in the Baltic Sea. In the afternoon, the “blue elephant” comes by us – a German couple, also with their mobile, Daughter and dog are traveling here in Sweden. There is a little bit of shop talk and the vehicles examined, then they pull 4 further.
We are now leaving the coast and heading inland. On the way we see a mother moose with her little one !! We are very happy, that we saw the two.
We find our spot today at the Storforsen, lonely again, right on the river and just gorgeous. The next day we march to the nature reserve, there are many small bridges here, Picnic areas and fire pits in the middle of the rapids of the Piteälven.
In the afternoon we come a little further upstream to the Trollforsen waterfalls – there are also impressive rapids here. We stay here and listen to the calming rush of the river all night.
We continue to Jokkmokk – the name sounds so nice, that we are really looking forward to the town. On the way we see reindeer and finally we proudly cross the Arctic Circle. We are there all alone and can take souvenir photos in a relaxed manner.
In Jokkmokk we visit the tourist information office and stock up on maps, Plans and tips. Then provisions are refilled and lo and behold, Suddenly a Defender with the license plate GG stands next to us in the parking lot of the ICA – what a nice coincidence. There are a couple of guys from Moerfelden, who are also on the move here.
In the evening we stand all alone at Lila Även, enjoy our dinner and a glass of red wine with a beautiful sunset.
The next morning the sun lures us out of bed and we wash in the refreshing river water. Strengthened with a hearty breakfast, the journey continues to Kvikkjokk. On then 100 We feel like we are driving kilometers 10 Autos, Reindeer and Master Reineke. Kvikkjokk is at the end of the street, from here you can only continue on foot.
We're doing another little tour, but have to stop halfway through – the killer fish eat us up. On the other hand, the Schnaken in Erfelden are really cuddly toys. Even the dogs are totally annoyed and just want to go back to their cave.
The next day we arm ourselves with Mygga, Autan and Thermacell – so the mosquitoes no longer have a chance. We wander 4 Kilometers of steep uphill, come to the fells and are rewarded with a beautiful view of the delta. Back in the valley, we treat ourselves to a coffee with cinnamon rolls, We deserve it. On the way back to Jokkmokk we see some reindeer, the route is really beautiful when the sun is shining.
Back in Jokkmokk we are looking for our pitch by the river, However, there is already a VW bus from Berlin. After a short hello, we stop behind him. In the evening we have a beer with the nice Berliner Stefan and talk shop about Henriette, Corona, Sweden ….. it's a nice evening.
Because the place is so beautiful and the weather also only promises good things, we decide, To have a lazy day here the next day: we do a little laundry, enjoy the sun and end the evening by a fire. There is also a German mobile home on the opposite side, they contacted us via Instagram ? Sometimes the new media are also very funny.
We heard on the news, that the border to Norway was opened in Västerbotten – so we decide without further ado, to change our itinerary and stop driving further north of Sweden. Instead, we drive back a little and take the "blue route" towards the Norwegian border.
Shortly before the border we find a nice German vet, who gives our dogs the deworming tablet that is mandatory for Norway. Now we have to do it again 24 Wait hours, then we can try our luck. One last time we find a nice spot on the river bank, enjoy the peace and quiet and the last sunset in Sweden – a really fantastic travel destination.
