Spanspek

The trip to Troll Mountain was the last thing I did before leaving Sweden. The trip home began at 9am on Friday and ended at 7am on Sunday (that's 11pm Swedish summer time): 38 hours. As I seem to have a talent for sitting next to very wide people, I only got to sleep between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. A window seat in the second last row (2 seats only) is the best place in cattle class!

Yesterday was Kajsa's big birthday party, with 60 guests under a large marquis. The rain held off enough in the preceding few days that it worked out well. Kajsa worked so hard. It was the rest of us who should have been working for her. Today we set off for a little town called Lesjörfors, where a mountain walk has been created. It passes through the land of the trolls. One sees them and signs of them all the way along the path. It's great fun. For Australians, accustomed to ten years of drought, it is staggering to see the amount of water in Sweden. There are lakes everywhere and, with the recent wet summer, the troll mountain was seeping water all over the plane. I doubt that we shall see the like of it in south-east Australia ever again.

A similar nature park is Mariesbergskogan in Karlstad. It has many more animals inside and outside, and more extensive playgrounds. It even has a train ride (a small diesel vehicle dressed as a train and towing several carriages). Mariesbergskogan is on a bend in the River Alvaren, the large river flowing into Lake Vännern. It forms a delta which carries sand from further north. The soil in Karlstad is very sandy as a result and there are a number of natural beaches in the area. Trolls are said to live in the forest but we didn't see any.

The Swedes are a lot closer to nature than we are. Perhaps it comes from nature's winter imposition; one just can't ignore it! In summer, they're outdoors most of the time, embracing the long daylight while it lasts. It was with some sadness that Kajsa and Harald told us it had been the wettest summer for a long time. In many places, there are parks and gardens very well kept—not just available for one's enjoyment but with cafes or kiosks and other amenities. About 2 km from Vibäck is one such place... or two: Knappfors and Lunadet. They sit between the two lakes Lonnen and Älkvattern and are separated by a short canal and a lock (as Lonnen is lower than Älkvattern). Lunadet is close to a small down-hill ski run surrounded by forest. I say small, but, as we've found in the past, climbing it in summer requires a not-inconsiderable effort! We didn't attempt it this time with Daniel in tow. The settlement, if one can call it that, has a church and a small cafe and restaurant. There are many small "summer houses" on the lakes. Kanppfors has a small shop selling handicrafts and ice creams and sweets. Other buildings include an old mill and are sometimes used for exhibitions. Most appealing to children are the enclosures with animals: goats, pigs, chickens, turkeys, rabbits and guinea pigs, and long-time resident Axel the donkey.

This morning we went to Boda Borg, a "playhouse" in Karlskoga. It's difficult to describe (so you might want to look at the web site). A series of courses, each posing a puzzle one must solve to make it through a number of rooms. Some are quite physical—crawling through tunnels and tight spaces—while others require working out answers to questions. Oftentimes, they're both and one must also figure out what the question is. Once you've completed one puzzle, the door to the next room is unlocked. It's great fun, but we didn't manage to complete a single course!