Day 23 - Stockholm in the Sunshine

Pastries and coffee in bed was how our Stockholm recovery day started! No bikes, no camping and no rush. Just a day of strolling the city streets and taking in the sights.

A short train ride got us into the main hub of the old town, where we stopped for some ‘dagens’ which is a bit like having the ‘plate du jour’ in France. We ate outside so we could watch the world go by. The price included a cool beer and salad to start and a delicious main meal. We moved inside the the cool of the air-con after eating for a complimentary tea and coffee to finish. The whole experience was a real treat and very relaxing. Lovely stuff.

It gave us enough energy to see a few more sights during the afternoon, although we did stop in a park for a short nap later!



Loads of beautiful buildings. Photos not really doing them justice though. In an incredible shopping area called ‘the mood’, we stopped for some pizza and wine as the cool comfy seats looked too good to pass by!



The train delivered us easily back to our trendy end of the city (Södermalm), after a great day out and about. In this heat it’s virtually impossible to ‘rest’, but it felt good to be taking it easy anyway...

Day 22 - Returning to Stockholm

Wow! What a thunderstorm! Our last night under canvas was a dramatic one, as thunder and lightning ripped through the night sky all around us. Rain hosed down noisily on the tent fabric, a sudden wind shook us, and the lightning flashes seemed to last several blinding seconds each. I’d have loved to see the forks of lightning, but we were literally pinned down in the thick of it as we huddled together until it eventually passed. Packing up in the morning was the first time in the tour that we’d had wet kit to deal with. Having been on the road now for over three weeks, we felt incredibly lucky as we rode down to the ferry terminal as the sun came back out.

Soon enough we were on board and in a different world. Up in the air-conditioned cruise ship, we soon found our way into the buffet restaurant where for the next two and a half hours, we worked our way across the delicious and plentiful breakfast buffet - several times! 

The remaining hours on the ferry were spent exploring the vast boat. Being twelve stories high, there was plenty to see, including live music and numerous sun decks. It was too hot to actually be in direct sunlight, but in the shade we could enjoy the views from up high.



So many islands, all littered with cabins and houses...



Our arrival in Stockholm was quite exciting too, as we followed the cars off the boat and into a stream of busy city traffic. Clare was on navigation duties, so I just follow and enjoyed checking out the sights. Within twenty minutes, we’d found our Airbnb studio and as soon as the bikes were locked away, we got into cold showers to cool off. 



Feeling freshened up, we went out into our new local neighbourhood (without bikes - very novel!), which happened to be a very cool, pedestrian area, with a fantastic coffee shop. A comfy seat in the shade on the street was just what we needed.



Into the evening, we followed our noses on a walk around the block, which was really pretty.



And purely by chances, found ourselves walking down deserted old cobbled streets towards the water. 





Where we discovered a fabulous viewing panorama of Stockholm! 



Back at the apartment and all over Stockholm, the air was showing no sign of cooling down overnight. It was hot, but the luxury of en-suite shower facilities felt a real treat. 



To top things off, we found an appropriately labelled drink to celebrate the Åland Islands section of the tour.

Day 21 - Returning to Mariehamn

A weather forecast of heavy thunderstorms around lunch time convinced us to get up and get going from our waters edge camp. With the tent so close to the water, I was slightly concerned that a rise in tide levels could envelope us during the night, but the day began with us still safely above the water margin by at least a meter. It meant that it was an easy to stumble out of the tent and into the sea for a wake up salt water wash! We were on the road by nine, stopping briefly to admire a few cool cars along the way. The Scandinavians seem to really love their classic cars.

A strong southerly wind meant that we had a headwind to contend with all the way back to Mariehamn.

As we wound our way through the countryside, the air was warm the sun shone and there seemed to be no sign of a storm just yet. 



I was feeling pretty tired. A kind of hollow legs feeling and soon had to stop for more food down by a river. Getting going after the rest was even harder, but there was now a sudden sense of urgency as the wind had picked up even more and dark clouds were gathering! We pumped our legs and kept rolling...



As planned, we arrived in Godby at the same time as the rain was due to start. We sat out on the tarp with some food with one eye on the sky. The biggest clouds blew over, only shedding a couple of drops but before carrying on, we took a break in a cafe on a sofa with a cake and multiple free refill coffees to see me through the final leg to Mariehamn.

Pushing through the headwind was tough riding (or maybe I was just tired?). We took turns being in front as it is incredible just how much easier it is without the wind resistance; being behind the leader. We had though that we might wild camp when we arrived, but the desire to take a shower was too strong, so we checked into the town campsite and took on the rip-off €30.00 fee. With only a kilometre left to peddle to the ferry in the morning, the Åland Island section of the tour was drawing to a close.

Total Ride: 53km

Day 20 - Across the Åland Islands - by Bike to Geta

A beam of sunlight burst over the horizon and from across the sea, shone straight into the tent illuminating it in a warm orange glow. It was only 05:21 but I was glad to be woken up to witness it.

I gave up trying to get back to sleep shortly after and took a walk down to the water. There was no one around and all was quiet. 

Perhaps another reason why I was awake early could be due to the state of my rapidly de-laminating therm-a-rest. There’s no going back from a bubble like this! It’s almost a built in pillow, but sadly not quite.



Neither of us was in a rush to get going. It was such a beautiful and tranquil start to the day, we took our time getting packed away.



We had decided to set ourselves the challenge of getting to the northern end of the main island of Åland. Our map has a bicycle ferry marked on, that could take us south afterwards, but we could find no information about it. I looked like it would be a cool place anyway, so we set off.



The trail took us towards Eckerö and away from our original plan of St. Petersburg, which considering the distance, seemed like a good idea.



There was a short ferry crossing from Töftö, then a bridge to Prästö, which linked to the main island.





On the way, we came across the remains of an old Fort. I though I was getting bitten on my back by an insect when we arrived. When Clare had a look, she discovered a sting sticking out of my back! Ouch!



The Fort, well, what was left of it, had some pretty cool stonework.



It looked like it had had a bit of ‘Inca Influence’, although the build quality was nowhere near as precise.



Lunchtime swimming was found at a small harbour. We went straight off the end of the jetty, then climbed back out using a rusty ladder.



Passed by an old castle later in the day...



And met some more classic car drivers!



We stopped in Godby to pick up supplies for the night as it looked like the only town big enough to have a supermarket (which it was), then cracked on north towards the end of the road. When we got to the village of Geta, we were pretty much spent. We never normally buy cans of drink, but in the temperatures, we’d been dreaming of an ice cold can of ginger beer. When we got to the village, there was a shop there. Yey! But it had closed an hour earlier! Boo! They at least had a couple of chairs out the front, in the shade, so we took a rest anyway.



Four more kilometres and we reached the end of the road, where a small sign declared that the ferry had left in the morning and would not run on Sunday (tomorrow). Oh well, we weren’t that bothered and would be €44 richer by not taking it. As we were looking at potential camping spots a strange/dangerous thing happened. A helicopter flew overhead, then cane down quite low. It seemed to be wobbling a lot near the end of the pier and looked like it might be out if control. It then suddenly changed tack and came directly for us. A German lady on the waters edge was suddenly soaked as the down draft lifted the water in a whirlwind of spray. She only just got out of the way in time. I was unpacking my bike bag, when the wind hit me and I was pinned to the spot by the bikes. Sand, dirt and sticks flew through the air and I felt blinded. At least my glasses protected be a bit. The rotors turned off at last as I looked down to find myself covered head to toe in dirt, stuck to my already sweaty body. An ambulance then turned up and a ‘casualty’ walked over. The German lady and I felt more like the casualties! I was very unimpressed. We left them to do what ever medical stuff was going on and around the corner, away from the commotion, found a calm bay and pier to jump off. It took several washes to get the dirt out of my ears, eyes and nose! Yuck!



Clean and cooled off, we returned to the ‘scene of the crime’ and re-instated ourselves back on our picnic bench, where we enjoyed a really nice, quiet dinner and evening without further drama.



We pitched the tent slightly close to the waters edge as it was the flattest spot. It was inside the high-tide mark, but we thought that we should be ok as the tides had hardly moved over recent days. We hoped.....



Total Ride: 63km

Day 19 - Sea Kayaking in the Åland Islands

A different mode of transport today! We have stayed here at the campsite on Vardö and rented some sea kayaks to allow us to explore the smaller islands and coastline. (And maybe give our legs a rest and remind our arms that they have muscles too!).

All rather conveniently, we managed to rent two decent quality kayaks from the campsite owner. All we had to do (after handing over €40.00), was walk down to the waters edge from the tent. No roof racks, trailers or car shuttles to deal with here!

The buoyancy aids however, were some of the oldest bits of kit I’ve ever seen. The chances of them floating (or even holding together for the rest of the day), looked unlikely. I chose the one with a zip that actually did up and went for XXL size; going with the theory that there should be more floatation buoyancy in it?! The material had practically rotted away. 



So it was, with minimal safety kit, but some very nice kayaks, we set off from camp, keeping close to the shore line at first.



As is the way with sea kayaking, it doesn’t take long to leave the world behind and find yourself along a deserted coast that is only accessible by the sea. It felt great. 



At 13:00, we pulled up on some rocks, as Clare had some work to attend to. I’m sure they wouldn’t have believed them if she’d told them where she was, but while sitting on a rock, on the coast of a deserted Åland Island, near Finland, Clare joined a conference call with a team in Bristol to finalise some details of some work she has lined up in September. Talk about mixing business with pleasure! 



It had been warm, but overcast all morning, but when we got back on the water after the conference call, the clouds broke up and the sun blazed through.



After passing a small fish farm, we made a short crossing to an unnamed island for some lunch. An enormous bird (a fish eagle perhaps?), was circling overhead and getting a bit of hassle from the sea gulls. We guessed they were after the easy pickings from the fish farm?



The water around the lunch island was deep and turquoise, so swimming was therefore obligatory. We found a shelf of granite that protruded into the deeper water and dived in. The water was warm enough to be really enjoyable and back on the hot rocks, we dried off in minutes.



We carried on around the island, so that we could make a complete circumnavigation. The wind made the water on the open crossing back to the mainland a little choppy, but nothing too concerning.



Nearer the camp, there was a small inlet that we explored next, hoping to find some wildlife. Apart from a few terns diving for fish and a family of greebs, we didn’t see much though.



It was great to be out on our own...







At 5pm, we arrived back at camp, put the kit away and went directly up to the camp bar to get a celebratory drink. There’s not much industry on the Åland Islands, but they do seem to make their own beer, so we bought a couple of bottles, along with a bowl of chips to compliment them. A great finish.



Shortly after dinner a sudden torrential downpour soaked the camp. Luckily we remembered that lots of our gear was lying outside our tent, so rushed to get it inside. Plenty of other campers weren’t so quick and when we went to bed, there were a lot of folk trying to dry sleeping mats with the shower room hairdryer!