Sweden - 13 to 24 June 2008

Hej again! After our 20 minute ferry crossing to Helsingborg in Sweden , we immediately felt at home – either as a result of shopping at Lidl again (our favourite store) or knowing that we'll soon meet up with Jo-Anne's family or maybe that free camping is legal here! The national devotion to organisation and order insures smooth travelling through this vast forested, lake-studded landscape. But Sweden is also famous for its blondes, ABBA and of course Vikings who made their mark by the 9 th century, trading (and pillaging) under their chosen kings until 1809 when legislative powers were shared with parliament and its ‘welfare state' developed.

We headed straight for Gothenburg where we met Terase and Jody whom we last saw six months previously, in Ireland . It was Jade's 11 th birthday on the 14 th and she was especially excited as she could share this with her favourite aunt who would be arriving later that day. That afternoon GR1, Jody and Terase excitedly took off for the airport to meet Eleanor and Dominic. GR1 had decided to surprise them as they thought the Globeriders would only be arriving a couple of days later. What a joy to be reunited with ‘Baainaars' again and we did the happy hello's in true SA style! Jade's birthday was celebrated Jade's with a delicious chocolate cake baked by Terase! After being surprised at Jody's culinary skills of lemon and rosemary baked salmon, the adults of course continued with the celebrations well into the night!!!

With Jody as our guide, we spent Sunday morning at the Universeum, a science discovery centre where Terase works and she kindly organised free entrance for the group. We opted on a 40 minute walk to the centre - Dom and Eleanor had to test their 4 month walking regime back home and they passed with flying colours. This striking Science discovery centre featured everything from native Sami people's way of life, rainforests to shark tanks. Our visit to the Rain Forest Zone brought back vivid memories of our travels through the deepest darkest corners of Africa and its ablutions with frogs hopping around everywhere, causing chills to the more sensitive amongst us, mainly Vanita.

Later that day we headed for Lerkil, a sea-side town 30km south of Gothenburg, to spend a few days with Per and Ausra (pronounced Auwsher). This historic area is also scattered with grave mounds of pre-Viking kings and queens and the perfect place to sink our teeth into Sweden . We were warned to watch for ticks and mosquitoes, especially for the children!! Our first evening with this mixed Swedish/Lithuanian couple was fantastic. We were introduced to sill (raw/smoked herring in different sauces), round cracker bread that could last six hundred years and skal, pronounced skoll (shooters with different schnapps/vodka). As per usual, some GR members enjoyed the party more than others and some of our ‘new temporary' members as well!!! Per and Ausra seemed to have gone that extra mile (even going to work late the Monday morning) and really introduced us to the ‘Swedish lifestyle' - we couldn't thank them enough and even spent a second night with them, preparing and serving “our” home-made curries, dhal and chicken - another great meal for all!!

The following morning we explored Sweden 's second largest city – Gothenburg with Jody and Terase our tour guides, showing off their city to us. Our tour of the town was on foot and at the end of the day, we covered a distance of 15km, as per Terase's cell phone pedometer. Surprisingly, the kids handled this well and Troy walked the full distance. Gothenburg ( Port Elizabeth 's sister city) reminded us a lot of our home town, Port Elizabeth , with the motorways criss-crossing through the city. We started our tour at Brunnsparken and then walked through Nordstan, a mall crossing several roads, all under one roof. Next was a walk down the famous Avenue until we reached Goteplatsen and the statue of Poseidon. By then we had built up quite an appetite and after a visit to the Haga District, we all shared a vegetarian meal at one of Jody and Terase's favourite hangouts, the Solrosen. Our final few hours in the city was spent climbing 197 steps up the Skansen Kronan for great views and through Slottsskogsparken, the largest botanic garden in Sweden with a free zoo! We returned back to the flat much later than expected and climbed straight into bed, i.e. after another 20 minute walk to our vans (parking is a problem).

On the 18 th , Troy celebrated his fourth birthday and reminded us all repeatedly that he was now four years old! GR1, however, planned to leave Gothenburg later the afternoon, but after an email from Shanaaz at the Herald (Local newspaper from home), we were to answer a few questions and send some photos which took the better part of the day. Later, Terase, Jody, Dominic and Dean opted to watch the Euro Soccer match between Russia and Sweden in the centre of town, on a big screen – sadly, Sweden lost and were out of the tournament – they returned home in rather low spirits that night.

With the Globeriders now an extra 4 people strong, we travelled east to Linkoping , home of Terase's parents - Bo and Ulla Osterberg, who live along Lake Roxen . On our arrival we were warmly welcomed and made to feel at home straight away with a fish and moose supper. We were warned, once again, about ticks, mosquitoes and this time also free roaming moose. An hour long walk the next morning around Linkoping worked up quite an appetite for our delicious breakfast! We were politely asked to spend a few hours away from the house, as Bo and Ulla needed to prepare for the mid-summer celebration later that afternoon. Our time was spent in Gamla Linkoping, where we could experience what a small Swedish town was like during the second half of the 19 th century – all red painted buildings in an open-air museum where we could still buy a traditional cone shaped paper bag of sweets in an 1873 grocery store. We then wondered through the Valla Forest and Leisure Park , enjoying the horses and open fields. After our relaxed visit, we drove to the centre of town, visited the Church of Sweden , which although part of the Reformation movement, has remained much the same throughout the ages. We then enjoyed the raising of the Maypole Tree with locals, in traditional wear, dancing around the tree - we all eventually participated and Troy managed to have his photo in the local newspaper the following Monday, pity we never got to see it though. It was now time to celebrate and we headed back to Bo and Ullas' home where we were joined by Shell and Maggan, long-time friends of the family. We celebrated the highlight of the Swedish calendar, midsummer (21 st June) with more sill, Swedish meatballs, janssons frestelse (anchovy potato bake) and of course many skols but this time we managed to behave and later enjoyed a game of Kubb (men vs. women), as well as hitting a few golf balls, towards the lake. Shell played the guitar and we all sang together until the early hours of the morning, before each of us silently found our way to bed. We were once again fortunate to have hosts that went that extra mile to make their celebration special for us all. Our last morning with Bo and Ulla was spent updating our web site and Dean made a wooden lid for GR3's stove (which had shattered a couple of weeks ago) and with all jobs completed, we were off to spend a few days in Stockholm . ‘Tack' for the special memories and for teaching us a new game, Kubb, which the fairest sex triumphantly won!

Travelling further north east, Stockholm , built on 14 islands and surrounded by 24 000 more of the archipelago, was a visual delight. Smack in the middle, Gamla Stan, the 13 th century old town is the most beautiful – whether you walk it or view it from Sodermalm's northern cliffs at Katarinahissen. The hour long changing of the guard at the royal palace, Kungliga Slottet, matched the record of it being the worlds largest (608 rooms) and the best changing of the guards so far – spectacular! As with many European cities, the royal old cathedral and parliament blend in harmoniously with modern central Stockholm and its bustling shops and cafes. We were later joined by Terase, Jenny and Frans (a black Pug) and continued our site-seeing tour on foot. A short boat ride took us to the island of Skansen where we walked pass Tivoli Grona Lund, an amusement park which was way too expensive to enter, and as we were starved, we opted to bypass the sights on the island and took the next boat back to the Old Town of Gamla Stan, where we enjoyed Pizza and Kebab meals. Finally GR1's 2 man tent ( Disneyland ) had its uses after being lugged around for over a year – to accommodate Dominic and Eleanor.

Heading through the green countryside past Uppsala to Hofors, we spent the next 2 days at the Osterberg's lakeside rustic log cabin in Sweden's famed forests. Picture-perfect! O ur first night there was celebrated with Hong Kong chicken especially for Jody, but we all enjoyed that feast!! We were once again reminded to be on the look-out for wild bears, wild moose, ticks, mosquitoes and gnats - it was hard to believe that we were out of Africa, but then again “ Africa is not that bad ”!

A day trip and underground tour of Falun's copper mine, the world's oldest, dating back to before the 8 th century enlightened us to the tough lives of the miners who started at the tender age of 4 and barely survived beyond the age of 25, and illustrates how the copper industry evolved economically and socially with the aid of new technology. Old legend tells of a billy-goat – Kare, that rubbed his horns against the ground and they were reddened by the soil, leading to Europe 's largest copper mine until its closure in 1992. We were also told the story of Fet- Mats Israelsson, who died in a cave-in at Falun Mine in 1677 and was not found until 1719, perfectly conserved by the vitriolic mine water. The body was exhibited as an attraction and Fet-Mats became known as the petrified miner. T oday it is a UNESCO world heritage industrial site after supplying copper to roofs of Europe 's churches, castles and palaces. It is also the source of Falun's red paint that graces many Swedish homes since the 16 th century.

Our last day in Sweden was spent driving west via Malung and across the border into Norway , our 3 rd Scandinavian country.

Tack to Jody, Terase and her family and friends who gave us a great taste of their life and hospitality in Sweden - hej da!