31 July 2021
Before I headed south I wanted to go hiking, or rather cycling for a short while in the archipelago. There was a hike described in my guide book but the time I should have spent, had been 4.5 hours, which I did not want and did not have. Thus, I decided to cycle some of the way. First I had to get to Östra Ed. My GPS led me there on gravel roads – 30 kilometers.
The road was not that bad, though, no potholes. In Östra Ed I had to turn into the woods again for another 16 kilometers till I got the the one and almost only parking space. I’m glad I’ve bought the Thule bike rack. It’s so easy for me now to get the bike up and down. I decided to take my normal bike, not the e-bike, in order to be a bit sporty – and off I went.
The archipelago is beautiful, alright, but after a while it gets somehow repetitive, especially if you cycle, walk, drive through the arboreus parts of the peninsulas. It took me about half an hour to get to Torrö. Here again I found an appealing large variety of different trees, surrounded by an ever so rich variety of moss and lichen – many shades of green.
Then suddenly, a bridge and the sea. This is the archipelago. Hidden views on stony islands.
Once back at my van I took the road southward. I was listening to The Cure’s „A forest“, quite adequate after such an outing, cruised down the E22. Rainy clouds were lingering once again, the sky very overcast. Then first, heavy drops, followed by rather heavy rain. It looked as if it was getting night – or Swedish wintry afternoon. I stopped at a café because I was getting tired, needed a coffee. Unfortunately the „apple cake“ tempted me as I had not eaten anything for quite a while and I made the big mistake to order it – mistake, as I have never ever eaten such a horrible, crumbling dry, pathetic rubbery apple cake. The boy who served me did his best to please, heated it – but it was all but in vain. Imagine a mouthful of sand with a sticky ruberband in it and then you are quite near to what it felt eating it.
Then, when I arrived at Mönsteräs, on the island of Oknö to be precise, the clouds had magically vanished and warm rays of sunlight lit my next camp – close to the water and a beach.
The guy at the reception was really nice!!