Dedicated to a wonderful Mother Jean Noble 31/5/1929 - 20/8/2007 - may we never take our mothers for granted. - Goodbye Mum

SWEDEN PAGE 2 OCTOBER 2007

(Updated 16/10/07) The worlds richest Nations (per capita). Out of the ten Richest Countries (based on 2006 GNP per capita in US$)

(NOTE: ***Luxembourg's high GNP per capita is due in part to a significant number of its workforce living in neighbouring countries. Non-residents are not counted in Luxembourg's population which in turn raises the country's GNP per capita score. This effectively places Norway in first spot. (REF: Here)

Still with the “Super Rich” but hoping to survive financially, amongst them :-) Who can forget ABBA.. We know so little about the Swedes and have come here to learn. Will they be as warm and inviting as the Norwegians were? Will corporate Sweden let them down just like “Corporate Norway” does? I will report as always what I see and describe as fairly as I can, our experiences... As always “Warts 'n All”. Thank you Sweden for allowing us amongst your tribe.

Sunday October 7^th 2007 Well now that's a good question, we are not exactly sure to Dingle.
Approx. 31.41k's Average Speed 10.40kph Cycling time 3Hr(s) 1Min. Max speed. 42kph Max temp we recorded 15°C (Shade)
Terrain: Hilly. Road Conditions: Very Good, O/night Accom.: $0.00
Approx. 31.41k's Average Speed 10.40kph Cycling time 3Hrs. 1 Minute Max speed 42kph Max temp we recorded 15C
An agonising day with my knee.. The first day since Tassie that we experienced mild driver abuse (Tooting Horns). For the most part we cannot avoid this road. We have stopped at a farm called “Angens Gard” (Translates to something like “Farm Field”) at Dingle.. These are great people.. We went for a dorm room after being recommended in the local supermarket ICA (Not IGA)... They were full but let us pitch camp for free in the garden...

and Lee has been horse ridding :-) - for the first time in her life.

The young Girl above (Josephine age 17) is teaching Lee the basics of horse ridding, arranged a hat and boots for her and we walked Lee about two kilometres through the night – again they would accept no money... Tired (and cold) now, more tomorrow....

We awoke to a minus -3C morning with ice everywhere... By 0930 it had warmed up to 2C with beautiful sunshine. We had been told to use the ablutions in the main house.. When I went in this morning there were two towels with a note on top saying “Mr and Mrs Australia”!!!
Seeing that we had stirred they immediately said go to the kitchen and have breakfast – it is warmer there. All attempts to give them money have failed. Once again this incredible dichotomy between “Corporate/Govt. Scandinavia” and ordinary people. From Helle and husband in Bergen Norway, who gave us a magnificent 3 day introduction to Scandinavia. To Tove and Jens Thoresen in Lervic Norway, to these wonderful people here in Dingle, Sweden.
Monday October 8^th 2007 Angens Gard.
Approx. 6.70k's Average Speed 10.40kph Cycling time Hr(s) 45Min. Max speed. 22kph Max temp we recorded 11°C (Shade)
Terrain: Flat. Road Conditions: Very Good, O/night Accom.: $0.00
Spent the day with our new found friends.. Lee was going to continue with her Horse ridding lessons but Josephine became unavailable at the last minute.... Oh well Lee was disappointed. The rest was not needed – or so I thought... More on that tomorrow.
Tuesday October 9^th 2007 Angens Guard to Unda – Near Undavella.
Approx. 37.12k's Average Speed 9.25kph Cycling time 4Hr(s) 1Min. Max speed. 44kph Max temp we recorded 18°C (Shade)
Terrain: Hilly. Road Conditions: Very Good, O/night Accom.: $0.00
Awoke at 4am to our coldest day yet -4C it was still minus -2C at 0830 after sunrise.

Our planning and our gear meant we stayed snug and warm in our tent.

Frozen bike and our frozen “poncho”...

We said goodbye to our new found friend and thanked her for some magnificent hospitality. We will miss this place
A great ride today with NO pain from my knee? As I said yesterday the stop had a good benefit.... I did not push too far today as I do not want to risk a resurgence of the pain/injury. That's about it – sleep time. Catchya Later
Wednesday October 10^th 2007 Unda to Fagerhult.
Approx. 22.71k's Average Speed 7.63kph Cycling time 3Hr(s) 1Min. Max speed. 42kph Max temp we recorded 14°C (Shade)
Terrain: Hilly. Road Conditions: Very Good, O/night Accom.: $0.00
When we arrived at the C/van park last night we met the owner... He did not want to offer a price but just asked us to camp – anywhere In the morning we went to the office to pay – he had said he would be there. It was 0900 and we were ready to go, I said to lee “let's make a brew and wait”.

At about 0920 he fronted. I told him we could not read the signs, had no “tokens” so could not cook, shower, wash, or use any facilities. He realised he did not offer these things the night before and told us he was sorry and there would be no charge.. The usual charge is SEK220 ($AUD38.00) ++++++ and all the pluses. More later. We climbed many steep hills, hence the low Stats...

Despite today's hard three hours climbing my leg held... we decided three hours was enough... Called in a run down guest house expecting a low price only to find it was SEK750 per night ($AUD121.00 approx) and this was after a HUGE discount – so he said :-)... Cycling further along I spotted an Asian lady and said “Hello – Khun Thai Krup” .

She replied yes in Thai and Lee took over from there.. We are now staying two nights with this family... “One door closes and another opens” :-).. After three delicious Thai dishes we are well fed and happy.

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