Day 1

Dear Christopher,

As you're probably my only English speaking reader on this blog I might as well address it to you. Have fun!


Wednesday, September 14

We've spent the night at Heiko's parents' house. It's convenient as they only live 90 mins away from the port and it's always nice to see them. The ferry won't leave until 4 pm, so we have ample time to recharge everything one last time - phone, tablet, the toothbrush! -, fill the water bags for the first time and so on. Heiko's parents provide us with some extra food: canned goods - because, Heiko's Dad says, it's a good thing to sit in the woods and have some canned stew and he's not wrong - and home grown potatoes to bake in a campfire.

Approaching the check in at Sassnitz-Mukran

We put a lot of thought into that packing thing. There's the usual bag of clothes but also a large crate of food so we won't have to eat out or buy food in Sweden - it's supposed to be expensive - and two large trekking backpacks holding the tent, mats, sleeping bag, cooking gear and other everyday stuff plus food and clothing to be replaced daily. This system turns out to work pretty well.

I'm quite excited as we approach the port, I've never been to a ferry before so it's all news to me. The weather is awesome, very warm and sunny so I only wear a summer dress and flip flops which turns out to be a mistake later on.

The ferry is also the biggest ship I've ever been on (the second biggest being an Ausflugsdampfer on the Wörthersee and the third probably a pedalo), there's room for some 250 cars and 900 passengers on it. It's not fully booked, most of the guests seem to be Swedes on a day trip, shopping alcohol by the cart - it's a sight to see.


 On deck we lounge in the sun while the ferry slowly leaves the port, travels along the Rügen coast for a while - a great tour along the famous chalk cliffs and then turns North across the Baltic Sea. Between Germany and Sweden there's even enough room for a small belt of international waters while night slowly falls and I'm starting to freeze. That's when I realize I really have to make sure I'm warm enough to maintain a good mood! All the warm clothes are in the car which is off limits during the crossing.

Heiko looking for the sun

The ferry is loud but very steady, no danger of seasickness fortunately!

As we approach Trelleborg it's fully dark and the twinkling lights of the city and lighthouses along the Swedish coasts are greeting us over the water. I, however, snuggle up to the vents where warmth from the motors is released! When a voice calls everyone to their vehicles in three languages I'm looking forward not only to finally arriving but to some warm clothes as well.

 Our destination, a nice spot right between three lakes near a hiking trail in Southern Smaland, is waiting for us some 300 kms away so we've still got some driving to do and I'm getting to work on the onboard GPS - or at least I'm trying to as I realize its knowledge of Europe ends in Denmark. I'm really mad because Heiko assured me Sweden would be included and apparently hasn't even checked but I don't say much about it while checking my OpenStreetMap. Luckily I've downloaded a map of Sweden to my phone earlier. It doesn't talk because I don't have the TTS engine and the Swedish SIM card isn't installed yet but it does navigate us all right, so we drive out of Trelleborg and up Northeast while I'm staring at my phone.

Driving is slow but steady, there's nearly no cars and, despite the signs, no moose. At Karlskrona we leave the motorway and turn North to Emmaboda. From that point on we don't meet anybody on the road except some huge grey bird, just trees and trees and an occasional house and more trees. After Emmaboda the GPS points us onto a gravel road which we follow for some 15 kms more during which it becomes narrower and more winding and a strip of vegetation starts to appear in the middle of the road, making ominous sounds against the underside of the car. After a bend near our goal a group of young boar scurries away into the underbrush. Then we're there, the GPS says.

There was a large, almost full moon earlier but between the high trees it's dark and very quiet, the kind of quiet that literally seems to press upon the ears. We're supposed to be right between three lakes but water is nowhere to be seen and there's thick brushes and slopes everywhere. I'm still wearing my flip flops and so we lumber through the trees in search of the - a - lakeshore, only to give up after a while and head into the other direction. Heiko carries the camping lantern, I my phone light which is, as I realize, really not very bright in a dark forest like this. Suddenly we come around a bend and the moon is back, veiled by fog but there, hovering across a still lake with a flat granite cliff right beside it, surrounded by solitary pines, rocks and heather. It is supposedly the only flat spot far and wide.
We drop our backpacks and Heiko points out into the lake, whispering: There is an island out there with a tree on it!

Quietly we put up the tent. It's about 3 pm when everything is ready and we go to sleep - or Heiko does. I lie awake for a long time, listening for tiny noises to be scared by, sweating in the wintery sleeping back - even up here it's unseasonably warm - or freezing outside of it, waiting for the dawn.