Lazing on a sunny afternoon

Ok, I promise to organize the pictures eventually. It is hard enough just keeping up with them. For now, unsorted starting on our last day in Karlstad, Sweden and then Stockholm and some of Finnhamn. Pictures

And starting in Finnhamn, in the Stockholm archipelago, Pictures

Our actual route, so far.

Had some fantastic mushrooms today. A ranger was walking his dog when we came across a tiny snake. He showed that to us and gave us the three mushrooms he was carrying with him. He had just picked them nearby. Sweden has been filled with mushrooms but considering I don't know which ones taste good and which ones will kill you, I have just admired their prettiness. These were nice for lunch, cooked in butter and garlic. We might be camping but the meals have all been nice. No opening a can of beans and dumping it in a pan. There is chopping onions and garlic and all sorts of nice things to make nice meals. And the rhubarb jam we got from the organic farm shop here was great too.

It is a small island and not a lot of people here now. Apparently this island is heaving during the summer, but we got here a week or two after the season ended. There could have been hundreds of tents and loads of people hiking around, but instead we seem to be the only tent in our part of the island, except for the long term ones. There are a few people here who stay all summer, some have for about 20 years. The one woman we met said she was in our camping spot for 8 years but now has a nice wooden platform and gas stove and a few other luxuries. What a way to live, to spend your summers.

It has also been nice with the lack of people, the few people who are here, you keep seeing all over. We said goodbye to the German man and his two sons(?) yesterday. They had been a fixture for a few days, we would see them a few times a day and chat about things. Two nights ago, our campsite was overrun with Stockholm school children (15 yr olds) which was annoying but a few of them stopped to chat for a while and were pretty nice.

Today I took a nice walk around the southwestern part of the island, or actually a small island attached by a wooden bridge which borders this island (Finnhamn, I think I have spelled it wrong in some previous entries). It was a little more traveled than the island we walked on a few days ago, the moss wasn't quite as healthy and vital, the paths were a little more worn and pronounced, and the woods weren't quite as deep. But walking around the edge, walking on the rocks was good.

We opted against the cabin tonight, even though we had reserved it. It was supposed to rain a lot tonight, but it doesn't look so bad now and it seemed sad to leave our campsite and move inside. It might be the last camping night of the journey. Wow, that seems a bit strange to think about, we have camped so much already. Possibly in Siberia, but probably not. We are debating whether to mail the camping stuff back to Australia soon or just carry it for a while. The backpacks are pretty heavy and that would help, but it would be a shame to send them before we are done with them.

Anyways, off to cook dinner and enjoy a last night on the island. Last night, I woke up late and went outside and the sky had finally cleared and the stars were amazing and blazing. So many and the Milky Way too. I wonder how many more of those I will get before the northern sky is gone and I just see the southern stars. The wind was really blowing last night and lying in the tent, listening to the wind and the different sounds, the water against the rocks, the crickets, a few owls, it was a nice, if slightly spooky symphony.

Next stop, back to Stockholm for a few hours and then Estonia on Saturday morning on the 16 hour overnight ferry.

Did I mention the sun was out, the sky was clear today,and it was a beautiful day?