On a mission for wine

Another relatively late start in the cabin rising at 8 am for a leisurely breakfast. At least 2, maybe more, of our cabin neighbours were decanting to a tent pitch after drying out. We decided to head on to Stockholm later in the day. Everything was dry and clean now and for some reason packed up so much smaller than when we rushed to pack in the wet. We had a last wander round, it really was a nice spot and a shame to leave but we had a ferry booked from Stockholm and wanted time to explore.

Before leaving we spent a few hour exploring the Kinnekulle area. The camp site lies on the Kinnekulle tramping trail, a 45 km 2 day hike.

The nearby peak Hokullen stands 306 m high, but also there's a cafe and car park up it leaving a 2.5 km walk to the top so we took that option. The outlook tower was built in 1892 and was said to be the best view in the Nordic countries. It burnt down in 1982 but a copy was rebuilt the year later. Certainly the views were great, but still the lake looked like the sea.


We took the E20 motorway to Stockholm. Literally the whole route was through birch and pine forest for nearly 3 hours.


We made camp in the 'burbs of Stockholm, a walk from the tube station or a boat service into the city centre. Packed like sardines, we had a drive around and managed to squeeze in a pitch that had an electric hook up. Just as we had we pitched the tent an English couple spotted us and passed by for a chat as there's hardly any Brits holidaying here. They had a motorhome that is the size of a National Express coach; no good for for an afternoon on Abereidy beach, in fact it struck me as just a bit OTT and found myself admiring the VW California campers dotted around the site.


Tent pitched, introductions over, we made a mad dash to the local shopping centre for the Systembolaget. This is the state offy where you can buy wine, beer and spirits greater than 3.5%. Although expensive compared to say a Tesco delivery, it wasn't actually that expensive compared to buying at an off licence. 245 SEK (£21.88) bought 4 bottles of decent wine, including Campo Rioja, which wasn't too bad and worth it so we didn't have to drink weak beer. Next stop fuel; I was almost empty and while I hope it will be cheaper in Estonia I didn't want to arrive empty so put in 20 litres. Well tried to. These services, although open, require you to pay in advance of fueling. You can use your card, but all the instructions are in Swedish so it took a couple of attempts but we got there.

Back to camp and Vanessa cooked up spaghetti bolognese which we burned off with a walk to the beach and caught the sunset.