1 July 2008
After quick farewell to my Servas host, Christina, I headed off for the bus station – which was conveniently next door to the train station. I noticed to the left of railway station, The Arctic Hotel. A lesson learnt: look both ways when coming out of a railway/bus station if you are looking for accommodation!!
The bus was a modern double-decker, very comfortable and almost empty. We travelled along the main highway south, passing through pine and birch forests again, all in different stages of growth. Sweden harvests its forests in a very controlled manner. Lots are owned by private people as well as the Church. It appears that each generation gets a chance to harvest their family’s timber lot. These lots can be quite small, maybe 5 acres – and are cared for during their growth. The timber gets harvested then the block is allowed to self-seed and grow at its own rate. After maybe 15 years, the blocks are tidied, leaving a good stand of pine and birch to continue to grow. Once the timber becomes of profitable size, its harvested and the circle begins again. As more farm lands are not required in Sweden (something to do with EU) forest blocks are encouraged to be allowed to remain. As an Aussie concerned with land clearance, it took me a long time to accept the cleared blocks as part of the process, but I am getting there!
I saw a mini ‘Sydney Harbour Bridge’ made of wood that looked like it has been servicing its community for many years, oblivious of its more famous relative. Farmlands and small villages were passed and of course the lakes and rivers were still part of the scenery. I saw Tufted Ducks swimming in a lake, another tick for my bird-list.
We collected some cargo in Piteå and a brief impression includes chimneys belching smoke/steam (?) probably from paper factories and I recorded the petrol price at Statoil as 85.9kr per litre – roughly $1.70Aus.
We had a quick stop in Skelleftea for 20 mins. I dashed off to find a loo and to check out the city square. The public loo had coins jammed in its slot, so a dash to the shopping arcade found me given access to a loo with UV lighting! Something new – but apparently one can’t see veins for shooting up under this light. Well, that didn’t both me, but it was a bit disconcerting glowing in my white t-shirt! Anyway, didn’t get much of a look around the square therefore, but I was on my way to Umeå which was my goal.
We passed a monument in the form of two cheese slicers propped up, suggesting this may be an area (Lövanger) connected to cheese! Also saw a sign advertising “Drive-In Bingo” – what next I wonder??
So why was I planning a stop in Umeå? This story begins in 1982, when we were visited by a young Swedish back-packer at our place at West Point on Magnetic Island, North Queensland. He was such a nice bloke we suggested he stay awhile and he spent about a week with us. His parting quip was ‘If you’re ever in Sweden ….” So here I was – a quick search on the web found a phone number and contact was made. It was going to be interesting if I could recognise a young guy now 26 years older - & vice versa! But no worries, we found each other easily at the bus stop so into the car and we headed south out of town. So no comment of Umeå – what I saw of it seemed 1960’s stone buildings, blocks of flats. It’s a uni town, so plenty of student accommodation. I am sure there is a small area with old buildings, but I never saw it.
We drove down the highway to Murningsgrundet – a small community right on the coast of the Baltic Sea (although it looked like a lake with islands in it). Stefan and Lina have a lovely new cottage, still retaining the suggestion of a traditional Swedish home, but only one level surrounded by decks. We sat on the deck looking out over the water and caught up on 26 years of gossip. Looking at photos Stefan still holds dear, brought back many memories of those idyllic times on Magnetic Island. I spied a flash looking kayak, so soon I was hopping into it and paddling off in the Baltic Sea. I cruised around the edge chasing a Great Black-backed Gull for a close up look which I eventually got. I was going to paddle out to a ridge of rocks, but looped back to the cottage as there was still more talking to do. The water was pretty cool, too much so for thinking of a swim, so I counted the paddle as being part of my quest to be in the Baltic Ocean!
Back at the cottage, we harnessed up the cats and dog and went for a walk. The dog, Freya thought this was great, but the two cats – Norwegian forest cats – didn’t really appear to be enjoying the excursion. These large cats were very aloof, but very beautiful with their manes and baggy pants. I was given charge of the father cat and a continual tug of war saw us slowly progressing up past the nature reserve. This reserve is a restricted habitat for a rare plant, species unknown. The usual pine and birch were crowded with other plants and shrubs and understory – looking impenetrable, unlike the usual pine/birch forests. Beautiful wildflowers lined the road as usual.
The sun was thinking of going close to the horizon by the time we got back at 11pm and so off to bed in my little cottage (the original building on this block) with its sunny yellow bedroom. The sun continues to amaze me – and I still can’t get used to this continual light. Why did I think to pack a headlight??
