Day 1 - travel and set up
We set off on a very early flight to Stockholm from Heathrow. We had packed our bags carefully - worried about being wet or cold, and for once we had bags in the hold of the plane.
We landed in Stockholm and got the Arlanda Express train from the airport to the centre of Stockholm. We found some luggage lockers and deposited our bags and set off for the old town of Stockholm, Gamla stan.
Stockholm is beautiful - the part around the station was typically dirty with a few homeless people, but the old town was a stark contrast. Coloured buildings, cobbled streets - clean and interesting. No cars.
The weather was warm and we found a lovely traditional restaurant to eat in. Oliver had a huge pizza and I had some pasta with mushrooms and some complimentary sauerkraut. I am quite fond of the pickled cabbage dish, but tasting it freshly made was absolutely delicious. I did have in the back of my mind that the toilet facilities in camp might not be good, but the cabbage just kept flying into my face!
We walked around a little more before heading back to the station to catch our regional train. We were told to take a train to Köping station where we would meet our guide, Simon. Köping was about an hour from Stockholm. The train was absolutely packed - we did not have reserved seats but we managed to squeeze in together and find somewhere for our bags.
The train emptied out as we went along the line and soon we were in Köping. It was a very sweet station and there was not a soul in sight. It soon became apparent who was in our group as the commuters made there way home and there were only those holding large backpacks left.
Two ladies came over to say hello - Clare and Julia. Then a man, Jason - another, Jay and finally a bundle of positive energy, Georgina.
We started to chat about our journeys and then along came Simon, our guide in the minibus. Simon is Swedish and a very smiley chap. We all squeezed into the van, into what would be our permanent seats (aren’t people funny) and off we went. Starting with main roads, then small roads, then gravel tracks and within 45 minutes we were at camp. The forest that we would call home for the next 4 days.
We had to unload the van together. Firstly our bags, then the camping equipment, food, water, and firewood. The walk from the van to the main camp was just 5 minutes, but it was along a path of puddles, mud and tree roots. We would, eventually, be able to walk this path with out eyes closed, but at that point it was slow going.
When we saw where we would be setting up we all gasped. A huge lake, so beautiful - the smell of pine trees and complete silence.
There was a permanent structure where the food would be stored and another that kept supplies dry. A place to light the campfire and some log chairs to sit around it.
I had assumed our tent would be set up - oh so naive! Simon showed us how to pick a good spot for our tent, and we were given one each (Oliver and I were sharing). They were pop up tents, so actually easy to pitch, and we found a spot looking out to the lake.
By now, it was around 7pm and we were all busy unpacking and making our tents comfy.
Simon was busy lighting the fire and getting dinner ready. There was no electricity, or running water in camp, but Simon was a pro and we had vegetarian hot dogs for dinner. Delicious.
We were, inevitably, going to have to talk about ourselves, but Simon had a great way of easing us in. We were put into pairs and we interviewed each other. Who we are, why we were on the trip and what we hoped to get out of it. That meant that when were to speak to the group, we had already rehearsed.
Our group was:
Clare - aged 60 - a magistrate, and was on the trip to do more on her own and to get away from work
Julia - aged 60 - had travelled from Australia, was a French teacher and had been learning Swedish. She was travelling around Sweden and Norway and then the UK
Me - aged 53
Jason - aged 40 - a bricklayer from Northern England, who loved wolves
Georgina - aged 28 from New Zealand who worked for the UK prison service and was travelling as much as she could while living in the UK
Jay - aged 22 - a Scottish graduate who had just completed a degree in astrophysics from St Andrews and his parents had bought him the trip as a graduation gift
Oliver - aged 19
Our guide was Simon - aged 30, his father had been an outdoor guide and he and his brother set up Wild Sweden a few years ago.
I actually loved all of the group - they were so interesting, and kind. There was nobody trying to be heard or telling everyone all the things they had done.
After dinner, we all went to bed, tired from travel, from setting up and knowing we were going to be up at 8am the next day.
It doesn’t get dark at this time of year, just dusk at around 2am before the sun comes up again at 3am. I thought I would struggle to sleep - but off we drifted - excited for the adventures ahead.
