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Swedish Adventures
Written by
The Swedish Couple
Bjärehalvön:
Two days by the shore
Before going on our trip to Scotland we decided to do a testround in Sweden, mostly to try out our gear and make sure we had everything we needed. This was probably one of the best trekking rounds we've done so far. Many swedish people long to get away from Sweden, explore other countries and experience new things. We learned that you don't always have to go abroad to find new exciting scenery and amazing wildlife.
Our journey started in a small town called Båstad and from there we just followed the beach to the south. After the first night we found a trail that took us upwards through cliffs and hills. We had our lunch at a place called Hovs Hallar, where the scenery was absolutely wonderful. This trail then took us to the beach and away from the hills. It was somewhere here where we found the most common snake in Sweden, Grass snake (Natrix natrix), but this was only a juvenile. They're absolutely beautiful.
We walked hard this day and since our boots were brand new, it hurt alot. Even though it was barely spring in Sweden at this time the sun managed to burn our heads a bit. The combination of the burning sun and the hard wind made it very tough, our muscles worked overtime to say the least. Crossing fields with our backpacks and treading through sandy beaches, it was a great way to learn and get a feeling of a longer trekk. We got a grip of what's important on a hike, and what you can leave back home.
The next night were a well deserved one after a whole days of hard walking. We were so tired and beat so we fell asleep easy and quick enough. The thought of walking in Scotland for more than a week was exciting indeed at this time. Imagining how much more pain we will possibly be in. We finished our hike in Ängelholm, completing a 70km walk in one and a half day was harder than we thought.
When we arrived in Ängelholm we decided to eat at a restaurant by the beach (Hamnpentryt), and we got the warmest and nicest welcome we could ever imagine. The food was great and we were just so satisfied with the whole experience.
The only way to describe the whole thing is to say that our bodies might have suffered for a while, but our souls healed.
Hovs Hallar
Spring 2015
We finally found a time in the middle of the summer to do our first hike with Vattie! Instead of the usual long walks of 2-3 hours we hiked for 3 days. We decided to continue where we left of when we finished Bjärehalvön and hiked the Kullaleden. Started from Helsingborg to finish at the Kullens lighthouse.
This trip worked like a testround on how our project through Europe would be like, so we packed everything we neded and prepared ourselves and Vattie for the hike. We started to pick up trash along the way, just like we will do through Europe. We could feel the negative effects from not having a garbage picker but we still managed. A lot of the trash we encountered where next to the roads or overfilled trash cans. Our summary of these observations says that people think it's easier to throw their trash out the window of the car, instead of keeping it in a bag to later throw properly. Also that in case of a overfilled trashcan, either need to be stationed more cans nearby or they need to be emptied more often.
The very first night we all experienced something new! It rained heavily when we had to put up the tent and it was hard to keep anything dry. We soon discovered that we had a pool of water inside the tent... After a moment of despair Christian remembered we had two towels with us, so we used them to mop up the water.
The next morning we had nothing dry to wear and we thought of giving up and try another weekend. But we wouldn't back down and continued our hike. By noon we got to the beach, found a place to dry all of our stuff, and used the time to eat and rest.
Our hike took us along a sandy beach, through a camping area, into a pasture with cattle, trough the rocky shore and up the hills to the lighthouse in Kullen.
Vattie is a natural hiker (for being a dog), whenever we stoped quickly she urged us to keep moving, even when we stoped to tie our shoes. She just continued when we wanted to rest, and that was a great comfort, because we didn't want to push her too far. We all learned some new things during this trip, Vattie learned that if she wanted some water she just needed to point her snout to her water bottle. We took every chance to rest, and we had to keep an eye out for different signs of weariness, both for ourselves and Vattie.
The best feeling was when we got up to the top of the hill, by the lighthouse. This was the finish line and we practicaly ran past other hikers to get to the top.
Summer 2016
Kullaleden:
Vatties First Hike
