Off up north

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Monday 31 July......packed our bags and off to the north. We went into the city on the Tunnelbana then took a direct train to Harnosand - about half way up Sweden on the Baltic Coast. At the start it reached speeds of 180 kph but later on didn't go faster then 80 kph. The landscape was pretty flat all the way..... birch and conifer trees as well as cropping - wheat, barley and rye etc - and the red farm buildings made a colourful picture. The red is a by-product of copper mining and is cheaper than usual paint, and no doubt just as good. The crops soon ran out and also the birch trees and up here it's all conifers. We arrived in Harnosand about 5pm and our hotel was just across the road. It's a family-run hotel and quite quaint. On the outside it reminds me of an old wooden hotel in one of NZ's colonial towns...e.g. Thames.

We went for a walk into the town and not a lot was still open.... at least the restaurants were !!! It doesn't get dark at night up here - just dusk for a few hours. Luckily our room had venetian blinds and curtains. It was another warm fine day with clear blue skies - can't believe our luck with the weather.

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