Julia's Island

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Hello Again,

We left Oland for our next stop. We are on our way to visit Jan's friend Jocke. Jan and Jocke sailed together for 15 months on a little Red (or pink depending on who you ask) Sail boat.

Jocke picked us up by boat and our adventure began. I just have to say that I feel very blessed to be able to experience the Island life in this way. We stayed on an Island partly owned by Jocke's family and Party owned by Tove's family. Jocke and Tove met on the Island and nine years later have their own home and little Julia. It really is a fairly tale story. Spending time with Julia (An adorable one year old little girl) has been a highlight of our trip.

The Swedish Archipelago is an amazing place. There are over 10,000 islands in the area we were in. The area is broken in to plots of ownership. Jocke's Family owns 60 islands in their plot. There is family on many different islands. Some islands have electricity and water and some do not. Only a percentage of the islands have anything but rocks and trees. Some are too small for much of anything but nature. There are not cars on any of the islands - Only boat traffic. The houses are mostly all traditional Swedish Red houses with white trim. Most everyone has a boat house or dock.

Some people live on the islands year round but most visit only in the summer months. There are many vacation rentals scattered through out the shore lines. Most people rent the same spot for many years in a row. There is a lot of sailboat traffic as well as Yachts. There are many little inlets for boats to dock overnight. Sailing would be very fun in this area (hint hint Scott and Jeanne).

The island we stayed on was one of the bigger islands. Even though it was only owned by three families. You could walk to every point in a short time. Joke's mother Birgitta and husband Jorgen live on the island most of the year. They vacation in South Africa during some of the winter months. Jocke's sister Lotta runs a campground on the main land and stays on the island year round. The whole family has a place to stay and travel back and forth through out the year.

Jocke and Tove's home was great. We had the best week possible. We had lots of sunshine and just a little rain. It rains a bit more than I am used too in general but the sun was out for us all week. The weather is so cold in the winter that the water freezes and people drive hover craft boats. Hard to imagine.

We had many great dinners sitting outside and drinking wine. Jorgen and Birgitta had us and others over for a BBQ one night that was amazing. Jorgen cooked the meat on a South African style BBQ.

Jocke and Tove have built a wonderful home on the shore of the island. It was quite comfortable and placed in the most amazing spot on the island. They run electricity from a battery and use the rain and sea water for dishes and such. We used an outhouse and bathed in the sea. (I did sneak up to the main house and take a shower one day.) It was a little like camping (totally our style). We loved it. We had our own separate little cabin right next to Jocke and Tova's house that was so cute. We really hated to leave. Thank you to Jocke and Tove and all of their family for a wonderful visit. We can't wait to go back.

Kendra and Jan

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