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Published: September 6th 2006
Tuesday 5 September
The morning dawned clear, calm (for a change) and surprisingly warm, so it was decided that the conditions were ideal for taking a trip out to the Gothenburg archipelago.
This archipelago is completely different from the Stockholm one, being very barren and rocky. This in itself makes it beautiful, especially when you see a red and white house standing proudly on its own like sentinel in uniform protecting some sacred space.
There are some vague peculiarities about things in Sweden, one of them being the transport system and rules. We hopped on the tram where we live and went the entire way across town (it took an hour), then hopped on the ferry and were taken to the first island, all for the price of a single fare. That single fare is approximately NZD $3.00.
Upon arriving at the first port of call Jeff said watch out for the wheel barrows. I had no idea what he was on about but duly looked. Once the boat had turned around I could see row upon row of wheel barrows lined up. On this particular small island the wheel barrow was main means of transportation. You
apparently get off the boat put your luggage, shopping, child, or whatever in the wheel barrow and off you go.
We got off on the island of Styrso. As with most of the islands in this area of the archipelago it was car free, except for a limited number of service vehicles. Wandering around I was immediately struck by how like Alexandra the place was, in terms of the huge rocks, trees, and how houses were built into and around the rocks.
It was like being in a different world walking around the small villages completely removed from the hustle and bustle of Gothenburg city. And quiet! With no traffic noise and very few people about it was very relaxing.
We walked from the boat stop we exited the boat at to another boat stop on the other side of the island where we stopped for lunch. We then decided to island hop and caught another boat to the island of Branno. Disembarking at Husvik we wandered our way along a narrow road that again had no cars. Yah! This small island with its cute houses with large gardens for some reason reminded me very much of Karitane
(on the coast up from Dunedin). It just had that sleepy, small village feel to it where everybody knows everybody else and nobody bothers to lock their doors at night (note: I have no idea if that is what it is actually like living in Karitane, or on this island, it is just the vibe the place gave off).
We stopped at the tiny store, brought a beer and proceeded to watch the comings and goings of the locals. People arrived on bikes, mopeds and funny moped type bikes with wheel barrow like carts on the front of them. It was really cute to see small kids sitting in the front of these carts. The village store was obviously the place where the locals congregated to catch up on the gossip. Further to my previous comment about my assumption that they may not lock their doors at night, they certainly weren’t worried about security outside the shop. Most left their bags, handbags etc on their various modes of transport when they went into the shop. Something you certainly couldn’t do in NZ these days.
Finishing our beer we made our way down to catch the boat back to
Gulls
In NZ you used to see houses that had 3 flying ducks on them....a real 70's statement (at least I think it was the 70's) seems a similar trend was popular here.the mainland. It was a great day!
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Suzanne
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Gothenburg Archipelago
What a contrast to the touristy hustle and bustle of Croatia - the peace sounds like heaven but must be very isolated in winter. I wonder how the wheelbarrow and bike-cart idea would catch on in Waiheke Island or Great Barrier ?!