Öland

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Our first day... after weeks of meticulous planning, was strangely emotional.

We took off for Kalmar, skirting Västerås, and heading for Öland. We had originally planned to visit the Västerås Festival, where Zak's friend Jane Kitto was performing. She had given us a free ticket and all, but we couldn't stop by, as we'd end up arriving in Öland way too late in the evening. Being the first day doing this, we were not used to the wind, the speeds, the hours of strain... we seemed to be constantly behind schedule.

Just about 60km south of Stockholm, we stopped by the Vidarkliniken, a famous clinic and village founded on antroposophic ideas, and marvelled at their lovely buildings. (to see more: Järna - a place for antroposophi and Nilla's photos of Järna)

We arrived in Öland by midnight when the grounds were closed, and most people were sound asleep, and had to persuade the security guard to let us drive our bike in. We promised to try to be as quiet as possible. Thank God we didn't have the loud pipes on the bike!

Zak had chosen to come to Ekerum Camping as his old colleague and friend Elisabet was now in charge of running the reception at this BUSY camping place. There were so many families, children playing, swimming pools, trampolines... all round a beautiful place for vacationing Swedes. We stayed just one night and left for Denmark, but not until Marion had taken her first dip of the year in the Baltic sea!

Already we had noticed that the Map24 route planner we had meticulously worked on and printed out into a booklet was not working out. We soon found we were relying more on the maps we'd brought along. Being insecure first-timers, we had thought making a route-planner would be a good substitute for a GPS. We had after all, had the habit of using online versions when finding our way across town, and they'd proved to be useful. Calculating our routes ahead of time, gave us an illusion of control, over distances traveled and the time it would take - everything turned out to be different as we found ourselves improvising along the way.











OUR FIRST-AID KIT:

* Space blanket
* Emergency chemical light (snap tube and use for 9 hours)
* Flarelauncher + 2 flares (dangerous item!)
* Space pen

* Bug repellent
* Sunscreen
* Chapstick
* Burnol
* Antiseptic/Anti-biotic cream

* Electrolyte mix
* Thermometer

* Ibroprufen
* Tylenol with Codeine
* Antihistamines
* cough suppresant
* anti-diahorreal
* Valium
* Activated charcoal
* Tetracycline (or other anti-biotic CHECK FOR ALLERGIES!)
* water purification tablets

* small bottle of saline solution
* sterile alcohol wipes
* Gauze
* Compress 17x17cm
* Cotton pads
* Sterile dressings (pads)
* mole skin or 2nd skin
* roller bandage with 2 safety-pins
* triangular bandage
* Surgical blade

* Next of Kin and medical notice
* Emergency tel. no’s

* Snake bite kit

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