Jeff: Gothenburg

We decided to spend one more day on the island as our planned parking spot for Gothenburg was the Volvo Museum and that was closed for the bank holiday. So instead we travelled up to the top island (Halso) and got a ferry by foot to Roro. This was another small island which had a nice hiking trail around its coastline of about 6k. Lots of rocky/craggy terrain, we regretted not bringing our swimming stuff as it looked lovely. There were lots of black sheep grazing and a few random shacks on the beach. We headed back to the ferry and then drove back to Hono where we had already scoped out a well known spot for campers very close to a great swimming spot with a good running trail and outdoor gym nearby.

After our morning run (and swim) we got back to the mainland and headed to the Volvo museum. We had read that we needed a permit from them to park the camper so after we got that we cycled the 10k into the city. Catherine was very excited that there was a map of all the murals in the city which we got from the tourist office. Catherine also had a craving for pizza which was sorely met with disappointment when the sole vegan pizza place was closed for the holiday period. We did however find a nice food truck which did falafel wraps. We made our way on foot to find ice cream en-route to a district called Haga whilst spotting all the street art. Haga was a nice cobbled street area with some cool shops and cafes. Whilst walking through we spotted a huge crown on top of a hill which we decided to make our way up to. Couple of hundred stairs later we were high up at Skansen Kronan, which was an old fortress now conference centre/wedding venue. We got a great panoramic view of the city and I got a 5 minute power nap on the grass. We then went searching for a courtyard which housed Gothenburg’s oldest building – Kronhuset. Unfortunately most the shops there were closed (due to it being a Sunday) so after a quick walk around we decided to grab the bikes to start making our way back via the skyscraper known as the ‘lipstick’ due to its red lines across the building. As you can guess the building itself was closed but usually you can go to the top. We called it quits and cycled back to the Volvo museum. Turned out to be a popular spot for campers and fishermen alike. We got talking to a nice Swiss couple who were in the city to go see Bruce Springsteen play. We told them about the archipelago islands which we visited and they decided to give them a visit.

Next morning we decided it was only fair to actually visit the Volvo museum especially as they were soon going to move it all into the city centre in a smaller venue. All in all it was ok. Some stunning vintage cars and some interesting history but it was lacking with anything that really caught our interest. One fun fact was that the first car they created was incorrectly built and once it rolled out of the factory it could only be driven backwards so they had to push it straight back in and change the offending part so that they could drive forwards once it was back out of the factory. I always feel like car museums should have VR for me to play with! We drove on north to Vanersborg which was a town on the edge of lake Vanem, the largest lake in Europe (excluding Russia). So large you would be forgiven to think it was the sea but this lake was freshwater and clean enough to drink! More importantly there are no jellyfish so Catherine felt at ease in the water.

We decided next morning to grab the paddleboard and follow the headland around the Halleberg national park, famous for its wild elk. We kept a close eye out but no Elk were to be seen. We got to the other side of the headland just over 90 minutes later and jumped off at the beach which was empty yet had loads of beach chairs just scattered around. It appeared this beach basically backed onto a bunch of nice holiday homes so it was kind of their own private beach as I don’t think tourist really go there. We chilled out on the best deck chairs we could find before heading back. The whole paddleboard adventure was 11k in total there and back which we were quite impressed by and we got to have a little swim at the end as a reward. After failing to see an Elk we decided to drive the short trip into the national park and walk to the headland we paddleboarded around earlier in the day. Again no Elk but a lovely woods to stroll through. We are now in Tanum for the night where tomorrow we go on the hunt for ancient rock carvings dating back from 2000bc – wish us luck!