Jeff: Aland Islands

The next morning we got up and headed to the supermarket to pick up a few things and then to Ikea for a bite to eat and a look at the many things we don’t need. We did end up buying a couple of things as who can resist! We carried on pottering around the town till around 5pm when we headed down to the harbour to catch a boat to our next destination – the Aland islands. There are 6,500 islands in total and while the islands are technically part of Finland they are autonomous and have their own Government. Some are connected by bridges, some by cable ferries while others may have ferry lines or only local boats travelling there. They also speak Swedish rather than Finish so it’s a good stop on our way to Sweden.

The boat trip was quite strange all in all. The boat was set up almost like a cruise with lots of entertainment fit for a Butlins camp in the 90s including Bingo and karaoke and people seemed very giddy/drunk all evening. We settled into the pub but had to move after an hour as live music started so we moved on but there was no where really quiet on the whole ship. We landed on the islands late in the evening so we just headed to a place for the night and had a cup of tea before bed.

The next morning we got up ready to explore the main islands so we headed to the main town called Marieham where 11,000 of the 30,000 inhabitants live. We had a walk around the town and popped into the tourist information to find out some of the best things to do. We were interested in heading to an island but researching online showed you couldn’t really do it as a day trip due to the ferry times (you would only get about an hour on the island following a 2.5 hour trip each way). Having had this research confirmed we made some new plans and first up we headed back to the van and drove to the next town where we got on the bikes and headed out for a cycle. The cycle paths are really good here so most of the cycle was on a path separate from the road and very safe. We cycled for a few Km before we reached the Kastelholms Castle where we explored the castle grounds, the open air museum and the postal information centre. The castle was on the edge of the lake and while mostly in ruins is an impressive structure. The open air museum was great to walk around as we got to go into many of the old buildings including farm houses, barns, mills and get close to the windmills. We also met some very friendly sheep who came to the fence for some fuss and loved a good scratch on the head and took it in turns to say hello. Rich didn’t want to say goodbye to them but onwards we must, especially as next up was the Gin distillery where we bought a couple of G&Ts for tonight! The postal information centre gave some information on how the island played a vital role in the movement of mail across the ocean throughout history and the different routes needed in the different seasons.

After all the exploring we headed back to the bikes and onto Bombsund which is an old fortress which was Swedish before the Russians conquered it and took the island as Russian. There are different sections and we only walked around the main section before heading back to the bikes and back to Jeff to have some dinner and chill for the night (and drink our very nice G&Ts)

The next morning we headed north and caught a cable ferry to the island of Vardo where we parked up to have some breakfast and then drove to a small little harbour and out came the paddleboard. We set off paddling towards some of the island but the sea was a little rough which did effect our route but we managed to circle a large island and go partially around one of the other small islands. While paddling Rich thought he spotted a large crow but it was as it flew over us we realised it was actually a white tailed sea eagle and we went on to see another one a short time later flying over the island. This was about the only wildlife we saw though, apart from a lot of moon jelly fish in the water. The islands appeared to have a couple of houses on them but I don’t think they were inhabited all year round as it looked very remote and probably difficult to get to in winter.

We managed to battle the currents and waves without too much trouble although being at the front of the board I did take the brunt of the splashes and we got back to Jeff safe and sound. We put the paddleboard back in the van and headed back towards the beach we stayed at last night as it was lovely and calm. On the way back we stopped at antoher section of Bomdbsund to look at some of the old towers that are still standing and get some more views out over the islands.

When we parked up at the beach we decided to actually walk down to the beach and had a look around. We saw a BBQ/fire pit and decided that, as we haven’t done so yet, we should have one before we leave Finland. Most of the pits we have seen have firewood supplied but we couldn’t find any this time so we gathered what wood we could and attempted to light the fire but the wood was a bit too wet so it was a real struggle. Just as we were about to give up Rich found some dry wood which actually took and we got the fire going well and we quickly put our food on it an waited for it to cook, adding more wood as time went on. It took awhile but eventually dinner was ready and we sat at the bench next to the fire pit, overlooking the beach, for a lovely fire cooked dinner. We then headed in to the van quickly as the mosquitos appeared to have come out in force and we didn’t want to get bitten too much (although in hindsight we were still probably too late going in as we have now woken up with lots of bites!)

The next morning we got up and headed to the local leisure centre to go to the gym which is a perk of being in one area for a few days. The gym wasn’t brilliantly equipped but it had some weights and meant we could do a little workout before heading into the really nice pool for a swim before a sauna and a shower. Once we came out feeling refreshed we headed to the north of the island where we planned a short hike to find some caves. Now you know how our cave hikes go, they are usually disappointing but this hike actually wasn’t bad. It was a 5km round trip and gave us some great views over the island as we were about 100 meters above sea level (on a fairly flat island) and then we walked down into some forest area where the caves were. They weren’t really like caves you could get in but they were crevasses in the rocks and they were very popular for bouldering, which Rich had a very quick attempt at. We carried on around the caves and down to the lake which was inlet from the sea before having to climb back up the 100 meters to the van. It was a lovely sunny day which made it a nice but sweaty walk. After the walk we headed back to the van and headed to the beach again as it is so central its great to explore from here. We had some dinner and then headed out on the bikes to the island brewery to have some local beer. It was a busy pub/restaurant but we managed to get a seat and relaxed and first we tried the tasting paddle with 4 beers on and then we both got a pint of the beers we liked. As the pub got quieter with people the music got turned up and it was some good old rock music. Once we had finished our beers we had a quick look around the shop before heading back on the bikes to Jeff in the dark (because its actually getting dark now).

The next day we were due to be getting the ferry off the islands so we had to plan things that wouldn’t take too long or be too far across the island so we did a short hike to a large tower on the east of the island, called Herroskatan. The walk was fairly pretty and flat but we did have to try and avoid all the spiderwebs as we passed through the bushes and over the boardwalks. We reached the old rickety tower and climbed it to get great views over the water where ships (big and small) were passing through. We stayed up there for awhile but didn’t get to see any sea eagles today. Afterwards we hiked back and headed to the port to catch the boat to Sweden.

Just before boarding the boat we realised that this was part of the Grimaldi lines and that filled us with dread. Grimaldi ferries once took us from Italy to Greece and was the worst ferry we have ever been on (and we were stuck on it for over 20 hours). We went through passport control and waited with one other car to get on the ferry and once it docked and unloaded a couple of cars we drove on and off we went (this is a stop on the longer route so it’s a very quick on and off process) and we headed up to the deck with trepidation. While the ship looked older in places than the other ferry it wasn’t bad at all and it was very quiet, with very few passengers. It was very quiet but we soon found it had a sauna for us to use (unfortunately we didn’t have towels but that didn’t stop us from using it), a small duty free shop, a foosball table, a couple of bars and lots of places to sit. We tried to do some admin by using the WIFI but gave up after 30 minutes as it was painfully slow. So we went for the sauna (which was empty) and then went to look around the shop when it opened. As we were leaving the shop the cashier asked us if we knew the buffet was open and that it was included in our ticket, which we totally did not know. So off we headed to the buffet for a free feed. there were lots of things that said lactose free but we struggled to work out if that meant vegan but we did manage to get a full plate of fairly safe food, some squash and a cup of tea. There were even some desserts but I decided to ask if they were vegan and they weren’t but they did give us some vegan mango sorbet so we were very happy.

It wasn’t long afterwards that we docked into Sweden and as we had eaten we knew we could drive further and so we headed off inland to a park up around a 20 minute drive outside Stockholm in the forest for the evening.