Well where I start... Hello from Sweden... finally... (I will warn you this will be a long one... was here from the 29th July to the 8th of August)

I will go back to the beginning of my 26 hour ordeal to get to Sundsvall in Sweden...

Where I left you last time Maggie and her mum had waved me off from Neuss station and off I went on what I thought was going to be a 23 hour adventure.. How wrong I was.

I got to Koln station nice and easy and thought that wasn't too hard... went to the bathroom and on my way in I got stuck in a turn style with my backpack as it was too big.. I couldn't go any further and it wouldn't let me back out either... I was literally stuck in mid turn with no way to go... the attendant had to come and help me out... Wow that was embarrassing... on the way out from the bathroom he came and opened the wheelchair gate for me... I said thank you and didn't look back out of embarrassment... I found my overnight sleeper train pretty easily and boarded, found my bed and started setting myself up for the 12 hour journey. I was in a 6 female cabin... in their was a mother and daughter who didn't speak, a Danish girl going home and 2 crazy Dutch girls... we spoke a little and I got myself ready.. I said a few things out aloud like the word "cool" when I found I had a light... I apologised and said I was Australian and they laughed and said yes we know... I am not too sure how to take that... anyway I brushed it off and set myself up for some sleeping... I forgot to put the safety barrier back up as I was on the middle bunk (which scared me a lot) and when I realised I was like oh crap and put it up.. They laughed at this as well... I think they just laughed at everything really... I fell asleep and woke up a little during the night but nothing abnormal and then woke up half hour out of Copenhagen... Perfect... I got myself together and when it arrived I found my next train that was a half hour train to a place called Malmo.

I got to Malmo and had no idea what country I was in... Denmark or Sweden... we passed over some water but I didn't know if it was wide enough to be the body of water between the two countries... anyway I went to burger king and asked the lady... after laughing at me for quite a bit she said I was in Sweden and asked me if I was meant to be.. I replied yes I am meant to be in Sweden... then I ordered a drink because I felt rude not... after all she did tell me what country I was in... As I walked off I could hear her tell her co-workers what I had asked and then I heard an uproar of laughter... hrmmm yep I am that dumb Aussie traveller.

I got on the next train to Stockholm... train number 4 of the journey... everything was going fine... I wrote some postcards, had a snooze and then got an announcement saying we were arriving at Stockholm in a few minutes and we were running early... Perfect... then we stopped!!! We sat still for a bit, and then a longer bit and then came the dreaded announcement... first in Swedish then in English... "We are sorry for this unscheduled stop... there is a person on the tracks and we are waiting for the police to come and escort them off..." Awesome... all of a sudden I thought I was on a vline... although vline usually made up an excuse like "signal faults" or "waiting for a platform" they never tell us that someone has tried to jump in front of our train.. anyway we sit there for 5 minutes, then 20 minutes, then 40 minutes and after an hour we get another announcement..."We are sorry for the inconvenience but we are going to disembark the train and you need to walk back to the previous station where there will be courtesy buses to take you to main station.. If you need to go to Sundsvall or another connection please go to information at the central station" ok so that was s*** but I was like ok it's all a part of the adventure then I got to the door to disembark the train... we were about a metre and a half from the ground and on a bridge about 60 metres high over water... Awesome! I took my bags off and some guys assisted me with them and then made the leap of faith... we then all in a line walked on the tracks the length of the bridge for about 1km back to the other station... I was in complete disbelief... They would never let us do that on a vline... When we got to the previous station there were people everywhere as there was about 6 trains effected at this stage... a police officer told us that there were no courtesy busses and that we had to get trams and underground trains.. Some older American guy who I think was a part of the scouts asked me if I knew what to do... I told him the info the police told me... we searched for the tram but there was no English translation... he asked if I would like to split a cab.. Now as I came from Germany I only had euro on me... I told him I had no money and he said that's fine I have to get one myself anyway so jump in... I did have visions of the movie taken... but he walked with a walking stick and was shorter than me and half my weight and he let me pick the cab so I thought what else can I do.. So I went with him... I kept an eye on the signs and they all said central station and I was pretty confident I wasn't about to wake up in an ice bath... we got to the station I loaded up my bags and he told me to go and find my train.. I thanked him and ran into the station... it wasn't til then it occurred to me that I didn't even get his name... so from now until forever he will be known as the nameless "helpful stranger" he was heading to the north of Norway... I got a bit lost and found the information centre... and there was the helpful stranger again... he gave me a ticket as he must have seen me struggling to find the ticket booth and we chatted... he was in the army and has travelled the world.. He would be the type of person that you would sit and have a beer with and just listen to his stories because he would have some beauties... and you know he is serious... he was from Nth Carolina.. after 40 minutes waiting I asked a service lady if the Sundsvall train on the board was my train and she confirmed it was it is just 2 hours delayed but was leaving in 10 mins from platform 17b.. I will never forget that platform... I loaded up the bags said goodbye to the nameless helpful stranger (whose name I forgot to get again) and ran for the train... this was the last time I saw him... he saved my ass in Stockholm... the taxi I worked out was $50 Australian and my bag was killing my back... I don't think I will forget him and his generous act of kindness... It's a nice feeling to know that there are still kind hearted people out there that do things with no hidden agenda... Anyway I make the train and with my dad's help get in contact with Erik to let him know about the delays... by the way thanks again dad :) So the train took off for Sundsvall and I was on the last leg of my marathon journey and only 2 hours delayed after all of that drama... at the time I was grumpy and pissed off because my back was hurting, there was no one to help us with what to do... but now as I write this only an hour after I am already looking back and thinking.. That's a pretty cool story and I guess what the adventure is all about... a couple more hours and I will be in Sundsvall

So I make it to Sundsvall... but of course there is another story from the train ride of hell... there was this Swedish boy on the train... I am guessing about 15 years old... All of the announcements were in Swedish so he was kind enough to translate them for me as I had no idea what was being said. Anyway he then said to me have you come from far and I said yes Australia, then he said what is the weather like in Australia at the moment... I went to reply and say very cold but before I got a chance he shhhh'd me with his finger to his mouth and said this is a quiet carriage... I looked at him in complete confusion as he was the one who asked me the question... and he is like no speaking... I just laughed and then put my headphones in... The train people provided us with free snacks for the delays... however I didn't know it was free and I went into the dining carriage... everyone was taking the snacks and juice and walking off... I grabbed a few things and slowly crept out of the carriage waiting for someone to chase after me yelling "thief" or whatever the Swedish translation is... It wasn't til I got to Erik's that he told me it would have been free... so I wasn't breaking laws after all... About 9:45pm I got to Sundsvall about an hour and a half late... just as I was about to get off the Swedish boy spoke again and asked me if he could ask me a question... I of course said sure... he then asked what is the difference between a compartment and department... I then explained the best way I knew how and said a compartment is a separate area, usually small storage area that is within a larger enclosed area and a department was usually a body of people like the police department, fire department but can also be large spaces that house many things like a department store... he then turned around and said that doesn't make sense and I went to say to him, well I am not sure how else to explain it but before I did he shhh'd me again.. I shook my head started laughing and got off the train... now out of all the questions he could have asked an Australian... he asked the difference between compartment and department... random..

Anyway as I was saying we arrived about 9:45 and Erik was their waiting. We jumped in the car... ford focus like mine and made the 45 minute journey to Erik's summer houses. For 3 months of the year Erik's family move to the beach to their summer houses... it's really cool as a lot of Swedish people do this. We rock up and it is still light so I can see everything and there is ocean... I am really excited by this as I had not seen an ocean that I could step in since Croatia. We go up to Erik's parents summer house and have a drink with them and chat for about an hour or so and then head down to Erik's and Ulof's (Erik's brother) summer house... Erik's summer house is right on the water... as I write this I am sitting in the lounge room looking out to the ocean... it is beautiful... It is about 1am at this stage and in the distance I can see a slight shade of orange over the water and Erik said the sun will be up in a couple of hours... it was 1am... crazy.. It wasn't even dark either it was like just after dusk back home... anyway we head to sleep as I was b*****ed from my 26 hour train ordeal.

The next morning we have a bit of a sleep in, Skype mum and dad, have some vegemite toast and then hop on the bikes... now the bikes are awesome they are old school as you can get. They are prob about 30 year's old maybe 40, have no gears, are rusty and the coolest thing since a slice of bread. We cruise around the village, Erik shows me the small marina and their new boat, the sandy beach which I am thrilled about and then we ride in a circle around the little village, Erik points out to me where his relatives live and then we bike to his parent's summer home. We have some lunch with them and plan the afternoon. We were to meet back at 1pm to have afternoon tea and then go pick some berries and mushrooms in the forest...

We meet back up have afternoon tea and then set off in the car. Anika (Erik's mum) lets me have the front seat so I can see all of the scenery. First we visit this little summer village that Lars (Erik's dad) great grandfather I think used to go to in the Summer... this is when they think the tradition started of moving house for the 3 summer months.. However back then Lars' great grandfather used to go inland instead of to the beach. He would take the cattle to this little village in the middle of nowhere. The houses including the roofs were made out of wood and it was built in the 1800's. Lars and Anika were married in this village and they have now turned where they used to house the cattle into a hunting cabin. We went for a walk in the forest behind and found some mushrooms and creeks... the scenery is beautiful here.

After visiting the village we move to a different area to find more mushrooms. Anika and I spot some blueberries and apparently they weren't expecting blueberries to grow this season as it had been too cold in the winter or spring... but here they were by the truckload... Erik and Lars set off into the forest to find mushrooms... apparently it is like a sport here and Anika and I stayed close to the car and picked blueberries. We chatted about their visit to Australia and previous holidays they had been on... after a while the boys came back and we headed back to the summer houses with a bag full of mushrooms and blueberries... I thought this was really cool as it is not something we do back home... Well not where I live anyway. We picked wild berries from the forest and ate them... I loved it. On the way back we stopped into their normal home that they live in the rest of the year... it is beautiful with a 40 year old apple tree in the front yard. We set back off for home going the scenic route of the old harbours and nearby summer villages. We get back and I had a 20 minute power nap as I am b*****ed and we were heading into Sundsvall to meet some of Erik's friends as it was Saturday night. We go up to Erik's parents place about 7pm and have a lovely bbq dinner then head into town... we pick up 2 of Erik's friends on the way Emily and Aliah I think his name was.. Anyway we go to a couple of little bars/restaurants and have a couple of drinks before heading back to Emily's for some hot chocolate and ice-cream. Emily makes me try this salted liquorice stuff that was the worst thing I have ever tasted. We say goodbye and head off and go up to the south mountain to this big tower/ look out. From the top you can see all of Sundsvall... it was really pretty with all the lights. On the other side you can see the same orange glare like the night before... predawn was upon us... it was just past 1am and in a couple of hours the sun would be awake again.. By the time we got home it was just past 2am and we went to the shore and took some pictures of the sky... we then called it a night and I went to sleep.

The next morning I woke up and we went and Skyped Grandma... after that I had some breakfast and got ready as we were heading to a nearby town to meet Erik's cousin. We decided to take the boat as the sea was not to choppy... we cruised along the coast heading north for about half an hour until we reached the town his cousin was at. It was really cool and the houses were amazing, there were sail boats and normal boats everywhere. We had an ice-cream and took Erik's cousin for a spin in the boat... after a bit we headed back to Morningsand (Erik's summer village) on the way Erik had a swim but the water looked a little too cold for me. We got back and then relaxed before dinner. Seafood was on the menu for tonight so we had a delicious dinner, some coffee (yes I am a coffee drinker now) and chatted for a few hours about travel, Sweden, Annika and Lars' ancestors... we then called it a night.

The next day Erik had to work and I had a chilled out day, I updated my blog and did all those bits and pieces... I would love to say I woke up early and went for a hike in the forest but that would be a lie. I got out of my pj's at about 1pm and relaxed... before I knew it Erik was home from work and we went up to his parents for dinner... tonight on the menu wasn't steak or fish it was Moose!!! This scared me a little definitely do not try new things... eating steak was new for me... it was lovely by the way... anyway back to the Moose... it came out with this blue cheese cream sauce that tasted like heaven.. It was amazing... and then I tried the moose and surprisingly... it was not bad at all... after dinner we walked with Annika and Lars and took Alice the Labrador for a walk around the village and then had some coffee and conversation and called it a night.

Day four... I randomly woke up at 4am thinking it was a lot later... I then rolled over to go back to sleep and remembered that Erik had said the sun rise was at about 4:12am... I looked out the window and could see the sky was getting light but no sun yet... score!!!! I grabbed my camera and raced out to sit on the rocks by the water and wait for the sun to greet me... I couldn't pick where it was going to come up from... I sat there patiently until BAM there it was rising right next to an island... it was incredible... and it hit me... I was in Sweden watching the sun rise over the ocean... can it get any better than this... I took some (ok, ok a LOT) of pictures and headed back to bed... it took me ages to get back to sleep because I was so pumped about the sun rise, my amazing holiday.. I think it has finally hit me how incredible and special the things I am doing and seeing really are... and that I am creating memories that will last me a lifetime... Even the bad ones... shudder at the thought of Amsterdam hahaha.

I eventually get to sleep and wake up at a more reasonable hour...10am, I check my emails and all of that and then think hrmm what shall I do today as I sat on a rock on the internet 5 metres from the ocean, then Lars came and asked me if I wanted to go with him and his sisters family by boat to a nearby islands to have a bbq.. Ummmm is that a trick question??? Hell yes I do! I zip up to the house and get ready in record time... Lars comes back about half hour later with a picnic basket and we head to their little marina to take the boats out... We head to one island first and had lunch, salad and sausages... it's like an Aussie bbq, however the sausages are a little different here. Lars tells me the history of the island we are on... it is all one island but back in the day it used to be two... there used to be a narrow channel that ran through the middle of it but in Sweden the water is getting lower and lower every year and the channel has dried up and the two islands are now one.. He also told me how in the old days the Russians came along the Swedish coast by boat robbing and burning down towns including the one they live at and Sundsvall the main city in this area... this story is relevant as the Russians were said to have stopped at the island we were at to rest in between their tour of destruction.. After a bit we got bored of this island and the smell of seaweed and we headed out to another island... Erik's cousin's daughters came in the boat with Lars and I this time, they are 9 and 12 I think and they asked if we had any music... I put my iPod on... when I connected my iPod it just went through every song on there... I couldn't actually select a song... it took me 152 songs to find one they knew and liked and I think they were just being polite in the end and pretending to like it.. By the way the song was "club can't handle me" from step up 3... Anyway we went to the other island where we baked ourselves on rocks like seals... at about 4 pm we headed back to the mainland sporting the best sunglass tan ever!

That night we head to a nearby town for dinner. We sit on the pier and I continue to try and read Swedish... this is something I have been doing for a couple of days now to Erik's amusement as I rarely get the words right... however the dessert section of the menu I was all over.. Could translate every item... well nearly. And also the spinach and ricotta cannelloni... this is what I decided on in the end... when the waiter came I wanted to say thank you and the word is Puck... or something like that.. However I thought they said duck... well that was embarrassing... I thought I had the waiter fooled that I was Swedish and then he asked where I was from... fail!!! He laughed at my attempts of Swedish and it was a lovely night out. We drove back the scenic way and I learnt more and more about the area... Lars and Annika are a wealth of knowledge... they are proud of their country and their community and are far better than any lonely planet book I have read. On the drive home Annika and I discussed music and we talked about bands like the Eagles, Crosby, Steels and Nash, Blondie and I told her about the Day on the Green concerts I go to with mum and dad and she told me about her concert experiences. We get back to the house and Erik went for a run and I lay on the couch and watched a movie... it was amazing!!

The next day... day 5 I went into Sundsvall... I met Erik on his break for lunch and then did some shopping, had a look around and as it was a nice day I laid in the grass by the river reading a tourist magazine... it was peaceful and nice. I then did some food shopping as tomorrow night I am cooking dinner and dessert for everyone. Erik came and got me and we headed home. We went for a walk along the rocks on the beach and then headed up for dinner... chicken and rice...yum... Annika and I talked about photography and old films for an hour or so over coffee and then it was an early night and off to bed.

On Thursday which is day 6 we took the boat out but it was a bit rough so we weren't out long... I wanted to say thank you to Annika, Lars, Erik and Olof for letting me stay and showing me around so I cooked dinner for the family. They had one of their nephew/cousin staying with them, Anton and it was his 19th birthday. I cooked my lemon pepper chicken salad and mums famous Mars bar slice for dessert, it was a hit... the boys went for thirds. After dinner Erik, Olof, Anton and I took the boat out again. Erik and Anton went in the Biscuit... Olof drove and I was the spotter... it was quite choppy so we had no problem at all flipping them out of the boat. At about 10pm we came back in and I was feeling a little seasick so I called it a night whilst the others stayed up playing cards.

Friday... well what can I say...? I stayed I bed for the majority of the day as I was feeling a tad average... however that night we had dinner with Lars' two sisters Lena and Maria and their partners, Lars, Annika, Erik, Ulof and Anton as well as Erik's other cousin whose name has escaped me and her partner Christophe and their two girls Elise and Salma. Elise is 12 and I spent a lot of the night chatting to her about travel... her English was excellent for someone so young. We played music trivia... they put an INXS song in there for me... suicidal blonde... I got the band just not the song whoops... I have realised I am the worst Australian ever... I frequently get asked what kangaroo taste like to which I reply I don't know and also if Pavlova is nice... na I don't like it is my response.. This night I got asked if ACDC were Australian... I thought they were but had to confirm with Erik... who is Swedish... yep worst Australian ever. After the music quiz (which we came last.. I will take majority of the responsibility for this as I didn't know the INXS song and apparently "Heaven is a place on earth" is sung by Belinda Carmichael and not Cindy lauper like I insisted... haha) anyway back to it, so after the music quiz we listened to music, there was some dancing.. I stayed sitting as my co-ordination leaves very little to be desired... after a while I called it a night.

Saturday... this was a really good day... I got up and got ready, Annika came down to the beach house and Erik, Annika and I headed off on a day trip. First we stopped at a lake that was made by an asteroid, after this we stopped for coffee and cake before heading to Jarvzoo... this is a zoological park that only has Nordic mammals and birds. There is a 3km walkway that winds through forest which is the homes of these animals. Some of the animals that we saw were- Hedgehog (so friggen damn cute), Moose... these were my favourite and I wanted to kidnap one and take him home, reindeer (I didn't see Rudolph but pretty sure I saw blitzen kicking around, Muskox.. which were the funniest characters that I have ever seen (I will upload a photo because you need to see them for yourself..), bears, wolves, arctic fox, lynx, tawny owls and a whole lot of other birds.. It was awesome to see animals that we don't have in Australia and that are native to Sweden and the Nordic area. On the way out I bought myself a stuffed toy moose... I figured I would prob have a bit of trouble getting a real life moose home as they are tall and lanky and prob wouldn't fit in a seat next to me on the aeroplane and then of course I would have to disguise him to get him through customs and I just don't think it would work so I have settled for a toy moose which I have named Marvin.. He is the cutest darn thing ever. We headed home after a long day driving through the Swedish country side and exploring the forest spotting weird and wonderful animals. We had some dinner and then headed to bed.

On Sunday which is my last full day in Morningssand, Sweden we are up early to go searching for mushrooms... we trot through the forest and find the mushrooms.. We keep going getting further in and then we come to a clearing with really small trees everywhere... these trees are the ones that Erik and olof planted just after they were in Australia... after this we headed back as it was cold and wet and we had found quite a few mushrooms to satisfy. We headed back to the house where Annika and Erik packed as they were heading to Gothenburg at lunchtime. Just after midday we headed to Hudiksvall to drop Annika and Erik off. It's a sad goodbye as I have really enjoyed the chats over coffee with Annika and hanging out with Erik again... we wave goodbye and they board the train and we head back to houses. I spent the arvo watching TV and sorting out photos. We had dinner and then I went back down to the beach house to pack and watched a couple of movies, one in particular... Marly and Me... Why on earth would someone allow me to watch this movie... it was the saddest movie I have ever seen... I watched it with Olof and his girlfriend Erika and spent the whole time hiding my face so they couldn't see me sobbing haha.... In the morning I am catching the train to Stockholm for the day and then the overnight train to Copenhagen... I am enjoying my last night of relaxation as I think it will be my last for about 4 months until I am in Bali ahhhh. Tomorrow the capitol... Stockholm!