What happens when the vessel you are sailing between Sweden and Norway hits the bottom?

I last left you with great memories of Norway from the small village of Ron.

Hoping for a similiar experience especially with landscapes it was into Sweden.

Without undue disrespect the best aspect of Sweden turned out to be leaving it.

No I would like to perhaps return to Sweden but it lacked the glamour,the wow factor that was so evident in Norway.

The scenery while nice tended to be a lot flatter with farming the predominate usage. It wasnt the sheer montain sides, the Fjords or the glacial lakes as we rolled into Stockholm, the Capital of Sweden.

Stockholm is basically a set of islands joined by bridges and so my hotel the Ariston in the Lidingo sector was home for two nights. It was easy to locate and the aea had a number of small cafes and local shops to satisy food for the night.

Back tracking a little I said easy to find, well about 2kms out I looked at Tom Tom to check the upcoming turn the screen was blank.

I took the next turn and found a car park after a few tries to get a screen I resorted to Plan B. The second Tom Tom was retrieved from the top box, the hotel address was added and off I went.

The next day I had intended to meet up with Greg & Kerrie in central Stockholm and explore the capital instead I opted for maintainance.

This saw me in the region of Siska at Tom Tom. Well in simple words the gentleman I spoke with was utterly usless and non helpful. The lady at reception was more help.

Sitting at reception I phone Tom Tom support and after 18minutes had a resolution. Tom Tom would be needed back at a service centre for 10 days no use when you are on the road. So the every helpful lady found a shop only 30m away that sold Ram Mounts. They are the method of attaching devices like a GPS or phone to a vehicle. I walked to the shop and emerged with two different baracket sets one an extension arm the other a screen mount kit. Unfortunately different models of Tom Tom use different mounts.

I found it was lunchtime and the shopping centre had a large food court problem solved.

I again had intended to visit the Mall of Scandavia the largest shopping centre in Sweden, but mine was no small centre covering 12hectacres of retail shopping area.

With growing traffic delays on all roads I retreated to the local ICA (similiar to IGA in Au & US) and instead enjoyed a supermarket dinner sitting in the shopping centres courtyard watching the tied workers returning home.

Next morning at 4.30am I was packing and ready to depart by 5am to catch a ferry to Sweden due to leave at 7.45am.

The trip to the ferry was almost traffic free so by 5.15am I was on the wharf along with other motorcyclists and cars but no ferry and no check in staff.

After some time the gates opened only to be told the ferry was almost 3hrs away so it was a self guided Greg tour of downtown Stockholm to the local ICA & McDonald's for breakfast.

At least when we returned to the berth it wasn't too long before the ferry arrived and under it's own power did a 180o turn in the small docking area and pulled up within 5m of us. Watching the precision and the team work made up for the delay as welll as watching traffic leave the ferry from both ends at once.

We were lined up pointed towards the bow (front of the ferry) but then they got us to do a 180O turn and redirected us single lane to the stern (rear) of the ferry.

Loading was swift but relatively unhelpful to riders. We were handed two crates of straps and wheel chocks and told to secure your own bike. We worked together for far too long trying to tension the straps until the youngest rider (18yrs old Issac from Norway) helped out.

Now to be honest the ferry was the bargain of Scandaniva at a cost of only $55.16AUD I got an 11hr 05min cruise with both my passage and the motorcycle carried by Viking Lines. by comparison in a few days I have a 2hr 15min ferry crossing and it cost over $85AUD.

Our Ferry Viking Grace has won numerous awards and is equipped with a mast wind turbine that assist the engine and yes plenty of wind in this part of the world. The crossing had all the hallmarks of a cruise. Various free entertainment was provided both for adults and children. The vessel ha around 6 different eating area froma Al la carte restaurant a bufett,self service to prepared sandwiches..

Now the cruise to Tarku Finland. I wasnt being rude when I said the best part of Sweden was leaving as the cruise was on the Baltic Sea but to me never seemed to reach open water instead it passed thousands of inlands. These were often to be found only some 50m or less from both our Port (left) & Starboard (right) sides. The true depth of water was never known but obiviously of great depth to allow over vessel to pass so close.

These islands varied from only a few square metres such as No 17 up to one where we stopped where population was over 30000 people.

We all almost had an extended stay as wen we were approaching that island that fear of the unknown happened. The vessel seemed to stop in midstream,a quick inspection of the surrounding islands revealed yes we had stopped!

People had left the warm protected comfort of the cabins and common areas and now gathered on the wind blown open cold decks armed with cameras.

The sea around the vessel was churning and rapidly turning brown as soil was distubed by a combination of propellers,thrusters and the ships infrastructure. The wind tunnel mast was working hard, the motors were straining and I am sure the ships control centre were all working overtime.

We tried reversing with little success. The plan it seemed was to pivot the vessel on its keel so as to expose the propulsion units to deeper water.

During these manouvers we came extremely close to exposed rocks or were they mini islands?

Freed at last we gain set a new course for that islands wharf. This time we made it and over 88 vehicles were waiting for our vessel to join it. In addition over 140 bus passengers were loaded and finally a few bicycles with their riders and 4 trucks. It was only then evident why at the loading in Stockholm the loadmaster insisted our motorcycles be parked very close together. When we went to retrieve them in Finland they had managed to fit two cars into the space of four motorcycle spaces.

These islands showed a new fresh face to Sweden with many occupied by either permanent residents who farmed and fished the surrounding area or holiday homes used both for summer and winter sports.

The passage way also exposed us to a wide variety of shipping. This ranged from small speedboats,inflatibles,cargo ships, local ferries to sailing sloops. These waterways are the highways of these islands and have that vital supply chain duty.

Arrivial at Turku Finland despite the 10.10pm time was still full daylight for the ride of about 8kms to the overnight stop of Meri-Karina again a different type of hotel. It was set up by Cancer Finland as a activity and service centre dealing with alternative treatments of seriously ill patients. However to make ends meet it is popular with cyclists and hikers who use it as a base.

Armed with nothing more then an email with a code to the front door and key drop box it went well and my semi hospital room was the scene of a very comfortable bed and a kitchen for a quick cup of tea before retiring after a long 18hour day.

On reflection it was good to leave Sweden with a positive image. Despite an agreement to have a sleep in it didnt happen and after a breakfast of fresh bread rolls and jam with a glass of water (no fruit juice despite the machine having signage for different juice varieties). It was off to Helsinki ,the capital of Finland, and at a stop we all agreed that Finland is a great place to visit. No grafitti, no litter even along the roadsides. An image of organised approaches to all activities be that in the construction industry or in farming. Finland is economically up there with the top ten nations in GDP,Education and standards of living and that is reflected in my impressions that go beyond these stats to the scenery and the overall impression it is leaving, but not surpassing Norway.