Perfect pitch at Kinekulle super friendly campsite. Front and centre by the pier and sunset – this is sometimes the great advantage of being in tents while all the campervans are stuck behind in their giant parking. Perhaps the greatest feature however is the introduction to the Mariestad range of cornetto icecreams, made locally up the road in… Mariestad. Many were consumed here, and further on until our distance from Mariestad became too great for further availability.

On arriving at Kinekulle Camping I struck up a conversation with a friendly Swede Lotta and her Scottish husband, Paul. One thing led to another and after a verbose trip to the supermarket in Lotta’s car to restock supplies) saving tired Tim an extra uphill journey) they invited us around to theirs the following day for coffee.

The rest of the evening was taking full advantage of the excellent kitchen facilities, generally spent feasting and eating superbe Mariestad M400 commemoration cornettos, and meeting a french walking couple.

Some route planning to consider how to tackle the lakes ahead. It would be pleasant to follow the Gota canal but it doesn’t really head in the right direction and also traverses a lake where we would have to take a boat at great expense and rarity to continue. The obvious choice then is to skirt the lake and trim along to the canal for a little bit on the other side. On top of this, we need to work the coffee stop into it.

Day 7

We took most of the morning to decipher a good route taking us past Paul and Lotta’s for a coffee break. When we arrived we were greeted with authentic Swedish coffee and a huge feast of pancakes in their beautiful home and garden ; a small hamlet of houses that they have renovated. Quaint red wooden cabins in a very much Scandinavian style. Quite an inspiration to our Cévenol dreams.

It took us a whole day to leave ! Coffee stretched into pancakes and then on to lunch and an invite to stay. So, we enjoyed a rest day at P&L’s. Shopping for Indian food feast , cooking, chatting. The boy’s made Ashy star in various videos and played much monopoly deal. For sure this stay is a high point in our journey so far. 

Day 8

Next stop, Götacanal. We have had a headwind every single day, but this one is stronger than previous days. We make it nevertheless to our destination ~60 km away. A camping on the tranquil canal , a welcome stop after a windy and less enjoyable cycle due to traffic and heavy winds. However our lunch stop at a beautifully renovated church in a small hamlet was memorable!  We meet a very nice grounds lady and ( in my opinion) vicar, and learn about ‘ respect for the dead ‘ whilst preparing our picnic on an 11th century tombstone…