to Sweden?

Morning scene in the mist

We woke up to a beautiful but hazy vista this morning.  We had breakfast and packed up and left quickly as we were getting the train:  the Ofotbanen line into Sweden which is supposed to be one of the most beautiful trips in Europe - thought the boy would like a train day, and to go to another country as part of the deal was an extra bonus.  We weren’t 100% sure where the train station was, how long it would take to get there, if there was parking and how long it would take to get tickets etc, so we gave ourselves plenty of time.  We got to the station, it was strangely deserted.  We got parked easily 50Kr for a whole day which we thought good value (our perception of what is expensive has changed over the past two weeks).  Then we went into the station - found a digital screen saying that every train was cancelled - nooooooooooo!  Turns out they were doing track maintenance and were running a rail replacement bus service.  

Matt and Tom

Hummm, should we go anyway - we would still get a pretty ride and visit Sweden etc, we decided to go.  There was no ticket desk so I went to the ticket machine - it refused to give me a ticket for the morning train.   Hummmmmm, what to do…I found the driver for the bus and asked him how to get a ticket.  He said that he couldn’t sell tickets so we would have to ride free.  Free?  Oh, OK.  So will the bus come in the other direction too?  The response: it should, or there could be a train, he didn’t know where the bus would go from, what time or anything!  Do we risk it - of course we do!

Following the path in the Arctic tundra?

We got on the bus feeling pleased with ourselves.  Guess where the bus went?  Right past last night’s campsite.  Oh hum, we waved hello to it - still a very beautiful location.   We then climbed up a mountain pass - the scenery changed from trees to shrubs.  There were lots of lakes and cabins.  It was all very pretty.  The mountains here are very old.  Anyway we enjoyed the ride (although we didn’t see much of the train line).  We then passed into Sweden - two official looking men came aboard, one with a sniffer dog who had a good sniff around all our bags, they then got off and allowed us into the country.  Then about 2km down the road we hit Riksgränsen which was where we were going to for the day - our guide book said that during the summer this place is where you go to hike.  We thought we would do a hike.  

Mountains in the heat haze!

First place we went was the supermarket to get some drinks and snacks (we figured food and drink in Sweden would be cheaper than in Norway - we were right!)  In fact the supermarket was crammed with food and with Norwegians.  It wasn’t the biggest supermarket in the world, and as soon as they stocked the shelves, they were empty again.  They sold the biggest blocks of cheese I have ever seen, huge packs of meat and big packs of beer etc.  Capri sun seemed to be stacked to the ceiling.  The aisles were narrow and there were stackers everywhere - it was a bit of a squeeze but we got ourselves some bits and pieces including a chocolate bar called plop.  Bought it for the novelty value - it was horrible - really cheap sugary chocolate - instantly wished I had gone for something else!

We then went up to the train station to see if a train was scheduled to go back this afternoon.  No, bus only.  Once again, there was no-one to ask.  Hummmm, were we going to be able to get back to Narvik?  Let’s see if we can find tourist info - nope!  Is any cafe / restaurant / hotel open - nope!  Riksgränsen is a ski resort during the winter - it was a ghost town today.  No-one around at all!  We did see a sign saying a cafe was open - we went to investigate…it opens Thursday to Sunday.  Today is Wednesday!!!!!  Oh well, there was nothing we could do, and the train wasn’t due till 4pm anyway, so we had to entertain ourselves.  We went down to the lake for a look around - spent a good 30 mins throwing stones and then I noticed some ladies on a walking path.  We went to investigate and found a trail.  We followed it.  It was a very pleasant trail which led around the lake via lots of wooden planks.  We went up, down and around, the views were very lovely.  Oh, forgot to mention how hot it was today - think it reached about 23 degrees which for these parts (we are still in the arctic circle) is very balmy!  We stopped plenty of times, munching our way through a large packet of crisps as we went along.  We were sweating and having to wear sunscreen and sunglasses it was so hot!  No midges though so we enjoyed it.  We did wonder if we managed to walk back to Norway without realising, but no we were in Sweden for the whole day.

Little train on deserted platform

After getting so far, we headed back, got ourselves some ice-creams from the supermarket (they had Matt’s all time favourite - white chocolate and strawberry which he discovered in Spain and so far hasn’t reached the UK).  We then settled down on some picnic benches and waited in hope for a bus to arrive to take us back to Narvik.  We were in luck it arrived - phew!  We got on - again it was free.  We then headed back to Narvik - at the border this time just one official man got on and checked us - I guess we all looked ok to him as he allowed us to pass.  We got to Narvik in good time and found Bert (our motor home) waiting patiently for us.

Sunset from the campsite

We filled up with petrol and then went down to the harbour for a look around before heading out to find a campsite.  We wanted a proper campsite tonight as Matt had things that needed a charge and we all wanted a proper shower.  We didn’t see any in Narvik, in fact it was a good 30km before we came across one, Lapphaugen Camping.  We checked in - there is a large party of 17&18 year olds here camping for a history trip (it was along this road that the Germans headed into Norway - all the battles are noted by the side of the road with display boards, guns, memorials etc).  All in high spirits but friendly enough.  We were worried that we might not be able to get into the showers as there were so many of them, but we did - it is amazing how good you feel after a proper shower!

As it was such a lovely day, we decided to have a BBQ, so we got our BBQ out for our sausages, and I fried up some cold potatoes and heated some sweetcorn.  We sat outside to have our tea - surrounded by mountains, one with a glacier on top of it.  Lovely.  After tea we went down to the lake, Tom had a paddle and we all threw stones until the bugs started to get us.  Then we dived inside to catch up with various chores.  A good day, even though it didn’t exactly go to plan!