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Where am I?:^mistymornings-->Cycletouring-->2007-->Scandinavia.-->Day 3

Day 3-4. Vilshäred to Kärradal

It reminded me of a trip to Sweden (which seems like a lifetime away although only twenty or so years ago), where the local youth, bereft of bars and cafes hung round squares with 'pimped up' 140 and 240 series Volvos. For me, these were the cars that the chattering classes in the UK used to drive to their 'just in the countryside' dwellings, whilst complaining about the noise that the farmers make early in the morning and how it stinks when they spread muck. Then it was incogruous to see the same Volvos in the hands of kids, tarted up with spoilers and wide wheels like the Ford Fiestas and Escorts of the same period in England.

After re-fuelling and a pee stop, we wandered round the sunny side of the Festning to discover that we could have had a nice mjölkkafe in a lovely looking terrace. Oh well next time heh? On the seaward side of the fort there was a large flat area presumably it had once had a military function, which now served as a cafe. We made a mental note that on our next visit to Varberg we'd make use of the facilities.

Then we carried on and found the main entrance to the fort on the back corner with another view across water. We walked in with the bikes and had a quick look round for ten minutes or so. Damae's eye for interesting arty views was doing overtime and lead to some texture pictures in the summer sun. In another life we'll come back and explore it some more, we decided as it was now quite late, and we wanted to stop at a campsite soon. Also we realised that we were now on the NSCR route proper even though it wasn't until close to Göteborg that we saw the first sign.

The remainder of the day's journey was easy, in the beautiful evening sun. As my diary says "Run up to Kärradal along the railway line lots of bugs for the first bit then no more. Lovely sun and before we knew it we were at Kärradal at the campsite pitch 116. A Dutch family arrive and use their air compressor until almost 11pm ho hum. Showers the 1kr torture sort mercifully without the extra push button at Villshärad. Warm and they did the job."

Damae's diary said "......Then I ate bugs for the last 10 km up to campsite. Weather was great today + we even had the odd tail wind. The pm section dragged our average up from 17.5 to 18.0. Lots of lovely scenery, I am enjoying the verges and many sandy beaches. It is a sort of summer house suburbia. I could definitely live in Sweden. They are also generally good drivers when it comes to considering cyclists. The boots are ok when cycling. My feet have been hot but not unbearably so. The biggest drawbacks are the tan lines and the smell. Today I got burnt, must ask Stan to spray anti burn lower on my back too tomorrow"

We pitched camp and I concocted something delicious for evening meal. This consisted of a litre of soup between us, a juicy pasta sauce and also a half litre of cocoa each, all necessary to rehydrate. We thought today had been hot but enjoyed it all the same. Looking up at the clear evening skies we realised we didn't need to ask if anyone knew what the weather was going to be like tomorrow.

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