Journey: Trollparken – Hammersbadet – Norra Kvill National Park – Runkesten – Co-op – More Kastell – Aboda Klint
It has been a few days since Mabel rolled in sand so a little beach around the corner from Trollparken seemed the obvious choice for the pups first walk. On arrival the beach was a tiny bay inhabited by a huge hedgehog who quickly rolled into a ball when he spotted our 3! We realised it was linked to a campsite and facilities included inflatables and diving boards into the lake, so we had a brief walk but felt rude staying too long.
We drove on to Norra Kvill National Park, which is a lovely old growth forest with lots of deep mossed boulders. Again not the best moose territory but we had a gorgeous walk up to the high point. Our pups are doing so well, Mabel bounces up the boulders, Jasper steams on ahead and Ernest is so hench!
Having already questioned the quality of the roads on the way to Norra, Mark was thrilled when we went onto smaller gravel tracks for half an hour to see a big rock called Runkesten. Fortunately I’m in charge of route and driving so off we went regardless giving our bones a good rattle down the ‘roads’ until they gradually got better.
The big rock was impressive, but not quite as impressive as the swarms of evil bitey ants that guard it! We literally ran in, took a photo and ran back out again as they were climbing all over us, the dogs were going nuts and all three pups were rolling in the moss trying to get the ants off. Definitely worth the trip 😬🤣
Mark has commented on numerous occasions that he has never eaten so much green stuff in all his life. It’s great and obviously healthy but means every other day we have to go food shopping for fresh stuff…and chocolate. Cupboards restocked it was another 50min drive to an amazing ravine.
Here the roads really were rough and I was in my element, unlike Mark whose arse was tensed shut sure we might somehow die. I grew up on the Isle of Man and am used to tight winding roads, and the van is fine…if logging trucks can cope so can our van 😂 (not all the roads are log truck suitable but I have faith). We arrived just as another campervan was leaving which helped prove I wasn’t a lunatic for driving that road and quickly realised that the ravine would be considerably more dangerous than my driving if we chose to try and walk the dogs down the very steep scree ‘path’. I’d also forgotten that Mark doesn’t like edges and has a fear of falling so a pulling dog near a cliffedge was a living nightmare. He did brave a quick photo to prove the dogs had seen their first ravine 😍🐾
Dogs safely back in the van, we braved the path and I slipped even without the pups. The Kastell was amazing from the bottom and we successfully crossed the stream over super slippery rocks to get a better view. I clambered up the moss covered rocks to a high point…but Mark was happy enough on the ground. He hates watching me do dangerous stuff but it’s got to be done…my inner adrenaline junkie hasn’t completely grown up yet.
Our final camping spot is Aboda Klint, which has stunning views over a lake and forest walks for the pups. However we arrived just as a thunderstorm hit, so we are now listening to the rain and thunder whilst watching the lightning. I do love a good thunderstorm ⛈️
SofaWolves 