One wrong turn and… we ended up in Ullared

One wrong turn and… we ended up in Ullared

by | 18 August, 2019 | Long distance travel, Sweden

Ullared

It looks like bad weather, and what is better than an indoor activity like shopping in Ullared? Most have heard of GeKås in Ullared, many of you have probably been there. If you haven’t been there yourself, you probably haven’t missed the TV show. GeKås (or popularly known by the city name Ullared) is regardless a truly special destination. A single large department store, with everything from clothes, tools, fishing gear, toys to interior design and shampoo.

But yes, we would well lie if we said that all parts of the family are equally excited with the choice of activity. Martin, even at work, usually quotes GeKå’s CEO Boris when talking about knowing his business. In one episode of the TV series (which we really do not follow, but have happened to see at some point) he says that “After 1.5 hours, the man is the biggest threat to our business”. It is of course a very funny saying, but oh so true.

One should be aware that an excursion to Ullared is an all-day project. Getting through the entire department store, if you are going to have time to look at things reasonably in peace and quiet, clearly takes its time. As a family with children, of course, there will be a lot of time in the department of children’s clothes, as this is actually one of the things that is still quite cheap. Otherwise, the price situation feels quite mediocre. As camper nerds, we also take the opportunity to buy on us some things you to have use in the RV, like toilet paper intended for camping toilets, toiletries, some small things to the kitchen and so on.

Other stores and activities

In addition to GeKås itself, a lot of shops around the department store have grown up, as Ullared has really become a destination. Outside the department store there are everything from shoe stores to electronics stores and hunting and fishing shops. The latter to Martin’s great joy. For some reason, however, he didn’t think that my “Now you’ve gone in your store, so now I get to go in my store” reasoning was an acceptable argument. Apparently it was not “fair” that could trade 20 minutes of fishing shop for 9 hours of GeKås. Strange reasoning on his behalf ;).

Luckily for this family, there is also a wide range of restaurants and cafés. One thing is certain, if we do not follow the food pattern of an infant, with food like every two hours, then an excursion regardless of the theme will not be fun for anyone. Here, however, it is quite easily solved, and also relatively cheap. Martin made an attempt to escape to the sports bar. I laughed at him and said that “you are not interested in sports”, and I got the obvious answer that “nah, but I’m interested in bars”.

 

Martin loves Ullared

Update Ullared:

A few thousand Swedish kronor poorer, impressed by Gekås breastfeeding room on the 4th floor, and Noomie mostly fascinated by the playground on the same floor. Satisfied with today’s not so amazingly unnecessary purchase (best was probably a lined rain gear to Noomie!) and now we go on to Gekåsbyn to cook dinner and camp for the night! Must say that both RV-site and the campsite are some of the most affordable we have ever visited. Extremely well maintained facilities, which must be cleaned several times a day. The standard of the RV-site was almost good enough to qualify as a camping site. The campsite had a huge range of activities and things for the children.

We could clearly imagine going to Ullared and staying at the campsite without even visiting the department store (or yes, at least that what we leave Martin to believe ;)).

Days are coming together as one

Days are coming together as one

by | 14 August, 2019 | Long distance travel, Sweden, West Coast, Sweden

It’s apparently Monday night, and I honestly don’t know what day was which when I look through pictures on the phone.. It’s nice and vacationy not really knowing which day is which.

This morning we woke up on a farm, and started the day with breakfast buffet at Älgbergets B&B. Okay there was neither scrambled eggs nor bacon, but it felt luxurious that someone else fixed up the food (and took care of the dishes!!) and the owner, Maria, who we were sitting and talked with for a while, was so nice and easy going. I understand that her B&B has been successfully run for ten years!

If you are looking for peace and quiet, you really want to get out into nature, and if you like it a little more familiar and easy-going camping, we can really recommend this little gem! Last night offered a lovely walk down to a lake, where you could also rent a boat to fish or just enjoy the silence. What views! And which gang, Shaggy and Noomie ran the race on the way home with Martin as a constant commentator. I myself wore Lowe in the shawl of my stomach and tried not to stumble among cones and branches.

After breakfast, dog walk and mandatory “clear away in the camper” it carried off to today’s activity; LOOKING AT RVs! It has apparently become one of Martin’s favorite activities, and I can agree that it is a good passtime on a rainy days like this. Noomie, however, does not understand why we should look at campervans when we already have a camper van. It is probably one of those things that we can remember from childhood itself, the thing about watching things without having to / should buy anything.

It’s boring! However, she struggles on, and she assesses the campers according to how well equipped they are. They get good score because there are “bed in the ceiling”, “secret door” (ie door between toilet o shower that can be closed so the screens of the kitchen area from the bedroom….). Or other cool stuff, like bunk bed, giant garage, or nice fabric on the chairs. Yes, she’s entertained. Usually this is a completely free activity, at least as long as you do not buy anything.

Well, we haven’t bought a new camper, but today we actually found one that we really liked. Too much, to be honest. We’re not going to buy a new motorhome now! And no we will not do either, but we can dream of course XD I guess we will have reason to return to this issue .

Like a little encouragement(read: bribe) to the 4-year-old, and because it had been far too late to cook lunch. Blood sugar needed to be raised in all, quickly, it was MAX hamburgers for lunch. Unfortunately, we stumbeled upon a bad MAX where the burgers felt as if they had been lying too long and the fries felt tasteless.

I do not know exactly where we were so should not hang out any 😛 Noomie got instead of a totally useless plastic old man in ugly colors, a MOOMIN memo that we of course tested right away! Good there MAX, some sensible stuff for the children! Perfect with a thousand bits and pieces even when you go camper.. NOTE XD

Grey days will never rush by…

Grey days will never rush by…

by | 10 August, 2019 | Long distance travel, Sweden, West Coast, Sweden

… förutom möjligen när man åker husbil. Med Lasse Winnerbäck strömmandes ur högtalarna har vi farit runt rejält de senaste dagarna, trots att vädret bjudit på…ska vi kalla det klassisk svensk sommar?

Efter att ha spenderat ett par nätter på Johannesviks camping i Kungshamn (bästa campingen hittils, kommer nog ett eget recensionsinlägg om det lite senare) styrde vi skutan mot Uddevalla. Ursprungsplanen var att titta på husbilar hos Autohallen Husbilar i Uddevalla. Detta blev då till en total besvikelse (mest för mig, minst för Noomie vilket vi kommer till) då vi möttes av en lapp på dörren om ändrade öppetider. Dessa öppetider bestod i princip av “Under sommaren har vi lite ändrade öppetider. Vardagar kl x-x, Lördagar: Lite slumpvis beroende på vad vi känner för. Söndagar: Stängt.”. Givetvis lyckades inte vi träffa en av de bra slumpvisa lördagarna, utan det var tokstängt. (Vilket för övrigt påminner om att det som företagare är bra att ändra sina öppetider både på google och egen hemsida om de förändras).

Till Noomies stora förtjusning så fick vi istället styra om planerna, och tog sikte på Stellas Lekland i Uddevalla, där vi spenderade resten av dagen. Det första vi möts av när vi går innanför dörrarna är Stella i egen hög sjöstjärneperson, som är ute och kramar om alla barnen. Fullständig succé redan från början alltså, och sedan fortsatte det. Leklandet var super i sig, med ruschkanor, bollhav, spel, klätterställningar och allt man kan önska sig när man är 4 år.

 

Mot kvällen tog vi sikte på en ställplats söder om Uddevalla, närmare bestämt Lindesnäs efter ett tips i en facebookgrupp. Ingen el, inget vatten, men helt magiskt läge och helt gratis. Så för oss som diggar fricamping, helt super!

Fjällbacka; Mackerel, Murder and Incomparable Views

Fjällbacka; Mackerel, Murder and Incomparable Views

by | 8 August, 2019 | Long distance travel, Sweden, West Coast, Sweden

After showering, washing dishes and charging powerbanks at Lagunens Camping in Strömstad, we took the short trip to Mekonomen in Strömstad, when the camper started to behave a bit weird. When driving, the red motor light had lit up at certain times when I hit the brakes and the car has gone down in power and become slow and tired. When I hit the gas, the light goes out and the car behaves normally again. Talked to a super nice guy (unfortunately forgot his name) who came out and looked and listened to the car. Luckily, he thought it wasn’t something that needed urgent action, but we’ll deal with it when we get home from vacation.

A sigh of relief, and then we steered the ship towards Fjällbacka. Fjällbacka, which for me is only known for Camilla Läckberg’s collection of fictitious murders, was a very positive surprise, and we got a really nice excursion. For starters, we went into the city itself in the RV. This was a fool’s move, and nothing we recommend. The streets are so narrow and hilly that you just love … when walking. When you drive a camper, it’s… not so nice. But it worked out nicely, and we managed to struggle our way back to the large parking lot located right at the foot of the church on the mountain.

 

Fjällbacka Church

After this little… adventure in itself… We went down to the harbor. A stunningly beautiful little fishing village appeared, and it was full life with tourists, ice cream parlours, boats and locals. Overall a lovely pulse, with an inherent calm in som strange combination. The first goal was to climb one of the mountains through the super cool “Kungsklyftan” (King’s Gorge).

Kungsklyftan is a rock formation that brings to mind the Hell Gap from Ronja The Robber’s Daughter (Linnéa, however, firmly claims that the ACTUAL hell gap is up in her home region around the High Coast). Some scenes in the film about Ronja are also said to have been shot in Fjällbacka, although unclear which so far.

The hike up through Kungsklyftan was cool in itself, as there are mighty rock formations. To cope with the hike, one should have quite good mobility, even if no monster physics is required. Noomie did it without any problems, and I did it with Lowe in the baby carrier. And you may think it was exciting, if you ask LillRonja. A completely fabulous view was also waiting once we reached the top of the mountain.

 

View of Fjällbacka
View of Fjällbacka
Kungsklyftan Fjällbacka

After completing the internship as a mountain goat, it was time to replenish the energy supplies. When you’ve climbed mountains, you need fast energy, don’t you?

Therefore, the next stop was “Ackes” down in Fjällbacka harbour, and me and Noomie each sank their megaglass. Noomie took a “Kids Star”, where the very highlight was the associated “Kinderegg”, and I tried an “American Milkshake”. You know the feeling when you eat something that is so good that you get a little teary-eyed …. exactly that feeling! I especially recommend a ball of cocos ice cream and a ball of hazelnut/nougat. Wow! So you come to Fjällbacka, refuse to leave without an Ackes ice cream! (And no, we’re not sponsored, but we like good ice cream ;))

 

Fjällbacka as a postcard
Ice cream in Fjällbacka

To finish the excursion, we thought we would take a quick peek inside the church up on the hill, which is the first thing you see when driving into Fjällbacka. From the outside, the church is very beautiful, so we thought it is certainly cool on the inside as well.

Of course, we will then be greeted by the obvious “Open every day except Thursday” note on the door, and of course it’s Thursday when we’re there. So it will simply have to be another time.

I think we will almost certainly return to Fjällbacka. It feels like we only had time to discover a fraction of what the small fishing village has to offer. How about the World Cup in mackerel angling, or finding out what Ingrid Bergman held so dear in Fjällbacka? For the next time, I have at least promised myself that I will have to read at least one Läckberg book, mostly for the recognition factor. If I don’t remember wrong, it was part 8 that’s set in the Kungsklyftan… but maybe it’s stupid to start with part 8.

Kungsklyftan Fjällbacka
Kungsklyftan Fjällbacka

The Cliffs of Koster

The Cliffs of Koster

by | 7 August, 2019 | Island and Archipelago, Long distance travel, Sweden, West Coast, Sweden

Idag satte vi siktet ut i skärgården, närmare bestämt till sydkoster. Koster är ju ett namn man hört många gånger, men vi insåg både jag och Linnéa att vi faktiskt inte visste någonting alls om ön (eller de två öarna, om man ska vara nogräknad.). Sagt och gjort, efter att ha vaknat upp på en ställplats bara ett par minuter ifrån Strömstad hamn, slängde vi i oss frukost, packade utflyktsväskan och klev på båten ut till Koster. Överhuvudtaget en väldigt bekväm och smidig resa, tydligen så går det till och med bussar ifrån ställplatserna så att man inte behöver ta bilen in om man vill.

 

 

Under resan ut i skärgården åkte jag på att jobba lite, så jag såg mest en laptopskärm under den resan. En knapp halvtimme tog det, och Noomie tyckte såklart det var superspännande att åka båt. Och visst är det en mäktig syn när man närmar sig den lilla ön ute i det stora havet. Det är inte svårt att förstå att livet här måste vara något helt unikt. Det är nästan så att man inte vill komma och “störa” i idyllen. Och visst är det vackert, fantastiskt vackert.

Första stoppet blev Naturum, ett slags muséum eller utställning som tydligen finns vid alla våra nationalparker (detta hade vi inte heller någon aning om). Syftet är att utbilda och informera om reservatet och det unika djurlivet som finns både över och under ytan kring öarna. Nationalparken Kosterhavet är mycket speciell, då det dels är en marin nationalpark (det vill säga att det mesta av den ligger under ytan), dels för att det är en nationalpark där det i själva parken fortfarande bedrivs ett aktivt yrkesfiske. Räktrålningen och hummerfisket är en uppenbart stark del av den Kosterska identiteten, och det var häftigt att se hur detta kan fortgå i harmoni med havet och naturen.

Noomie tyckte att resan helt klart hade två riktiga höjdpunkter: Dels en “springbana” på naturum där man skulle trycka på en knapp, springa så fort man kunde, och sedan fick se på en skylt vem man var snabb som. Damen var oförskämt stolt över att vara lika snabb som en öring, nästa gång siktar hon på att nå makrillnivå. (Det fanns även en våg där man kunde väga sig för att få ett liknande resultat…pappa var inte skitimponerad över att bli en knubbsäl).

Den andra höjdpunkten var såklart det självklara: Krabbmete ifrån bryggan. Jag och Noomie hade lite problem med att komma igång, och det tog en stund innan vi fick upp den första. Men sedan jag fått in rätta knycken, och Noomie fått tag i en håv var vi rena krabbskräcken kan jag lova. En riktig höjdarstund tillsammans med dottern, och det rekommenderas skarpt. Linnéa och Lowe satt såklart en bit bort och hejade på för allt de va värda, och Noomie sprang stolt och visade lillebror vilken häftig fångst vi fixat.

 

 

Naturreservat Koster
Krabbor på Koster
Krabbor på Koster

Så…vad tycker vi om Koster? Helt klart värt ett besök för de flesta. Vi kan absolut tänka oss att åka tillbaka, särskilt när Lowe blivit lite större. Nu blev vi lite “låsta” till att hänga kring hamnen och det som fanns i absolut promenadavstånd, då vi inte kommit på något smart sätt att köra Lowe i cykelkärra ännu (någon som har nått tips?).  Så vi tror att det finns mycket mer att upptäcka på denna ö, och säkert även på syskonön i norr. Vi summerar en härlig dag, med nya äventyr i ryggsäcken, när vi nu släcker lampan på Lagunens camping i Strömstad.