Having left our stunning overnight off-grid camping spot outside Trondheim, Norway, we headed towards Sweden. Our aim was to make it half way towards the eastern seaboard town of Sundsvall. It looked to be a relatively simple journey from Trondheim along the main connecting road between the old trading posts.

Having left Trondheim, we seemed to arrive in Sweden after only a very short time. The border was little more that a few concrete buildings with signs welcoming you to Sweden. It was a little strange as we had seen a little more border control when we had left Sweden to get in to Norway. Nevertheless, we sailed straight through he former checkpoint and continued on through the Swedish countryside. Again, once we had let the coast the landscape changed to rolling hills towards a mountain range.

The journey was fairly unremarkable apart from getting caught up in a traffic jam, our first since leaving Germany over two weeks earlier. A car had left the road and ended up quite a way from the road in a ditch at the edge of the forest, upside down. It looked a strange accident, but the emergency services were at the scene and we hoped everyone was ok.

As we arrived in to Ostersund we decided that the scenery was not really doing anything for us, so decided that we would not continue towards Sundsvall. We chose to take the E45 which took us in a more southerly direction and more of a direct route towards Stockholm. Once we left the main highway the going was good but quickly the road descended in to a gravel track as they were in the midst of lengthy road works. A bit of a mistake, but hey, it cost us a bit of time, but we were in no rush.

After about 10-15 miles of roadworks we decide to choose an actual campsite so that we could service the campervan etc. We picked one in Svenstavik. It looked ok (online) and arrived late in the afternoon. It was a strange set up. The lady that checked us in was something from a comic book sketch… “Come and visit our caves, we’ve got lights in them and can turn them on specially for you! I live here with my brother and we were born in this house. You stay many days at our campsite, the facilities are great and we get many other Dutch people on holiday”. It seems that she thought we were Dutch, I guess that it was because our English was so good.

Anyway, there was no way we were staying any longer than necessary and were soon packed up ready for the off early the following morning.

The following day we were still aiming towards Stockholm. On our way we had been talking about not seeing any moose and being quite disappointed when we stumbled upon a giant advertising board showing moose, bears and birds of prey. We don’t normally do zoos as we don’t agree with them morally. However it advertised itself as a sanctuary and breeding/rescue zoo. I’m so pleased we stopped, it was incredible. The enclosures were huge, and there were plenty of places for the animals to hide if they wanted to. We felt like we were the ones in the cage. We saw some amazing animals and birds including a moose family, reindeer, and lynx. It was an incredible experience. I also found out that Sarah has a ‘I’ve just seen a moose’ face/expression.

Leighton the moose, Järvzoo, Järvsö, Sweden

Sarah’s ‘Ive just seen a moose’ face, Järvzoo, Järvsö, Sweden

Nina the bear, Järvzoo, Järvsö, Sweden

Lynx, Järvzoo, Järvsö, Sweden

Having left the animals behind, we continued our days travel on towards Stockholm. As it got late in the afternoon, we decided to find another off-grid camping spot to spend the night. There was no end to the opportunities, but we finally plumped for a long lay-by that had been created as a result of them changing the path of the main road. It was far enough to be quiet but not too far to be able to easily get back on the road in the morning.

We had a really peaceful nights sleep following a bit of stargazing as it was a very clear sky and we were miles from any light pollution.

After a restful night, we were up early, fed and on the road with the aim of reaching Stockholm before nightfall.