Please spare me from stupid people! So far today, I’ve been asked the following questions:

”Are you on your way to England?” (while pointing at the Australian flag on the port stays)
”Have you just arrived from New Zealand?” (while pointing at the Australian flag on the port stays)
Do they speak Swedish in Australia?” (after I explain in Swedish that the flag is a crew flag, because I come from Australia!)

About the only sensible questions I answered were from another foreigner – the captain of the sailing boat you can see moored next to “Fiona”. This 50’ boat had come in from the west coast, headed east and bore the British ensign. When we spoke to the owner, a cheerful Irishman, we found out that he had just bought this 40 year old, beautifully maintained yacht in Germany and he and his crew were “sailing her home to Northern Ireland”. I laughed at this and told him that he was going the wrong way if he was headed to Ireland from Germany. Perhaps, I suggested, he ought to ask for directions. He only smiled and admitted that the Irish had their own unique way of doing things.




He had picked up the boat three weeks before and sailed her from Germany to the Netherlands then spontaneously turned north and headed up to Norway before following the coastline down to Sweden. At Gothenburg he decided to take the inland Göta Canal and sail around the Baltic before heading home. He asked me if it was worthwhile to sail up to Stockholm and I assured him that the capital was something not to be missed, especially the view from a boat.

He couldn’t place my accent and when I told him that I was Australian, he told me that he had a famous relative with an Aussie connection. I wondered if it might be Ned Kelly, but it turned out that his uncle was James King, who took part in the famous, though ill-fated 1860-61 Burke and Wills expedition. Hmmm.... Robert O'Hara Burke.... that was another Irishman who took the long route wherever possible! We bid them farewell and fair winds as they continued eastwards and we went for a short walk in the showery conditions to have a quick look at the town itself.




The houses in the main section are separated by a river (Storån) which used to be part of the Baltic Sea. Between the 13th and 16th centuries, Söderköping was one of this country’s foremost ports for both domestic and foreign trade. The ships of the mighty Hansa League took their valuable cargo up the Storån river all the way to the town square. Today when you walk on Åpromenaden and walk alongside the peaceful rivulet it’s hard to imagine that some of the largest ships of the time passed here when the stream was over 30 metres wide. Today it is a shallow stream, though at 1.85m deep, we can actually sail up to here from Mem without the need to lock through the canal. That is a piece of information that is worth knowing for the future. Because of rising land levels, Söderköping is no longer a coastal town and is in fact many kilometres inland. On the northern side of the river is the canal, framed by the granite hill of Ramundberget which we will climb up tomorrow if the rain eases. I imagine that the view is worth the steep climb.




The mood in the town is relaxed and friendly with people out walking and enjoying themselves. The town itself is well maintained and spotless. There was no rubbish to be seen anywhere and no graffiti – both things that sadly plague Nynäshamn. Nearly everyone we saw walking along either side of the canal was eating an icecream and we immediately thought “When in Rome....” and headed over to Smultronstället. This is the largest ice-cream restaurant in Sweden, where you can choose from over 60 flavours of icecream and a dizzying array of concoctions to enjoy.




The serving girls were enchanted with Lambi (the little con artist!) and they asked if she would like an icecream of her own and proceeded to pick out a pretty paper cup and add a small portion of soft serve – I thought that was really sweet. We sat by the canal and enjoyed our double cones until the clouds moved in again and we retired to the boat.

The evening was beautiful, with the sun landing on the water, lighting it from nowhere like a great golden bird spreading its wings over the whole area. After dinner it was still very light so we took a long walk down the canal and enjoyed the peace and tranquility of the late spring evening.




The wind had also died down, the water was still and the sky and the buildings were reflected in the mirror-like surface of the water. This pathway led past the well-known spa resort of Söderköpings Brunn, which was founded in the early 1700s. King Gustav III granted the spa its charter in 1774 and visited it himself the following year. When Dr. Lagberg’s cold water treatment was introduced in 1842, the spa’s popularity grew and the society life flourished as the well-heeled rushed to “take the waters” here. The spa setting is still mostly intact though today it serves as a restaurant and conference hotel.




The pathway was full of people out walking and taking advantage of the gentle summer sun and we walked a lot further than we intended. The trees were raining pollen and the only sounds were the rustle of leaves and the pretty calls of the forest birds. Several little robins (rödhakesångare) hopped out on the path in front of us and raked through the leaf litter before flying back to the trees. Just past the guest harbour we came upon a cute statue.




This is Eva Fornå’s “Rabbit Crossing” which was commissioned last year by the Göta Canal company to decorate the harbour. I think they are a charming addition to the canal and they are on both sides of the bank, clambering up the walls and helping each other out. I hope that the rest of the town is as welcoming and relaxed as the harbour area has proved to be. I have a really good feeling about this town.