Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
Canoe articles - Sweden 2003 - July 14th
Monday 14th July
The weather was good again and even in the middle of the morning I passed islands
with naked sunbathers. After a couple of hours, I took a break on a private jetty, but the
house was well away from the water and hidden from view. In these lakes good stopping
places were rare because there were so many holiday homes lining the shore. I had
already landed at what looked like a public beach, but I was told it was private and I
couldn’t take a break there. This was a little unusual because normally the owners would
be happy for me to join them for a short break.
I took my afternoon break at another private beach with swimming pontoon and
picnic tables, belonging to the community of Herrnässet. The ladies present were happy
for me to join them.
After eating and having a swim I continued on to Kyrksten Bad. This was crowded
when I got there, as would be expected on a warm sunny day. I waited for the numbers to
thin before putting up my tent. When I thought everyone had left I went for a swim and
was surprised by two teenage girls who returned and sat down by my clothes. I presume
they must have seen me strip off from a distance and they decided to come back for a
good look!
I had just finished reading in my tent at about 12.30, when 4 youngsters turned up
for a swim. People coming for a swim at that time of night have usually been drinking
and are always very noisy. This is an occasional hazard of camping at badplats in hot
weather and you can usually expect them to be there an hour or two before you can get
back to sleep. Since they were going to keep me awake I decided to join them.
Fortunately they left after we had a swim, but it did mean I didn’t get to scrounge any
beer off them. I was rather more surprised when 4 more youngsters woke me up at 4.45
am. It was light by then and I assume they had been up all night, as I don’t know any
youngsters who are able to get up early in the morning. I ignored them and got back to
sleep once they had left, only to be woken again when the sun hit my tent. It was soon
too hot in the tent, so I moved outside in my sleeping bag.
The weather was good again and even in the middle of the morning I passed islands
with naked sunbathers. After a couple of hours, I took a break on a private jetty, but the
house was well away from the water and hidden from view. In these lakes good stopping
places were rare because there were so many holiday homes lining the shore. I had
already landed at what looked like a public beach, but I was told it was private and I
couldn’t take a break there. This was a little unusual because normally the owners would
be happy for me to join them for a short break.
I took my afternoon break at another private beach with swimming pontoon and
picnic tables, belonging to the community of Herrnässet. The ladies present were happy
for me to join them.
After eating and having a swim I continued on to Kyrksten Bad. This was crowded
when I got there, as would be expected on a warm sunny day. I waited for the numbers to
thin before putting up my tent. When I thought everyone had left I went for a swim and
was surprised by two teenage girls who returned and sat down by my clothes. I presume
they must have seen me strip off from a distance and they decided to come back for a
good look!
I had just finished reading in my tent at about 12.30, when 4 youngsters turned up
for a swim. People coming for a swim at that time of night have usually been drinking
and are always very noisy. This is an occasional hazard of camping at badplats in hot
weather and you can usually expect them to be there an hour or two before you can get
back to sleep. Since they were going to keep me awake I decided to join them.
Fortunately they left after we had a swim, but it did mean I didn’t get to scrounge any
beer off them. I was rather more surprised when 4 more youngsters woke me up at 4.45
am. It was light by then and I assume they had been up all night, as I don’t know any
youngsters who are able to get up early in the morning. I ignored them and got back to
sleep once they had left, only to be woken again when the sun hit my tent. It was soon
too hot in the tent, so I moved outside in my sleeping bag.
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Kaxsundet