Granny's Got a Bike: Day 12: Öland, Sweden

I read on the internet that during the off-peak season, cyclists are allowed to ride on the bridge to Öland. But how to get onto it? I headed off along Hwy137 to Öland, saw signs saying no bikes so I asked an old geezer struggling on a trike and he just said, with a nose drip and a frown – cyclist forbjudt!! Which means No… hmmm… so I turned around and met a couple walking along and they confirmed that I need to go back into town (10km) and catch the ferry…. But… the guy must have seen my look and said, well, the bridge is very close, its just down there and to the left and thru the car park…. IF you were to ride on the bridge…. Oh! I might just have a look… so off I go… it looked a bit daunting, but I don’t think it is as high as the Gateway and I have been over that (on the cycle path of course) but no cycle path here – just 2 lanes of traffic in each direction – and not much traffic… do I go? Dang it – I’m off! Yes, it was a grind going up but I managed to maintain about 15kph and not totally in granny gear…. And then at the top – hmmm….. there does seem to be a lot of water still to cross – so swoop down and keep pedalling. It was about 7km all up and I got beeped at by 4 motorists – otherwise no worries… but I did see where the ferries leave the island, so shall go back the proper way!

So Öland! It has a World Heritage listing to preserve its long standing agriculture history… fields are still configured in much the same way as way-back… of course canola is a new crop and their tractors are pretty damn flash… but I think it’s to recognise the continuation of farming on the landscape… or something…. I stopped off at the Karlevi Rune stone – tis surrounded by canola at the moment and the rune engravings have been topped up with paint as is the way here – apparently it was erected there in about 1000AD… so it’s been around for awhile…

Then onto the Wetlands for a spot of birdwatching – and I was amused by the Tofsvipa (or Lapwing in English) swooping anything that came close to its 2 little chicks that were pecking around. But nothing really unusual there, so back on my bike and heading south.

I did see a Black Woodpecker tho – it swooped out of the tree on one side of the road and flew off chattering away. And I stopped to listen to a nightingale and I even saw it hiding in the twigs!!! Am hoping the gopro recorded the sound, but haven’t listened yet…

How can the weather be soooo different from one day to the next. Today it was cloudy to start off but they were gently blown away leaving a nice blue sky again. There were some clouds around and they were building up in the evening, so I wonder what tomorrow will bring! Tail wind and blue skies please J

So another wonderful pedalling day – and I am spending the night in such the cutest little cabin down by the coast. Yes!! It is cold here now – but the wind has dropped and there is a heater here in the cabin if it gets too bad…. But I do like these little cabins – they are such doll houses…