Gota Lot

Kritinehamn -  Mariestad     89.3 kms       418’ ascent

This was not a short day! As ever, the kilometres increased as the day went on and 70ish became nearer 90ish. It’s a gift we have. However, we did enjoy some of the finest scenery of the trip so far and that takes some doing. Our magic GPS indicated that we could run a parallel route with the main road. (The detailed viewing of this instrument was initiated by the fact that, for the first time, a crabby motorist had sounded an irate horn at Alan. This went down badly with my husband who raised a finger at said driver and hoped for his early demise. Fortunately he wasn’t six feet tall and didn’t take up the challenge.) But as a result we found this rather bumpy and wavy track which ran alongside the lake (the HUGE one) and at one point it did resemble the ocean (the lake, not the road) as nothing was visible on the horizon. Having late re-joined the main road, we crossed the Gota canal, which is apparently one of Sweden’s main tourist attractions! (Not very well publicised I think.) It joins Lake  Vanern with the west coast and has 58 locks one of which I rushed to photograph. Something else which requires further investigation.

We spent a second night on the lakeside. I guess it must be our natural charisma, but we have been allocated some stunning situations on our campsites. This one was no exception. We also witnessed as we had last night, a sunset to rival any we have ever seen and so we took some pictures!

Saw those big birds again and a red squirrel which seemed reluctant to run off until I arrived and unclipped my pedals. At which point, it suddenly shot up the nearest tree – a wise move I thought. As we left the campsite this morning, we watched a deer with her fawn. It was obviously our day for wildlife.