Sometimes we wish we could turn back time. Never say those hurtful words. Regret the day we wanted the ground beneath our feet to open up and swallow us.
No need for us to say sorry. We’re a couple of Time-Lords. Beastie our touring Tardis. We set the dial. Hey Presto. It’s the day before yesterday already.
Unable to visit Falu Gruva then, we pre-book a 2pm English speaking tour of the famous copper mine. Famous, because without it, Sweden’s iconic wood houses would have ended up a mish-mash of random colours.
We leave the pretty camping village of More-Lite and backtrack 90K south.
So far we’ve been pleasantly surprised by prices in general. Diesel averaging £1.26 per litre and Swedish supermarket prices no more than 5% higher than back home. We are paying premium prices for camping though, despite this being the quiet season. Road speeds are much lower and with virtually all drivers heeding the limits, it makes for calmer driving days.
With an underground temperature of 7C, we’re all advised to tog up. Our menagerie of orange capes and hard-hats play follow the leader and head sixty-seven metres down.
As a mining by-product, Falu red, an iron oxide pigment, is traditionally used in the manufacture of the red exterior paint that so many Swedes use to protect and decorate their wood houses.
Then we continue our northbound journey. Get back on the beaten track. Head back up, not down. Pass through a small town called Sveg, known for its subarctic climate and its huge wooden bear. A planners’ brainwave to try and attract more visitors into town. We do our bit. Stop off for a look-see. Swell the indigenous for twenty minutes. Although the fourth largest in this county of Jämtland, with a population of around 3,000, it has little else going for it.
The church looks pretty though. It’s open. The creaking door echoes down the bare interior. Not quite harmonising with the sombre organ. An altar-facing small congregation of mourners, do their best to ignore. “Sorry”.
We end the day being the only campers at Ratvik in Massarbäcksgården.
Owners not on site. Full instructions given. Even a plan indicating exactly where Beastie should sleep.
