Day 25 – to Rörbäcks

On a bright and fine early autumn morning I investigated the peninsula of coastline stuck out into the Gulf of Bothnia where I had camped.

For the purposes of trade with Finland, in the early part of the 1900s several inland harbours were built with timber bases. The village, Brannfors, had a population of more than 5,000, the boys and young men all involved in working at the sawmill or on the construction. It was active and busy until the First World War, when all the employees went to fight. Many never returned, and the village never attained anywhere near the population again. Today it is a ruin, but marked with photographs and a historic trail.

From there we headed to the other beach, a sandy one, and a particularly soft one as I soon found out. In the fine, cool weather it was an enjoyable couple of hours. I had half a mind to stay, as it was an excellent campsite, but in the end decided to move on.

I drove the hour and a half up to Rörbäcks where I had booked a campsite with the purpose off having a postal address to receive the visa I need. It has been 3 weeks since I applied for it, and 2 since giving fingerprints and being photographed. I had been told it would take 2-4 weeks, but it was not received yet. The campsite owner seems a decent guy, so assuming it’s not here by Saturday, he will post it in, and notify me when it arrives, which hopefully won’t be too long.

It’s the end of the summer holiday here in Sweden, but the campsite is still quite busy. I really don’t need anything they offer, and I have been using much more scenic and peaceful wild areas. But, it’s a necessary expense. I’ll take the opportunity and clean the van and some gear tomorrow. There’s rain forecast all weekend, though I think tomorrow is only showery.