Most people would have seen the TV series True Blood and fallen in love with Eric Northman. I didn't find Eric but I found a lot of wild mushrooms,beautiful scenery, and cheaper 'everything' compared to Norway. I spent almost 3 weeks in Järna following the rafting season in Norway.
Picking black mushrooms at Bjorn's parents summer house Photo: Jacqui Whitehead
Cleaning mushrooms we picked in the forest. We first removed all the dirt, then cut the mushrooms into smaller pieces so they could be dried easily Photo: Jacqui Whitehead
My best friend Jo from Australia was visiting relatives in Austria during August and September and decided to fly up to Stockholm to visit me for a few days. Bjorn introduced her to typical Swedish past-times such as mushroom picking, the sauna and we visited the Tom Tits Experiment (a science museum similar to Science Works in Melbourne). After 2 days in Järna, on Jo's last day we tried to be 'tourists' and did some sight-seeing around the popular sights in Stockholm.
Almondy, a delicious Swedish cake from the frozen section of the supermarket
Now Bjorn and I are avoiding the autumn rain in Sweden and Norway by spending the next 2 months in India and Nepal. We have already spent a week in Rishikesh, India kayaking on the Ganga River and plan on heading into Nepal towards the end of October. So far the trip has been off to a good start with lots of water this season in most rivers and we are looking forward to hopefully joining an expedition on the Sarayu and Kali Rivers in India.
