Upp early to make Swedish porridge out of oats. Nice with the new rations. This day we made a day paddle to "Humpback Cove " a fjord in "Whale Bay". I paddled a double kayak this day with Amy, kind of nice to paddle with some like that once in a while. We saw a river otter getting into the trees close to shore. It was a bit too fast for me to have the camera out.
At a nice waterfall I got to wash out the salt from my shirt and Amy filled our "dromedars" with water. Beautiful place, and just after we found an even better waterfall and then one even more beautiful!
In the end of Humpback Cove was a small river where it was a small salmon run and some of the guys went fishing. I took the chance to wash myself in freshwater and walked up around a bend in the river. Undressed and took a nude dip in the cold water like "näcken". While I was standing there in the water a big salmon passed just inches from my feet and I reached down and grabbed it by the tail. I managed to get it out of the water before it slipped out of my hand. Lucky no one saw me standing there naked with a big salmon in my hand!
This was a magically beautiful place, like in the Discovery nature films. I was just waiting for a live commentary by David Attenborough! The guys got some salmon and we are going to eat nice fresh fish this afternoon. Josh also got a bunch of rockfish.
Sadly we had to leave this place and go back to our camp. While some made a fire for a barbecue Amy lead me through a yoga session. Rather nice, it was my first ever, good to stretch out my body after all the kayaking and sleeping on the ground.
In the evening we sat on the beach and just watched out over the water when a big humpback whale came along and dived down just in front of us. It was like he wanted to show himself for us.
The west coast of Sweden has several archipelagos. The northernmost is the archipelago of Koster about 2 km from the mainland (actually the closest island with a bridge). This is also the first national marine park in Sweden.
Me and my daughter, Paula went there for two days kayaking. We started at Rossö and went straight west across the straits of Koster (Koster fjord) which has a bad reputation for high seas. Almost no wind on this very beautiful Friday in September made for an easy crossing.
Well on the other side we paddled south trough the small islands and passages to the island Tjälleskär where we set up our tent. In empty kayaks we set out to explore this maze for a couple of hours. We saw very few boats and just three other kayaks this late in the season. Back at camp we made dinner and took a small hike to watch the sunset.
Next day was a bit more windy but luckily from the east so the waves were not very high. It took 45 minutes to cross the strait back. We then paddled north and east to go around the islands Saltö and Tjärnö. The last is where The Sven Lovén Centre for Marine Sciences are. A bit more sheltered from the increasing wind inside these islands.
We made some late lunch on a nice beach and was back at Rossö and my car at about 16:00.
Two very nice days at the end of summer. It was nice that again I had my daughter Paula with me kayaking and whom I had not seen for three months. Our paddled distance was 32,4 km and average speed was 5,2 km/h.
There is a video at the end of the post, don't miss it!
