DAY 2: KRISTIANSAND- GOTHENBURG-JONKOPING, SWEDEN

We awoke on Tuesday to heavy rain at Kristiansand, Norway, where the boat docked from 8am to 9am. It didn't get any better all day as the rain continued to pour down.
At 5pm we arrived in Gothenburg. The disembarkation was lengthy, as a ramp broke, which meant it took ages to get off. We had something to eat just outside Gothenburg and filled up the car with diesel, as we headed off east towards Jonkopping.
By now Anna had found our from Olga that her visa was refused as she was single and/or couldn't prove she had sufficient money to sustain herself while in Finland. I thought this a bit ironic, as Olga is the highest earner in Anna's family... Apparently yhr authorities are clamping down on single females' trips outwith Russia.
The worry now for Anna is that her mum and dad will actually come! It seems the booking that Olga made for the transport is perhaps not as definite as had been imagined. If none of her family end up coming, she'll be desperately disappointed. (as will all of us).
Still, we must remain positive.

We got to our very nice Scandic Elmia Hotel in Jonkopping at 8.45pm. Our room here is lovely.


Our hotel.


Sandy and Olivia both had showers and Sandy proclaimed he would love to live here! Tomorrow, a longer drive to Stockholm, and our ferry to Helsinki!

EXTRA: Sweden's geography and appearance is very different to where we live in Scotland. There are forests everywhere. There's no obvious crop farming, yet. Scenic lakes. Quiet and well signposted roads. We stopped for 10 minutes about half an hour before reaching Jonkopping when the sun came out, and quickly found loads of wild strawberries by the roadside- and they had a fantastic taste! Some of the houses along the road look very like Russian dachas.