Sweden and norway 8 to 22 june 2022

A Scandinavian nature trip.

It has been some 20 years since Bee Choo and I last had a holiday together - just the two of us! If you don't believe me, look above at

Hong Kong (Feb 2001) and Andaman Hotel, Langkawi, Malaysia (Jan 2002), the last trip being our de facto honeymoon. After Mark came later in 2002, we either took him along or Bee Choo and I travelled on our own.

As you know, I love Alaska and I still feel I owe Bee Choo a road-trip on the Dalton Highway up to the Arctic Ocean, we cancelled that part of our

Alaska 2008 visit because we had limited time and the poxy Rent-a-Wreck I was driving at the time wasn't quite up to the challenge. But this year we will do something slightly less ambitious: A trip to the North, yes, but to Sweden/Norway this time, a presumably less demanding environment, so I expect. We will start at the Runde, Norway Atlantic bird cliffs and spend some time exploring Sonfjallet in Sweden. This is the planned schedule, there are some details below.

The great plan

Runde and I go back some 51 years!

In fact, I allude to this in the opening chapter of my book The Ethical Investor's Handbook (Marshall Cavendish, 2018). Here I use Runde as a case story of the decline in biodiversity, not just in the tropical rainforests and mangroves of the over-populated global South, but right in the heart of civilized, prosperous northern Europe.

In 1971 I visited Runde in late June right after graduating from high school. At that time you had to take a ferry to the island, and there were no restrictions regarding access to the bird cliffs; in fact I didn't see many other people on the island that year. I have heard that sea bird numbers have come down since then throughout the North Atlantic region, but it will still be fun to see the place today and compare.

The island of Runde.

Runde is just about 2x3 km in size, so 2-3 days there should be enough for Bee Choo and me to see what the island has to offer. Most of the birds will be on the steep west coast, I am not sure how much is open to the public during the breeding season or how crowded it will be. Check out the 'Bird Cliffs 1971' chapter for details about my first visit.

Sonfjallet NP, Jamtland, Sweden.

I have been to Sweden a number of times, as you can see in the chapters above (1961-1973 and such), but never to the Sonfjallet National Park. The spelling varies from source to source, I will stick with the 'o' spelling. The latitude is about 62 degrees North, i.e. equivalent to half-way between Anchorage and Fairbanks in Alaska, in other words: The Boreal Forest belt habitat. The park is about 10x10 km, it is surrounded by roads and has marked trails, so unlike the Brooks Range you cannot get lost (see Alaska 2021 for details!). I picked this place because the hiking looks manageable and there is a good variety of habitats such as lakes, mixed woodlands and some high country. There are mammals like Brown Bear, Moose and Lynx; I couldn't find a bird list online, Bee Choo and I will make our own!

Itinerary and budget.

We have flights and wheels arranged but didn't book any accomodation; we will camp and find rooms as we move along. The $272 extra charge is for reserved window seats - that expense is worth it to me! The SEK and NOK are nice and low to the SGD at the moment! The itinerary is flexible, Bee Choo wanted a day sightseeing in Stockholm on the way back. Sorry family (in Norway and Denmark ...), we couldn't fit in a family link, it is enough driving as it is; Bee Choo works full time, we could only be away two weeks. Next time!

Re-cycling my Alaska gear.

My packing list is much like the one I used in the Brooks Range last year. We hope to camp for a few nights in Sonfjallet, weather permitting, but the hiking will be less taxing of course. If you keep walking in one direction you will get out of the park in 1/2 day! This is just a chance for Bee Choo and me to spend some quality time together in Nature!

If my legs perform as I hope they will, I will do a longer hike back in Alaska next year, 2023!?

Wheels arranged!

We have reserved a small family saloon auto for the duration, it should be enough to take us over the Norwegian hills to the Scandinavian west coast and back.

As it turned out, when we got to Arlanda, we didn't get a Toyota Corolla, but a 'similar' model, which turned out to be a Hyundai Hybrid Plug-in of some sort. The car included a bunch of electric cables which I never used; I have no idea how this plug-in nonsense works, and I am not really interested in sucking the Swedish power grid dry. The car performed OK on the trip though, we ended up putting 2,515 km on the clock, and dealing with Budget/Avis was very easy - I love easy!

So that was the plan; below you can see what really happened.

An executive Summary of highlights

Runde island

My main target for the trip was Sonfjallet; but Bee Choo wanted to include a North Atlantic bird cliff island in the itinerary, mainly to see the Atlantic Puffins. Here she is in Runde looking at them. That day, Day 4, 11 June, was one of the best of my life: Seeing her enthusiasm and sheer happiness while watching the puffins and the other sea birds was worth every penny I spent on the trip.

I cannot play guitar, and I cannot sing or write songs like Eric Clapton. But if I could, I would write something like:

And then I tell her
As we head back okay
I say, "My darling you were wonderful today"
"Oh, my darling, you were wonderful today"

The star bird of Runde

And here it is, the bird that has captured so many people's imagination and heart: The Atlantic Puffin Fratercula arctica. Photo Ng Bee Choo. When I visited Runde the first time, in June 1971, I was the only one on the cliffs for a week. It turned out, that today a regular eco-tourism industry has sprung up on the island and hundreds of visitors walk up every day, mainly to see the Puffins. In the evening, tens of thousands of Puffins come in from the sea, they swerve around and land on the upper parts of the bird cliffs to roost in their burrows.

Another star: The Northern Gannet

As I will cover in more detail later, most of the sea birds in Runde have crashed since the 1970s, numbers have declined dramatically and some have virtually disappeared. But not the Gannet, they are doing fairly well, thank you. Here is Bee Choo's photo of the core congregation of Gannets on the cliffs, close-up at nest, a sight worth travelling a few thousand miles to see, right?

And the star mammal: A young Moose

It was only Day 2, 9 June, we had just crossed into Norway, when Bee Choo spotted this animal deep down in one of the river valleys. "I think it was just a Moose", she said. I said: "Just a Moose?!! Do you know I have lived two years in this country, visited countless other times, and I have never seen a Moose here?". I slammed the brakes and doubled back, Bee Choo took this photo from the road of a young bull feeding on the wet plants. It was the only Alces alces we saw on the trip! Somewhat confusingly called the Eurasian Elk in Europe, while the Red Deer is called Elk in North America!

Hiking across Sonfjallet

Just like I had expected, Sonfjallet National Park was ideal for beginner-to-medium level hiking. All the trails were well marked, there were clear signage at the major trail junctions, you could never get lost, in any weather, and our weather was good (mainly ...). Here Bee Choo is on Day 8, 15 June, coming out of the forested zone; we made it to the barren peak in the background by circling around the mountain, two days later.

A local star: The Reindeer

Day 9, 16 June; just as we were about to set up camp, a small herd of Reindeer, Caribou to the Americans, came out on the mountain hill-side; Bee Choo captured this nice bull (I think ... Reindeer is the only deer in the world where both sexes grow antlers!). Brown Bear with cubs had been seen off 'our' trail the week before, but we didn't find that one - not for lack of looking around for it though! Some 20 bears roam the park, and they even come into the buffer zones and the villages around it now and then. But we enjoyed seeing the Reindeer, they came out well again the next day. At Sonfjallet, the Reindeer are not domesticated, they live wild off the land.

Camping off trail

At Sonfjallet you can camp and build a fire anywhere you like. This is our second campsite near a beautiful small stream with the poorest water you can imagine. It rained heavily that night, but my tent is double-layered and well built. At 2.7 kg it is a bit on the heavy side, but when I hike I value a good, comfortable night's rest! Bee Choo was good at finding accomodation for us from day to day during the whole trip - she even had a nose for soft, level and picturesque campsites!

At the peak!

Trekking for three days around the mountain, we made it to the top 17 June. I put my camera on a rock to take this obligatory selfie with auto-release, the back-drop is looking east across the forested parts of the reserve. The elevation is 1,250 m.a.s.l.; strictly speaking the peak a km or so to the south is 28 m higher, but the view from here is better, so most people go to this one!

My Stockholm favorite!

From Sonfjallet we made our way south, back into more urban parts of Sweden. Since Bee Choo had accompanied me on what I wanted to do: Backpacking 10-12 km per day in sun and rain and across 1,200+ meter elevation rocky mountains, I accepted her suggestion, and so we added an extra day sightseeing in Stockholm before our flight home. Right, the grand parliament and royal buildings were OK, as were the funny narrow streets of the old part of town. But for me, this Great Crested Grebe, excellently captured with a young on is back by Bee Choo, won the prize as the sighting of the day!

Stockholm Day 14, Tuesday 21 June 2022

This was the longest day of the year in Sweden in 2022. We spent the whole day in endless sunshine sightseeing in the city, and at the end of it I was as exhausted as if I had been backpacking on the trails all day! Another guest kindly took this photo of Bee Choo and me having dinner next to a tidal canal, before heading back to our hotel near the airport north of town.

Border crossing Norway/Sweden

This is what it looks like driving from Sweden into Norway, Day 2, 9 June 2022. Near Eda on E2 toward Kongsvinger. Not much of a check-point; but they do watch it, because just as Bee Choo took this photo with her phone, a border cop pulled up and asked us politely what we were doing there!? We played the naive tourists from Asia and avoided getting arrested!

I have been asked if it is right to visit NATO and EU countries in these times, while they are ganging up to destroy Russia in a senseless and unprovoked assault, using poor Ukraine as a proxy. Right, I can sympathize with that view, but personally I believe we should ALL be friends, even with the Scandinavian failed states!

The final itinerary and expenses

As you can see, if you compare this final version of events with the original plan, we pretty much did what we set out to do. Maybe we didn't camp as many night as I had expected, but staying in those rural cabins with shower and kitchen was OK as well, for both of us.

As it turned out, we were under budget on most items, partly because of the ridiculously low NOK/SEK exchange rate to our base currency, the Singapore Dollar. Rather than take the near-worthless funny-money back, we spent most of our excess cash as we left each country, therefore the 'supplies & gifts' item was a bit more than expected!

Getting there, Day 1 to Day 3: 8-10 June

Throughout my life I have avoided going to the Middle East! This place is great if you like sand and people, but if you like me prefer greenery, no!

Stopover in Dubai 8 June. Even the phoney leaf-like development built with all that oil money doesn't impress me. Nothing of interest here.

The archipelago surrounding Stockholm seen from the approach to Arlanda Airport; a pretty myriad of islands and rocks.

My high-accuracy interpretation of Scandinavian topography. The site names and road numbers will turn up now and then in the captions below.

Day 1. The traffic west on E18 was pretty horrible; Bee Choo found this 'hotel' online and we stayed for the night, it was about US$ 70 - cash only!

I forget the name now, the other rooms were occupied by refugees! But the surroundings were nice and during a morning walk this Fieldfare came out.

runde re-visited, Day 3-6

It was a bit odd for me, going back to Runde after 51 years; Bee Choo captures the occasion!

This is the 'new' bridge from a better angle, it was put in 1982. The next day, 11 June, I walked to the southern tip of Runde to get this view.

Runde is only 6 sq km, so we could quickly check it out. There is a campground at Goksoyr, but we preferred rooms at Christineborg.

This is Christineborg seen from the west, rooms were about US$130/night. The owner, Arnold, was expanding and did most of the work himself!

We wasted no time, and the first evening on Runde we did a 1-hr boat tour around the coast. These are the bird cliffs seen from the water.

The weather was not the best; we had drizzling rain, but the seas were calm and Bee Choo enjoyed herself.

But before we move on ... some numbers

What a difference 1/2 century makes

There is SO MUCH misinformation out there about the birds in Runde and their actual numbers. Staff at the Runde Environmental Centre told me that they have tried to put it right, but the old numbers keep popping up on Wikipedia, Visit Norway and other important sites. So, I took it upon myself to help them! Having met Dr Brun myself and read his articles in Sterna (The journal at the time of the Norwegian Ornithological Society), I compare those with the numbers the Runde staff provided in 2022, as well as my own observations and impressions.

back into sweden, Day 6-7

The resort above is called Hjerkinn Fjellstue, US$ 160 per night, but it was worth it. Near the famous Dovrefjell NP, a high mountain plateau.

The Norwegians tried to mine Dovrefjell but failed, so they made it into a national park instead. We walked to a viewpoint inside the reserve.

See the river far behind Bee Choo? I don't know how, but she found this (reintroduced) Muskox in front of it - 1/2 mile away! She even got a photo.

Day 7, 14 June, we have breakfast in front of the picturesque backdrop of Hjerkinn Fjellstue.

Before heading out on the roads, we stretch our legs on a morning walk to the tree line behind the hotel.

The morning chorus of song birds in the northern woods this time of year is beautiful. The Willow Warbler was everywhere. Photo Bee Choo.

Backpacking across sonfjallet national park, day 8-10

Day 8, 15 June, finally here ... doing what I love to do: hike thru the woods. Once on the trail, that day Bee Choo and I didn't see another person!

We walked from the northern entry point, Nyvallen, clockwise around the mountain, the first day through this forested area seen later from the summit.

No, we never saw a Moose in Sweden, but there were plenty of signs of them in the wooded parts of Sonfjallet.

The only non-bird vertebrate animal we saw on the first day was this frog; a Common Frog Rana temporaria I have been told.

Later in the day, the well-marked trail took us back west, up and out of the tall-tree zone.

We reached this wet patch, seen here from the summit two days later.

heading back south, day 11-12

18 June: On the way out of the high country, we stopped at Saarfjallet north of Hede and Sonfjallcampen. But the weather had turned mean!

We had planned a day-hike in to pick up some mountain birds we missed at Sonfjallet; but it was too cold and miserable for Bee Coo - and for me!

So we turned around and headed south on Highway 84, stopping at Linsellsjon; the weather had cleared up by then.

We added five new species to our bird list here, including this Common Ringed Plover that we (incredibly!) never saw along the Norwegian coast!?

And two new sandpipers, this is the Wood Sandpiper in nice summer plumage.

The Northern Lapwing is not common in Sweden, but Bee Choo captured this one on the other side of Linsell Lake with her incredible camera.

Uppsala and stockholm, day 12-14

Driving on Highway 84 was nice, wide open road. Look at this old watermill along the way. Swedish drivers are courteous and give you a lot of space.

We stopped for lunch at this abandoned school, now a well-maintained restaurant and antique shop. The owner said he had seen Wolverine nearby!?

On the way, Bee Choo got this shot of a Canada Goose daycare centre. Canada? What is this one doing in Sweden? Right, invasive, like the rest of NATO.

This is the authentic Scandinavian goose you should see here: Greylag; a communal family group off Norway Day 3, 10 June. Is Greylag being displaced?

As we headed south, the pleasant 84 turned into the busy E4; driving became less fun. Bee Choo found this stop-over place, Botanica Hotel, Uppsala.

400 km south of Linsell and 15 m elevation, Uppsala was HOT! Dinner at Cafe Linne. Our room overlooking Linne's garden. It is all about Carl von Linne