SWEDEN - One of the symbols of Sweden is the elk and you will see plenty of them, if not in the wild, then on countless "Elk Crossing" signs along the highways and also in silhouette displayed proudly on the backs of cars.

The landscape in the south of the country features neat green farms with buildings painted brown and roadsides cloaked in wildflowers in shades of pink, blue, purple and white. As a contrast the vast open spaces of the northern part of Sweden (Norrland) include Arctic wilderness where the sparse population of Sami people farm reindeer. One of the industries in the north is copper mining, a by-product of which is the reddish-brown wood preservative house paint used throughout Scandinavia.

Stockholm is a beautiful city, and in summer the sparkling waterways between the fourteen islands on which the city is built are busy with sightseeing boats. The narrow streets and squares of the old town on the island of Gamla Stan are thronged with people. Stockholm has always been a trading port and Gamla Stan has changed little, with lanes and alleys of the Middle Ages where the seamen of old carried their goods. Nearby are the Royal Palace which houses various museums, the Royal Cathedral (the Storkyrkan), Parliament House and the Town Hall (Stadhuset).

At Trelleborg, on the southern tip of Sweden, we enjoyed visiting a reconstructed Viking ring fortress. The island of Öland, linked with a bridge to the mainland, has more than 400 old wooden windmills, most of them built as 3-storey houses which could be turned so the wooden sails could catch the wind.

There are also burial and standing stones from the Stone Age and the burial site and rune stone of a 10C Viking chieftain. At the town of Rök there is an enormous rune stone engraved with intricate verse from the 9C and at Gamla Uppsala three enormous grave mounds of legendary pre-Viking kings.

We saw a section of the Göta canal where a series of 7 locks raise boats 18.8 metres in a short distance. Near Lake Siljan in central Sweden there are a number of villages that hold midsummer night festivities. At the nearby Grönklitt Bear Sanctuary at Orsa free-roaming bears can be safely observed in their natural environment from lookouts and walkways. Near Luleå we visited Gammelstad (Old Town) where a beautiful 15C stone church is surrounded by a "church village" consisting of 425 old wooden cottages painted the traditional dark red-brown. Parishioners from out-lying areas would stay in the cottages when they came to town to attend religious festivals.

Some practical information on Sweden - Sweden is a member of the European Union but not the common European currency (Euro) group. The currency is the Swedish Krona (plural kronor), usually called "crown" in English. The smallest coin is a 50 öre (½ krona) and prices are rounded to the nearest 50 öre. Exchange rate at June ‘99 was 5.65 Skr to A$1. Diesel cost $1.15 to $1.19 per litre and unleaded petrol was $1.46 per litre. There were no road or bridge tolls and travelling is very easy as the roads are good.

Vehicles must have lights on low beam at all times. Don’t worry if you forget to turn them on because the first vehicle you pass will flash its lights to remind you. A lot of the highways have very wide bitumen shoulders and other drivers expect slow traffic to drive as far to the edge of the bitumen as possible (straddling the side white line). They overtake even when there is on-coming traffic and will sound their horns if you are not over far enough.

Supermarket and alcohol prices are very high, similar to in Norway. We had stocked up in Germany, but saw that in Sweden the prices of groceries were 2 to 3 times German prices, meat 3-4 times, and alcohol 6 to 8 times. English is very widely spoken and, as Swedish shares common roots with English, it is surprisingly easy to read a lot of signs. The sign indicating a tourist site is a square with a loop outside on each corner. The sign for a toilet is blue with a symbol in the shape of an "outhouse" with a heart on the door! Internet access is free at public libraries.

The ferry from Helsingborg to Helsingør in Denmark takes 25 minutes and costs A$83 (motorhome + 3 adults). There is no need to book, but avoid the queues on Friday night and weekends. A toll bridge between Malmo and Copenhagen will open mid 2000.

The ferry from Trelleborg to Sassnitz (3 hrs) or Rostock (5½ hrs) approx. A$177 - motorhome + 3 adults. Prices vary between companies, often with night-time and weekend crossings more expensive. You may have to book ½ day ahead in summer. There are 3 companies operating on the Stockholm to Turku (Finland) route that takes 11 hours. Cheapest company is Seawind ($270) but probably booked a month ahead in summer. Viking costs $291 (night more expensive), booked out for 10 days. Silja line costs $335 (night more expensive) but only ½ day wait.

It is very very easy to freecamp in Sweden and water is easy to obtain. There are a lot of good road-side rest areas with free dump points (a separate cubicle in the toilet block) and no overnight restrictions. In Stockholm there is a good place to park on Norr Mälarstrand near the Town Hall. It has shady trees and is very close to Gamla Stan (the old town). The sign quoted a price per hour and a "24 hour price".

FINLAND - The landscape of Finland south of the Arctic Circle is flat and green, covered with pine trees and wildflowers and liberally dotted with lakes. The farms have hay draped on stakes to dry, looking like a platoon of headless soldiers and cows wearing "bras" to keep insects off the udder. The tundra north of the Arctic Circle is rather featureless and sparsely populated with Sami people farming reindeer. In summer there is the spectacle of the midnight sun and constant daylight with temperatures surprisingly high, only cooling down a few degrees near midnight when the sun is near the horizon. Unfortunately another aspect of the brief summer in the north is hordes of annoying mosquitos (take repellent containing "Deet" from home). In winter in the far north the sun does not appear above the horizon for a couple of months resulting in an eerie bluish light and it is possible to see the fantastically beautiful Northern Lights (aurora borealis).

Helsinki is an attractive city and quite small. There are some interesting churches, in particular an Orthodox Cathedral, and a famous waterside market. According to the Police there are some security problems with "Russians" who see tourists as easy pickings.

It is a long way to drive to the southern part of Finland and the ferry from Stockholm is expensive. In my opinion there is not enough to see to warrant the time and expense. We drove southeast across Finland from Tornio (at the northern end of the Gulf of Bothnia) via the Koli National Park near the Russian border. We went by cablecar to one of the few high spots in Finland which gave an expansive view of a wilderness area filled with lakes, islands and pine trees.

From there we drove to Helsinki intending to go to Tallinn in Estonia. We changed our plans and drove westwards to Turku, then right around the Gulf of Bothnia. Once again, a long long way with only a few things to see in Finland on the way. I would suggest a better plan to see the best of Scandinavia is to drive up the western coast of Norway as far as you can (we went to Alta) then eastwards to the Gulf of Bothnia and south to Stockholm. There is quite a lot to see by going north of the Arctic Circle. In Finland there are the Sami people and reindeer, Santa Claus’ house at Rovaniemi and a tiny Orthodox church at Tornio (just before the border crossing). These can be included in the circle route described above.

Some practical information on Finland - Finland (Suomi) is a member of the European Union and also in the European common currency (Euro). The currency is the Markka. Exchange rate (June ‘99) was 3.7 mk to A$1. Supermarkets close to the Swedish border trade in both currencies and will even exchange currency at the going rate with no commission deducted. Supermarket prices are marginally cheaper than in Sweden but still very expensive. With the exception of low alcohol beer, alcohol is sold only at government shops called "Alko". Diesel costs $1.08 per litre, and unleaded petrol $1.60 upwards. Neste brand service stations are more expensive.

Time - Finland is one hour ahead of Sweden and the rest of Europe. There is free internet access at the Neste service stations which have an "On Line" flag out front. Travelling is easy, roads quite good but English is not widely spoken. Freecamping is very easy with no restrictions and water is easy to obtain. For ferry costs refer to the Sweden section.

EASTERN EUROPE - We had planned to travel by ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn, then south through Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic to Austria. We had doubts about the wisdom of travelling in Eastern Europe after a warning from the Helsinki police and then not seeing one other motorhome or "foreign" registered vehicle on the ferry. Our decision was made for us when we arrived in Tallinn and found that we could not travel without the vehicle’s registration papers. The officials advised we would have even more difficulty at the Latvian border but kindly let us through (with provisos) so we walked around Tallinn for the day. We decided to return to Helsinki in the evening but it was not that easy as without rego papers we had great difficulty in getting the motorhome past the border to go on the ferry. We boarded the last ferry with a couple of minutes to spare. On arrival in Helsinki we had further problems with the border guards. We envisaged having to telephone the motorhome owner in Frankfurt to tell him his vehicle was stuck between the Estonian and Finnish border controls. In all our travelling, we have never been supplied with registration papers for a rental vehicle and have never been asked for them before (or since).

I would strongly advise against independent travelling through these Eastern European countries on security grounds - to the traveller as well as his possessions. We only learned how really dangerous it is after we turned back. If you want to see these countries, go on a conducted tour. As for independent travelling in Russia, don’t even think about it.

Evon Anderson