Archipelago trip photos

Sorry it has taken so long to get these pictures up on the blog from our trip to the Lulea Archipelago... I just finally got the pictures from Tyler on our picture exchange the other night. Enjoy!

About a month ago now, we took an amazing day trip via boat to the island of Kluntarna (part of the Archipelago near Lulea). The weather was absolutely gorgeous. It was a sunny Saturday in September, with a slight breeze, and temperatures in the low 60's.

It took us approximately 90 minutes to reach our destination from the port in downtown Lulea. As soon as we stepped off the boat, we started exploring this beautiful island.

There were these awesome "boardwalk" type paths throughout most of the island that enabled us to get around easily while not getting completely lost as we roamed about. They definitely weren't the sturdiest thing I've ever walked on, but what can you expect from a volunteer maintained island?

From the top of a hill on the island, you could see some of the other nearby islands in the Archipelago. There are over 700 islands of varying sizes within about three and a half kilometers (about 2 miles). I wish I could take an entire summer and do nothing but explore all of them!

I think that the rock formations, the views, and the woods were very reminiscent of the North Shore. I believe that's why I enjoyed the scenery so much. It was just like being on a camping trip with my family back in Minnesota.

See what I mean? Gorgeous.

The only thing that really had no resemblance to Minnesota what-so-ever was the ground. There wasn't just the usual grass with patches of dirt and rocks... there was all sorts of colorful vegetation instead.

Here is a picture of a "labyrinter" we found. These were made by people over the years who have traveled or settled here, and can be found scattered around the entire archipelago. According to an informational site about the islands, "The concentration of labyrinths in the Norrbotten archipelagos is the largest in the world." 

We also found and climbed an old watch tower that was used during World War II to spot planes as they flew over the islands.

You can't really tell from the pictures, because they don't do it justice, but it was quite the climb to the top! And it was scary getting up there and even more scary coming back down. But at least they had the triangle cage around the ladder... it was kind of comforting knowing if anyone HAD fallen, at least they wouldn't have died. They just might have broken a few bones and lost a few teeth...

We ran into some locals from Lulea who decided, since it was such a beautiful day, to take their yacht out for the afternoon and pick some berries in the archipelago. Doesn't that sound just rough? Yeah, I thought so too.

But they were actually very nice people and they even showed us what plants grew lingon berries and how to distinguish the real blueberries from other berries that are blue but don't taste nearly as good.

And so, we picked berries. It was delightful.

After picking berries, we joined the rest of the exchange students so Ryan and Tyler could partake in the wood-burning sauna.

There was, in true Lulea exchange student fashion, mostly guys in the sauna of course. Shannon and I decided to pass. Something about mass quantities of sweaty guys in close quarters just didn't appeal to us. Also, the whole cooling off in the ice cold water with said sweaty guys didn't sound too great either. But apparently it did to Ryan and Tyler.

And then, after a full afternoon of exploring, we took the boat back home.

Shannon and I both slept a majority of the way back. It was an exhausting day! Thankfully, the boys took one for the team by staying awake to get these great pictures.







Well.. there ya have it folks! Some scenic pictures from the beautiful country where we have the opportunity to reside this year.

Coming up next... our explorations of Malmo, Sweden and Copenhagen, Denmark!


Peace, Love, and Swedish Meatballs!!!
-The Bogarts