Lost In Translation
Bjorko – 23rd May
Today we decided to visit the northern islands of Gothenburg’s Archipelago (flash name for a group of islands). You can tour the southern islands from Gothenburg City Central but unfortunately the timetables didn’t suit us. The northern islands allow you to take your car to some of the bigger islands by ferry for free, it is only a short distance, and they run frequently. To get to the smaller islands you can catch the ferry on foot and spend all day island-hopping.
We caught the ferry from Lilla Varholmen to Bjorko and toured the island by car ending up at the northern wharf area where all the pleasure craft berth. There are shops and restaurants, but unfortunately unless you have registered for Swedish parking you can’t really leave your car. To get around this we travelled back down the island, found a community sports ground, and parked in their car park while we went geocaching on the rocks. The photo shows the remains of an old winch for hauling up the herring nets; due to language issues we weren’t even close to finding the cache.
We went back to the ferry landing dock, where you can park for free, to catch the ferry to one of the smaller islands, however they operate on French lunch time hours and there was quite a wait for the next ferry.
We headed back to the mainland for a look around the small portside town from where we had originally left, and again it is pay and park or move on. There are so many people living and working on the northern islands that I guess they have to restrict parking for the locals. There is also a lot of park and ride in the area for those working in Gothenburg.
Our lunch stop today was in the town of Amhult, which has a shopping centre that services the people that live and work in the nearby industrial area, I assume because there is nothing out this way except freight terminals and the port. We almost breached port security going to a wildlife reserve to do a geocache, but the security car and the thought of more mosquito bites deterred us.
Our day hadn’t gone well due to language issues. In Denmark, most of the time, signs and menus are in English and Danish, however in Sweden they are only in Swedish, the words aren’t always predictable and there are many threats of many fines. We spend a lot of time Google translating to make sure we aren’t subject to penalties.
So, back to lunch, we chose our lunch by the cabinet food on display after asking the lady for more details. However after slowly interpreting the menu board, for NZ$20, we could have got a main course of Salmon and potatoes, salad from the buffet table, a slice of dessert cake, bread and butter and something to drink.
Today’s ABBA Tribute is ‘Hovas Vittne’ (1981), this song was sung in Swedish, and as you can see from some of the translated lines below, they don’t always make sense, just like Google translate.
From Hova came
a bon lip. It swung around
Dragging and tearing and twisting
And then gradually
In major and minor
He became richer than a troll
Now his days are filled
Of heavy decisions
Lukas is going out
The bun is to be salted
The sausage is to be cooked
Lukas is to be out
With you at a party
When you sit and enjoy yourself the most
You hear something buzzing
A vacuum cleaner protest
From the Parnasse