Spring (summer?) came quickly here in southern Sweden. While the temperatures still drop below freezing on occasional nights, the day time temperature rise to above 20° C. I’ve been waiting for a chance to take the canoe out for a paddle, and last  weekend I put it in the water for the first time of 2019.

All of the family, except my oldest daughter, joined me, and we drove to Tolgasjön. Near the peninsula where I’ve been camping with C the last few times, there’s a perfect parking spot, wide enough for a few cars. We parked there, walked out to the far end of the peninsula to make some coffee before we put the canoe in the water.

The farmers had been fertilizing their fields, so every time there was a breeze, the air was filled with the sour smell of what I think was pigs manure. Other than that, it was perfect.

The weather was warm and sunny, and most of the times we only had a slight breeze. Perfect paddling weather.

We paddled to an island in the lake, where C and I had camped in November last year. It was almost dinner time, but when we walked up to the nice sunny area where we planned to lay out the cellfoam mats and make dinner, a Canada goose started yelling. It stood up, trying to look big, and shrieked endlessly. Another goose flew in too. We saw that it had a nest with eggs in it, so we decided to move away, and make dinner further away from in. It calmed down, but kept looking at us.

The rest of the afternoon we did as little as possible. The kids played by themselves most of the times, and enjoyed the simple pleasures of throwing sticks and stones in the water. Maria, my wife, rolled out the sleeping mat on a cliff an dozed off in the sun, while I hung up the hammock between two trees next to the kids and relaxed in the sun.

We had a really relaxing time. Apart from the occasional airplane passing above us, we didn’t here much man-made sounds. The wind blew through the trees, but when it died down it was absolutely quite. When you live in the city, where there’s constant sounds of traffic, dogs, sirens, music and people, getting out in nature and get this sort of tranquility is really remedy for the soul.

Eventually it was time to pack up though. I would have loved to stay overnight, but this was only a day trip.

We made coffee one last time, before we put on our life vests and packed the canoe again. We slowly paddled back towards the car, on the calm beautiful lake.

It was a nice day trip, and I’m really glad I bought a canoe. It makes it so much easier to find secluded beautiful spots near home. Småland is littered with lakes, filled with small islands like this, perfect for short getaways.

We’ll see when I’ll get out on a canoe camping trip again. But I’d really like to get out on a trip again soon.