Hi guys, Those of you that follow me on social media may have noticed that we took a little trip up to the gorgeous mountains in Hemavan a couple of weeks back...let me tell you all about it !!
Our favourite places to visit in England was the Lake District. We have always been fans of the great outdoors and loved hiking the glorious mountains and vast rolling landscape scattered with monumental ice age rocks and gushing waterfalls. But here, in North sweden it's pretty flat and whilst still very beautiful in so, so many ways, we missed seeing undulations and great big whacking mountains that surprise you as you drive around a bend in a winding country road ( I should add that there are also a lot of Loooooong, straight roads here too!).
And so we decided to book a last minute trip to the very beautiful Lapland Mountains of Hemavan, a five hour road trip from our house, heading north west towards the Norwegian border.
So, car packed and dog loaded up we set off. Kya settled pretty well after half an hour or so only to give a bark as we passed these beautiful creatures. Our first sighting of reindeer this winter. They seem to really love hanging out at the side of the road or indeed slap bang in the middle of it !! And they also have absolutely no sense of urgency so can make driving a little trickier. I will quite happily sit for an age waiting for them to pass, I think they are wonderful. Swedes however tend to find them to be pests slowing down their journey and don't always share my enthusiasm...Probably a bit how I felt getting stuck behind a herd of cows back in England!
We stopped for lunch in a lovely place called Malå and as I took Kya for a stroll I could certainly feel the drop in temperature compared to back home. Infact, the lake we walked by was beginning to freeze over.
Refreshed and on our way we headed on with our journey passing the most beautiful scenery, quaint churches, cosy wooden houses and lakes and forest galore, until finally we reached our Air BNB in Hemavan, a stunning apartment situated at the ski resort Hemavan Tarnaby. If anyone would like the details for the apartment we stayed in drop me a message. Once unloaded we headed out to stretch our legs with a walk and to explore where we were staying.
Not 2 minutes walk from the apartment and our eyes were greeted by the most amazing emerald green waters and rushing rapids, with huge mountains as a backdrop !! We hung around here for quite a while just enjoying being in such stunning surroundings !
Over the next couple of days we had lazy lie ins, big breakfasts and walks out in the fresh air ! We felt the first snowflakes flutter on our noses and lashes and stood beneath glorious skies of blue and green as lady Aurora danced above our heads.
We walked a part of Kungsleden (The kings trail) which should you follow it for 400km you would end up in Abisko ...named the best place place ever to see the Aurora as they very rarely get cloud there!!
We sheltered in wooden huts and drank steaming tea and polarbread with cheese and chunks of chocolate and we rested in cafes eating delicious cakes and marshmallow topped hot chocolates.
We played board games and watched movies, we sat on huge rocks and stared into space or watched the majestic beauty that was right outside our window.
It was such a lovely break and exactly what we needed. I consider myself very lucky to have a life that I don't seek to have a break from. I am not constantly thinking of the next getaway or escape as I absolutely love where we live and our home in all its beautiful countryside surroundings. But I think we can all agree that a change from the every day does us all good. A different set of scenery and four new walls gives us permission to slow down, to rest and take stock, to chat and laugh together. And to moan that our legs ache or we are hungry and need hot chocolate !!
I took a gazillion photographs whilst we were away, too many to share on here but i will leave you with just a few to browse through.
Of course I also took a little time to draw and paint with the girls .. that was a great way to relax too, just laying everything out on the table and not worrying how it turned out !
I drew an illustration to remind me of the vast, peaceful place that we had the pleasure of spending some time in... I hope you like it !!
Fabulous