Day 6 & 7 Askö

Askö is where Agnes carries out research on her mini-mud-monsters.   The monsters in question are a shrimp-like creature, Monoporeia affinis; a worm-like creature, Marenzelleria arctica, and a clam-like creature, Marcoma balthica.  

First we had to catch a boat going to the research station, a sea journey of about 10-15 minutes.   It left early and as the drive to the appointed meeting place was about 40 minutes - we had to leave really early.   The ride was fun, we saw a Sea Eagle in the distance.   The sun was shining and it felt as if we were off on an adventure.

Askö is a wonderfully beautiful island.  Agnes and Doug allocated me a little cabin overlooking the bay.   Now, just a point here, the cabin is gorgeous, 3 little rooms or compartments.   One for study or reading, one for sleeping and a wee kitchen.   Outside was a little veranda.   Bathroom in the main hostel not far away.   The point is when you know the exorbitant prices of property on Sandbanks - even a beach-hut and the reason given is that they are on one of the most desirable beaches and beauty spots in the world - well, frankly they are not.   Not worth the cost and the spot is less beautiful than many I can name offhand, this one included, beat the location hands down.   Here is the sunset view from 'my' veranda and the cottage itself.  

 We treated ourselves to a welcome cup of coffee first and then set about sieving the mud that Agnes had dredged up from the depths of the Baltic previously and catching the creatures to transfer them to specially prepared funnels or beakers and put them back in the cooler.   I won't go into the science of why and how here as I don't think it is of interest to my readers.   If you are interested please ask me for more details ...and I'll refer you to Agnes, the scientist herself!   Just believe me this is quite a fun excuse to play in smelly mud all over again as we did as children.   There were other diversions too, among them a swallow nest with young being fed under the eve of the building close by. 

It is worth mentioning that there are several post-war old bikes near the research station which are used by the researchers to get around the island.   Some of the bikes are very rickety.   Doug and Agnes encouraged me to have a go on one.   I think they chose the most hazardous one with a seat that flew up at the front frequently putting one in danger of damaging one's delicate organs in that region.   It also had steering which was vague to say the least.   However, I proved (to myself as much as anyone) that I could still ride a bike.   Even one with a strange braking system - you have to pedal backwards to brake as there is only a front-brake on the handlebars, and even when a big horsefly settled on my bare neck for a nibble I managed to keep everything more or less under control.   We planned a ride later to a beach on the other side of the island for a swim.

When there was no more I could do to help Agnes and Doug so I went for a walk to explore the island.   It is beautiful.   I found a little sauna snuggled in the trees, looked at some of the plant-life growing on the rocky soil with a notion to try to build a little rock garden at home as a memento of the island and read my book in the sunshine on the verandah. 

Unfortunately the bike ride for a swim was postponed because there was some cooling problem in the cooler Agnes was using so it was too late to go once they had finished sorting it out. 

The next day was a bit fraught to begin with as Agnes received a call about a broken pipe in her house at 04:30 and water flooding it very quickly.   She had to sort the problem out as best she could from the distance.   Her father went to the rescue and things were caught under control but there was damage.  So what with the cooler problem and the plumbing problem we wondered what next.   For the time being all was calm, I spent the morning being utterly lazy, reading, writing and generally relaxing while the two scientists worked.   In no time at all it was lunch time after which there was still time for the bike ride and swim.   This time I chose a bike that was less hazardous and Doug found a spanner to lower the seat so I could reach the pedals.

So off we set and we were doing just fine so long as I dismounted for the cattle grids which were a bit tricky to negotiate.   We peddled through the pretty forest and we were almost at our destination when we approached a cattle grid at the bottom of a hill.   I did slow down, but since the braking system works on peddling backwards you can imagine the moment I stopped peddling to dismount the bike regained momentum, slid on the gravel and I fell off.   Luckily I had slowed down considerably by then and no serious damage sustained to the bike or me - except a gash in my left elbow that cause a little alarm and hastened our departure from the island.   Thank goodness Agnes had completed that phase of her research by then.  The bandage in the photo is my vest, luckily I wore it as I debated whether I should or not.

The wound did need cleaning and 6 stitches so I discovered how the hospital system works in Sweden.   It is efficient but obviously one has to wait for ages especially with such a non-important wound.   Advice to travellers from Britain - please make sure you have travel insurance and your E1-11 card (I think it is called something else now) but it is the card that confirms you can have medical treatment in Europe for only nominal cost.   I was glad mine was still valid.   The Dr who attended my wound was Russian and his English not good so we spent an interesting evening and didn't get 'home' till almost 22:00.  

But all in all - Askö was a definite highlight of a wonderful trip.