Month: June 2009

Thredbo in New South Wales, Australia, looks very much like a ski resort in the European Alps. It is situated at the foot of Mount Kosciuszko, the highest peak in Australia with its 2228 meters.
It was late autumn when I was there and it was getting quite chilly. On 2000 meters the wind was very cold and you had to find a sheltered spot if you wanted to stay for a snack. But of course it was worth it because the view were outstanding.

I stayed at the YHA in Thredbo, which was one of my favorite hostels in Australia. It was a hostel where you wanted to hang around the kitchen and the common area. It was actually cozy! The personnel was also lovely and very helpful when I was planning my hikes.

Because of the season the hostel was more or less empty and I got a 4 bed room all to myself. Nice! It was also the favorite room of the receptionists’ daughter, a 7 or so year old who also showed me the way. I can see why she liked it and so can you in the picture.

Nai’a means dolphin in Hawaiian and that was the name of the dive boat I spent 7 days on in Fiji. This was the most luxurious liveaboard I have been on (they even offered turn down service). I had my own cabin which was about the same size as the one I share with 3 other girls on the boat in Australia. The crew was great, all were very nice people and they were singing and playing for us in the evenings. Of course they also arranged a kava party which is absolutely necessary when in Fiji. Kava is the local alternative to alcohol which they seem to consume enormous amounts of although no one actually likes it. And it does taste awful.

Kava party.

The boat was very spacious and we were only 13 divers onboard. We were divided into two groups and dove from two skiffs which went to different dive sites. This was very nice compared to the Spirit of Freedom in Australia when 25 divers were dumped in the water at the same spot.

The diving was very similar to diving on the Great Barrier Reef with three exceptions; the colors were more vibrant in Fiji, there were lots of soft corals and the fish were generally smaller (everything in Australia seemed to be on steroids). What I enjoyed the most were the colors, I have never seen anything like it. By the end of the dives I often backed off from the reef a little to just watch the colors and the enormous amounts of small fish on the shallower parts of the reefs.

Lovely soft coral. Photo: Marcus Carlberg.

Kansas. Photo: Marcus Carlberg

We dove in general four times a day (three day dives and one dusk dive) and were fed with the most amazing food in between dives. I easily got used to the second brekkie, what a great thing…

Me! Photo: Marcus Carlberg.

Once again I had great luck with my buddy, Marcus, an instructor with a lot of diving experience and a camera. 🙂 He was travelling with friends, Hana and Harry, and we had lots of fun during the entire week. Thanks, buddies! All underwater photos posted here are taken by Marcus.

Harry, Hana, me and Marcus

I can really recommend diving on the Nai’a in Fiji. It was definately one of the best diving trips I have made.

Pygme seahorse. This one was ridiculously small, it is much easier to see what it is in the picture than in real life. Photo: Marcus Carlberg.

Photo: Marcus Carlberg.

There were lots of clown fish around. Photo: Marcus Carlberg.

Cool nudibranch. Photo: Marcus Carlberg.

During my absence they decided to redecorate my subway station, Thorildsplan, in Stockholm. Before, the walls used to feature quotations from the exiled Swedish 18th century poet, Thorild, who named the place. A lot of streets and places in this area are named after Swedish poets like Lidner, Runius, Fröding, Stagnelius, Almqvist and many more.

Now, it has become an arcade game from the 1980’s… I can not say I do not like it, it is a little cute. The architecture of the station with its stairs and different levels is very suitable for it. It is definately a big change in theme from before.

Looking out the window from my sisters guest room made me think about different places I have visited and the view from where I have been staying. It was not difficult to come to think of a few favourites, like the YHA in Threadbo, the Grand Hyatt in Seoul, the cruise boat in Galapagos and so on. I will try and find pictures of the best bedroom views I have had during my trips and I am starting with this one:

The lovely view from my sisters guest room in Luleå. Always when I visit here I end up spending a lot of time looking out the window and I know I have several pictures of exactly this view. This picture is taken close to midnight on Midsummer Eve 2009.

It is Midsummer weekend and I am visiting my sister Viktoria and her husband Janne in Luleå in the northern part of Sweden. The 21st June is the longest day of the year and even though we are south of the Arctic Circle it does not really get dark because the sun only goes down for a short while. The picture is taken around 11 pm when we were finishing dinner. The light up here during summer is simply spectacular. I love watching the sun go down while having tea after dinner and see it rise before finishing the next drink. I am having a great midsummer much thanks to my hosts, you guys are priceless! Thank you!

In 2017 it will not necessarily be as nice to arrive by train to Stockholm from the south as it is today. Just before you arrive at the Central Station the train exits a tunnel and all of sudden you can see the central part of Stockholm. The view is really spectacular, to your left is Riddarfjärden and the City Hall and to the right the old town. Especially if arriving in the late afternoon when the light makes the facades glow in the sun light it is magical. However the two available tracks are limiting the traffic and the work to build a tunnel under Riddarfjärden to extend the capacity has just started. So it will then be important to get on the right train that will give you the view, but how are you supposed to know? I wonder if they will mark the trains with a view in the timetable…

Working at Riddarfjärden