Island Adventures Part 1

    In the weeks before I was planning on arriving in Sweden, I kept a constant watch on the weather there. The forecast seemed to remain a consistent 60 degrees and raining in the weeks leading up to my arrival. When I actually stepped off the plane, I was shocked to see the sun was shining and the temperature was in the mid 70s. Our teammates informed us that this was the first good week of weather they had in Kungsbacka all summer, and it was already late into July. I tried to take advantage of our opportune timing by going down to the harbor as much as I could. It was nice being able to lay out on the grassy spots of the small island in between the rocks, but I soon longed to be out on one of the dozens of boats that were constantly going back and forth from the harbor.
     Luckily, on our day off, Marissa and I were invited out to an island by the owners of the hotel we stay at. They own the hotel on the mainland, but they also rent a few buildings on an island off the coast, about a 20 minute boat ride from the harbor. They take people to the island by a rigid inflatable boat, or RIB boat, which is the type of boat you see used a lot by the military and the coast guard. People generally spend the night on the island for a day or two and then are picked back up by the boat when they are ready to leave. A lot of companies also hold conferences there.
   Our tour guide and captain of the boat for the day was Stefan, who is the owner of the hotel and also the father of Antonia, a girl on our team. On the way to the main island, we stopped near a few smaller islands with lighthouses on them. Stefan told us a story about one of the islands in the 1800's, which was only about 50 yards long and 30 yards wide. The island consisted of a lighthouse operated by 2 men. There was also a small house on the island for the men's 2 families. When the children would play outside they had to tie a rope around their waists so they wouldn't fall into the water. Can you imagine living with close to 12 people in such a small vicinity, and the only way to leave was by boat?

The island that 2 families lived on. Talk about close quarters. 

   Another area we stopped at was a lighthouse located in front of the main island. Right next to it was about a 10 yard section of pebbles that formed a tiny island. Stefan said that at that spot, 2 different water currents collided and pushed the pebbles together. Every time he goes there, the pebble island will change sizes, and at some times of the year it is almost none existent. Then about 10 yards to the left of this little island, the water gets dramatically deeper and is the start of a reef that continues to the main island and then to the other side of the island. The main island is also made up of the same type of rocky pebbles as the tiny island. Stefan said that after the ice from the iceage melted, these rocks remained and came to form the island.

To the right of the lighthouse is the tiny pebble island. Farther back to the right is where the main island begins. 

   Now on this island, there is a lot of history of different lighthouses being built and torn down. It was probably the most vital spot for the lighthouses since the reef stretched out along the coast of the island and caused hundreds of shipwrecks. When the fog was so thick that the lighthouses' signals could not be seen, they would set off 3 cannon shots as a warning for the ships not to come any closer. It took many different men to manages the lighthouses and cannons, so the island was soon populated the families and children. They even needed a teacher to come at one point.

One of the newer lighthouses that operates automatically. 

An example of the rocks that make up the base of the island. Some parts toward the center  of the island managed to start growing grass and other vegetation.

2 of the older lighthouses that are no longer used. We climbed  up the inside and at the very top is  a place where people can sit and hang out with candles and seat cushions. 

Automatic lighthouse. 

A hot tub on the island! 

View of the island from the top of a lighthouse. Way out in the distance you can see  the lighthouse with the tiny pebble island I mentioned earlier. 

  Today, the remaining houses are rented by the hotel, but maintained by the government in order to preserve the original state of the buildings. Half of one of the buildings is rented out to a bird watching association, which tracks birds all year long. A special species of birds originally only known to live in the cliffs of Norway have made their home on this island too. It is the only place they are found in Sweden. They look kind of like seagulls, but have softer features and are much cuter.

This is where most of the birds from Norway live. You can see one in the corner of the middle window of the lighthouse. 

The other stone lighthouse. Marissa and I think that the birds stopped hear on the way back to Norway because the rocky outer structure of the lighthouse reminded them of the rocky cliffs they lived on in Norway.