After yesterday's busy day, it felt good to have a lazy morning. I thought about poor Dennis and Beenie who had to leave at 4am in order to cross over Lake Vättern and be ready for the 8am start on the other side! It was bright and sunny as well and that always cheers us up. We had breakfast out in the cockpit, savouring the warmth and watching the charming little water birds (I think they were some kind of dwarf grebe) bobbing in the water for their own breakfast. Doesn't the sunshine make a huge difference?




The tourist bureau is located in the harbour area, so I went there and collected my usual armful of brochures and maps and we had a look to see what we could do for the next couple of days. Lars-Göran spent his time trying yet again to get the wireless internet connection to work on the boat. This is one of the harbours that advertises that their wireless netwok can be used by guest boats, but after many frustrating hours, he could still not get it to work. I am not keen that he spends too much more time on it. While the idea of being able to check up on email and update our blogs from the boat is great, it is not essential and certainly not worth getting all hot and bothered about. A couple of years ago we had the same problem when we tried out internet via our mobile phone - it rarely worked and caused a lot of tearing out of hair and gnashing of teeth. So I advised him to put it all away, forget about it and instead come along with me and look at the motor museum located just down the pier.




Like South Australia's very own National Motor Museum at Birdwood, the Motala Motor Museum is a veritable eldorado for anyone who has the slightest interest in cars as well as nostalgia. You can see cars and motorbikes as well as radios, camera and office equipment in their own historical environment. One fascinating display contained a complete model of an auto repair shop from the 1930´s. The car that really caught my eye was an amusing car-boat from the 1940's.




We spent an enjoyable afternoon wandering around the well laid out exhibits. For Lars-Göran, it was a trip down Sweden's memory lane, with so many sights and sounds that he recalled from his childhood and youth. It was all so well preserved and beautifully laid out, complete with articles from the same era to give the exhibits some sense of authenticity and historical perspective.




It had rained while we were in the museum, but I was happy to see that it was a passing summer thunderstorm only and that when we emerged the town was bathed in sunshine once again. We set off for a walk along the canal banks, admiring the buildings along the way. We went as far as the grave of Baltzar von Platen, the man who largely deserves the credit for the construction of the Göta Kanal. Following completion in 1800 of Trollhätte Canal (which links the North Sea and Lake Vänern), it was von Platen who revived the old idea of linking Lake Vänern with the Baltic Sea, giving Sweden a complete waterway from west to east.

Under his supervision, work began in 1810 and was carried out by 58,000 soldiers using only pickaxes, spades and wheelbarrows. Unfortunately, von Platen died three years before the project was completed, but as a mark of respect, vessels sound their sirens twice when passing his grave which is in a grove of trees beside the canal.

The yellow building you see here is the head office of the Götal Kanal company which houses a museum of the history of the canal.




The canal continued to be used commercially for about 100 years and resulted in economic benefits for the nearby communities but, as road and rail transport blossomed and captured an increasing share of goods transport, the canal became more a focus for leisure boats.

We crossed over one of the bridges and looked at the old lock keeper's cottages. From here you can easily see the guest harbour across the canal, with "Fiona" moored in the right of the picture.




As in several other towns along the canal route, the old lock keeper's cottage here in Motala is now a café. The very popular Två Små Hus (Two Small Houses) is a café specialising in ice cream and therefor a "must see" as far as Lars-Göran is concerned. During the season the place is packed, but today it was fairly quiet and we could study the menu at our leisure. This was just as well as they had a whole book of various ice cream creations and we were so spoiled for choice and the combinations were so interesting and creative that it took ages before we decided which ones we would order.





It was delicious and a nice way to round off the afternoon. We later went up to the main town to shop for fresh vegetables and to buy some more wine as well as to wander around the older area near the church and harbour. We are off in the morning towards the town of Vadstena, which lies on the eastern shore of Lake Vättern and around 12 nautical miles from here.

As we were leaving the harbour area, I spotted a sailing boat that caused me to stop in my tracks - check it out and you will see why.




Aussies will of course recognise both the boat's green and gold colours and the very distinctive Australian name. For others, the reason I was surprised is that "Kirribilli" is a North Shore harbourside suburb of Sydney. The name comes from an aboriginal word Kiarabilli which means "good fishing spot" and the suburb is one of Australia's oldest and most established, containing places like Kirribilli House (the Sydney residence of the Prime Minister), Admiralty House (the Sydney residence of the Governor General) and the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron. To say that I was rather surprised to see a yacht with this name moored in the middle of Sweden is something of an understatement. Unfortunately there was nobody around, so I never found out the story behind the boat, but I was quite intrigued.




And so it is farewell to Motala and the eastern section of Göta Canal. For the next few days we are taking a break from canals and spending some time on Sweden's second largest lake - hopefully sailing rather than motoring along and that will make a welcome change.