Siljansnaes: happy days by the lake

Lake Siljan is really very very large.  In fact we thought we'd arrived already when we were about 9nm away from the airfield, only to discover that what we had thought to be the lake was just an inlet....  It is the preferred holiday destination of people from the south of Sweden (in which I include Stockholm), and despite many dire warnings about mosquitos was really very comfortable with good weather.

The wonderful lichen on the redcurrant tree warns of good rainfall...

We arrived just as their annual 2 week fly-in 'Crayfish days' was beginning, so it was all action with a wacky flying theatre show involving a couple of small bi-planes planned and lots of preparation. 

Not the flying theatre, but maybe future pilots???  We loved these pedal-planes.

The location is really idyllic, and the air-park reallly very tempting.  We just have to work out how we can combine living there for part of the year with a Europe based business. We met a large number of really interesting people who live at the airpark (at least part of the year) and the entire place has a very congenial atmosphere.

These kit houses not only look traditional, they're also remarkably quick to put up, now if only the weather were appropriate for such a building in Hervey Bay!

traditional Leksand wind indicator

Lovely plots facing onto the runway

We ended up spending most of our time socialising (I nominated myself as the official waffle taste tester for the trial cooking runs for the fly-in), so didn't get out and about too much.  We rode into the nearby town of Leksand one day which was a really beautiful ride, especially on the way back along the lake (we managed to take the main road on the way in), the route took us through a lot of beautiful little villages and the site of the largest half-pipe in Sweden.  I was surprised at one point by the strong smell of wook permeating the air, apparently from one guy chopping his winter wood supply.... Then we came around the corner and saw the sign to the sawmill.

Leksand crispbread on sale in the Leksand supermarket

Traditional style building in the ski-area, note red colour from rot-inhibiting copper paint