Puplett Family Trip to Sweden (6 Dec - 23 Jan 2022) - 1 - Flights and Arrival

 After our planned holiday to Sweden in 2020 was cancelled due to Covid-19, we had been waiting to have a chance to head back to Malmö.

The trip had gone through a few permutations, initially we had planned a few weeks in Malmo and then a drive into Germany and France, but the only real time we could get free around work was in the Christmas holidays, so it was going to be pretty cold and dark. We thought the best way to take advantage of this was to lean into it and so we booked the trip instead to be a drive up to Kiruna in the north of Sweden and then a drive down through Finland. This would give us a good chance at the Northern Lights, as well as getting to experience plenty of snow.  We had never been further north in Sweden than Östersund, so we though it would be a good idea to head that way and see more of Sweden. The drive is a long one, about 24 hours (similar to Adelaide to Perth), so we planned a few stops along the way.

We needed to make sure that we had suitable cold weather clothes, jackets and some decent sleeping bags/quilts in case we had issues with the car on the way up and needed to keep warm.  It was difficult/expensive to get these in Australia, so we would need to hunt them down in Sweden before we went.  To add a further complication, we also found out that we had been selected to return to Sweden in March for another 18 month expat assignment, so we needed to plan around that also.

So, of course, we took things easy leading up to the trip.... Anyone who knows us, knows that is a joke.  I caught Covid the week before and luckily got a clear result just before we were due to travel, well actually just before the Offspring concert that I attended the night before we flew out (I did make sure that I had a clear result and had completed quarantine before I attended):

We had packed that day and organised for Kristine's parents to look after the house while we were away (as it would be two months).  They arrived at 7:30 on Tuesday and we were off.  Between us we had 3 suitcases, 2 large hiking backpacks (100kg total) and 5 carry-on bags so it was a lot to carry.  Since we were planning for the expat also, we decided to take some items to leave in Sweden in preparation for our return in March.

We got through check-in and security quickly and then ended up waiting at the airport for about 3 hours before our flight. We had breakfast and then we were off on the quick hop to Melbourne (about 50 minutes).

We then had a couple of hours to burn in Melbourne before jumping on the longest leg of the flight - Melbourne to Doha, Qatar (about 14 1/2 hours).

We had booked the business lounge in Qatar so we couple have a shower and a rest before our next flight, but it turned out that the lounge was full, so they ended up sending us all the way to the other side of the terminal to another lounge, where we showered and had some food and drink. After having not really slept much on the flight we were all pretty tired, but Doha airport was looking pretty good and was busy for the Soccer World Cup.

After 3 hours, we boarded our final flight, Doha to Copenhagen, which was 6 and a half hours. I slept for most of the flight and we landed in Copenhagen without any issues.

Having gone from 30 degrees in Australia to -3 in Copenhagen was a bit of a shock, but the cold was welcome after the planes.  Our luggage was almost the last off of the plane, so we did worry briefly that it had been left behind, but once it arrived, we were quickly out of the terminal and onto the train to Sweden.

We picked up our car and were pleasantly surprised to see it was big enough to hold all of our luggage. The next issue was that it was 8:30am and we weren't able to check into our apartment until 4pm.  We were all tired but we managed to make it to the shops to get some lunch and groceries. While there, I rang the property owners and they agreed to let us in early. So at 10:30 we were all unpacked and in our apartment in Bunkeflostrand. After a brief rest, we headed out to Maxi Ica to get some grocery shopping done and Cameron arranged to catch up with one of his friends.  We then dropped the groceries home and went into Triangeln to get sim cards for the kids phones so they could have data and calls if needed.  Cameron caught up with a friend into the evening and Alana, Tom, Kris and I checked out the SciFi book shop and then headed back to the apartment.

The first day was pretty eventful and more so when we started to get some snowfall.  We were all sound asleep by 9pm.

Some thoughts about the flights and trip from everyone else:

Tomas:

It is good to come back as I will get to see my friends again. It is also to good to have a break and come on holidays and it is fun to be back in Sweden. The flights weren't too bad, I watched some movies, played 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire' for three hours and won once. 

Doha was pretty good, but I asked for a Sprite and got a Ginger Beer. The showers were pretty good and it was very hot.

Sweden is cold, but I can't wait to see my friends.

Cameron:

The flights were uncomfortable as the person in front of me had their seat reclined and the guy behind me kept kneeing me in the back. 

The shower in Doha was the best shower I've ever had in my life and the pasta in the lounge was really good. 

It was good to see my friends in Sweden and I'm happy to be back.

Alana:

The flights were fine, I watched movies and slept. I beat Cameron in Battleships twice and beat Tomas in monopoly.

Doha was hot but the shower was nice.