Salt and freshwater baths – camping trip to Björkö

— Oh, I want to see this island, said my friend Riitta to me one evening. —It is an island called Björkö and it says here it has a freshwater inland lake! Can we make a trip to Björkö pleeeeease?

During the first summer I spent in Kökar (read my story) I met Riitta. We are united by the love of nature and an adventurous mind. Riitta is a wilderness guide by profession and is at home in the fells of Lapland, as I am in the archipelago.

Riitta was visiting me in Turku and by chance, there was a story about Björkö in a newspaper, and Riitta got the idea that she had to see it! After summing up some schedules, we went on a camping trip to Björkö together.

The ferry to Björkö departs from Kirjainen in Nauvo, where we drove on a June Friday after my work.

The ferry m/s Falkö is relatively small and there was a relaxed atmosphere on board. On the way we ate our snacks, watched football on TV, brushed our teeth and of course admired the beautiful landscapes and islands that the ferry visited along the way.

At times, only a rock served as the jetty — at least that’s what it looked like! The trip to Björkö took about four hours.

Setting the camp while being attacked

Our friend has a cabin in Björkö and we had been permitted to camp on his land. This was lucky, because it was already 10 PM, and we were both a bit tired. So, we were able to set up the tents on a nice flat lawn right next to the ferry port.

We set up our tents quickly during dancing lambada and other rhythm dances because there were quite a few mosquitoes and they attacked us bloodthirsty.

Fortunately, I had picked up the mosquito repellent from the car at the last minute, which helped us.

Riitta went to bed, but I was curious, and I went to see the friend’s cottage and a little bit of the surroundings before going to bed.

I have been to Björkö many times before, but always on my boat, so I know the southern part of the island better.

Sleeping beauty

In the morning I woke up quite early. I went to the jetty to cook my breakfast, so I wouldn’t disturb Riitta. Then I ate it. I cooked more coffee.

I looked at the cottage and became acquainted with the treasures of the old boat hut. And Riitta just slept!

Eventually, I started walking towards the southern part of the island and the area of the national park.

On the way I met a herd of wild cows who had parked in the middle of the trail, so I had to go around the bushes and rocks a bit. I have overcome my fear of sheep, but hey cows are cows, big and scary!

After checking the route to the lake, I returned to the tents. Meanwhile, Riitta had been able to sleep off her sleep debt.

Swimming in fresh and salty waters

One of the fun features of Riitta is that she swims anywhere at any time and in water at any temperature (except too warm)!

So, with swimming in mind, we headed together towards the inland lake and the nature trail that goes around it. When we got to the lake, Riitta rushed for a swim, of course. I was enjoying the warm sunshine.

This is how we progressed, Riitta swimming, switching from the lake to the sea and back, enjoying salt and freshwater baths in turns. I enjoyed the sun on the rock, and I think I took a nap somewhere in between!

In the end, I dared to swim in the lake myself. I’m not a big swimmer in cold waters.

We noticed how differently we experience the temperatures, when Riitta thought it was perfect temperature, I was cold and when I thought it was nice and warm, Riitta thought it was hot.

Enjoying the beautiful summer day, the landscape, and the peace of nature, and of course, swimming, it took us nearly six hours to get around the two-kilometer-long nature trail!

In one of the swimming spots, we found an echoing cliff. As we stood at a certain point and talked, it felt like the sound was coming from speakers! That was amazing! The echoing cliff is on picture on the right below.

Björkö is a green island

Björkö is a truly beautiful island, the cliffs are rugged, the waters are clear and the inland lake itself is, of course, already a miracle within itself.

The lake is 17 m deep at its deepest point and at the stretch of land, that separates it from the sea, is only about ten meters wide at its narrowest part.

The island’s nature is diverse, the island is green, many trees are forming little forests, and a variety of meadows.

The island has a good natural harbour, which is popular in the summer holiday season in July. At most, there have been 100 boats in the harbour!

Now, it being the middle of June, there were fewer than ten boats and it was peaceful on the island. It was a good time of summer for this trip to Björkö.

We went back to our camp for dinner and sat on the porch of the friend’s cabin for the evening. Later on, I walked to the west side of the island to watch the beautiful sunset.

Tent in the tree

On Sunday, we demolished our camp. The wind had turned and was now blowing directly to our camp, with the result that my tent flew into the tree!

I had taken the ground pegs off and packed them, and when I turned around, the tent had flown into a tree! We had a good laugh.

Of course, we still went swimming in the lake before we left. I overcame my fear of cold water again!

The return trip took about four hours, and the archipelago views were the best you can hope for. We saw, among other things, Borstö and Lökholm from the ferry.

Many say that this ferry route, the Nauvo Southern route, is the most beautiful one of them all.

Our paths diverged in Kirjainen as Riitta returned to Turku and I headed to Korppoo, from where in the morning I would continue to Kökar with new adventures in mind.