Sweden - Becky Ohlsen [145]
Bus 222 from Höganäs stops at the estate.
Mölle & Surrounds
The steep, picket-fence-pretty village of Mölle is the area’s main tourist centre. It also enjoys a scandalous past. In the 19th century it was one of the first seaside resorts to encourage mixed bathing, much to the horror of the country…and to the delight of racy Berliners, who flocked here on a direct rail link from the German capital.
These days, people head in to enjoy Kullaberg Nature Reserve (Skr40 road toll), which occupies the tip of the Kulla Peninsula and houses Scandinavia’s brightest lighthouse, Kullens fyr.
The reserve offers a dramatic spectacle of plunging cliffs, windswept vegetation and incredible sunsets, and a number of hiking trails crisscross the area, leading to ancient caves, tide pools and secluded swimming spots.
Looking like a cubby house gone mad, the driftwood sculpture Nimis, and its younger, concrete sibling Arx, stand on a beach on the peninsula’s northern side. Created without permission by eccentric artist Lars Vilks, their existence has sparked several court cases between Vilks and the County Council, not to mention the odd fire and chainsaw attack. In 1996 the crafty Vilks founded micro-nation Ladonia (www.ladonia.net) at the site, effectively turning his works into protected ‘national monuments’.
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THE HÖGANÄS PUMA
Small towns are apt at peddling anecdotes about offbeat locals, but few match Höganäs’ tale. The story involves the town’s general practitioner, Dr Gustaf Alling. Born into poverty in 1878, the cigar-chomping doc had a soft spot for Höganäs’ downtrodden coal miners, travelling as far away as South America to study the working conditions in other mines in a bid to improve the workers’ health.
His other passion was animals, his quirky collection of pets including turtles and peacocks. Upstaging them all, however, was Bob, an orphaned female puma Alling adopted in Argentina in 1927. In Höganäs, the purring giant was free to roam the doctor’s house, starting each day with a 2kg breakfast of raw meat. She also managed the odd escape, much to the horror of locals. To Alling, however, Bob was never a threat, just a good faithful friend and confidant.
Alas, not even the good doctor’s love could save poor Bob from the gumboot that choked her to death in 1941. Stuffed for posterity, the ill-fated feline ended up stored and forgotten at Stockholm’s Naturhistoriska Riksmuseet until, in 1996, she was finally returned to Höganäs. You’ll find her in a glass case at the Höganäs Museum & Konsthall, below a photo of her two-legged soul mate and next door to the house they once called home.
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The reserve is a veritable wonderland for active types: hit www.kullabergnatur.se for a list of available activities, which include guided walking tours. The diving here is reputedly the best in Sweden and the helpful crew at Kullen Dyk (34 77 14; www.kullendyk.nu, in Swedish), 2km southeast of Mölle next door to First Camp Möllehässle, can get you flippered and submerged. You can also go on caving expeditions (042-33 77 74; turistbyran@hoganas.se) with experienced guides, brave the primordial cliffs on a rock-climbing course (34 77 05) or try your luck at fishing.
A novel way of exploring the area is on an Icelandic horse (34 54 66; www.mollargarden.se, in Swedish), one of the world’s gentlest, most peculiar-looking equine breeds. Riders must be over nine years old and weigh less than 95kg, and tours can be tailored to include