Sweden's Giant rockery garden

One of the UK's funniest new breed of travel writers, Bernie Friend, releases his debut book, Cycling Back to Happiness, on April 28, 2008.

In it he describes his adventures along the torturous North Sea Cycle Route a coastal cycle route of 6,000 kilometres which takes in the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Scotland and England.

In this third instalment he encounters the wild landscape of Sweden...

Sweden was another kettle of fish. Every country had been different so far in its own little way, but the drizzly trundle out of Varberg signalled a dramatic change.

The flat and sandy Netherlands were animal bonkers, Germany, grubby and rundown as well as wondrous and weird, and pine planting crazy Denmark, the land of moving dune giants, cruelly exposed to a paralysing elemental buffeting.

But they all shared rural similarities. Sweden on the other hand, had its own unique identity, a spectacular sweep of open nature reserve, complete with granite garden rockery, dark forest shrubs and passive pale blue sea inlet water features.

Old rowing boats lay upturned on skerries and wooden houses were sparsely dotted across a fertile green floor, well out of earshot from the nearest neighbours.

The fact that Sweden is the third largest country in western Europe, with one of the lowest population densities, explains this perfect isolation.

Eighty-four per cent of the nine million population reside in urban areas, accounting for only 1.3 per cent of a whopping total land mass of 173,720 square miles, leaving plenty of room for the out-of-townies.

Moss covered rocks of varied dimensions and bulk burst randomly out of the stretch-marked soil.

Jagged grey boulders and London bus-sized mounds were scattered around the ground like discarded broken teeth and bones, fallen down long ago from ancient craggy faces soaring up above.

Human dwellings and raw earthly materials were inseparable. Painted timber walls were pushed against huge wind protecting humps, while others stole a solid base from the sturdy foundations beneath their feet.

Sheltered homes rested on tree surrounded perches in hollows half way up cliffs, while some climbed even higher, lights blinking from the shadowy ridge.

There wasn't a block of flats, multi-storey car park or smashed up phone box in sight and it was wonderful.

Obey the laws of nature

Sweden relished being close to nature and had brought the great outdoors to its front doorstep.

We were keen to give it a go ourselves, erecting tents in an empty field next to a rocky copse of dripping trees at Kärradal, 12 kilometres from Varberg.

Unlike Denmark, Sweden observes a right of public access, allowing anybody to walk, boat, swim, ski or camp for free anywhere outside the fenced borders of private property.

Tents should be set up at least 50 metres from houses and fires safely made from fallen wood, away from bare rocks, are permitted.

You are also free to pick wild berries and mushrooms. Leaving behind rubbish and taking living wood, bark, leaves, bushes and nuts is strictly prohibited.

Cycling Back to Happiness (ISBN 9781906206710) is published by Pen Press. It is available to buy and order from all European book stores, or across the world from www.Amazon.co.uk.