0342 Kaamanen to Napapiiri

29^th Aug 2015

Rain, dirt roads, and the Arctic Circle

It was quite sunny early this morning, and the wind had died down during the noght – But by the time we had packed up, the sun had gone, the wind was back again, and the clouds

were looking very dark.  And it wasn’t long after we had got back on the road than it started to rain.  And it then rained quite heavily for the next 4 hours or so.  All this time we were driving down beside one of the biggest lakes in Finland – the Inarijarvi.  Since Jarvi means lake, and the town at the foot of the lake is Inari, thus Inarijarvi.  And it extends for miles down the road, with inlets continually coming back just when you thought the lake was gone.  And it is a fishing heaven for the locals – Lots of boats being towed behind cars, and in camp sites, boats everywhere.  Didn’t look like much fun in the rain though……..

0341 Tana Bru Norway to Kaamanen Finland

28^th Aug 2015

The Russian border, then Hey Ho to Lappland !

An excellent and quiet night in our little camping spot beside the foot of the Tanafjorden.  The wind blew fairly strongly all night, but the temperature didn’t seem so cold when we woke up – Probably partly explained by the fairly heavy cloud cover that did look like giving us some rain !  So we packed up while we ate our breakfast just to be on the safe side, and then set off down the last leg of our journey north, to Kirkenes.

0340 Nordkapp to Tana Bru

27^th Aug 2015

Sunshine, Fjords, and reindeer.

What a delightful little campsite in Skarsvag, just a few kms from Nordkapp.  Friendly service, reasonable price (for Norway !), and excellent services – A great camp kitchen and dining room, excellent showers and toilets, and the best / fastest wifi we have seen in weeks.  Strongly recommend them.  We stayed up till after 1 am this morning catching up on blog, banking, phone bills, and other day to day needs.  When we woke up this morning at 8 am, the sun was shining and the skies were blue – Previous plans of finishing off the blog updates went out the window – When the sun is shining up here in the arctic, you get out and use it !

0339 Alta to Nordkapp

Blog tomorrow. 

Meantime pics are here :- https://picasaweb.google.com/110185357936043625130/0339AltaToNordkapp?authkey=Gv1sRgCLeco_q_69bV6wE

0338 Rotsundelo to Alta

25^th Aug 2015

Reindeer – At Last we see wildlife !

It was again a bit grey in the morning, but we wandered along the edges of the grey fjord, past little fishing villages and crossing bridges over rivers in Sorkjosen, and suddenly we saw our first Norwegian wildlife – Some reindeer !!   After 3 weeks on Norway, and warning signs for the animals everywhere we were starting to think they didn’t actually exist !   So to finally see some in the wild was an exciting moment for us both.   The fact that they turned tail and ran into the trees was a minor point – We had at last seen some wildlife in Norway !!   

0337 Polar Park Arctic Wildlife Centre to Rotsundelo

24^th Aug 2015

Great fjords, Tromso, and more ferries !

It was a bit of a grey morning while we packed up at the Polar Park, but once we got on the road north towards Tromso, the sun slowly broke through until we had some great blue skies.  We travelled along beside several lakes and even passed a Norwegian Army convoy driving tracked vehicles that I think were personnel carriers, along with tracked trailers as well.  There were probably 10 of them, and they were moving along at a fair speed.  Later we passed a number of Army trucks – Obviously off on manoevres in the bush somewhere.

0336 Lofoten to Polar Park Arctic Wildlife Centre

23^rd Aug 2015

Grey skies,  a Viking Longhouse, and back on the mainland

There was cirrus cloud around last night before we turned in, so when I saw the overcast skies this morning I wasn’t surprised, although I was a little bit disappointed.  We have been spoilt rotten weather wise for the past week or so, and we are way up in the Arctic after all, so not really surprising.  But it didn’t rain, so that was good.

When we left our very pleasant free campsite just above the islands in a fjord, we decided to go down on a small loop to a village that is supposed to be really pretty.  After about 20 kms of windy road, we got there – And the village was terrible – It really was not attractive in anyway – And that is not just me being rude, it was just a series of fishing warehouses by the water, and a few very non descript houses – We were very disappointed after having gone out of our way to see it.  Nevertheless it did mean that later on we had to drive along a road we had been on yesterday, past the Viking Long House and Museum that we hadn’t stopped at yesterday since it was about to close, so there was a redeeming side to our big loop !

0335 Bodo to Lofoten Islands

22^nd Aug 2015

Big ferry ride, whales and dead fish !

Woke up at 6.30 am to yet another clear blue sky (Bet you are sick of hearing that !!  Tough !)   and showered and packed up ready to head to the port for our 10.05 am ferry departure  from Bodo to Moskenes on the Lofoten Islands – a 3.5 hour journey.

We arrived in plenty of time – In fact we were first in line in the “reservation” line – There were plenty of others in the line of people who hadn’t booked, but we had wanted to make sure !  About a half hour wait, chatting to people from Miami and the Ukraine and Norway about our

trip and the car, and then we boarded.  Much bigger ferry than the little island hoppers we have been catching, but not a lot of people or cars on there despite the weather.  We learned last night that the ferry company has actually reinstated its (more frequent) summer time sailing schedule because of the reason good weather and  increased numbers of people as a result.  We met a Norwegian couple yesterday who have in fact had their annual holiday in July, when it rained non stop.  So because of the current fine weather here, they have taken another week without pay just to enjoy some sunshine !

0334 Stokkvagen to Bodo

21^st Aug 2015

More ferries, glaciers, and more sunshine.

We woke up reasonably early, at about 7.15. and since we had so many ferries to catch today, and the first one had about 2 hour between sailings, Janet suddenly suggested that it would be a good idea to try to catch the 8.30 ferry from Kilboghavn to Jetvik – Trouble was it was about a 30 minute drive from where we slept !!  So we quickly cleaned teeth, put everything away, and without our usual breakfast or even a cup of tea, set off down the road.  But the sun was still shining, and fjords still blue, and the scenery still great, so it wasn’t too much of a hardship.  We even passed the “Polar Camp” grounds – Just to remind us where we were !!  Eventually we reached the terminal and the ferry was already sitting there with its “mouth” open, and about to pull away !!  We paid our fare and boarded, and less than 5 minutes later we were off – We had made it !!

0333 Bronnoysund to Stokkvagen

20^th Aug 2015

Ferries, Ferries and Sunshine.

We are starting to get concerned as to how long this perfect weather can last – One guy told us 6 days, but that was 3 days ago.  And today someone told us it is supposed to continue for another 2 weeks !   We hope it does, because it is absolutely unbelievable, but if it doesn’t …..well, we have had a good run !   But tonight we are camped beside a fjord at latitude N66.31962, and the Arctic Circle is at 66.30  So we are maybe 15 kms south of the article circle, it is 7 pm, there is not a cloud in the sky, the sun is still shining, and we are wearing shorts !  This is just unbelievable – I mean we are not exactly virgins when it comes to crossing the Arctic Circle, having done it 4 times in Alaska and Canada, and each time we KNEW we were in the Arctic.  This time it is more like an English summers day – Warm in the day, a light breeze, and then as the evening draws on it gets quite chilly – So you rug up in a warm sleeping bag and get a good nights sleep, waking in the morning ready for another day of endless sunshine, incredible scenery, and fun exploring new places that you didn’t even know existed 24 hours ago !!  Tough life, but I guess someone has to do it !!

0332 Stiklestead to Bronnoysund

19^th Aug 2015

The sunshine continues......

We woke up on our little spit of land, still with no one around, and a perfect clear morning.  The sunset last night had been spectacular, but the clear sunny morning today wasn’t much worse !  We seemed to be the only people on the site, so enjoyed our showers and then headed out along the edges of fjords and through farming country.  A lot of today was driving across country heading towards the coast. But there were a lot of spectacular lakes and fjords and rivers to prevent us getting too bored !

0331 Trondheim and on to Sticklestead

17^th Aug 2015

What a delightful city !

Nice weather yet again when we woke up, so after packing up we made the short drive into Trondheim.  We drove right into the centre, and found a parking spot without too much trouble, and headed into the town.   No 1 on the list today was to try and sort my phone out.  My iPhone 3, which I have had for a year or two now, and has worked just fine, suddenly quit a couple of days ago – Battery completely dead, won’t accept charge, etc.  So I was hoping to find a place with a battery for an iPhone 3 – But no such luck. Ended up having to buy an iPhone 5, and then left my old phone with them to try and get some of the contacts and other data transferred across to the new phone.

0330 Atlantahavsvegen to Trondheim

17^th Aug 2015

Bridges, Tunnels, and Ferries

Woke up to a beautiful sunny morning !  The Weather Gods really are smiling on us this week and everyone we meet tells us what a terrible summer they have had until now !  The morning sun over the water was just beautiful, and after a slow and easy pack up, we moseyed on across a few more bridges !! This Atlantic Road isn’t a very long section, but it really is scenic, and we are lucky enough to see it in the sunshine.  Only a few hundred yards up the road from our free camp site we stopped where there was a little walk out onto the rocks, and the still morning water was just delightful.  Signs indicated that there is an old farm on an island that has been turned into a motel / restaurant for people who REALLY want to get away from things ! It looked great, and a little boat came in to pick up to people who were presumably checked in, and took them back out to the island.

0329 Trollstigen to Atlanterhavsvegen

16^th Aug 2015

Trolls, Islands, and Bridges.

A very different day today, with totally different scenery, even though we have only travelled maybe 100 kms !  We left our Troll camp site on an overcast but not rainy morning, despite the forecast being for sunshine – I guess up here that means “not raining” !  After a few pics with some of our campsite trolls, we set off down the road to Andalsnes – Although this is a big climbing centre, being Sunday morning I guess everyone was out on the mountain trails – And being Sunday and Norway, everything is closed except a few gas stations and a couple of coffee shops in bigger towns.  Other than those, Norway is basically closed on a Sunday……..

0328 Nr Geiranger to Trollstigvegen

15^th August 2015

Majestic Fjords, big waterfalls and Trolls !

It was looking a bit overcast and very windy when we woke up, so we packed up fairly quickly in case it decided to rain. There is an odd “warm” wind blowing at the moment, which to me means “unsettled weather”, but all the Norwegians are happy that it is at last warm – They have apparently had such a wet and poor summer so far that tourist numbers are down – So a little warmth and sunshine is very welcome. So we set off down the road towards Geiranger, stopping 10 minutes down the road at a little bridge we had spotted yesterday.  Unfortunately the sign was all in Norwegian so apart from the year of 1860 written on the plaque, which we assume was the build date, we are none the wiser – The sign just said “Knuten” which for all I know may just mean “bridge “ !!

0327 Krossbu to Nr Geiranger

Fri 14^th Aug 2015

Water falls, lakes, rivers and bunnies.

It was cold during the night, probably about 3-4 deg C, but we were snug in sleeping bags with liners, and by the time we awoke at about 7.30 am, the sun was warming up the canvas on the pop top and it was quite toasty inside.  But get in the shade, and it was still about 6 deg C !!  We packed up and got moving by about 9.30, and headed off down the mountain from the 1400 metres where we had camped.

0326 Solvorn To Krossbu Tourist Station

13^th August 2015

Fjords, tunnels, mountains and snow - A five WOW day !!

Woke up to a beautiful sunny day for a change – Could this be the good weather that they have been forecasting for a while that is going to move north with us ???   Hope so.  The reflections in the lake while we packed up were just a foretaste of what was in store for us today.

0325 Austrheim to Solvorn

12^th Aug 2015

Tunnels, ferries, and improving weather

It was overcast when we woke up, and while I was trying to pack up the car, it rained several times – But Reagan was cooking up breakfast and there was hot coffee – A bit of rain certainly wasn’t going to hurt ! Eventually we left at about 10.30 am and Reagan and Grete led us out in their car – We had a ferry to catch but there are so many Larviks and Laviks and Leirviks around here, all seemingly with ferries, that when my GPS had such a low battery that it didn’t want to tell me anything for a while I

asked Reagan to take me to the first ferry just to make sure we didn’t go to the wrong Leirvik !!  It wasn;t far down the road, and the ferry was already unloading when we arrived, so five minutes later we said our farewells to Reagan and Grete and jumped on the ferry to set off on the next part of our adventure.  We have had a really great time here, relaxed, eaten well, discussed everything that could be discussed, and really had a great time with good friends.  Thank you both VERY much. 

0324 A day in Bergen

10^th Aug 2015

Funiculars, whale meat, and a Stave Church

Today we drove the 1 hour into Bergen to play tourist – It is Grete’s home town and she was keen to show us around.  We drove in, and as we went we stopped at a couple of shopping centres to do some shopping that both Janet and I and Reagan and Grete needed – For us it was things like spare camping-gaz cans, I had some UK car papers to mail back to the UK (I have to remove the car from the Euro zone within a certain time frame in order to comply with Customs regulations, and by coming to Norway it gave me the chance to do that), and I needed to buy a waterproof cover for my back pack – It looks like we are going to get some fairly wet weather as we head north, and a dry back pack will make it that much more bearable ! As a result, by the time we got to Bergen, we had completed all our shopping and could just concentrate on playing tourist !

0323 A few days around Austrheim

7^th – 12^th Aug 2015

War relics, crabs, and fishing

The first morning with Reagan and Grete was warm and sunny and we planned to go fishing with Grete’s brother Bjorn and his friend Nok who live nearby on the island (as do many other relatives), and also buy some local crabs for lunch.  So first stop was to go down to one of the nearby boat jetties where we found the man who was selling crabs.  As you can see, he had plenty of good sized ones, and we picked a dozen or so for the group of people who would be there. From there we set off to Bjorn’s place and his boat moored down below the house.

0322 Kinsarvik to Austrheim, N of Bergen

7^th Aug 2015

Tunnels, bridges, and sunshine.

We managed to get a short spell when it actually stopped raining so we could pack up in the dry, but it was a very damp and overcast morning.  We said our farewells to Jos and Ricky as they set off to explore Bergen, and then we set off NW on a different road to Bergen, via Voss, which we had been told was a scenic way to go.  Unfortunately it proceeded to rain most of the way which was unfortunate, but it was still pretty interesting.

0321 A Break in Kinsarvik

6^th Aug 2015

Trolls, forests, and hydroelectricity.

We met Jos and Ricky for breakfast up at their cabin, taking some of our own supplies up with us, and afterwards went off to do our own things for the day.  We spent the morning relaxing and catching up on wifi etc, and then after a quick sandwich for lunch we set off for a walk at about 2.30 pm.  The weather wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t raining, so we decided to follow the rushing Kinso river behind the camp site up towards a waterfall.

0320 Hardangervidda to Kinsarvik

5^th Aug 2015

Sun, rain, and a big fjord.

Next morning when I woke up at 7 am it was an almost clear sky, and the photos show how different it was from the night before – I could hardly believe the difference.  But clouds were rolling in fast, and fairly soon I had to tell Janet to come outside to see the view because it looked as though it could be raining again soon ! By the time we set off an hour later, it was totally overcast again, although not yet raining.  A few kms up the road we found a big dam with a parking area beside it – With several campers there who had obviously been there overnight – But I preferred our spot up in the wilds ! Below the dam were lots of small cabins which would have been in real strife if the dam ever burst !  Whether they were winter or summer cabins I am not sure, but there were plenty of them dotted around the countryside. 

0319 Larvik to Hardangervidda

4^th August 2015

Rain, snow, and wild camping

After a great nights sleep, we woke up to find that Torunn had a great spread on the table for breakfast, and hot coffee brewing !  Perfect. It was quite overcast, and the weather forecast was not too promising with heavy rain for the trip north.  But with a start like that breakfast, we were in good shape, and eventually managed to stop chatting, pack our stuff back into the car, and head out down the narrow track. We really enjoyed seeing Rolf and Torunn again – It is always good to catch up with friends.  And their little summer retreat is just gorgeous.  Thank you both very much.

0318 Oslo to Larvik, via Drammen

1^st, 2^nd & 3^rd August 2015

Sunshine, Aquavit, and narrow lanes.

After having an easy drive just 30 kms from Oslo to Dramman yesterday, and with only a short distance to Larvik, we were in no hurry to get moving this morning – And since it was my birthday, Janet offered to cook me up a full eggs and bacon breakfast – Which, like birthdays, only happens about once a year, so I jumped at the offer !  By the time we finished and had cleared up, the sun was shining, it was beautiful beside the river, so I decided (MY decisions today !) that we would have a lazy day here – So we did.  Sat in the sunshine, had a long walk down the path beside the river into town, and just

generally chilled out – Perfect way for an old man to spend his birthday !! The whole stay at Drammen campsite was made even more pleasant by Alexander the camp manager (or son of !), and we had long chats with him about our travels, his travels, and so on.  He made our stay much easier and more enjoyable – Thank you Alexander, make sure you let us know how you get on fishing in New Zealand.

0317 Exploring Oslo 2

1^st August 2015

So good we came back for more !

We had enjoyed our taste of Oslo yesterday, so we decided to come back for seconds today.  The museums looked pretty interesting, so we picked 3 and prepared to spend most of the day in town. 

The camp site in Ekeberg is on a hill overlooking the city and the fjord and surrounding hills, just 2.5 kms from the centre. Once again they had a lot of mud and soft areas due to all the recent rain, but we managed to find a suitable place, although as we were to find out during the night, it was a little close to a road !