Nordkapp 71°10'21"

Travelled: 319km
Stay :Skipsfjord wayside stop 71.02776  25.88694 (opposite camp ground)
Visited: Nordkapp

It snowed most of the night and Bluey was rocking in the wind.  We decided to wait it out until lunchtime to see if the road conditions out to Slettnes Lighthouse, the most northerly point on mainland Europe that you can drive to, had improved. Unfortunately they hadn't and looking at the weather report it showed good conditions for Nordkapp. So off we went! 

We weren't quite prepared for the snowy and windy conditions up on the plateaus and poor Bluey's Low Temperature Warning light went from Orange to Red! There was no way we were stopping up there so we continued on and as we descended down the light went off. 

A bit of ice left still clinging to Bluey's bumper bar.

It was a beautiful drive along the E69 as it hugged the coast line offering some terrific views.  

Fish drying racks

We followed this truck most of the way up, which pleased Mark no end as he was fast and he was a trailblazer! 

Mark was equally impressed with this double cement mixer truck.

Lots of pretty fishing villages

Then came the nearly 7km tunnel to go to onto the island.

There were even phone booths along the tunnel!

Then there were more beautiful vistas and villages.

And of course lots of reindeer.

We didn't dally as we continued our journey to the famous Nordkapp. Although it is not officially the most northerly point (Slettnes Lighthouse and Knivskjellodden - which requires a 18km hike), it is the most popular to visit and is well catered for the hordes of tourists. The entry fee of Nk270 (€30) each for 24hrs is a bit steep but includes entry to watch a 15min movie and some exhibits about the area as well as a sound and light show. But what we were more interested in was the dramatic landscape outside and the fact that we had made it to Nordkapp after 25 days and 5,802 km. Unfortunately due to the bad weather the last 13km to Nordkapp could only be travelled in a convoy behind a snow plow at designated times. So we waited in line for a 2 hours until 7:30pm and then along with other motorhomes,  cars, buses and motorbikes we followed.  

This is the carpark 6km from Nordkapp where the 18km walk to Knivskjellodden departs. Obviously not in these conditions!

Then we had to wait our turn to pay only to be told that we would need to follow the convoy back down at 10pm.  Although we had originally wanted to stay at Nordkapp, we didn't want to run the risk of being stuck there tomorrow!  No one could garantee when the next convoy would be. As it turned out a couple of hours of wondering around taking photos and gazing out over the 307m high cliff was sufficient.   We felt lucky that the weather,  although cold, was clear and the snow cover just added that certain something to the vista.  Now that we have visited one of the most northerly points on Europe we will venture south to explore more of Norway's treasures.

Discs to celebrate children from different parts of the world.

On our way back we had this terrific view and we stopped as soon as we could as it was getting late.

Into Norway

Travelled:316 km
Stay : Norway - off the 98, 20km out of Ifjord,  looking out at the beautiful Laksefjorden N70.41673 E26.73040
Visited: Lapland, Norway

We woke up with a start at 5 am due to the water pump turning itself on and the sound of water gushing. Our first thought was that the temperature had dropped below 3°c and the hot water service was automatically draining. We quickly turned off the pump and found out the issue was with a disconnected pipe in the toilet. Luckily Mark could easily reconnect it and all was good again. The plus side was that it was snowing, covering the trees, creating a peaceful wonderland. 

Later we ventured into Inari,  which is Finland's most significant Sami Centre. The Sami are the only indigenous people of the EU. Out of the 75,000 Sami population, 10,000 live in Finland with the majority living in Norway. Traditionally they lived off the land which included reindeer herding,  fishing, hunting and making handcrafts. Now it is mainly in tourism and services keeping their traditions and language alive.Unfortunately the Siida museum was closed today so we continued on our northward journey. 

We stopped in the border town Utsjoki but only filled up with desiel at €1.50/ltr (30c more than general prices in Finland). We checked the lpg.eu website which stated thd average pricd in Norway as €1.60.
Our border crossing went without a hitch, choosing the 'have nothing to declare ' lane.  Phew! all our wine and beer was not confiscated!  

We have travelled 5,322km to the Norway border in 3 weeks.

Clever pole picker upperer!

We drove on the E6 following the river along the Finnish border until Tana Bru. There were plenty of motorhomes at the cross intersection.  We were happy to find a free service point that was well indicated.  We calculated the desiel price to be a couple of cents cheaper here too. Oh well can't win them all!

As we drove on we were already amazed with Norway's scenery along the waterways.  

Heavy duty equipment here!

But then we went over the Ifjordjellet pass of only 370m, but we experienced a landscape as never before.  

Passing Ifjord we turned up the 888 only to be greeted with a sign showing snow chains.  Feeling unsure we doubled back and asked a fellow at the road maintenance depot and he said the pass to Gamvik was pretty snowy today and it would be best to wait until tomorrow.  So we drove a few km along the 98 and chose a nice spot to wait out the weather which changed every half hour or so. Let's see what tomorrow brings.