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.

Santa then North

Travelled : 360 km
Stay :Before Inari- parking picnic area by lake, toilets 68.78319 27.40677
Visited: Santa's Village Rovaniemi,  old church Sodankyla,  Tankavaara Gold Mining Village 68.18091, 27.09957

It was snowing this morning, whilst we were visiting Santa's Village creating a lovely atmosphere.  

Luckily we has taken the outside photos last night. 

The village is built around the Arctic Circle marker and consists of numerous buildings with mostly typical souvenir shops.

 There are 2 grottos where you can meet Santa and have your photo taken from €20. 

In winter time the village offers the visiter snow activities including an ice bar, tobogganing, husky and reindeer rides. 

For us the highlight was Santa's Post Office which receives over 500,000 letters each year from all over the world. Santa answers as many as he can. 

Our next destination was a quick stop in Sodankyla to have a look at Vanha Kirkko. Built in 1689 it is the regions oldest church.

We continued on until the Gold Miners Village where we took a break and walked around for a bit.

A BBQ area and a war hid out along a nature trail from the tourist office.

The Gold Mining village was all but closed but we could walk around for free.

A popular sauna hut.

Apparently mosquitos are considered wildlife here! We are relieved that it's not the season for them yet.

Reindeers up ahead!

Our last stop for today was on the icy lake shore on our way to Inari.