Well, settled in a lovely little bedsit in Rovaniemi,
Finland.
It’s attached to the home of the young couple who own it
so hopefully I can catch up on the last few days when I've had no internet connection.
And what a few days, I made Nordkapp, walked to the true northerly point and then drove down, back into the EEC and
Finland. Called in at Santa’s office and here I am.
Last real post was from Hammerfest.
Hammerfest is,
well, Hammerfest is like a small Grimsby of yore. At the end of a road, smells
of fish and has lots of big boats. Bill Bryson says it better than me of course
when he says it’s a nice enough place “In a
Thank-you-God-for-not-making-me-live-here kind of way”
True I had a
great night’s sleep and a wonderful breakfast at a great hotel but I was only
there for one thing – to see the Methodist Church – and then I was keen to get
on to Nordkapp because, glory be, the sun was shining!
As I’d ridden
down to Hammerfest I’d seen a lot of farms, homesteads and fishing villages
which I took to be old. The ageing effect must be the weather because nothing,
and I mean absolutely nothing, in this area is older than 1948. Why, well when
the Nazis retreated in 1944 Hitler gave the order that everything must be razed
to the ground so that nothing was available for the advancing Russian Army.
Just to make sure his soldiers got his drift he sent a personal message stating
“Compassion for the population is out of place”. That population found shelter
where they could and apparently several thousand hid in caves – right through to May 1945! - but many died from cold and malnutrition.
Amazingly the
population wanted to come back and rebuild and so reconstruction started in
1948 and it’s the little details that get overlooked that interest me – I know
I go on.
Take the church
I’d come to see for example
– if you look there are windows in the tower. That’s because when it was built in 1951 living accommodation, building materials and man-power were still at a premium so the rules were that if you built any commercial or public building – and the church came under that – then you had to include an apartment which could be let. The easiest place to put that in a church is out of the way in the tower! You have to wonder at the faith in people that have just experienced the worst atrocities imaginable by fellow humans “just obeying orders” and yet one of the first things they want to rebuild is a church.
I was shown
around by the Pastor Per Bradley who, like everyone else I’d actually spoken to
was so obliging and friendly, only, is it me or are Pastors getting younger? 
Then on to
Honnisvag where my “base camp” is, just 20 miles or so from Journeys end. I
admit it does look like something from The Great Escape but I have a fully
kitted out room so am quite happy.
After settling
in a dumping my by now not unsubstantial amount of gear I set off in
anticipation to Northkapp.
And 20k later
there it was, I had done it, just short of 3000 miles and 2 weeks after setting
off.
Only one
problem – came to see the midnight sun and there wasn’t any, midnight or
otherwise. Did go back the next night and
there was a glimmer and the atmosphere of expectation or anticipation
was wonderful to experience
.
One of the main
reasons the cynics give for not paying to go into the Nordkapp compound is a)
it’s a rip off, b) its tacky and c) it’s not actually the most northerly point.
Well,I don’t
agree with the first two, yes you pay but not too much and it is very well set
up inside – they must get a lot of people who make it a kind of challenge
because they sell champagne by the bottle at the coffee shop!
In order to
meet the challenge set by my drinking buddies at the Carps to find the most expensive, northerly pint I, as is traditional
being a Friday, had a pint of what passes for beer in Norway. Wasn’t the most
expensive I’ve ever had but at somewhere around £8 or £9 a pint it was getting
there. Was greatly appreciated though – I felt I’d deserved it.
As regards point
c) above, well yes they are right. But Nordkapp can be reached by road and
there were a lot of people, busloads of them, experiencing being there who
couldn’t have done so otherwise.
The most
northerly point is the headland of the Knivskjellodden peninsular next to
Nordkapp – it’s 1457 metres further north! It however can only be reached on
foot and is a 9km walk from a car park nearby.
 |
| Knivskjellodden peninsular |
Now 9km doesn’t sound far and
the books say it can be done in around 2 hrs each way so yes, I wanted to do
it. Was in two minds when I left the camp as the weather did look a bit
threatening and there were signs everywhere saying go prepared, take food, wear
proper clothing etc.
 |
| Car Park at start of walk - busy eh! |
I may be daft,
but not bloody daft so I did buy proper food and got some water - and my bike tank bag converts into a
rucksack, clever little thing that, went
all round the States and Canada with me and cost me £14.99 from Aldi - but the only clothes I had was my bike gear,
except for a pair of Clarke’s boots I wore
when off the bike so that had to do. It was quite good at first, walking
through snow and past herds of reindeer but it was a long way, 9k on the level
is ok, hey, I can run 10, but this was hard going.
Then the blinking sun came out and it got
warm – what timing! Funny though where inspiration comes from. When I was
perhaps thinking I wouldn’t bother I got a text from Adrian saying well done for
reaching Nordkapp and adding “I guess you’ll be having a kip now”. I wasn’t
having that, there'd be time enough for sleeping when…………
When you get to
the tip of Knivskjellodden there’s a
little plinth thingy marking the point and for a short time Froggy was the most northern frog in Europe!
Got there in
2hrs 20 minutes which wasn’t bad I thought BUT it took me over 3 hours to get
back! I was totally whacked.
Because the day
had been sunny I decided to go back to Nordkapp that eveing to see if I could
get a glimpse of the midninght sun.A lovely evening and a great atmosphere but
no sun. Ah well.
On Sunday I
left Nordkap and in fact Norway. I drove down through Finmark to the Finnish
border and back into the EEC – where again I didn’t have to show my passport –
it has never once been looked at since leaving home”
A great ride
for several reasons, it was through beautiful rolling forests, it was warm –
went up to a heady 14° C - and the speed limits became sensible.
Still the odd
obstruction though. Now I’m not anti-caravan or motor home, as you may know
we’ve considered one but have you noticed that the names those macho ad men
give them are totally inappropriate. It is really galling to be behind a
motorhome crawling along for mile after mile with the name Rapido staring at you in 8 inch chrome lettering. Or amusing to see
a quaint old couple having tea at a picnic table with a little white fluffy dog
at their feet by their caravan a “Marauder”.
The most lethal item in that scene is probably the fat content of the cakes they are eating.
Think I’m
beginning to understand why people in this part of the world are so taciturn –
they’ve worn their mouths out trying to talk. I’ve never seen such long words –
the Welsh do that too don’t they. Look at this –
as I said, they must have
borrowed some letters from Norway.
No more reindeer I promise after this one - just didn't seem real.
I had come this
way specifically to visit the Siida, the Finnish National Museum of the Samii - the indigenous people of Lapland - I arrived in plenty of time so again spent time unpacking
the bike before heading to the museum allowing me 2 hours to look around before
closing time. Except I didn’t have two hours – I’d done it again, well no-one
tells you you’ve gone over a time zone do they – where did that flaming hour
go. Come on, have you heard of Eastern European Time?
Did an hour of
it – the outside bit and went back for an hour this morning – really enjoyed it
and learned a lot which I’ll no doubt bore most of you with when I get back –you
know, I reckon if I get two reindeer I
can be totally self-sufficient within a fortnight.
The camp I stayed at last night in Inari was one of the most pleasant – and they have all
been good – by the side of a lake and well away from the road – you should
have seen the size of the trout a young lad caught – much to the chagrin of his
fully kitted out dad – you know the saying, “all
the gear, no idea”.
However my
cabin wouldn’t win any prizes for architectural aesthetics. It looked like a
coal shed – I kid you not, look….
It is the little hut thing on the end!!!
It is the little hut thing on the end!!!
Not the Ritz but it was actually
very nice inside but I admit my heart sank when I saw it.There should have been wi-fi – but I suspect no self-respecting ethernet waves or whatever would come anywhere near such a structure so I was ex-communicado for the night.
This as it happens was good as next door – in an executive cabin, i.e. it had a handle on both sides of the door – was a Dutch guy, also on a bike in need of companionship. He’d been on the road for 2 months – apparently you can take time of like that in Holland, and ridden up through Germany, Poland and all the ’avias and ‘onias to Russia. Had gone on to St Petersburgh and then round the top of Finland – some 5500 miles already. He had a bottle of Vodka he wanted to try but didn’t like drinking on his own – who am I to disappoint a fellow biker – it’s only polite. Slept well last night!
Carried on
south after re-visiting Siida as I had another mission. Rovaniemi is where
Santa has one of his main offices. All the letter addresses to Santa, Lapland
go there and I had promised I would call in and put in a good word for two
little girls I know. I did this and was given a badge each for them which says “ I’m on the good list”. It must have
been designed by someone who knows about these things though because underneath
in brackets is adds “for now”.
Think this guy must have met my vodka carrying Dutchman too!
Goodnight, talk tomorrow.........
