Norway, Finland and back to Sweden - Week 8

Sorry, phLeaving Alta we filled up with LPG gas and headed north. It’s the last LPG station according to the app myLPG.eu and we knew Finland didn’t sell it. Driving out of the town and into the countryside we came across a traffic jam, Norwegian style. It didn’t last too long lol and we commented about how they knew which side of the road they needed to be on. Clever sheep!

We drove up into the wilderness along roads with very few vehicles on them. The scenery turned bleak and uninhabitable and we were amazed when we came across the odd dwelling or farm.

The road to Nordkapp is in very good condition considering how harsh the winters must be. There were lots of tunnels to drive through some even having automatic closing doors. All a bit disconcerting especially if you were trying to get there out of season.

There were lots of stopping places on the way and at one of them we stopped for a cuppa.

The nearer the end of Europe we got, the more foggy it became until we finally reached Nordkapp itself when we could hardly see anything in front of us.

We pulled up to the toll booth and the very nice lady asked us where we had travelled from. Then she asked us for 550 NOK for the pleasure! Flippin heck, even Dick Turpin wore a mask! But who would say no when they'd travelled that far. At least the place stays open until 1am and the parking ticket lasts for 24 hours so you can stay the night there if you want to. So £51 lighter we carried on to the car park just as the fog cleared. Someone somewhere is looking after us. When we climbed out of Harriet we couldn’t believe how cold it was, but like 2 excited teenagers we went to have a look around. We’d made it! We’d made it all the way to the furthest point in Europe you can drive to!! We looked around the gift shop like you do and walked outside to the globe to get some photos.

Back inside we had a look at the very interesting exhibition telling you all about how Nordkapp came about. We Sat and watched the IMAX type film about the Northern Lights and walked through the cave of lights. We’d already eaten tea so didn’t use the restaurant, but as we walked back to Harriet we realised how much the wind had gotten up. If you’ve ever tried to sleep in the back of a Motorhome rocking in the wind you’ll understand why we decided not to stay the night. We drove back down the long and winding road to the spot where we’d had a cuppa earlier and slept there along with a few other Motorhome’s. Was it worth the drive, absolutely!!

The following morning we trucked on to the border of Finland. It was a new country day! We knew we must be getting close when the signs had the town written in both languages.

Not long after that we found the sign for Finland. We think it was the right one, we weren’t 100% as it was covered in stickers lol.

We drove across the deserted border crossing without incident. And looking at our phones, we realised we’d crossed another time zone. That’s 2 hours sleep we’ve lost now so we better get them back on the way home. (Andy thinks I’m going home lol).

They weren’t kidding when they told us Finland was lakes and trees, trees and lakes! What they didn’t tell us though, was we would see loads of gorgeous reindeer!

I love reindeer. A couple of years ago we drove around Scotland in a hired Motorhome and got to visit and feed a herd of the lovely creatures. No wonder Santa chose them to pull his sleigh! I digress, you have to be careful when driving as they seem to own the road and nothing will shift them if they don’t want to move. Or as Andy says, they have zero road sense.

The roads were much wider than the majority that we’d driven on through Norway and we were happily trucking along waving to fellow Motorhome’s on the opposite side of the road, when an old Norwegian guy got a bit too enthusiastic and knocked into the passenger side mirror. He broke the casing on the back and the indicator light. Won’t repeat what Andy said but there were lots of words beginning with F & W. Imagine sat in the passenger seat of a right hand drive vehicle driving on the right side of the road. I’m nearest to the middle lines with no steering wheel in front of me. To say I nearly pooped my pants was an understatement. It was only a mirror and we were both OK so in the grand scheme of things it was no real harm done.

That night we found a lovely camping spot in the woods. It was quiet and free of charge. I ❤️ Scandinavia’s ‘right to roam’.

The next morning we went for a walk along the trail following the sign post we could see from Harriet’s window. (I love stuff like this. If we had chosen a campsite instead we would never have seen it). We followed the path to a suspension bridge over a wide river. The noise we could hear were the rapids. On the other side we’re some wooden buildings. One had sacks of firewood and an axe, the other was open to the elements with a fire pit in the middle. How cool is that. Be great if you were wet and cold in the winter time.

We carried on to Inari as we wanted to learn a bit about the Sami people who live/lived in Lapland and their culture. We visited the very impressive Siida museum. The inside part was very informative and in English too. Lots to look at and we didn’t get bored of reading. The outside space was full of reconstructed houses, animal traps, storage buildings etc. the way the Sami have made these things for 1000’s of years. We spent all afternoon there and it was well worth the visit at €20 for 2 adults.

The plan was to drive down to Roveniemi but we were low on water and the toilet needed emptying. Lapland has few or no facilities for Motorhome’s and in the camper contact book it only showed 3 campsites. We couldn’t even pin point them on google maps either. We decided we’d stop at the first place we saw and not long after, we came across a campsite and called in. €20 for the night but no facilities to take water on board. We told the guy thank you but we needed water. We drove another 50km with nothing in sight. Even the layby with toilets advertised were locked up. Park4night to the rescue yet again. There was a campsite a few kilometres off the main road which we would never have found. £21 a night and everything we needed. Norway might be Motorhome heaven but Lapland definitely isn’t.

So the next day we got to Roveniemi, home of Santa Claus. In true Christmas Eve anticipation we decided to treat ourselves to a meal out. We’d been fancying Chinese food for a while so went in search of a restaurant. It was only a 15 minute walk into town from where we’d parked and soon found a place to eat. I ordered sweet and sour chicken, Andy ordered the pork. What came was sweet & sour salad. Honestly, lumps of hot cucumber, tomato and cabbage!! We should have stayed in Harriet and cooked a lovely meal. Never mind, we were going to see Santa the next day, in Lapland!!

We drove to Santa Claus Village and parked in the free car park. Now I don’t know if it’s because there was no snow or whether I’d just been too excited, but the place just didn’t live up to expectations. It all looked a bit ... run down. It was mostly full of tat shops and if you wanted a photograph with Santa they charged anything from €40! The only decent thing we saw was Santa’s post office and the Arctic Circle Marker.

If you advertise Lapland as being the home of the “real” Santa, and you want parents to spend there hard earned money visiting the place, should you have 2 Father Christmas’s?? Can you tell I was disappointed? In my opinion, save your money unless you’re driving past in a motorhome. Then call in, it’s free and let me know what you think. The good news though, across the road from Santa’s village is a Shell station where you can get rid of your waste and fill up with water.

That evening we found a camping spot in a little village called Tervola just off the main E75. We were intrigued by a wooden building we could see, so went for a walk to have a look. It turned out to be a Finnish church with a small graveyard to honour those killed in WW2. Nothing like the War Graves of France and Belgium but still beautifully kept. When we googled about Finland’s participation in the war, this is what it said ... “During the Continuation War (1941–1944) Finland was co-belligerent with Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union, and dependent on food, fuel and armament shipments from Germany. ... Finnish Jews fought alongside other Finns for their country's freedom”. You learn so much when you travel don’t you. Next stop Sweden!

100 meters passed the border into Sweden, we came across an Ikea 😁 When in Rome and all that haha. Andy wanted meatballs for tea and I wanted a mattress topper for the bed. I’ve got a dodgy back so hopefully it will help me get a better nights sleep fingers crossed. They even have a Motorhome park right next door, free of charge, no time limit & no services.

After walking around Ikea 3 times lol we got back in Harriet and headed for Gammelstad Church Town. Unfortunately we were held up on the E4 for 2 hours after a tanker had over turned and they had to close the road. The beauty of having a motorhome is you can make yourself comfortable in situations like this and put the kettle on. We even managed to watch part of the film we’d downloaded from Netflix.

By this time it was late, so we spent the night by a lake amongst the trees. It was so peaceful and with the new mattress topper on the bed I had a great nights sleep. The next morning we drove the 40 miles to the Gammelstad Church Town. I’d never heard of a church town before but we thought it was worth looking at as it’s a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was free to park and free to look around. We paid the £6.85 each for a guided tour which was brilliant and well worth the money. There were just the two of us, so Caroline, our Swedish guide, spent over an hour showing us round. We couldn’t fault her English and her knowledge of the site was impeccable. She answered all our questions without hesitation and if you ever manage to get there, go to the visitor centre and ask for a tour, it brings the whole place alive. We were amazed. They even let you stay in the car park overnight for free.

So now we are back in the land of dark nights phew. This midnight sun and different time zones doesn’t half mess with your body clock.

Harriet’s Hints

If you are travelling anywhere in the area of the midnight sun, make sure you can block out as much light as possible and even wear a good eye mask. It all helps to get a decent nights sleep. We really wished Harriet had proper curtains up at the bedroom windows rather than nets but I’m sure that could soon be altered.