Heading south again…

We started going south again after the North Cape (we couldn’t go any further north anyway… 😜). This week, we said goodbye to Norway and entered Finland, where we will spend the next few weeks until we reach the Baltic Sea again…

It was a bit strange to get back on the road after the North Cape. For a little extra time, we took a logistical break in Olderfjord, the town where the E69 (the one that goes to the North Cape) begins. Half a day washing clothes and tasting reindeer fillets and Norwegian cheese (there is only one type of cheese in the country, so… the tasting was quick…😜), before settling a little further away, on the Billefjord peninsula.

Beyond the exceptional 360º panoramic view that we had from Marvin’s windows, it turns out that the peninsula was the scene of a major Allied bombing during World War II, on an air base that the Germans had strategically installed there (just a fjord and a half away from Russia…). Throughout the entire peninsula, now occupied by reindeer, one can still see the craters of Allied bombs and the foundations of some German buildings. But hey, you have to admit, when one arrives at Billefjord, the first thing that catches the attention is the panoramic view… 😉

Kevon luonnonpuisto… (9/07/2024)

The next morning, we made a short journey south, just to say goodbye to Norway (for good this time) and arrive in Finland. We were just a few kilometers from the border, but we were still back in the European Union and, incidentally, in the euro zone (contrary to what I thought, Finland adopted the euro in 1999). On the other hand, since we are quite far to the east, we had to set the clock forward an hour when crossing the border (that is, in Finland it is 1:00 p.m., when in Paris it is twelve noon)…

The dirt track next to which we settled for the night is one of the access points to the Kevo Strict Nature Reserve (Kevon luonnonpuisto, in Finnish), since although access to the central part of the reserve is effectively prohibited (this is the definition of a strict nature reserve), the buffer zone hosts a few hiking trails and, above all, thousands of reindeer (without exaggerating 😳). They are literally everywhere, and one gets the impression that more and more are coming out of the trees with every step along the trail!…

As for landscapes, after following the coast for a while, we returned inland for the last kilometres in Norway. We were back to this plateau at 300 m altitude, like in Sweden, and to these immense, slightly stunted birch forests that we had crossed on the way up, as far as the eye can see. And since Finland is also the country of thousands of lakes, a little further along our track we have some examples, small or large, lost in the middle of the forest. The only downside to birch forests is that they don’t offer many view points of the surrounding area, but that should improve in the next few days when we go a little further south…

Quietness (10/07/2024)

A short journey today, only to return to a slightly slower pace and make the most of the Finnish landscapes.

About a hundred kilometers from where we spent the night, we found large coniferous forests and lakes with transparent water. A bit like in Sweden, but with many more reindeer here…

Finland’s nickname of “the land of a thousand lakes” is certainly justified. In fact, there is water everywhere, in every corner that the forest has not managed to occupy… After following a dirt track for a few kilometres to go see two of these lakes (and try to find a place for the night), we finally returned to the start of the track, at the edge of Lake Rautujärvet, a puddle compared to its large neighbor, Lake Inari.

In this part of the country, much of the eastern half of Finland is occupied, up to the Russian border, by an immense lake: Lake Inari, with a surface area of ​​1.040 km². Despite its size, it is only the third largest lake in the country (although it appears larger than the others on the map). In fact, it is its more than 3.000 islands that reduce the surface of its waters, among them the most famous: Hautuumaasaari (“Graveyard Island”), which was used as a cemetery by the ancient Sámi, and Ukonkivi (“the Ukko stone”), a sacrificial place for the primitive tribes of the region.

Our lake, Lake Rautujärvet, also flows, a few kilometers further on, into Lake Inari. And for a little anecdote, it was on this same Lake Inari where in December 1984, and after a miscalculation or technical failure (no explanation was ever given or asked for), a Soviet missile crashed on the lake’s ice. Fortunately, it did not have any explosive charge… So, already in those days… 😳

What even a Russian missile would hardly be able to disturb is the quietness of this place, in front of the transparent waters of the lake on which the reflection of the clouds slowly slides against a background of blue sky. Every once in a while, a fish comes to swallow a fly or a little sandpiper briefly shouts before flying to the other side of the lake. These are the only noises we heard in this total silence… 😍

Storm… (11/07/2024)

One of the characteristics of the weather, beyond the Arctic Circle, is that it changes very quickly and very often. Without going any further, yesterday, on the shore of our small lake, we had all kinds of weather in just 24 hours. The wind constantly changes direction and, with it, the current weather. After an afternoon with large black clouds where we could almost think that the night would come, suddenly, around 10 p.m., the sun reappeared, the sky went back to an intense blue and the wind dropped completely, leaving us with a completely calm lake where we could see both the reflections of the sky and the fallen trees at the bottom of the water. We could have spent the whole night taking photos!… 🤤

This morning the wind had returned and, with it, the first clouds. A look at the three weather apps we regularly check (several times a day), including the Norwegian National Meteorological Service (which also gives forecasts for Sweden and Finland), and all three were predicting heavy rain and gusty winds for the night and the following day. Since the weather is so unstable, if the three apps don’t agree, one can always try to pass between the drops, but when all three say the same thing, it’s because something is definitely coming on the horizon…

So we went a little further south, to the shore of Lake Porttipahta, or at least of the canal that connects it with another lake, Lake Lokka, to produce electricity. The predicted storm was also expected there, but not as strong as further north…

So we settled on the edge of a forest (full of reindeer, like everywhere around here… 🙄), at the end of a 3 km dirt track that took us to the bank of the Vuotso canal, which connects the two lakes and takes his name from the homonymous village, the last Sámi village heading south (the Sámi territory does not reach as South in Finland as in Sweden or Norway). Before, we took a short break at the Saariselkä ski resort, and more specifically at the top of Mount Kaunispää, which dominates the surrounding area from its 438 m altitude (yes, 438 m is high enough to build a ski resort, around here … 😉). The idea was to wait here for the storm to pass, consulting our weather apps, before continuing with the next legs…

Rainy day… (12/07/2024)

The forecast for “heavy rains” finally ended up in normal but continuous “rains”, starting last night and throughout today. The wind has completely dropped (which means “the party is on” for mosquitoes and other flying critters)…

We could have stayed on the bank of our canal, but we also wanted to get to the town of Kersilö, and more specifically to a beach, next to the Kersilän suvanto river, where we will spend the weekend.

Only a few photos today (the weather was not very favorable). We simply stopped at Astrid’s, the friendly owner of the Vuotson Maja Bed & Breakfast (where we refilled water), who asked us if she could take a photo of Marvin to upload to her Instagram. No sooner said than done! It is really never too late to be connected! 😉

We also took a break at a small cafe in Peurasuvanto, a wooden chalet where the homemade kanelipulla (the Finnish equivalent to Swedish kannelbolle) are simply a delight…

This weekend, we will stay on our beach to enjoy the sunny day planned for tomorrow, with just enough wind so that mosquitoes are no longer a problem… 😜 Then we will continue to our next stop: Rovaniemi, capital of Lapland.

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In Lapland, as anywhere else, LEAVE NO TRACE!

– Always travel on public ways and respect the signs.
– Limit noise and interfere as little as possible with wildlife.
– Respect the other users.
– Leave rocks, plants and other natural features as you found them and respect historic sites.
– Take your waste with you and throw it into the appropriate containers, in the nearest village.
– Do not camp inside protected areas and do not make any fires.