Hello from Nordkapp

Saturday 16th July finds us at 71°11’08” North. We are at the top of Europe, and standing here it feels like we are on the top of the world.

Poppy at the offical top of Europe

We left Landskrona, Sweden, and made our way to Stockholm. The countryside is Forested and dotted with lakes of all sizes. We drove up the coast of one of the bigger ones, Lake Vättern, and stopped for the night at a great little place called Röttle.

Down by the lake at Rattle, what no G & T!

We arrived in Stockholm and found a campsite about 6km from the centre, by a fantastic lake with beech and within waking distance from the underground. What a find. We caught the tube into the Old Town and spent a great evening wondering around the city. Places to see, the Royal Palace, the Cathedral, Parliament building, the Nobel Museum and just soaking up the atmosphere on a Friday night.
We ate at a nice little restaurant and experienced one of the financial penalties of Scandinavia, buying alcohol. 2 beers (sit down now) £16.60, yes £16.60. Still i am told worse in Norway! Needless to say we will be on the G+Ts as we brought a couple of litres with us.

Old Town Stockholm

A £9 Beer, see it at believe it.

We meet with Elizabeth, an old friend of mine on Saturday and were taken to a great cafe overlooking the lake, coffee, cake and a great view, whats not to like. Many thanks Liz and we hop to meet again. Leaving Stockholm we hit the road and chewed up a fair few kms. Stopped for the night at a place with fantastic views of the coast, and even managed to catch most of the European Championship Final (why do i bother?).

Elizabeth and me.

Finally stopped for a couple of days right at the top of the Gulf of Bothnia at a place called Seskarö. The campsite was on a small island and had a popular beech. Poppy went for a swim, while i settled for a paddle (what a man). The temperature was 26°, which is amazing when you consider we were only just below the Artic Circle. Riding around Sweden you can see where America, especially the East, gets its architectural inspiration, as both Pop and myself thought we were riding around the American suburbs.

Pics from Seskarö

Crossing into Finland, a short drive north saw us cross the Artic Cirle, 66.3° North. It was a bit disappointing due to the massive Santa Land that the Fins have built there, was a bit tacky. We pushed on, seeing even less traffic and more trees and lakes.

Says it all!

In Inari, we visited the Sami museum, the Sami being the indigenous people of Finmark, the area of north Finland, Sweden, Norway and Russia. It was very interesting to see how people can live in such harsh conditions.

A final push and an interesting drive through a 7km tunnel, which had a 3.5km 9% drop and rise. Saw us arrive on Magerøya, the island were Nordkapp (the north cape) is. The interesting thing is that Nordkapp is not the most northerly point, it is easy to get the tourists to as there is a road up there, so it has become the ‘Official commercial’ point. The real most North point is Knivskjelodden, this though involves a 18km round trip walk, over very rocky ground and including a 300m drop and climb. Needless to say this was were we headed for our photo opportunity.

Top of Europe, weather changes by the minute.

Poppy in Summer clothes! and a fish drying rack, nice smell.

Since we have been up here we have not seen any night, it gets a bit twilight when it clouds over but it is weird and it does upset any sleep routine. Though seeing daylight through the ‘night’, is something to experience.
Having rushed to get up here to experience the ‘white nights’, we are now going to slow it down and saunter our way down the coast of Norway.
More in a couple of weeks.

First Week.

6 days from leaving England and we find ourselves in Landskrona on the Southwest coast of Sweden.

View of the setting sun, Landskrona, Sweden.

After the ferry trip from Harwich to the Hook of Holland, we made our way to Delft, just south of the Hague. We stayed two nights at a site called DelftseHout, just outside town. It's a great place, canals, markets, museums. We went to the Vermeer (him of the 'Girl with the Pearl Earring' painting) museum. The town is very picturesque and known for it's pottery, burial place of the Dutch monarchy as well as Vermeer. Though the weather is hit and miss, we got out on our bikes for a good ride. Holland (like most of Europe I suspect) is very cycle friendly, with cycle paths virtually everywhere.

One of the canals of Delft.

Left Delft on Sunday 3rd and headed for the Island of Rugen, on the German Baltic coast. We drove across the Afsuitdijk dike, this is 30km long and helps keep a quarter of Holland from flooding.

Her Maj' on the Afsuitdijk dike.

It took two easy driving days to get to Rugen Island. Where we pitched up in a great little car park by the beach. Plan was to spend two days checking out the local area, including the resort of Binz and the old Nazi holiday camp of Prora.

Pop wondering where the G&T is?

Rugen is an interesting place. Obversely it was East Germany until the wall came down and you still get the feeling of that in certain parts. Elsewhere like Binz, it has been modernised massively and has gone 'up market'. We had a good cycle down to Binz in the sunshine and enjoyed ice coffee and cake, mmmmm.

Beach at Binz

Bing

Mmmmmmm.

We also visited Prora, which is where the Nazis built there workers holiday camp. This was 4.5km long, unbelievably large. It was never used for purpose as it wasn't completed by the start of the war. Post war it was used by the East German police and military, and you certainly get the feeling walking around parts of it, that many bad things happened to people here! Now, in our capitalist world, it is being converted into luxury flats!

A 18m model of Prora

Picture of Prora

We got hit by a big storm Tuesday afternoon which lasted till Wednesday morning. Very wet but great rainbow view.

Break in the storm.

We took the ferry from Sassnitz on Rugen to Trelleborg in Sweden, 4 hours. Had a short drive up to Landskrona where we have spent a picturesque evening.

The plan? now is cross to Stockholm, to meet an old friend. Then 1800km up to Nordkapp. All being well that will be the next post (or where i can get wifi).