Finmark and Lapland

29 June 2015

We slept the night in the Nordkapp camper parking area. There must have been 50 campers there! But despite the numbers it was very quiet. However it rained and blew, with very little visibility. 

I got these photos just before we left though...

Very excited.... But I must admit the birds were stuffed, in a display.... Well I did take the photos! 

Leaving the Cape we appreciated again the magnitude of the landscape. 

And further down the road in Finmark we looked back and saw again what we were leaving! 

30 Jun

We have crossed into Finland/Lapland. At the border crossing is where we met the mosquitoes! We also met a Saami man (native people of this area). He had a mosquito on his forehead, so naturally I mentioned it. He shrugged his shoulders and said "it doesn't matter. There are no mosquitoes here - wait till you get further south!"

This map will give you a clue as to what he meant!

When we were ready to camp that night we tried one or two places but found swarms of mosquitoes and biting flies! So each time we moved on hoping for something better.....finally in desperation we decided to camp despite the insects, and retreat inside the vehicle if we couldn't stand it. So we sprayed ourselves with DEET and lit afire hoping that the smoke would help.

And to our surprise, the swarms stayed around but they were not biting! 

1July 2015

Today we have been driving through Lapland. The scenery is completely different from Norway.

We see mostly conifers, although there are still some areas of broad leafed plants.

And there are lakes or rivers on both sides of the road much of the time. This is a Saami man in his traditional boat, which is 6m long and is 60cm wide. 

We stopped for a walk across this area of peat bog to a bird hide. 

And saw a couple of colourful little fellows. 

And these large cranes. I don't know the names of any other f these birds, they are so foreign to me. I can't really see the point of learning them either, since I'll never see them again. But it is nice to see them once and hear their songs.

We have camped again tonight with a fire and are sitting outside despite the hoards of insects. The temperature is considerably warmer than the past week or so, so we are quite enjoying it. In Finland they refer to the "night-less nights" and we are certainly appreciating these too. As I write this it's  10.45 pm and I am outside in full daylight.