Saturday 18 June – Nordkapp

Cold wet and miserable, not a good portent for the highlight of our trip. An earlyish start and as we had full facilities took the chance to properly service the van, not really knowing what was coming during the next couple of days.

A shortish run up to Nordkapp, following the tourist coaches we'd spotted earlier, but the weather worsened until visibility was down to 50 yards and we were relying on the satnav. So the entrance barrier looming out of the fog nearly caught us out and the nice young man relieved us of NOK520 (£43) which covered all the attractions plus parking for up to 24 hours. The next task was to actually find the carpark and then the entrance – we were obviously in the clouds, it was cold wet and windy – but we could just about make out a large building.

Although Nordkapp isn't physically quite the northernmost point of Europe (you have to hike a further 2/3 hours to a headland about 1.4km further) it has been the accepted point for many years and there is now a large visitor centre. A panoramic cinema, various exhibitions, the northernmost Ecumenical Chapel, several coffee bars and restaurants and of course the obligatory souvenir shop were all inspected before we ventured out to the symbol of Nordkapp, the globe on the headland.

Norwegian Troll (on the left...)

On top of the world!

Which you can probably tell is as much as we saw of the place, to our great disappointment. Hot chocolate and a cake in the Arctic Bar revived us a little and the server did say that although this was the worst they had seen in a few days (yep, that's us!) quite often it changed in minutes. This was not echoed by the cashier in the souvenir shop and in fact the weather forecast showed no change for at least 3 days.

Cruise ships at Honningsvald

Having paid for 24hrs parking, we returned to the van and decided to give it a chance; there were quite a few vans obviously settling in hoping to see the Midnight Sun, but by late afternoon we were cold and miserable so sadly departed, if only to get out of the all-pervading cloud. About an hour and a half down the road we had left the island on which Nordkapp is located, via the 7km long undersea tunnel built, we learn, to make a non-ferry link right up to the northernmost point. There are quite a few campsites along the way, all offering full facilities but charging quite a lot for things we don't actually need. However Norway operates an “open-land” principal which means you are free to use any open space, with certain restrictions. There are small rest areas along the road, quite often with toilets, water etc. which come under this principle and so many motorhomes make use of them. We spotted just such a spot at Russenes, very picturesque in the loop of a bay and found a space to settle down in for the night.

Bay at Russenes - can just see vans parked

Although still dull and grey we are at least free of the cold wet fog so, despite them being soaking wet, deployed the insulating screens for extra warmth as well as to dry them out. Provided we're not moved on we'll take a late start tomorrow after trying to fix the rear number plate.

Friday 17 June – Ivala to Honningsvald

With the electric mozzie killer on all night we weren't bothered by the little darlings, but just as we got up it started to rain which brought them out, so copious application of repellant before anything got done. We really must remember to avoid forested areas for overnighting but fortunately forewarned is forarmed and Bren has been taking anti-histamine so is not suffering.

Once away it was back onto more of the same scenerty and roads, except now it was raining and it didn't stop for the rest of the day. Lunchtime saw us crossing the border into Norway without any form of checking, just drove through the green channel. Almost straightaway, however, we noticed a deterioration in the roads with several sections unsurfaced and apparently under “long term” repair. Shades of Morocco. Coupled with the overall speed limit of 80kph progress was not as fast as we've been used to. Called into a Tourist Info office but they were not very helpful, however we got some money changed.

An hour or so up the road we stopped at a Coop supermarket in Lakselv and had lunch on their carpark (after suitable purchases of course). Then onwards north and, through the mist and clouds, we could see the scenery changing with hills and mountains to be skirted around the sea shore, dotted everywhere with dozens of small islands. Pity the weather was so miserable.

White reindeer

Late afternoon, after deciding to stop around Honningsvald, which is only 35km short of our ultimate destination, we looked for a stopover. Identifying a “site” from one of our databases, we ended up a 1 in 3 shale track to a dead-end with just a wall and no campsite! Then trying to turn round we got well and truly stuck with the luggage rack and towbar jammed into a bank and the front wheels unable to pull us out. Eventually after much head scratching we managed to get off the bank with just a little damage and reversed all the way back down.

Try again and the next place was a wide open car park with full facilities so we finished there, even if it was a tad expensive. Hopefully the rain will stop overnight, we can get the luggage rack sorted and then go on to the real target of the trip, Nordkapp!

Oh yes, think we managed to refill the tank with the most expensive diesel in the world - £1.45/litre!

Thursday 16 June - Santa Claus Village to Ivalo

Lots of vans came in to park last night and many of them were visiting the attraction today. Especially the one parked next to us with two crying children.......

So a little later than normal start, but no facilities here so onward north. The quickest and easiest route to Nordkapp is straight up through Finland; we've been advised it's quicker easier and cheaper than dodging back into Sweden so that's the way we'll go. The roads are now very quiet although we've seen quite a lot of motorhomes, including the inevitable French convoy. Apart from that the odd car and truck every now and again. Scenery is again much of the same but the temperature is soaring – we saw one sign saying 27 deg and it felt like it too in the summer sunshine. We're warmer here, above the Arctic Circle, than we were in Morocco!

Lots of trees and empty roads

Lunch on a supermarket carpark (we needed bread, plus the inevitable few other things) at Sodankyla followed by another refuel, then north watching out for the reindeer, who roam free around here.

First the sign

Then Rudolph

Then the rest of the team

Late afternoon we looked for a stopover between Ivalo and Inari (we noticed that place names now appear to be in two languages – Finnish & Lappi?) and found yet another lakeside place amongst the trees; idyllic but unfortunately the mozzies were out in force so get the repellant out. And for the first time in a long long while we switched the air conditioning on – in the Arctic for heavens sake!

Wednesday 15 June – Seskara to Rovaniemi

Another bright start and after the usual chores away before 11.00. First call to the Tourist Info office in Haparanda to check on dog regulations, which by the time we'd found the office was immaterial anyway because we'd already been in and out of Finland with no checks. Nevertheless they confirmed everything was fine so we went looking for a bank to get some Finnish currency. Doh! It's euros! Changed some Swedish anyway but we've already got euros.

Our site last night was actually on an island.

Never mind, next port of call was to be one of the highlights of our trip, a visit to Santa Claus! Sad aren't we? You would think that such an attraction would be well signposted but we ended up in the middle of Rovaniemi without a clue going round in circles looking for the T.I. Which was signposted but we never found it. In the end we escaped the city and stopped to investigate. TomTom said “yep, know where that is” so we let him get on with it and sure enough about 7km out of the city we came to Santa Claus Village which, of course, is also on the Arctic Circle.

Gone for his break!

It being June and 19 deg C the place wasn't exactly overrun, so we had a bit of lunch then went exploring. As you would expect everything revolves around Santa Claus and our first item was to send postcards and get a few prezzies. Then of course we just had to visit Santa, which was free. But just to prove it we bought the photos and video too – they're nearly as bad as Disney; once we've got it sorted we'll (maybe!) post a link. We're never going to live it down.

The REAL Father Christmas!

Finland is yet another hour ahead of UK time (2hrs) so despite it feeling mid-afternoon everything was closing down. Just enough time for a final couple of purchases then we were directed to an area where we could park overnight and joined several other vans in the evening sunshine. Because we're at the Arctic Circle, of course, the sun will probably never set properly now!

Tuesday 14 June – Robertsfor to Seskaro

A better start today into another bright clear morning – well it's actually been bright and clear all night, never got dark!

Need to make more progress today so with essentials completed it's back onto the E4 for the long drag towards Finland, which is todays target. Again most of the scenery is trees, interspersed with views of the coast and the many rivers/inlets. We've started to notice habitation amongst the trees, usually first evidence being a line of post boxes on the side of the road. Occasionally, too, an industrial unit has been built hidden amongst the trees. And as we're no longer on the motorway, the road takes us through the towns to show us more of traditional Sweden. Clean, modern but in the traditional style of wood built houses with wooden shingles, mostly in the rich dark brown colour but also pastels and a very nice smoky grey too.

Nice wide clear and empty roads

Don't see this roadsign in the UK much

We think they're livestock shelters

Made a lunch stop at one of the supermarket chains, this time Willys, where we took the opportunity of topping up the fridge and as we left, filling the fuel tank again. Despite there being adequate fuel stations we're not going to let fuel get too low.

With traffic now very light we made good progress but decided we'd stop for the night just short of the Finnish border so once again selected something from one of the signposts. Seskaro Camping turned out to be almost identical to the last two sites we've stayed at with all facilities and lovely positioning, right on the coast. Well not too close because the midgies come out at teatime! Once again, although we've had a few rain showers this afternoon, the sun has come streaming through and it's a beautiful evening.

We're not too sure about taking the dog into Finland so the site receptionist has recommended we go visit the customs office before we cross. Apparently the twin border towns of Haparanda (Sweden) and Tornio (Finland) were built specifically to make a border crossing when Finland was still a Russian protectorate. We're looking forward to investigating and will also visit the (joint) Tourist Information office.

Monday 13 June – Sundsvall to Robertsfor

Despite our best efforts, we simply could not get going this morning. Just “breaking camp” took ages, then the guy in reception wanted to reminisce. Needing some shopping we called at the first supermarket to find it wasn't – a supermarket, that is. We then spotted a City Gross, which is a chain of supermarkets but whoever decides on the layout must have a twisted mind because nothing is logical and we had to walk round three times to get our small list filled.

Right, there's a fuel station next door, one of those fully automated places; wouldn't talk to us. By now frustration was setting in so we just headed back to the main road and promptly found a Shell fuel station that worked. But even that one wouldn't completely fill the tank. So it was 12.40 by the time we eventually got on our way: just not our day.

Need to get some miles in, we're way behind schedule but fortunately the road is not busy although it's no longer motorway. Instead it's a 3-lane highway barriered off into single and dual track carriageways which alternate every couple of kilometres. No hard shoulder so if anyone breaks down in a single section we're all snookered, but fortunately that didn't happen and we were able to make surprisingly good speed. The scenery now started to become more of what we expected with views of the coastline and many inlets and rivers amongst the trees. Quite a lot of speed cameras around too although TomTom knows where they are!

No idea, it was just there in the middle of nowhere

Crossing one of the many inlets

A late lunch stop was followed by skirting the small city of Umea; very clean and modern looking, if anything a bit too squeaky clean but that's Sweden. Late afternoon we eventually decided we'd had enough so Bren investigated several potential stopovers; we've got books etc. but in fact there are campsites signposted every 10 miles or so, and we picked a likely looking one at a place called Sikea Hamn, near Robertsfor, which basically was just the local boat club with two campsites attached.

Only needing basic facilities, nevertheless we got the works again and settled down to a nice not-quite-waterside pitch (yep, midgies again). As I write this it's almost 10.00 pm and the sun is still streaming across the site, which makes trying to work out bedtime weird.

10.00 p.m.

Sunday 12 June – Sundsvall

The problem with sunset at 23.00 and dawn at 02.30 is that, despite all the blinds drawn and screens deployed, it never gets dark. This results in multiple visits to the little room............

True to her word, Bren was up early and after walking the dog went straight up to reception to get a laundry key, then got the first load on while Terry got the Full English Breakfast going – 'cos it's Sunday of course. Then service the van whilst Bren was going backwards and forwards. Fortunately the weather, though not at first sunny, played the game and the washing dried quickly, the sun coming out mid-afternoon to help. Mission accomplished, total cost SEK100 (about £10) to wash and dry three big loads, not too bad.

So thereafter a pleasant day, chatting with English neighbours who had “done” Noordkapp and were heading homewards – lots of useful information exchanged. Then a bit of internet catching up – we're currently using the free site network which is quite fast but won't let us “stream” Radio 2. Our “3” connection seems to be okay though, but that of course costs. Just before we came away Tesco announced that it's mobile subscribers could use their phones etc. at their existing rates. This also turns out to cover pay-as-you-go and both Bren and Terry have deals which include lots of free minutes, which seems to work too. Great, free phone calls home!

Jamie is being a bit naughty today, barking at anyone and everyone who comes past, and being really demanding. He also seems to be off his food a bit, although he never turns down a “treat”. We'll keep an eye on him but it's probably another of his growing-up things.

But meanwhile, Sweden. Despite not having seen very much of it so far, except for miles and miles of forest, we like it very much. The people we've met are all friendly (and all speak English!) and seem interested in our trip. We are however currently travelling through a more populous area and are told that this will change the further north we go. Tomorrow we will continue north with still a long way to Finland where we plan to visit Father Christmas in his home village – well it would be rude not to after all he has done for us in the past........