Last night we stayed up and saw the midnight soon in Alta. In fact, Sally popped next door to an Esso garage which was selling hot dogs and we had a midnight feast whilst watching the sun in the north. I took this pic from the car park behind our hotel in Alta. It was exactly midnight.
Today, Sunday, we dropped Sal off at Alta airport (she is flying home) and then pointed our bikes southwards heading across country and leaving the fantastic E6 behind. What a road! Now we headed due south up the "93" in what was a nice ravine for a few miles. It soon reaches the top and we set off on what turned out to be the most boring road in Europe. Mile after mile of pretty much straight road edged by trees so zero scenery. If you doing the Nordkapp, don't do this route (Alta - Pello)
The highlight of the road was crossing the border to Finland from Norway. The last time we entered Finland with bikes we had to produce all paper work and the police even matched our log books with numbers on the bikes! This time - nothing. Didn't even see anybody. There were two "channels" to choose between depending on whether you had some something to declare. But neither were manned. Odd really! Bit of a disappointment really but made for some nice pictures anyway.
After a mile or two, the sky grew dark and there were rainstorms to the east and the west. We hoped we would ride between them but just as we reached a crossroads, the rain started. We stopped in a cafe and experienced Finnish catering in a petrol station. After Norway, it seemed much more basic and was certainly cheaper - Euros of course. Anyway, the price of a coffee and sandwich gave us shelter from the rain and luckily after 40 minutes it stopped so we pressed on. Even after the exciting of a junction, the road was still straight and boring.
We got bit tired (too many miles and late nights) so we resolved to stop at the first cafe we came to it. It seemed ok and we had a coffee and a sticky bun. To freshen up we strolled down to the nearby river which was very nice. Reindeer were on the opposite bank and fish were jumping in the river. The boats are used for fishing. Apparently, you cast a line or two then row upstream against the strong current which means you will float downstream and then you use the engine to get back upstream - if you follow me. I am no fisherman but we had it all explained to us. It was then that I noticed the pump........and we had just had a coffee! I hope he boiled the water!
We finally reached Pello where we had decided to stay the night but for some strange reason related to the need to have strange adventures, we decided to head for a camp site. We rented a hut (delux with inside loo) and all seemed well until the mossies started biting. I think they sensed "new" blood and could even bite through socks. We withdrew to the camp's common "hut" and had beer and pizza. The operator gave us a thing to plug into a socket in the hut and said it would kill all the bugs in 20 mins. We'll see. I haven't got a picture yet of the hut or the site and I am sorry but I am not venturing back outside until I have to. THEY are out there waiting for us..........
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