Day 58 - The Penultimate Day
Wednesday 6th April
Despite being able to lie in this morning I still woke at 5.30. I dozed until 6.30, but then gave in and got up.
I sat with a cup of hot chocolate staring out at the fjord. The sun has been up for some hours, but is still low in the sky. It casts a beautiful light across the water. Much calmer after the high winds of yesterday.
From where I sit I can see a couple of vans queuing up to go along the road in convoy following the snow plough. Clearing the snow is a constant job as the road can get covered in minutes with blowing snow, so cars, vans, trucks etc. have to follow the snow plough.
My breakfast view (and power cable)
We only have around 15 kilometres to ski today and the weather looks perfect. I get the honour of pulling Pulky (restored to the team for one more day) up the first big hill of the day. From sea level to 240 metres. Time for a zig-zag or two methinks.
About a third of the way up the hill out of Repvåg. Note the traffic queuing to follow the snow plough convoy round the peninsula road below..
It is a beautiful day. Perfect snow. So nice to not have to rush on this, our final day on skis. We can take our time. We chat about the events of the past few months. Trond points out that he has not moaned about my skiing skills for quite a few days now. I suggest that a certain Mrs Trond (a.k.a. Karin) has probably told him to stop nagging me since I don’t think I’ve suddenly improved enough to meet his exacting standards. He has to admit that that is in fact the case. This is not necessarily the answer I was hoping for.
Looking back as we take a short cut across the peninsula
Before we know it we a skiing down again to sea level at a small place called Kåfjord. Just a few houses scattered across the bay and a cluster of old fishing houses down by the water.
Approaching Kåfjord I am disappointed not to see viking longboats
Interestingly, but sadly, pretty much every building across the whole of Finnmark (the huge area of northern Norway that we have been skiing through for more than a week) was destroyed by the retreating German Army in the autumn of 1944. All livestock was killed and most of the population deported by sea to southern Norway. Trond’s mother, about 12 years old at the time, remembers well her house being burned and their few animals slaughtered. This mass destruction and deportation was done to deny the Russian army any advantage as they were expected to come through Norway to get to Germany. As you may know, the Russians didn’t come.
Many families returned to their original land after the war, supported by the the government. and rebuilt. Fascinating stuff and sad that we humans never learn those lessons about pain and suffering inflicted on innocent people during time of war.
Trond desperately hoping someone will offer coffee as we pass the cabins at Kåfjord
Down at the road Trond is convinced that we can ski beside it to the tunnel. I am less convinced.
Highly skilled in the art of being wrong, I am once again, wrong. Trond, not terribly magnanimously, gloats over my lack of confidence. Childish.
Not exactly clean, but. Certainly skiable at the side of the road
After just 5 hours we arrive at the tunnel.
Say, “Brown cheese.”
(You have to be Norwegian to get that joke)
“Tunnel? What tunnel?” I hear you ask. Well dear reader, Nordkapp is not on the mainland it is on an island called Magerøya. There is a tunnel the Nordkapptunnelen (North Cape Tunnel). In fact there are 2 tunnels…oh, and a bridge. One shortly after the other joining the mainland to the town of Honningsvåg on the isoand. Prior to the tunnel’s completion in 1999 visitors to the island had to take the ferry from Kåfjord to Honningsvåg.
We will not be skiing or walking through the tunnels, or the short section of road between them. It is not only illegal, but also smelly, boring and downright dangerous to walk through any tunnel. Sorry to the perfectionists, but…
We had arranged for the lovely Daniel from Event 71 Degrees North AS to drive us through the first tunnel (and bridge). We are being put up at their accommodation at Sarness.
The cabins at Sarnes
I dread to think how much it is costing, but the king crab we were served for dinner was lovey. All washed down with a rare can of beer.
Enough king crab for four. We ate the lot.
Pining for the fjords. The view from our cabin (no power cables)
We spent the evening packing up Pulky 2 and our skis which were being collected and delivered to Hammerfest that evening (boy are we - read; Trond - well organised!).. We will travel light tomorrow.
The final day.
Tomorrow we will walk the final 35 ish kilometres to Nordkapp with just one rucksack between us. We hope to arrive at our final destination at around 3pm.
I am hoping to do a short video that will be used by BBC Radio Hereford and Worcester as well as BBC Berkshire, so do keep your eyes open for that (on the radio!?).
I will blog shortly after.
Are we there yet?
Some statistics for you:
Total distance traveled so far (since Nordli): 1,348.2km
Total number of days traveling: 58
Today: 15.8 km over 5 hrs 15 mins - 10.45 to 16.00 hrs
How exciting was that!?
