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This is an oil and gas town mostly and there are few tourists. The hotel had a 70% off sale because of some construction so we jumped at the change for a bit of luxury. We braved the weather to try and get in a walk and found ourselves at the Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society. This is a small free museum in the downtown. There are mementos of early life here in Hammerfest, a lot of stuffed animals, and historical photographs.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/507/1...5bd5fb65_c.jpghammerfest 8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3827/...2d99217b_c.jpghammerfest 4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/393/1...91711699_c.jpghammerfest 5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/474/1...ed9e0ae0_c.jpghammerfest 6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
What an incredible difference a day makes since today it is 17 and sunny! There are very few sunny days at the North Cape and so we are starting to feel we might get lucky. Before leaving town we checked out the Struve Geodetic Arc.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/354/1...31b9b44b_c.jpgDSC02858 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/514/2...4d261dcb_c.jpghammerfest 7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr “The Struve Arc is a chain of survey triangulations stretching from Hammerfest in Norway to the Black Sea, through 10 countries and over 2,820 km. These are points of a survey, carried out between 1816 and 1855 by the astronomer Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struve, which represented the first accurate measuring of a long segment of a meridian. This helped to establish the exact size and shape of the planet and marked an important step in the development of earth sciences and topographic mapping. It is an extraordinary example of scientific collaboration among scientists from different countries, and of collaboration between monarchs for a scientific cause. The original arc consisted of 258 main triangles with 265 main station points. The listed site includes 34 of the original station points, with different markings, i.e. a drilled hole in rock, iron cross, cairns, or built obelisks.” Wikipedia https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3799/...3128c1d8_c.jpgDSC02852 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/452/2...3b36b173_c.jpgDSC02854 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/395/2...e516b35c_c.jpgDSC02855 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3736/...2126f6d8_c.jpgDSC02857 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr The replica of the largest Polar bear found is here also and makes a great photo op. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/490/2...075ee481_c.jpgDSC02863 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/368/2...072c9efa_c.jpgDSC02869 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
About 5 km before the cape a deep cloudbank enveloped us and we feared that despite the sunny day we would see nothing at the cape. Luck would have it that we came down out of the clouds just in time. We arrived to the ticket booth to see 6 buses of tourist from the cruise ships in Honningsvag, dozens of RVs, and about 30 bikes from all over Europe.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/471/2...570dff97_c.jpgDSC02906 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Despite this we did get right in to see the panorama movie and did get some photos and the monument between fog banks and busloads. It was a great feeling to finally make our goal of Inuvik, Ushuaia, to Nordkapp! https://farm1.staticflickr.com/544/2...5ce244e6_c.jpgIMG_4227 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/411/2...cd5b5cde_c.jpgDSC02914 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/533/1...2cb418e1_c.jpgDSC02919 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/337/2...5fde5d49_c.jpgDSC02924 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/442/2...b581ce02_c.jpgDSC02918 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/395/1...93fe67be_c.jpgDSC02932 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/545/1...239b53d4_c.jpgDSC02933 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/432/2...648b750a_c.jpgDSC02935 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/487/2...98bf6b36_c.jpgDSC02939 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We tucked into a small cabin for the night and celebrated with very expensive beer. We stayed up until 2 am to enjoy the Midnight Sun.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/374/1...80416d0a_c.jpgDSC02942 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3710/...2604ee28_c.jpgDSC02944 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3772/...d8f4455e_c.jpgDSC02952 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/346/2...1dc65e3d_c.jpgDSC02966 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/408/2...4fe163b2_c.jpgDSC02969 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/453/2...0c71b27c_c.jpgDSC02899 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
The next day was a glorious sunny day as well. We made for the cape again just at opening. This meant we could ride the bikes right down to the monument for some photos with almost no one else there.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/313/2...b1e2fa98_c.jpgDSC02985 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/504/2...2f7993ce_c.jpgDSC02976 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/442/2...7433edb9_c.jpgDSC02970 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/468/2...6d21db86_c.jpgDSC02983 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/519/1...6784a6b6_c.jpgDSC02988 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/462/2...fc96678e_c.jpgDSC02984 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/466/2...4c177c44_c.jpgDSC02977 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
The plan for today was to get to Gamvik, which is 95 km almost due east of Nord Kapp, but it takes 435 km on the road.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/348/2...d6959186_z.jpgScreen Shot 2015-08-08 at 7.09.56 PM by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
The wind was much better today and in our favor. Riding back down the coast it was exciting to see all the riders coming up who were also almost to their goal.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/278/2...5525fa7c_c.jpgDSC02989 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3698/...02b144d8_c.jpgDSC03002 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/298/1...f4860ebb_c.jpgDSC03005 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/255/2...c6063427_c.jpgDSC03011 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We lost our sun about mid way and it got pretty cold after we left Ifjord. Gamvik is a very remote town on the far east of the peninsula. This is a tiny fishing village of brightly colored wooden houses. The nearest large town is Mehamn. Even camping here, which was bad was expensive. A room at the hostel with a shared bath was 990K ( 120USD ). It was also 6 degrees here and so we decided that the 120 km back to Ifjord was a better idea. At least warmer anyway.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/314/2...34123b04_z.jpgScreen Shot 2015-08-08 at 7.10.45 PM by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr There is a not so nice campground here but they did have hot showers. Funny thing was an American man came up to us to tell us that the road ahead “ was torn up for 10 km and it is all shale and boulders”. Wow hard to believe on the E6 ( of course it was 5 km of very good dirt road……). https://farm1.staticflickr.com/439/2...7910d671_c.jpgDSC03013 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
The rain started about midnight and continued on and off all night. We did get a bit of a break for packing up but not much. We are making for Kirkenes 228 KM in and near the end of the road in Norway. It ends at Russia just 14 km further!
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3827/...b335b4e8_z.jpgScreen Shot 2015-08-08 at 7.11.05 PM by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Driving into town there is a military zone along the river across which is the Russian federation.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/374/2...e40cf914_c.jpgDSC03020 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/464/2...340fe207_c.jpgDSC03021 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr In town we stopped to watch some crazy Norwegians race snow sleds across the lake. We found a tiny cabin to get warm for the rest of the day. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/289/2...1ec45da1_c.jpgDSC03015 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
This is our first day off since we left Sweden so a sleep in until 10 was in order. At noon the sky still looked clear so we headed southeast to the three points where the borders of Norway, Finland, and the Russian federation meet.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/386/2...e37b34e1_z.jpgScreen Shot 2015-08-08 at 7.19.22 PM by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr This is 100 km of paved road that has very bad frost heaves. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/259/1...72d5645f_c.jpgIMG_4236 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/486/2...0a63019b_c.jpgIMG_4245 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3668/...0bc5dcfe_c.jpgIMG_4240 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr The last 20 km are dirt road with a few km of deeper gravel at the end. There is a lot of signage with border warnings like it is illegal to cross the border. Do not make contact across the border. Do not take photos of military personnel or vehicles. The use of tripods and telephoto lenses in the border area is illegal. OK! https://farm1.staticflickr.com/362/1...bbbeba46_c.jpgDSC03022 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/427/2...3938a428_c.jpgDSC03023 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/358/2...53918807_c.jpgDSC03025 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/473/2...d3267412_c.jpgDSC03024 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Yellow markers mark the border. It looks like Dan is on the Russian side of the marker. Oops. https://farm1.staticflickr.com/421/2...3fc0fc96_c.jpgDSC03026 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Then we drove up to the real border crossing for a look.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/440/1...c7f035aa_c.jpgDSC03031 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/509/2...32ffd73c_c.jpgDSC03029 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Despite 3 weeks in Norway and seeing hundreds of these signs we never saw an actual moose.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/350/2...f5b269cc_c.jpgIMG_4230 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Today we leave Norway after 3 weeks of mostly ok weather. However, it rained almost all day. We made for the border of Finland in 55 Km. The roads here are very straight and all you see are trees, lakes, and reindeer. The reindeer are unpredictable especially the younggr ones. They will often stand on or near the road and not move at all until they suddenly jump out in front of you when you are several meters away.
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/463/2...a41a0795_z.jpgScreen Shot 2015-08-08 at 7.22.03 PM by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3808/...9f8a1064_c.jpgDSC03034 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://farm1.staticflickr.com/430/2...b43bb9a7_c.jpgDSC03035 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr The plan was to make some miles and the roads made this easier if a bit boring. The reindeer are quite stupid and will run out in front of you without warning. The warning signs here in Finland are yellow and list the entire upper half of the country as a reindeer hazard zone. There are a few moose signs here too, but as yet no moose. The reindeer here are bigger than those in Norway and with much bigger antlers. We saw a few really majestic specimens today. It did stop raining by 4 and so we kept riding to just past the Arctic Circle. We finally found a campground south of Rovaniemi. We still had a bit of sun left to dry out our very wet tent. There were a few other bikers here that were headed to Nordkapp. |
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