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Wednesday 15/06/2011 Pello to Kilpisjarvi 167043-167388 = 281 miles
09.00 - Pello
I'm in a quandary now. The view of the midnight sun last night was disappointing but the thought of another 1000 miles driving doesn't appeal just now and being a further 500 miles from home unnerves me a bit. I also don't want to hang around another 6 days until the longest night (Pello isn't exactly buzzing). So I decide to drive a little further north and try to find some high ground with a good view. No rush though, I have some brekkie before I pack up the 405 and head towards Kolari (which was an alternative to Pello anyway).
13:30 - Akaslompolo
Kolari has nothing to offer. It's barely any bigger than Pello and doesn't seem to have anywhere to view the sky. I head north again and in the distance I spot a large hill/small mountain. Surely if I can get a good position up there I will see the midnight sun perfectly. Finding the way to the mountain isn't that easy because a lot of the time it's obscured by the trees alongside the road. Eventually I follow a sign for a ski resort and I'm heading up a steep incline to a deserted (as you would expect in June) ski resort. It (or the mountain) is called Yllas and it's near a village called Akaslompolo.
Well, I can cross visiting a ski resort off my bucket list. Perfect timing as well. I can park anywhere I want. There are no crowds and none of that horrible white cold wet stuff that you need for skiing. The après-ski would be a bit weak, but hey-ho, you can't have everything. I'm not facing north here so I set off to follow the road around the hill until I find a north-facing pull-in. The one I find is ok but there are a lot of trees, so I decide to look for another. I go back to the car and turn the key. Nothing. The 405 has let me down!!
So here I am, near the top of a deserted mountain in Finland, 2000+ miles from home, 67.5 degrees north and not even a signal on my phone. I know people get fed up with me moaning about being unlucky, but could it have broken down in Berkswell last week or Milton Keynes last month or anywhere but here. Eventually a couple turn up in a camper van. I try to explain my predicament and the lady tries to explain that her husband has a heart condition and can't push cars. The husband suggests that I push the car and he will bump start it. Good plan and with about three yards of tarmac left the 405's engine fires into life. I'm so grateful to this couple.
I realise that when I want to switch the engine off I need to park on a slope. Not too difficult on a mountain. So I drive to the next deserted ski resort (there's one either side of the mountain) and park at the top end of a sloping car park to assess the situation. Getting the car fixed is potentially a costly solution. I'd probably have to drive south of the Arctic Circle to Tornio to find a Peugeot dealership and potentially have to wait days for a replacement part to arrive. I discard that option for the moment. I could just carry on with my plan and bump start the car every time. This is feasible but my confidence in the car is very low. I'm worried about what else might go wrong. I decide that I need to see the midnight sun tonight then run for home tomorrow. Where I am at the moment looks possible for a viewing but, as the afternoon draws to an end, it's looking like the sun is heading for some hills and may well be obscured by midnight. I decide that to be sure that I'll see it tonight I need to drive as far north as I can, so the sun is so high at midnight that I can't fail.
20:00 - Kilpisjarvi
I'm over 200 miles further north now. I find a sloping car park on the outskirts of Kilpisjarvi, near to where Finland, Sweden and Norway all share a border. I'm probably only a couple of hours from Tromso in Norway where there is a north facing coastline, which would be perfect, but I'm exhausted. I can't drive anymore tonight. The reindeer have turned from a novelty into a nuisance now. You can't drive too fast around a bend in case there's a herd of them in the road.
I'm watching the sun get lower and lower in the sky. It's not easy to tell when it's absolutely at it's lowest but by 01:00 I'm sure it's rising in the sky.
I've seen the midnight sun!!
I was planning to stay up all night at this point but how long is "all night"? I decide that nothing spectacular is going to happen and snuggle up in the back of 405 and go to sleep.
- comments
Jean robinson It sounds like you shouldnt have had that last cup of tea - I did that to our car years ago - run the battery down by using a tea maker - my ex didnt talk to me for 24 hours - sheer bliss - I will have to remember that!!