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Tuesday 14/06/2011 Lulea to Pello 166948-167043 = 135 miles
Early session
I woke at 07:00. Slept well. I was thinking about the police last night and wondering if they have a problem with moose rustling up here. I guess the 405 and me wouldn't fit the bill anyway.
It's too chilly for breakfast and I'm too excited. A hundred or so miles and I'm in the Arctic Circle. I can eat when I get there.
As I'm nearing Finland I have a brainwave. It's pointless taking my unspent Swedish Krona with me so why don't I spend it all on diesel. I only have about £25's worth but if I end up in Helsinki I won't be coming back via Sweden.
Through Haparanda into Tornio and Finland.
This is the end of the E4. I've followed this road for 1018 miles from Helsingborg to Haparanda. That's 100 miles further than Lands End to John o' Groats. Although it's been quite boring at least it was difficult to get lost. I'm definitely in the final furlong now, 60 miles or so to the Arctic Circle.
I saw 5 more reindeer. I also saw a restaurant specialising in reindeer. (that's on the menu NOT as customers)
I haven't eaten yet today and the thought of a reindeer and moose mixed grill has my mouth watering.
About 10 miles before Pello there's a big sign telling you that you're crossing the Arctic Circle and a conveniently located café (very upmarket). It's 11:00 (note that Finland is GMT +2) as I pull in to the car park. I persuade a German woman to take my photo next to the sign (excuse the legs; I didn't really have chance to dress for the occasion). I've made it! I naively think that all I have to do is wait here until midnight and Bob's your uncle, the midnight sun. I get talking to a Dutch couple who are on the same quest as me but are better informed. Apparently if you're on the Arctic Circle and it's the longest day AND you can find an unobstructed view of the horizon you will just about see the sun not disappear. One out of three doesn't sound so good. They are on their way to Cape Nord, which, they inform me, is the place to be and ONLY another 500 miles driving! I really can't cope with the thought of another 1000 mile round trip at this point so I decide to stick with my plan to camp at Pello for tonight and see how it goes. Before I leave I have a cup of coffee at the café and fill up my drinking water bottles from a rather dubious tap. I hope I'll be all right.
No problem getting on the campsite. I didn't need all my spiel about "doormobiles" because the young girl manning the reception didn't speak much English and quite happily took my EUR13 and told me to go down by the river. (I'm back in the "Eurozone" now. Not sure why Finland decided to be different from its neighbours)
I set the car up for the night (although it's only 14:00) and get the cooker out and have rice and hotdogs. After I've done the washing up I go for a walk around Pello. It's a bit of a one-horse town although it does have three adjacent petrol stations and an ATM (I don't need any Euros as I had a couple of hundred when I set off). I discover a café bar and a hotel bar which open in the evening, so I plan to have a drink later on. But there's a problem. I can't find a good viewing point to see the midnight sun. I'm getting a bit tired by now so I head back to camp for a kip. When I wake up I go for a shower. Brilliant facilities. In most shower cubicles you haven't got room to swing a cat. In these you could hold a barn dance!
The camera batteries seem to run out quite quickly. I'm slightly worried about the amount of electricity I'm taking out of the car's battery. Running the laptop, charging the phone and the camera batteries shouldn't take a lot but I've never used an inverter before and I don't know too much about them. Anyway I have to charge the camera batteries for tonight.
Looking at the views from the campsite, I start to wonder which direction I will need to look towards for the midnight sun. Everyone knows that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. But if it's not going to set and rise I guess the lowest point must be in between the two. North!
I decide to skip going out for a drink and buy a 6 pack to drink on the campsite while I wait for the sun to not go down. I'm not sure how I'm going to photograph something NOT happening, so I decide to take a series of pictures every 15 minutes to show the effect. I also start wondering about what time the sun would be at it's lowest. You might think it would be midnight but midnight is fairly arbitrary. When it's midnight here it's only 23:00 in Sweden and Sweden is only 400 yards away across the river.
As the evening draws on my luck seems to be running out. The sky is clear and blue everywhere EXCEPT for the part on the horizon where the sun will be at it's lowest. I take my photos from 11:30 until 01:00 but it's no good. You can sort of tell that the sun was always above the horizon but it was always behind a cloud. I go to bed disappointed but philosophical. There's still a week until the longest day.
I've given up trying to fight the mossies. They're everywhere! I just hope the 1st dozen have bitten the best bits and that the rest are fussy eaters and leave me alone. (The worst bites are still from the German mossies; very painful.)
- comments
Jean robinson Sorry, there is no room in your car for 1 moose or 10 moose - stick to the kebabs. Buy a fly swatter to get rid of the mossies - if you hit them but not kill them they will have a sore head.