Day 271 Fri 13 Jul 2007 Hammerfest to Nordkapp, Norway

After getting a new tyre and discarding two worn out ones we make tracks northwards. The weather improves as we travel along the coast, around fjords and through tunnels. One tunnel is almost 7km long and drops to 200m below sea level which, given the size of the toll, must be owned by Macquarie Bank. There’s no trees up here at 70deg north, just very low ground cover and reindeer, with cottages on the shoreline and the occasional boat. We reach Nordkapp (north cape) in the late afternoon. At 71deg north its the northern most point on the European mainland, which ends in cliffs plunging to the blue arctic ocean 300m below, where a cruise liner is heaved to. There are more campervans than people up here, seems like most of the Germans and Finns have migrated lemming-like to north cape for the summer, plus a few mad bicyclists.

After obligatory photos and a quick visit to the souvenir shop, the underground chapel and the coffee shop we return to a tiny village a few kms to the south where we find a very comfortable, warm cabin with a splendid view of the midnight sun. It’s strange sitting on the terrace at 12.30am writing the blog in broad daylight. In fact the Mac Bank tunnel is the only place it’s been dark for the past week, maybe that’s why they charge so much – perhaps you can sleep in there.