The far north - part 1: getting there.

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Part 1: getting there - from Oslo to Kirkenes.

It is October 2017 and I am now going to write this very belated blog post about our 2016 summer holidays in Norway. Meanwhile, another summer has passed and my memories are starting to blend into each other and faint, so it is about time to catch up with my blog-diary.
Having seen the very South of Norway in June 2015, and the middle part up to the Lofoten in August 2015 (part 1, part 2, part 3), the only region of Norway that so far remained unexplored by us was the oh-so-far North of Norway. But no wonder, driving from Oslo to the most northern part of Norway (on the mainland!) is as far as driving from Oslo to Milano in Italy, and it takes as long as going all the way from Oslo to Rome. Of course one could fly - but we wouldn't go without the Yeti - our "mobile home" - and the Yeti wouldn't fit into a regular plane, so Yeti, Micha, and me took off to the long long journey up North.

But before going North, we headed East to not only reach the "fast highways" in Sweden, but also to visit an old New Zealand friend, now living in the outskirts of Stockholm. Elli and her partner Tobi were really good company to watch the 2016 Euro cup semi-final Germany-France. We brought the German flag, and Elli brought the makeup in German colors. Unfortunately it didn't help. Germany lost this game.
Nevermind, the sun was shining and holidays were calling, so we continued cheerfully to downtown Stockholm for a short sightseeing afternoon:
In the evening we finally started to head north and continued driving until midnight. Next morning: on the road again. There isn't much interesting along this stretch of Sweden... . Beautiful forest, lakes, and flower meadows, and more forest, and more lakes, and more flowers.... . Ah, and the "Höga Kysten" - a coastal area in central Sweden, in which the land has risen the most since the last glacial maximum (post-glacial rebound), leading to the region's unusually tall cliffs (unusually high means you can't just hopp off the cliff into the sea anymore - it's a wee bit higher ;)).
In the evening we reached the new Luleå, a harbour city in northern Sweden that was moved to its current location in 1649 due to the post-glacial rebound that had made the bay too shallow for ships to enter. Close to the coast we found a beautiful spot for the night, where we also had tasty Swedish gnocchi with pesto for dinner:
The next morning we visited the preserved Gammelstad (the old town) of Luleå, which presents THE stereotype of Swedish villages: cute little red wooden houses in midst of flower meadows. There was also a museum explaining interesting facts about the history of Luleå, and a shop selling Sami shoes and nordic souvenirs... .
For the remainder of the day we had a mission: covering as many kilometers as possible AND being at a place with a TV in the evening to watch the Euro cup final! Sounds easy? Not if you're in the middle of northern Finland. There is literally nothing except dirt roads, mosquitos, and reindeer.
There is also no mobile coverage for internet - so desperate googling for bars or camp sites with TV was no option. After passing by reindeer herd after reindeer herd, we finally reached Inari, the largest town in the area with 500 inhabitants! Besides a camp site, a museum, and a restaurant, Inari also had a pub with a TV! Yeah! We made it! We watched the game with sunlight outside (oh yes - being that far north in summer suddenly meant NO night anymore), a bunch of stoned Inari teens, and few other tourists: There was a mystic spirit over lake Inari and the town when we walked back to the camp site after the game in the middle of the night. The region seemed to sleep - no wind, no noise except for the constant buzz of the millions of mosquitos, a foggy layer over the lake. But then also, bright as during the day and people out fishing and photographing - was it really 1 A.M.?!
On the 5th day of our trip, we finally hit again the border to Norway. After the obligatory shopping stop at the border crossing, we left Finland with memories of reindeer, mosquitos, and an endless flat landscape spotted by lakes and cloudberry patches... .
Read on: part 2 - summer in Finmark

Skärgårdsidyllen kayaking

The last weekend in June, just after the summer solstice when the days started to become shorter again, Johannes and Leslie came for a visit to Oslo. For once we didn't go to the mountains, but instead rented tomato-red sea kayaks and paddled along the scattered Swedish "Grebbestad" archipelago. The islands are a fantastic mix of small desolated rock humps, and bigger islands with proper vegetation and even some holiday homes on it. But they all have in common the roundish and smoothed stones that appear to be so typical for the area.

The sea was very quiet and calm when we packed our kayaks and started paddling. No wind or boat to rock the kayaks, just the sea, we, the lonely islands, and a beautiful orange-pink sunset. We found a lovely beach to pitch the tents and stay for the night. It was hard to go to sleep though, as it wasn't getting dark at all... .

Our second day out with the kayaks was a bit different - and the lack of any pictures might just say enough. The sea was rough, wind was blowing, and as if this wouldn't be enough to bring the tiny red kayaks close to capsize, there was also lots of boat traffic to cause waves. Nevertheless we enjoyed the rough sea and paddled almost the whole day against wind and currents -  but we were also incredibly happy when we were back on land without any major accidents :)

Es isch mega schön gsi mit euch! Merci!!

Tjärnö

The days after Easter I was invited to a meeting in Tjärnö, a small marine research station belonging to the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. It was already my second time at this amazing little place but this did not make it less beautiful. There isn't much around other than fjord, forest, rocks, and little villages but nevertheless, I wouldn't refuse if I would be asked to work there ;) Limited time and a tight meeting schedule left only very little time to explore the proximity, but enough to capture the beauty in some pictures. Enjoy!