North Cape

We just got back from northern Norway, where we spent an intensive 48hr or so holiday. Trip to the northernmost point of Europe & a dip in the Arctic Ocean have been something we have both dreamt about for a while now. Since I was on summer holiday with no plans whatsoever, we decided to rent a car and just do it. Rental cars are significantly more expensive in Finland than say, New Zealand, since the season is short and there aren't too many options (rental car companies) to choose from. Instead of a very expensive yet relaxed week with a car, we chose to save some euros and rent a car for 72 hours. Roughly 1400 km of driving ahead of us, we set off on Wednesday morning.

I've lived in Rovaniemi for most of my life, but have never been further north than Inari. So it wasn't only C who was excited to go explore the north of Finland. We stopped in few places worth seeing there along the way; Saariselkä, Inari and at the beginning of Kevo Nature District hiking route. If we would have had more time, I would've wanted to go hike there: the Kevo hiking route has some amazing views and a canyon. But on we went with our journey, it was pretty much just us on the straight road in the middle of nowhere. Soon we passed the border to Norway and the landscape started to change: fells turned into mountains, reindeer to sheep and the weather from cloudy to sunshine. From Karasjok we headed north and before long reached the fjords. I was astonished already - little did I know it was only gonna get better. 

As we entered the actual island of Nordkapp we drove through a tunnel over 7km long and 200 meters below sea level. Nervously we laughed to the thought of ships or whales possibly cruising right above us. First we drove to Honningsvåg to see what the city had to offer. The otherwise plain little fishing town worked as harbour where massive cruise ships unloaded hundreds of tourists every day. We continued onwards following camper vans and tourist buses, all headed to the northernmost parking lot in Europe. We too, decided to set our tent there, although it did take some debating since the "entrance fee" for parking our car to the better side of the gates was really expensive. However, the sunset and amazing view won us over. We watched the sun set and then rise again before setting up our tent and going to sleep. 

The night was cold and windy, so we didn't sleep all too well. C woke me up for breakfast, then we packed our stuff back to the car and headed to the parking lot of the Knivskjellodden hiking route. The 9km trek leads to the actually northernmost point of Europe, 1km further north from Nordkapp. The 18km roundtrip was not all easy, we were tired and starving by the time we got back to the car. It was definitely worth it though - we even got to pick some cloudberries in the northernmost point of Europe. That night the weather turned foggy and rainy, so we decided to skip the camping in the tent and stay the night indoors in a cabin. The sleep and a hot shower was well needed, and next morning we woke up rejuvenated. 

It was Friday, our last day with our Toyota Yaris, the silent hybrid-sweetheart we fell in love with. We had visited Nordkapp by now, but a swim in the Arctic Ocean was still to be done. We were both down with a flu and came close to call off the whole thing - until I spotted the perfect beach for a refreshing swim in the sea. To give you an idea of the surroundings, the temperature was just about +8 C and windy. We were dressed in layers and wearing woollen hats. However, we went ahead and did it. We had actually brought along our bathrobes for this occasion, and those came handy when getting up from the freezing water to stand in the freezing wind. We felt awake, and continued our journey back home. We arrived in Rovaniemi around 2AM, tired but happy to be home.