Tuesday 2nd June
Today marks the start of the second week of our tour, we are starting to get into a routine. We leave Stockholm today for the long drive Northwards to NordKapp.
The first stage this week is from Stockholm to Sandarne, a relatively easy journey of about 160 miles once you have cleared the Stockholm traffic. As we leave Stockholm the traffic begins to thin and so starts a theme for most of the rest of the journey; there will be very little traffic.
Val was fortunate enough to catch site of a couple of Reindeer fawns on the journey.
We arrived at the site in Sandarne mid afternoon and once we had set up and drunk a cup of tea the rain started. Our briefing in the evening was held in a massive Teepee type tent that is used as seating for the outside restaurant. Unfortunately, like all teepees, it had large ventilation holes around the poles and the unlucky got wet even in the tent.
Wednesday 3rd June
Ever Northwards, today’s journey is from Sandarne to Solleftea. We finally leave the motorway and start to drive on single carriageway roads. There are many speed limited zones, each accompanied by it’s speed camera; we are informed that they are all working and that if you happen to be speeding the only thing that you can do is smile for the camera as they will catch you.
At lunchtime we made a small diversion to visit the suspension bridge at Hogakustenbrom. This is a 1.8 km (1.1 Mile) suspension bridge with a spectacular view up the river and an excellent visitor centre.
After lunch we continued our journey to Solleftea to a very nice site beside the river. During the winter this is a Skiing centre with a World famous downhill run and ski jump. We have a free day tomorrow, so time to discover the town.
Thursday 4th June
Today is a free day in Solleftea and a chance to catch up with chores and rest. There is a Lidl in the town so everyone is making a beeline for there. This is a lovely traditional town with wooden buildings along the main street. The weather is kind today and everyone gets a chance to explore the town. On a hill above the town is the Church, an impressive building whose clean lines belie it’s age. The Church is over 500 years old but inside it looks quite modern. There are none of the elaborate decorations normally associated with churches. The Bell tower is separated from the main building and has an archway through which you walk to enter the church.
In the evening we played a local game similar to bowls or petangue, but with round pieces of wood. It was great fun and an excellent way for us to get to remember each other’s names. It was cold outside, but great fun and helped by the lengthening nights.
Friday 5th June
We have a long drive today; from Solleftea to Arvidsjaur a distance of 236 miles. The roads are now normal single carriageway main roads, sufficient for the small amounts of traffic travelling. The scenery has changed to immense pine forests and boggy ground with more lakes than you can shake a fist at. On our journey there are many laybys and picnic spots at some very picturesque places. We saw our first reindeer on the journey, couldn’t exactly miss it; it was standing in the middle of the road and did not move until it had forced us to stop.
The site at Arvidsjaur is good quality and reminded us just how far North we had come already. There was snow piled in many places around the site. Many of the caravans on long term pitches had double glazed conservatories attached in place of the conventional awning.
Saturday 6th June
Our departure from Arvidsjaur was delayed as Roger and Jackie, members of our group had an accident on the exit of the site. They managed to catch their awning on the roof of the building as they pulled up to the barrier. This then tore the winding box from the awning causing the whole thing to unroll and fall to the ground. The awning was a write off and all that we could do was to rewind the roll and strap the awning back up out of the way. Fortunately, although people scoff at the amount of stuff that I carry, I had some straps that would hold the awning up while we used copious cable ties to lock it in position.
Today is a public holiday in Sweden, It’s Sweden Day, a day for all of the country to celebrate. Although Sweden has armed forces, the country does not get involved in wars and therefore has no battles to commemorate; instead the country celebrates it’s existence. All businesses are closed, unlike the UK.
Our journey today takes us from Arvidsjaur to Lulea with a diversion to the Storforsen rapids. First we visited the Sami Church Town in Arvidsjaur, a place where the Sami people gather several times a year for celebrations etc. The buildings are traditional Sami dwellings and storehouses.
On the way to the Storforsen Rapids we start to see more Reindeer. The road is again very picturesque with the roadside lakes being replaced by more rivers and streams, rushing over the rocky ground as they carry the ice melt from the hills. We arrive at Storforsen at about 12:00, just in time to discover and then have lunch. These are the highest natural rapids in Europe and at the end of June when the ice melt is at it’s highest they carry about 850 cubic metres of water per second. There are excellent pathways that have been built to enable even the most severely disabled to gain access.
As you walk around the grounds there are several log fires burning where you can bring your own food for barbequeing. The logs are supplied free as is the entrance and parking to this remarkable attraction.
Sunday 7th June
It started raining heavily yesterday at 4:00 pm and is still raining at 2:30 pm today as I write this. Unfortunately, this site is too far from any attractions to walk, and the bus that ran last year no longer runs. We have just found out that there is a new bus route, but the earliest that we could catch that would be 3:36 pm and that is too late to get anywhere. So today has been a lazy day.
Monday 8th June
Today is one of the highlights of our tour. Today we drive up to Rovaniemi in Finland. We then have a visit to Santa Claus’ Village, where we shall not only meet the big man but we shall also cross the Arctic Circle. Then we shall go onto a Reindeer Farm where we shall meet a member of the Sami people and officially commemorate our crossing of the Arctic Circle.
But first we have to get to the site, this is pretty straightforward apart from a couple of stretches of roadworks and a diversion, but it all worked out. As we approached the site I managed to take a speed ramp a bit too hard, this caused the van to jump and the shock possibly caused a stress fracture in one of the brackets on the bike rack. Anyway, as we pulled into the site the bracket gave way and the bike managed to turn turtle whilst still being attached to the rack. This was pointed out by the very helpful manager of the site who helped us to right the bike and tie it back up until we got onto our pitch. There was no damage done to the bike and the only damage to the rack was the bracket, which could be replaced.
Rovaniemi is a large city and is the capital of the Sami people in Northern Finland. The town has a quite remarkable history especially from the end of the Second World War. As the German Army retreated they gave the command to burn the city to the ground; this was done to such an effect that over 95% of all buildings were destroyed. Hence, this is a completely new city and it is very stunning. There are shopping centres galore, all inside and offering everything that would be found in a Western shopping mall. There are cycle tracks on every street and no money has been spared in providing every facility to these very hardy folk.
