Baltic Sea Circle Day 9
We woke up with the sun already beating down on the tent and making us far too hot to stay in our sleeping bags. We really should have brought more summer clothes and fewer warm ones! We went about our now slick procedure for packing up and eating breakfast. While we we’re getting our stuff ready our camping neighbour came over to chat and ask about our adventure, he was Danish and was on his way to Nordkapp. We explained about the rally and challenges and asked if he had anything we could trade for our excellent espresso brands that had been teasing us for the last few days; now we were in Norway we could trade again! He went off for a walk to think about it and as we were finishing our packing he came back with an armful of fruit juices and Danish chocolate milk, we shook hands and exchanged goods, hopeful that we could trade up in Finland too.
Our plan today was to drive to Rovaniemi and find a camp near there. It is the capital of Lapland and the place where Santa Claus has his post office.
We got on the road and travelled the short distance to the border with Finland, where we sailed through the checkpoint with not a soul in sight. We also moved our watches forward one hour. The roads become straighter, but very up and down to begin with. There were warning signs for reindeer and elk and we saw a few small herds and one big one of about 30 animals, including young ones with their mothers. Each time we’d slow down and get our camera ready, but also aware that they can change direction and just stop in front of the car. We travelled through the forests of Lapland, which were dense pine and birch, with the odd dwelling here and there. There was also the odd souvenir shop selling skins and silver, but we didn’t stop.
While writing this I’m thinking of how challenging the days have been over the last week. The driving is relentless, constant attention is required for wildlife and watching for road defects; the roads in Finland were noticeably worse up north than Norway, but got better as we travelled south. The noise and heat in the car are constant, it’s loud enough that Gemma and I cannot hear each other unless we raise our voices and lean towards each other. Listening to the stereo breaks up the long straight roads which blend into one, but with the windows open a few inches to let in the cool air it becomes inaudible. It’s a relief when the speed limit drops to 50 kmph so that we can wind the windows down fully and fill the car with cooler air.
When we revisit this part of the world it will not be so rushed and we’ll get to see some of the places that we pass though. The only stops we have made so far are to refuel the car, ourselves or places to sleep, so when we saw that the Santa Claus Village was near our destination we couldn’t resist stopping. It was nearly 5pm as we pulled into the car park and strolled over to the sound of Christmas music, in the baking heat. We spotted the post office and headed there, and ended up walking in the area where tourists could meet Santa. We paused at the “hall of fame” they had up, where we spotted photos of Santa with the Spice Girls, Gordon Ramsey, the president of China, and a lot more famous folk. Clearly this Santa was the real deal! We didn’t see him in the end, we didn’t fancy having our photo taken when we were smelly and tired for a 11 hour day on the road. There were a few gift shops selling Christmas decorations and tourist stuff, plenty to keep you busy. We weren’t tempted to stop at Santa’s Pizza and Burger place, or the Santa Claus snowmobile shop either. We did take a selfie at the Arctic Circle line though!
We jumped back in the car and spent 10 mins getting to the campsite which had space and we rolled down to the spaces on the riverbank. We had a great view overlooking the river where people were swimming , jet skiing and paddle boarding. We’d stopped at a Finnish supermarket earlier in the day and got some sausages so cooked those up with some pasta and a pepper sauce which was pretty good and just what we needed after a long day. We’d hit our target and were 350 miles closer to Helsinki. We looked over the maps and checked with Google how long various routes might take us, if we could make another 300 miles tomorrow we’d be able to get to Helsinki by Thursday lunchtime, maybe have a look around the city and then catch a ferry to Tallinn in the evening. We booked a ferry and headed to bed, recalling the strangeness of Lapland in the summer.
WILD SPIRIT 