Fjords, Fins and (more) Fishing

So I've managed to keep good on my promise and make the blog a bit earlier this time, only 6 days worth of material so hopefully a bit less than 8hrs at the laptop this time!

It's also a very different scene this week, with a welcome (and long awaited) return to some warmer weather! The last blog saw us hunkered down, heating on after hitting the most northerly point at Nordkapp, this one sees us fjord side, with fishing leaping, glaciers sparkling and a giant shiny thing in the sky that hasn't set for days - oh and instead of the heating, I've actually deployed the fan for the first time this year! This really is a special place to find ourselves, and feel like something lifted from page 23 of the Norway brochure! Anyway, more on how we got here later (*stops to adjust the curtains, too much glare....!)

Back to Sunday then in Gjesvær (yep I finally worked out how to get the Scandi letters to work on my laptop!), the day was spent mostly on the blog, although we did brave the cold for a wander around the village in the evening - I think you know you are somewhere remote when the choice of vehicle is a snow mobile! We also spotted this little fellow.

Monday and time to move on, we were getting low on water so needed to find some civilisation to top the tanks up. The journey was literally littered with reindeer at every turn - from the odd couple through to big herds along the shore line. I've chatted to many people about seeing reindeer, and most are quite disparaging really - one choice quote being "oh yes, I've had my fill of reindeer"! I really don't get it - I know to a degree it's a bit like seeing sheep grazing on the moors, or at a stretch the New Forest ponies, but when you've grown up with tales of Rudolph and his mates (10 points for anyone who can name them all!) they just don't cease being magical. The male reindeer's antlers seem to grow in front of your eyes this time of year, and look so velvety to the touch (not that you should or can get anywhere near that close of course). Anyway, for me, they've been worth the trip alone.

Onwards and once the van was all sorted we crossed through the 6.8km tunnel and back onto the mainland. Our planned stop for the night was at Kvalsund - another Park4Night stop by a road bridge which alleges good fishing. We initially stopped on the left side of the water, but by the time we'd had lunch we realised it was way too slopey even with the chocks deployed. We'd spotted another bigger and more level site across the water, so headed over. This was much better and we spent the rest of the day waterside, Jase fishing (not catching in this instance) while I kept an eye out for the various reindeer we'd seen on the way in.

Tuesday morning and time for both food and fuel supplies - scary times indeed here in Norway! We were heading for Alta which is the biggest proper town this far north. We did the fuel fill first, then headed into the supermarket - our first visit to local brand Rema 1000 - not my sort of store at all, very industrial and not much choice. We did manage to get most of the bits we needed/wanted, but on handing over our Metro card to pay, it was declined - first time in 41 years that's ever happened to me. Luckily we have a back up, so handed that over in order to leave the shop. Jase pulled out his phone to see a text from Metro Bank warning us we'd were about to go overdrawn - the 2nd time in a week & far from ideal. What seems to be happening (the first time we thought it was a one off, but it is now clear it isn't) is that when you do a fuel fill, most are pay at pump, and as at home, you put your card in first to start the pump - except in Norway they seem to attempt to debit the max fill amount as well as the actual amount you buy, effectively duplicating the transaction! The first time it happened on our way to Nordkapp, I spoke to Metro Bank, they advised that this is increasingly common in Europe these days, and quite different from the 1p or £1 transaction UK retailers tend to go for. They also said the "rogue" transaction would disappear within a week! The trouble is, it means you have to keep a float of over that amount to avoid potentially going overdrawn. Really caused us a few stressful moments I can tell you.

Our lunch stop was a nice viewpoint overlooking Altafjord - it had been our initial overnight thought, but it was quite noisy as too close to the main road so we rolled on.

The second place we found was much nicer, although it did have the feeling a bit like a holiday camp! It was right next to Kåfjord and at water level too, which was lovely. It was reasonably busy though with plenty of campers and caravans (mostly from Finland) taking the "all man's right" to park up and enjoy the location.

Jase and I had a good late night go at fishing - no luck catching but I did a few more casts and found that I was able to cast much further and straighter from my right (makes sense being a right hander!).

Wednesday morning and a bit of a damp one. We'd realised that the Tirpitz museum was within walking distance of our camp spot so we donned our rain coats and headed off up the hill. Just to recap on our WW2 stuff - we've previously been to the Dam Busters training ground, visited the Mohne Dam on our way here, and have found the remains of 617 squadron aircraft Easy Elsie in northern Sweden - Elsie crashed (with no loss of life) after a bombing raid on the Tirpitz German warship - so it seemed more than fitting to visit the museum and find out a bit more. What we hadn't expected was that the Tirpitz (the second of two German Bismarck class battleships) spent much of its time anchored in Kåfjord, pretty much at the point we had the van parked!

There she survived a series of attacks in Kåfjord by UK midget submarines - including one that cut an 18m long gash in her side. The submariners were awarded the Victoria Cross for their actions. She was repaired though and then moved to Tromsø where she was eventually spotted by a Mosquito (the type of plane my Great Uncle Ken flew and was killed in during the war). Between April and October 1944 she was attacked a further 6 times, although none were fatal, they increase pressure for repairs. Eventually on 12th November 1944 32 Lancaster bombers from 617 squadron flew across Sweden to Tromsø equipped with the Tallboy bombs. She was hit 3 times, capsized and sunk in just 11 minutes, with massive loss of life. It seems a fitting end to our tale following 617 squadron for now at least.

Back at the van and time for a dry off, warm up and lunch! We spent the rest of the day imagining the scenes from some 60+ years ago, and wandering a bit, what could lie beneath the calm waters.

Thursday and a brighter start thankfully. We left the Kåfjord and headed slightly further east to Jøkelfjord where I'd spotted a possible glacier we could access. The drive was stunning - the sun definitely having his hat on today.

On arrival at the small car park, we had a quick bit of lunch and then headed off - initially planning to do the 1.5m walk to the viewpoint, but quickly ending up with a 8mile epic! We walked as close to the glacier as you could reasonable get -the last bits were no more than rock scrambling! The views were amazing though, and we were close enough to hear the crashing waterfall and creaking ice. Awesome.

The walk back was tough and we were both fairly shattered once back at the van. Park4Night had listed this one as an overnight spot, but although they were no signs forbidding it, there were signs making you feel less than welcome. We decided to roll away and find something else. We didn't have to drive for long until we found the most spectacular lay-by I think I've ever seen - better views than at the car park, with access to the water for fishing too. It's so beautiful and the weather so perfect, we've been here ever since (it's now Saturday).

We've had fish leaping & Artic Terns diving in the crystal clear waters the whole time, and Jase has caught (and released) 4 good ones so far. We've got a couple of resident dolphins that we've seen a good few times, and clearly too. I've got mountains all around and a glacier in the back garden - it's too perfect for words really.

We will have to move on tomorrow I think, supplies getting low again. The plan south is starting to develop - probably back to Alta tomorrow for LPG on Monday then onwards through a bit of Finland and then into Sweden at Haparanda. From there we are very much weather dependant. We'd like to see more of southern Norway - Fjordland etc - but there is little point if we have a return to the low cloud. We shall see I think.

And there we are, just shy of a week in just over an hour (there was a short break for dolphin spotting...!)

Til next time, stay safe all

J&J x