Beachside, Bathing and Boiling!

Hey there and happy August! This blog finds us back beachside back in Norway, having spent some miles on the road coming down out of the artic circle, and then back into it again (oops!). We've had some fantastic weather, with some baking temps, but more on that later.

So the last blog post found us in our parking spot at Jøkelfjord overlooking the spectacular glacier and beautiful fjord. We ended up staying there for 3 nights in all, moving on Sunday 21st July, mainly due to supplies running low. Luckily there was a service point not too far away, so we headed there to do all the necessaries, and then being such a sunny day we found another fjord side spot at Langfjordbotn to while away the afternoon - planned to be our last in the very north of Norway - it was time to start heading south.

The (loose) plan had always been to head back to Sweden to stock the van back up on food (with it being about a third cheaper than Norway) but equally, the route south is quickest, easiest and avoids tolls by heading you East through Finland, and then back into the top of Sweden near Harparanda (there are some odd borders around these parts, take a look at the map!). So that was the plan.

Monday 22nd July and with another sunny start we rolled away from Norway, pit stopping at Alta for some LPG (much easier to source in Norway). Our route south took us from the spectacular rolling mountains of Norway, and through into the forest river valley of Finland. We were lucky to spot a few more reindeer plus an amazing Golden Eagle.

Our overnight spot was at Leppäjärvi, Finland where we were back on the Euro and lost another hour - who knew Finland was a extra hour behind European time? Equally intriguing as we parked up at a lakeside (what else?!) spot, was the prospect of a sunset - the first we'd seen since arriving in Sweden some 6 weeks ago. It wasn't going to get dark anytime soon, but the thought of the sun actually setting for a few hours was quite exciting! We parked up with a true lakeside spot. It was a very warm day so it would have been rude not to have a brief dip.....!

Tuesday morning and we both surprised ourselves by waking up extra early! Whether it was having had more darkness than we've seen for weeks, but we both woke about 6.30am and felt pretty refreshed. It was another sunny warm day and our plans were to head back towards Sweden - after all the dramatic scenery of Norway and Sweden, Finland isn't particularly inspiring! We had planned to head for Luleå which is a big university town, with a nice big supermarket. However, the weather being so nice we decided to head lakeside for the afternoon and do the shop the following day. We found a lovely place from our usual source, Park4Night, and parked up. It was a small beach, with just a couple of parking spots and a picnic bench. We headed off for a wander by the beach, only to see a local heading towards our van. Turns out we'd park up next door to the only Swede who doesn't understand the concept of "All Mans Right"! Cue a bit of a heated discussion between him and Jase - we knew we were in the right, but when someone starts threatening to call the police (I'm fairly sure they have better things to be getting on with), you don't exactly feel welcome. We duly packed up, and headed off. Luckily, there was a spot just along the coast at Töre. No such troubles at this lakeside parking area. It was very warm again, so we spent the afternoon lakeside, enjoying a dip or two - so refreshing and way better than the sea!

Wednesday morning and time to get the all important supplies sorted out. We headed the short distance to Luleå and managed to get our food supplies sorted, plus replaced Jase's walking trainers which had taken a good hammering since we bought them in Obertsdorf back in August. After that, the temperature was well into the 30s so we picked what looked like another lakeside place at Alvsbyn - turned out to be a large-ish car park with a beautiful lake & sandy beach, well frequented by the locals. The lake temperature was pretty bracing, but just what you need to cool off - and the water was so clear you could see fish all around you! We loved the spot so much, we ended up staying 3 days through what will probably be our summer of 2019!

We finally decided it was time to move on Saturday 27th July. Our plan was to head back towards Norway, but via a couple of stops in Sweden. The route took us slightly back the way we'd driven to Jokkmokk way back around mid summer, only this time the weather was on our side. We stopped again at Storforsen, the huge waterfall. It looked simply stunning this time, and the cooling spray was very welcome. Hard to believe this actually freezes in the winter! NB the jumper isn't either of us, we aren't quite that crazy!

Back in the van, and with the temp showing at 49.5 in the full sun, we headed towards Arvidsaur for a lakeside lunch stop - spotting a few reindeer on the way. The lake was nice, but very shallow and as a result like a warm bath!

I'd spotted a mountain top view point near Arjeplog which was noted as windy, so in an attempt to grab a little breeze, we headed up. The views were breath-taking - but it was still scorchio!

On the drive up, we'd seen a couple of lovely lakes, so headed back and bagged ourselves a fab little spot with our own lake - perfect! We set up our chairs and spent the rest of the day alternating between sweltering and cooling off - bliss!

That night was the hottest in the van so far this year - definitely a welcome reminder that while the weather here hasn't been that great at times, I think I'd still take that, to the 40+ degrees southern Europe has been seeing! With the temp at well over 30 in the van, and not a breath of breeze, it was a restless night. I think I dropped off around 3.30am, only to be woken an 4.30am to an odd clip, clopping down the road - yes reindeer, 4 of them!

Sunday morning and thankfully the worst of the heat had now passed, although still very sunny. We headed away from our parking spot and hit the road 95 towards Norway.

On the way we spotted a lovely picnic area near Guoletisjávvre and pulled in to take a closer look. The views over the river and surrounding snowy peaks were stunning. We found a great spot & parked up, spending the rest of the day drying some hand washing & listening to the end of Le Tour.

Monday morning and again sunny but cooler. We'd spotted a few signposts at the parking area, suggesting a 7 (or 8, depending on the sign!) km walk to Jurun. We didn't know what would be there, but it sounded like a good distance, so we packed a picnic and headed off. The views were simply stunning, with Jurun being a refuge hut beside the most amazing green cascading river. Breathtakingly beautiful and totally worth what ended up being an 11 mile round trip! Amazing too to see piles of snow still remaining - makes you wonder just how cold it gets here and how deep the snow could be!

Tuesday and both feeling more than a little knackered after our previous days hike, we set about crossing the border into Norway once more. Our initial stopping point was Misværfjord. Cue more lovely views I'm afraid! The afternoon was spent reading (me) and fishing (Jase).

And so to yesterday and today. The trip yesterday saw us leaving Misværfjord and driving the spectacular road to Sandhornøy, to our beachside spot where we are now parked. The fjords have been incredible - mirror like and serene. Equally, unlike some of the honeypot areas (Lofoten Island, Geirangerfjord etc) it's pretty quiet and definitely without cruise ships!

In fact as I type this, I can see no one, just the sea, the rocky mountains and the odd seagull. On the drive in we spotted a (white tailed) sea eagle, and as we parked up we had a golden eagle for company. We are under the flight path into Bodø, but as we love planes, that's no issue (and it's hardly Heathrow in terms of busyness!). We also spotted an F16 doing the rounds yesterday, which we are hoping will come back!

In short, it's bliss. The weather is slightly on the turn from tomorrow, with more cloud being forecast, but dry still, fingers crossed.

Our plan from here will be to head towards the Svartisen (black ice) Glacier hopefully, and then head our way south and back into Sweden probably. We've discounted doing much more in Norway on grounds of having seen so much amazing scenery so far, we don't want to spoil it by joining the masses.

We've also got a line in the sand in terms of dates as we plan to be back at Craig and Sofia's for my birthday (29th August), and after spending a few days with them as well as Jase's family there, we then need to start heading back towards the boat & Denmark before the long trip back to the UK and some kind of normality. We've had a total blast though, and I am so glad we decided to do the last 3months of Jexit in Scandinavia. It is simply the most amazing place I've ever been - and that does include New Zealand and Canada too.

Just to round off with a fact - we've now been on the road (and not used a campsite) since we left Brittany! So, since leaving Craig's that's well over 7 weeks on the road, off grid which is our all time record - with no real intention of changing that anytime soon either. With July being a totally off grid month, we've generated 7.17KwH of solar energy - more than enough for what we've needed, and I'm told this would be enough to power an electric oven for 2 hrs. Makes you realise how little you really need, or else just how much an average roast dinner really warrants.....!

Til next time, stay safe all

J&J x