May 21st: Alta to the North Cape ....and back

 The evening meal in the hotel was very good but perhaps one of the most expensive so far and we only had 3 bottles of wine. This is an extremely expensive country. Mark you the deserts that Wendy and I had looked very exotic.

A desert called "Tastes of Finmark"

The day  began without a dawn.. it had remained light all through the night. I took these pictures from my hotel room

Around 8 PM

Around 1130 PM

Around 0130

Around 0600

 Not a great deal to choose between them I think you will agree.
Anyway breakfast was at 07309 and we sat down to bacon and egss to  prepare for the major drive 240kkm to North Cape .... and then back again in the case of Tim, Wendy and myself. We were changing the plan to keep two nights in Tromso whilst the others  had decided to stay 2 nights at North cape to get the ferry to Tromso.

We set off in good time  with no idea of what the journey might be like. In the end it was on good roads with little traffic and took only 3 hours. The weather was not great with the odd rain shower and the thermometer showing 3 degrees at times.  The drive was  through wonderful countryside with ever increasing amounts of snow as we went further north.

 Also we saw more and more reindeer; so much so we almost stopped  taking pictures.

The high plain areas were still thick in snow but provided dramatic contrasts to the dark rocks of the hills at the sides of the valley.

As we came down to the sea again the area was  devoid of trees and the roadside creeks and rivers were running quickly swelled with melt water, but still often with significant  snow banks at their edges.

And many of the lakes were still frozen, often almost completely.

Finally we reached the end of the road and turned north towards North Cape. The approach to the island of   where it is situated is through a toll  tunnel 6 km long  and up to 212 m below seas level.

 There are other road tunnels on the route as well  varying between 400 and 4000 m long.

 All very impressive. Lots of little fishing villages, some with their traditional fish drying racks hung with cod and squid, and all with their fishing boats moored nearby.

The road winds along the  edge of the cliff  precariously sitting on a ledge of rock for most of the way. The last lap into Honnisvarg climbs over the island giving majestic views of the Barents Sea.

Then finally  one reaches the North Cape itself. A tourist area with more high tourist fees and parking charges but when we arrived after 3 hours driving  it was almost deserted.

 The sky was grey and threatening and the wind was howling around  our ears and the windchill must have been about zero. But we had made it to North Cape the turning point of the expedition and within an hour all the other 4 cars had made it too.

Tim, Wendy and I fought lour way out to the famous globe marker and read my hand held GPS to check our position - the Edwards Aviation Cap had made it to the northernmost public sealed  road in Europe and the world.

The GPS says 71 degrees 10 minutes 19.3 minutes  the official location is 71 d 10m 21 sec;  so we did OK

Us very cold at the globe marker

Us still very cold on the other side but still in the wind!

We hung around with the others but stayed inside to drink the celebratory toast of  Polish Lemon Vodka I had carried from Vienna. For me this was also the sad time to start saying farewell to the other cars and their crews as  we are unlikely to meet again before I fly out of Tromso at 0645 Tuesday morning.  It has been really good time to share with this group  the meals, the sights and the chats in the evenings and to share in the concern for the troubles encountered by Eric and above all Ahmad and Reza.

By the time we left North Cape the  sun had begun to shine, the wind had moderated and the countryside looked very different on the way back. As we drove down towards the toll tunnel Tim spotted something in the water  which turned out be a small pod of killer whales - difficult to get pictures but the proof is there

The rest of the journey back was delightful although some rain did appear right towards the end it stopped by the time we reached Alta. After a rest and a drink at the hotel we went into town for a Chinese dinner which was very tasty; then an early night to pack and prepare for the run to Tromso tomorrow.
A wonderful day with everyone reaching the turning point on schedule and in one piece.