North
Monday 6th March
I am quite a pedant. I’m not proud of the fact, but I like things just so. Communication problems can arise where I take the official accepted meaning of a word where everyone around me knows some strange colloquialism that I don’t. But on the whole, my pedantry isn’t too out of hand - until I decide to finally plan a trip up to the most northern reaches of Europe.
You see, the most northerly point of Europe - as any guide or encyclopaedia will happily tell you - is Nordkapp (the North Cape) in Norway. To get there, you can either take the coastal express boats, stopping at each port along the way, or travel up by road through your choice of country (Norway, Sweden or Finland). If you take the road route, you travel up the E69 from Smørfjord to Kåfjord where you then have the option to take a ship or tunnel onto Magerøya island on which you’ll find Nordkapp.
Now… hold on a moment. Back there you just said ‘island’ didn’t you? Well, yes I did. But there’s nothing wrong with the most northerly point of Europe being on an island is there? Well… no, I suppose not. But then, surely the northernmost point is somewhere on Svalbard, some ten parallels further north across the sea?
So now I have a quandry. Pay the fee of approximately £72 for a return trip through the toll tunnel and entry to the North Cape centre. Or not pay that and go to the real northernmost point of the European mainland, probably somewhere near Gamvik.
Pedantry or thrift? I’ll let you decide.
We will, of course, be seeing some pretty breathtaking pictures eventually, won’t we?
Lois
6 Mar 06 at 6:43 pm
Uh, by “not pay £72″ I presume you don’t mean “… and save £72″ but rather “… and pay instead £1499 for a ferry trip into the arctic that runs only once every two months and you have to sign a waiver on your kidneys”
sweavo
6 Mar 06 at 7:17 pm
Nope… that would be a trip to Svalbard. Gamvik is on the mainland, and is only fifty or so miles up a little dirt track through a rock desert. Ok… it’s probably better than a dirt track, but after fifty miles, I’m not sure whether that will be relevant!
stu
6 Mar 06 at 7:34 pm
Lois… eventually you might see some pictures of some sort.
How’s that for a disclaimer?
stu
6 Mar 06 at 7:35 pm
Thrift!
The experience and scenery will be amazing regardless, so you may as well save some pennies at the same time!
I’ve just got back from Levi - Finland and it was amazing! It’s Arctic Circle north, but not that north…
Svalbard would be awesome, although I doubt there’s much to do other than search for Polar Bears that would rip your face of if they caught you poking a Pentax too close to them!
DoGGa
6 Mar 06 at 7:54 pm
Welcome back, DoGGa! You enjoyed the trip, then?
stu
6 Mar 06 at 7:58 pm
Depends how anally retentive you are really. Will you feel you have gone all that way and not done the whole hog, as it were? The most northern part of the European Mainland? Will that do?
lordhutton
6 Mar 06 at 8:27 pm
Yeah, superb thanks Stu!!!
Flew into Brum about 4pm yesterday.
Oh boy you where right in saying minus 18 hits you fast, so zip up your coat before going outside. It was minus 30 most mornings and got no warmer than minus 10! You could of cut glass with my nipples at times.
It’s quite novel to watch the weeks’ weather forecast where all the high temperatures are negatives!
You where also correct in saying the Finns are less polite and more direct; Thanks for the warning, as I may have got shirty at times, as they really can be abrupt. Very entertaining once you’ve got the hang of it.
Did plenty of skiing (blue runs only) my friend and I aren’t too hot on the slopes and on several occasions, gave way to pigtailed 5 year olds with pink hats flying down the slopes at break neck speeds unaccompanied… LOL.
My favourite part was Husky sledding across a frozen lake. Excellent fun and it’s amazing how 4 dogs can pull two herberts on a sled so fast.
Also went Reindeer sledding on the same lake which was superb, but rather random, shall we say, regarding them stopping to eat snow and then sprinting as fast as they can to keep up with one another. very good they know where to go though, completely unaided!
Went snow mobiling too, and they are noisy and fast with a stunning amount of grip. Excellent fun too!
Walked up the Levi Fell a few times too and managed to spot the Aurora Borealis one night, which was stunning and a life ambition to go and see it. It appeared as a dim arc of light at first, stretching from one side of the horizon to the other, just like low cloud and then it burst into life for 5 stunning minutes and went again. It then reappeared, after almost giving up, for another 5 minute spectacular show of enigmatic dancing green lights. Caught a few minutes of it with my digi camcorder on supernight mode, but the colour and frame rates aren’t the best in that mode.
The food was good, but odd at times whereby raw pickled Herring was out at breakfast time and being tucked into as much as the cornflakes and eggs. (Not together of course)
I’ve mostly been living off Reindeer all week, which is available in so many forms: I indulged in sauteed Reindeer, Reindeer pizza, Reindeer steak, Reindeer meatballs, Reindeer pate and Reindeer soup.
I also indulged in a massage, executed by a lovely young Finnish woman!
I fell in love with a Husky too at the Reindeer farm, but I don’t think I would have got it through Finnish customs somehow. The Husky was also in trouble for stealing sweetbread off the table and it knew it! Hehehe…
A thoroughly enjoyable experience, with many life ambitions achieved in one trip and I wouldn’t think twice about going back. It didn’t have the atmosphere and mountain views of say the French, Swiss or Italian Alps, but it did have something unique, special and addictive about it all. I could move out there quite easily.
I’ll e-mail some photo’s over when I’ve had chance to go through them.
Ahh, Kidderminster really has no appeal after going somewhere like Levi!
DoGGa
6 Mar 06 at 9:18 pm
Wow! Great report… thanks!
Sarah cried most of the way back from our first trip to Finland - same reason, not wanting to come home after so much nice stuff!
stu
6 Mar 06 at 9:21 pm
Perhaps you would have time for both?! I have to admit that when on a boat in the area I stayed on board enjoying the midnight sun rather than join the hordes going off on an excursion to the official North Cape. But you might always wonder what additional information/whimsical souvenirs/photo opportunities you may have missed by not going to the official one if you are in the neighbourhood.
qaminante
6 Mar 06 at 10:01 pm
Here is an idea. It’s your trip so why don’t you go to the place that you consider to be the most nothern point?
And according to Wikipedia, Cape Nordkinn (also called Kinnarodden) is the northernmost point of mainland Europe. It’s 30 km from Gamvik
Dakota
7 Mar 06 at 2:11 pm
I think I will do just that, Dakota.
I’ve never been one for going to the place you’re meant to go to. I’m not keen on tourists and very unkeen indeed on tourist prices.
So it looks like Gamvik at a minimum and Cape Nordkinn if we dare get off the beaten path.
I think it’s a combination of thrift and pedantry, really. When we were in Ireland, we didn’t bother going to Newgrange because of the huge visitor centre. However, Grange stone circle was excellent - there was a €2 honesty box on the small gate, and a shed with a newspaper clipping of the one solstice where the sun actually showed up (due to the rare occurrence of there being no cloud!)
Yeah… that’s me decided. Gamvik it is. Stuff those tourists and their fake northerly point. I will, of course, fly up to Svalbard one day and visit the northernmost insular point of Europe. But we knew that
Nordkapp just seems to be an imposter, essentially. That’s the problem I have with it.
stu
7 Mar 06 at 2:54 pm
Brrr! The most Southerly point of Europe would be a tad warmer I suspect.
Rich
8 Mar 06 at 6:50 am