Almost half our short drive today was going south on the same road on which we had travelled north to Honningsvag on Wednesday. Then we headed off more to the east and down to Karasjok, our last stop in Norway before crossing into Finland.
Sorry to keep going on about the weather but we saw some more very dramatic changes in the weather here, we left Honningsvag about 8:30 @ 12c with low cloud, full gear – leather coat, long trousers, scarf, woolly hat. By the time we got to Karasjok, 150 miles to the south, it’s up to 24c and wall to wall sunshine. Looks like it’s going to stay warm now, latest forecast for Helsinki says ‘Disruption due to forest fires + Disruption due to extreme high temperatures’. Current temperature in Helsinki 25c, peaking tomorrow 27c. We get there on Monday when the predicted temperature is 25c…..
So, there i was 50 miles from the Finnish border, smugly congratulating myself that despite all the dire warnings about the Norwegian traffic cops, with their sneaky hidden radar speed traps and huge fines for trangressions, i had managed to avoid being nicked…. You know what’s coming!!!
It was the third radar speed trap i had come across in Norway, but i had been paying proper attention previously. Not this time…. I missed the sign saying the speed limit had come down from 80kph to 60kph and was clocked at 73kph. Charming blonde Norwegain lady traffic cop was all courtesy and sympathy….. never seen a car like mine before, she said. Didn’t stop her nicking me of course, then the mandatory breathalyser test and i was presented by her male colleague with the puffer as a ‘souvenire’…… Explained the fine was [i think] 4,315 Norwegian Krona, about 420 Euro. Yep, that’s £400 in real money! I would get a letter to my UK address ‘in about a month’ demanding the money…..
Now, while all that was going on i pinged a text to John warning him of the presence of the speed trap – he had left Honningsvag after me. Just as i was about to drive off, John too was pulled over…. He reckoned they clocked him at 71kph and that his fine would be c.£200. Sounds very highly geared to me……
Who’s a silly boy, then???
Nothing to do with the weather i am sure, but although we were only about 120 miles south of Honningsvag, the scenery was far greener, the trees taller and the whole landscape more verdant. Here’s a vid of the vista about 30 miles outside of Karasjok:
…..and a couple more pics of the journey:
The main claim to fame of Karasjok with its population of about 2,500 is that it hosts the Sami parliament, a Sami museum and a Sami Theme Park [!] I wasn’t able to get a decent pic of the Parliament: these are the best i was able to do…..
The Sami were nomads and traditionally lived in a tent like structure very similar to the Tepee of the North American Indians. The Parliament building was said to have been constructed to reflect that traditional design. We saw a number of buildings, including hotels, designed in a similar way.
We also saw several Sami roadside stores selling Reindeer fleeces and Antlers. It all seemed a bit sad and down at heel to me……
You can just about see the Sami saleslady with her traditional grey cosi lined in red: seems to be their colour so they can’t be all bad…..
A decisive move southward tomorrow as we head for home: 300 miles or so in total from Karasjok, across the border to Finland and down to Rovaneimi. You might be interested to know we pass within 25 miles of the border with Russia!
I’ll give Vladimir the finger as we go by….
Tony's Geriatric Adventures 
Hi T it is Saturday morning now and my guess is that you have already crossed the Border and left Norway. The photos do show the scenery yesterday to appear much more green and verdant, I suppose in that part of the world,150 miles further South makes a big difference to both the weather and the surroundings. Hope you don’t hit any problems with Forest fires on the way South. In these uncertain times it must feel a little strange to be so close to the Russian border
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