Nordkapp 2 - 2024. Page 4/7. All images click to enlarge.
July 21st/22nd Sunday/Monday. Honningsvåg, Norway.
The temperature today reached 26 degrees C in the afternoon. We had expected it to be wetter and cooler this far north, but the heatwave continued. We had 230 miles to cover today so we’re glad that we still have perfect weather conditions.
The E6 between Sørkjosen and Alta continues along the coastline before crossing a large expanse of Arctic Tundra near the Stabbursdalen National Park. You must be wary of mosquitos in this region. We went well prepared for the little critters. They only got through our defences on a few occasions.
Reindeer are also prolific north of Alta. Most times you can spot the herds in the distance, but it isn’t unusual to find a loan animal wandering in or very near the road. There are plenty of road signs warning of their likely presence.
The road surface is mostly good all the way through to Skaidi but after that some sections can be very rough. At Russenes we turned north onto the E69. Running alongside the Porsangerfjorden the E69 twists and turns all the way up to Kåfjord. It is a beautiful 62-mile route. We came across reindeer on this road and because of the terrain they can suddenly appear out of nowhere.
After Kåfjord we rode through the North Cape Tunnel. Opened in June 1999, the subsea tunnel is 4.3 miles (6.87km) long and at its deepest point is 696ft (212 metres) below sea level. At the steepest point, the incline is 10%. The tunnel takes the E69 under the Magerøysundet strait between the Norwegian mainland and the large island of Magerøya.
The tunnel has raised safety strips on both sides of the road and is well lit with LED lighting. Acoustic signals at the tunnel entrances prevent reindeer from entering the tunnel. The roller doors at both ends of the tunnel prevent frost damage to the building structure, as the tunnel is kept frost-free by closing the doors.
Our accommodation for 2 nights in Honningsvåg was the Scandic Hotel. This is a large international standard hotel that caters for coach tours etc. It was the biggest hotel we used on this tour and is located next to the harbour. Hotel website: https://www.scandichotels.com/hotels/norway/honningsvag/scandic-honningsvag
Honningsvåg is the northernmost town in mainland Norway and is very popular with touring motorcyclists visiting the Nordkapp. Large cruise ships can often be seen in the harbour.
We visited the Nordkapp on Monday 22nd in warm and sunny conditions. Although very windy, it was 24 degrees C in the afternoon. Contrast that with our last visit there on the 4th July 2015 when it was just 6 degrees C with rain showers.
Motorcycles visiting the Nordkapp centre must park with other vehicles on the gravel strewn main car park even though there’s plenty of hard standing in an unused area adjacent to the visitor centre’s buildings. A personal gripe, but I think they’re missing a trick here. They must get hundreds of motorcyclists visiting each year and it wouldn’t take much to improve arrangements for those arriving on two-wheels, especially the opportunity to take photographs of their machines against a suitable backdrop showing that they’d ridden all the way to the Nordkapp. The parking charge per motorcycle is only NOK 50 (GBP 3.50) Since our last visit in 2015 they have barred access to the visitor centre’s buildings for all vehicles other than tour buses. Having said that, after a bit of wrangling we managed to obtain permission to park Jane’s Guzzi up next to the Nordkapp sign for 10 minutes so I could take a photo to record her visit.
The 22-mile section of the E69 between Honningsvåg and the Nordkapp has been improved since our last visit but there are still a few rough sections awaiting renewal of the road surface. Reindeer were also roaming freely on most of this route.
July 23rd Tuesday. Kautokeino, Norway.
Early start today. We left our hotel at 6.12am so we could get through the North Cape Tunnel before some road works started at 7.00am. These ongoing works were well-publicised because they caused major traffic delays between Monday and Friday due to a convoy system of traffic control.
Today was the warmest day of the tour so far. Temperatures reached 29 degrees C in the afternoon.
Our original travel plan was to head back south on the E69 and then pick up the E6 to Lakselv to continue our ride along the coast. Unfortunately, after about 10 miles on what was another beautiful stretch of road, we encountered road works which went on for many miles. Across both lanes the top layer of tarmac had been removed which left small stones and grit across the road surface. We didn’t fancy riding on that for any length of time, so we doubled back to Russenes to travel back to Alta on the E6. In Alta we then headed south on RV93/E45. This change of route only added another 40 miles to our plans for that day and because of the early start we had plenty of time in hand. Total mileage to our overnight stop in Kautokeino was 250, all of it on scenic roads in stunning weather.
We stayed at the international standard Thon Hotel. Most of the staff are members of the indigenous Sami population and the hotel contains many artefacts detailing their history in the region. The dishes on the evening meal menu used locally sourced produce and reflected their unique Sami cuisine. Hotel website: https://www.thonhotels.com/our-hotels/norway/kautokeino/thon-hotel-kautokeino
July 24th Wednesday. Jokkmokk, Sweden.
Still enjoying very warm and sunny weather we continued south on the scenic RV93/EV45. We rode across more Arctic Tundra in the Norwegian part of Lapland before winding our way through forests and valleys. The road was very quiet with only local traffic present. The river Alta runs alongside the RV93/E45 for most of its length. It is said to be the finest salmon river in Europe.
There were no formal checks at the border with Finland. Continuing on the RV93/E45 to Enontekiö we then headed west on the 956 to Palojoersuu near the border with Sweden. We stopped in Palojoersuu for fuel and refreshments. This picturesque small village on the banks of the river Muonio reminded us of similar places in Wisconsin with its layout and style of buildings. From Palojoersuu we headed north west for 23 miles on the E8-E21 to Kaaresuvanto where we crossed the border into Sweden. Our total mileage in Finland was 63.
The town of Karesuando lies just over the border with Finland and marks the entry point to the Swedish part of Lapland. The main north to south transit route in the middle of Sweden is the E45. We had 150 miles to cover before reaching our next overnight stop in Jokkmokk. The terrain was mainly forests and small lakes with very few settlements. It is a real wilderness and there was very little traffic until we reached the major town of Malmberget, some 60 miles north of Jokkmokk. Travelling south from the border with Finland there’s regular pull over points to stop and stretch your legs but they don’t have any facilities.
After riding over 280 miles, we arrived at our accommodation in Jokkmokk just before a thunderstorm started. Timing is everything. The hostel was very basic and didn’t meet our expectations. It wasn’t very good value for money, and we wouldn’t recommend staying there. At least breakfast was good. Hostel website: https://jokkmokksvandrarhem.se
