Norway

 Norway – Above the Arctic Circle

We have been above the Arctic Circle for about a week. The sun never sets, 24 hours of daylight, it is confusing. It’s hard to think about going to bed, you just want to keep going. When we crossed into Norway, we headed directly for the coast. We spent the night at a trail head going out to Trollholmsund. An absolutely beautiful spot. We did the short hike and then fixed dinner. The next day it was clear and sunny so we drove to Nordkapp, the northern most point in Europe that you can drive to. We decided not to pay the parking fee. There was a long line at the entrance booth and fog was moving in fast. What was the point in paying a large fee to park in the fog with hundreds of other people and see nothing. We turned around and parked at a trail head a little way back down the road. We hiked to the top of a nearby hill instead. We were much happier with our choice, great views and no people.

Our camping spot for our first night in Norway.

The trail out to Trollholmsund.

View of the shore on the Trollholmsund trail.

Trollholmsund – Rock formations that are trolls turned into stone according to an ancient Lappish legend.

 Views of the coast line from the road.

Reindeer enjoying a sunny day at the beach.

Nordkapp is on the island of Mageroya. To get on the island you drive through a tunnel under the sea.

The tunnel is long and steep.

Honningsvag, the northern most city in Norway.

The busy port of Honningvag.

Cruise ships also visit Honningsvag and send busloads of passengers to Nordkapp.

Love these flower pots.

Reindeer wandering through the town of Skarsvag.

 Another road side view. The water is very clear and beautiful shades of blue.

View on the road to Nordkapp.

Nordkapp parking lot. A sea of campervans.

View toward Nordkapp from our hilltop hike.

View of the road to Nordkapp. Our van is in the parking lot you see on the right in the photo.

The hilltop had a great 360 degree view, until the fog rolled in.

We have been following two blogs very closely. They both are traveling in the same areas we are traveling and have lots of wonderful information. We love reading them daily. Driving south from Nordkapp we were very lucky to end up in the same city as them. We followed the GPS coordinates posted on the blog and we were able to meet them. How lucky is that!

Jason and Julie from Our Tour. They have been traveling the same route as us since we began this trip.

Joanne, Craig, Mac n Tosh from Our Bumble. They have been traveling north through Norway, so now we are following the info on their blog.