Safe Return Doubtful

After 46 days in Norway I left for Finland this morning. All of those days were on the North Atlantic, so it’s a reluctant farewell to the ocean also. It’s been a 46 days of mixed weather, beginning with 32C at 10 am in the morning passing through Oslo to a daytime high of 5C in Havøysund last week. 

I spent the weekend in and around Alta. On Thursday and Friday I was at a popular hiking and mountain biking area northeast of the city. Alta has an incredible range of outdoor opportunities within 10 minutes of town, and a more serious and dramatic set within an hour. In the heart of the winter, January to April, the weather is cold and with snow, not so much wind, so ideal for winter sports. 

Relatively close to town are the TenToppen, ten mountains to collect over a while, or indeed, in one go for endurance athletes. They are not based on a particular height, but their beauty, some tower over 1500 metres, some just short of 500 metres. I took on one of the latter, and it was a fine morning out. 

The hiking car park I was at would be busy on Friday, as the weather was clear, so I moved down to a small marina on a peninsula just out of town. From there, Rua and I walked up ‘the city mountain’, Komsatoppen, and at 286 metres, the shortest of the TenToppen. It does however, command a spectacular view of the wider Alta area. 

Having eschewed cities for several years now I have discovered in the last few months that I could live in a city like Alta, or Tórshavn, where I was in October. Alta has a population of just over 20,000, and Tórshavn 15,000. The weather can be a challenge in either, but that does provide variety, and no doubt, some big storms. 

The road to Finland, the E45, is quite straight and only with gentle hills. I passed a few cyclists on the 200 kilometre journey, and spoke to two Italians. They were taking the off road, gravel route, which is a different proposition to ride, but in the road, the riding is almost tedious in that the view never changes, and that road extends a long way into the distance; if into the wind, it would be a huge challenge. 

I filled up with LPG gas for cooking in Alta, though the garage that sells it has moved across town, 10 kilometres, without telling anyone. It will be the last LPG opportunity until I am back in Denmark in the new year. Finland doesn’t sell LPG. I think I should just about manage. The tank took just over 4 litres to top up. It’s a 20 litre tank, but that amount is never fully in it, and I use about 0.1 litres a day. 

I stopped at Kautokeino to fill up with fuel. Though Norway and Sweden have reduced duty on fuel by 50%, Finland hasn’t, and is just about the most expensive in Europe at the moment, at €2.45 a litre at present. 

I’m in Hetta tonight, at the north end of the Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park. Though I’ve visited the Park twice before, I have never been here. It’s unseasonably warm, 18C, and those mosquitoes that hadn’t quite died in the cold have had a second wind, a sort of zombie mosquito. They shouldn’t last long though, it’s due to be cold again in a few days. 

If all goes according to plan I will be in Finland for four months, a good chance to get to experience life in one of my favourite countries.