Weather

Everywhere we have either caught the last day of the good weather or been told that it changed yesterday. Wednesday we arrived in Tromso to hot sunshine but a cold wind. We camped in a wood, so we're protected from the wind but out came the mosquitos. We had to cover ourselves with Avon 'Skin so Soft'. Dreadful name but it did seem to work. That night we went to a 1/2 hour midnight concert of classical music plus some Norwegian folk songs, soprano, cello and piano/organ. It was awfully good, in an ultra modern church, the Ishavskatedralen or Arctic Cathedral, made of high sections of triangular concrete and gives a feeling of an enormous icy peak. The 'east' wall, which we reckoned must have been south, was an entirely stained glass and the midnight sun shone through from the entirely glass opposite side. We came out at midnight and the sun hung there, where a sun shouldn't be, far too bright to look at, and well above the horizon although it was at the bottom of its circle, an amazing sight.

We woke in the morning to cold and rain.  But never mind, the sight of that midnight sun will last us for several days of rain. Then by bus to Alta, arriving at 10.30 pm, we had a 1/2 hour cycle ride to the campsite and found the reception still open. There was a cold wind but still the sun shone for us. Alta has ancient rock carvings done in several phases between 6000 and 2000 years ago. We saw similar ones in Sweden and South Norway on our North Sea Ride. We had planned a day there but found there was no onward bus on Saturday. So now we are at the North Cape, staying in a camp site in Skipsfjord, part way between Honningsvaag and the North Cape. And the weather. Last week the temperatures were up to 30. Today it is between 4 and 7. Cycling from the bus we had a strong cold North wind and for a few minutes hail. I feel just a little hard done by.

Today we had to acknowledge that 30 degrees is not the norm this far north. We set off to cycle the 26km to Nordkapp (North Cape) and struggled against a strong north wind bringing icy rain. You know the wind is really strong when you have to pedal hard in bottom gear when going downhill. This was not fun so we gave up and cycled into the small town Honningsvag, where we enjoyed a small museum and a meal of king crabs. The museum showed, among other things, the devastation of Northern Norway by Hitler's scorched earth policy in 1944. When people returned in 1945 only the church was left standing. The king crabs come courtesy of the Russians who introduced them into Northern Russia for food; they actually come from the Kamcatcha peninsular; they are spreading West. They have migrated to Norway. Perhaps the Orkneys will be getting them next. They were good.

The weather forecast for tomorrow and Monday are equally bad. I thnk we will be taking the bus.

Katherine