19 June - Lakselv to Pello. 312 miles

What in God's name possessed me to decide to stay here? Later.

There was a lot of this today

Straight, fifth gear roads. Not much to see. Just checking the satnav every so often in the hope that there might be any improvement on the 89 miles it said it was to the next turn.

A bit of an end of term feeling today as we set off south on the path to home. I am just taking the fastest routes from now on.

A few miles left of Norway but my fjord-ogling days were now past; then into Finland, keeping close to the Swedish border (which meant that I was continually getting texts from BT changing its mind about where I was roaming). Pello was chosen as our staging point because it seemed like a reasonable day's march and there seemed to be nowhere else hereabouts. (Are you ahead of me here?).

The drama of the previous eight days' panoramas was immediately replaced by more gently undulating scenery rather like an upland moor. Heading out of Lakselv (which I forgot to inform those hungry for information is a Salmon angling centre), I soon thought we had reached the Finland border because the place names had changed to what I believed was Finnish. No - the petrol station attendant whom I asked about it told me it was Sami,

The top sign is Finnish/Norwegian. The bottom ones are Finnish/Sami

and it would be another 80 miles before we saw one of the few demarcation signs on this trip. 

Closely followed by

Incidentally, the attendant asked me if I knew his friend Jim Marston in London. I suppose that when one's world is extended little beyond tiny isolated hamlets, scale can be a problem. 

Now back to reindeer. These chaps were happily dawdling (so casually that I had time to stand up in the M3W and take this picture) down the road with little sign of being husbanded.

Getting a good shot when one sees an opportunity is not easy when one has to drive as well. Many a time on this trip I have only seen somewhere to pull over and get the perfect angle when it was too late to stop. In this case, they carried on hogging the middle of the highway for a hundred yards or more. But I would have liked to have stopped in time to get a snap of the sign I saw inviting one to buy Huskies. I was tempted, but they would not fit in The Toad. 

Now this is the way to get about. I have always wanted one of these and at one time I had lakes large enough to make it feasible. Something like a Catalina would suit. 

Someone asked me whether I had hit a Moose. Only if I was drastically off-course - in Europe they are Elk, and the closest I got was this chap here. Another Must Have for which I did not have room.

We did a good job today of keeping the insect population down.

We started the day with numbing cold and it is now shirtsleeve weather here. And I cannot leave mention of Pello any longer. There was only one place that I could find here on booking.com and the photos did not look too bad. I have stayed in worse, but as low-rent motels go it is unlikely to be lauded by Michelin. As far as I can see, the township only exists to service people passing through on the main road; and as that is a few yards from my room, tonight should be restful (the window cannot be closed and the room is so small that I would probably suffocate if it could. And the curtains refuse to draw). I can get supper, I was told, at the garage below, but I have to order by 5.30. The staff speak little English and the menu is in Finnish. I might find myself tucking into Wolf Bon Femme by mistake.

A room with a view

(An hour later) No I won't. I had overlooked Finland being two hours ahead, so when I went down it was closed. Thankfully, something quite edible was knocked up by Shell next door. The young cook is a Morgan fancier and took a few pictures of the Toad. Finnish beer, too.

I hope we have not made the same mistake with tomorrow's booking, which will come at the end of the longest driving day so far.

PS - idiot here has damaged his laptop so I am having to concoct this with about a quarter of the screen blacked out. There may be some errors for the next few days. This Mac has served me well but we are going to have to shell out for a new one. Just as well that this room is only £50.