North Towards Inari, Ukonjärvi Lake, Finland

Zagan the motorhome is in the middle of nowhere. We’re in a small parking area alongside the E75 in the far north of Finland, well inside the Arctic and just a few meters from Ukonjärvi Lake (N68.76759, E27.45109). If this doesn’t class as ‘the middle of nowhere’, for a 3.5 tonne motorhome at any rate, I don’t know what does! That’s not to say it feels remote though. Despite the fact we’re surrounded by wilderness, there’s a steady flow of fellow motorhomes and caravans ambling along this road, everyone waving and wild camping in their own corner of nowhere. Every five minutes another van pulls in here before heading out again; we’ll likely have neighbours for the darkless-night.

Motorhome paradise, wild camping in the Arctic

Joanne and Craig, authors of the fabulous Our Bumble blog, are on a collision course with Zagany McZaganface. They’re heading north through Norway at the moment, pushing through major engine difficulties and the death of a friend at home. Our hearts go out to them, but they’re a tough crew and we know they’ll be OK. We’ve been trying to line things up so we can sup a glass of something at the North Cape together. Our LPG’s slowly being used up, and we can’t get more until we’re back at Alta in Norway, so we’re being forced to shift maybe a little faster than we’d want to, but we will collide at some point.

Coffee making’s nice and clean these days. Finns drink 8 cups a day apparently!

Chris dropped a comment on yesterday’s blog post asking what the mozzies are like, and the temperature up here. Great questions. The mozzies are ravenous. Ju’s just pointed out there were maybe ten of them buzzing around one side of the windscreen a minute ago, like something from The Birds. Walking in forests involves copious arm swinging, self-slapping and more swearing than a rum-drunk seaman. Our ‘Off’ repellent seems more effective at staining our clothes than reducing our tastiness. Richard and Jenny, who are roughly on the same path north as us, messaged Ju earlier to say they were being eaten alive and were upping their in-van defences. It’s no fun to be honest, but we’re staying as well away from ’em as we can, keeping the door closed, using Zagan’s mesh shields on the windows and vents and sleeping under a mozzie net. Ju only goes outside once she’s in the full Western Burka, with just her eyeballs showing. I’ve taken to keeping score, drawing small mozzies on the side of Zagan like a fighter pilot each time I score a kill. I’m up to 37, the Red Baron would be proud.

Charlie looking very smug on his forest wanderings earlier on

As for the temperature, that’s the weird bit. Ju and I have been up here twice before, snowboarding (badly) at Levi. Both times were in winter. Minus umpteen, snow up to your noggin, beer cans freezing in your backpack, snow-mobile blatting on frozen lakes, all very Arctic. In summer, it’s been pretty hot. I’m tempted to roughly compare an Arctic summer to a British one. But since we’ve only been this high up a couple of days, probably aught keep that one to myself; there’s still plenty opportunity for a good storm up here…

A small Lapp Hut in the forest, complete with wood burner and unlimited wood

Today we’ve taken a wander in the Finnish forest, poking around Lapp huts, chopping wood, and having the wonderful experience of getting sight of a couple of reindeer in among the woods as we walked past. Afterwards we made an attempt to watch Andy Murray playing the men’s final at Wimbledon, but our Internet TV failed to oblige. When a fellow Hymer pulled alongside us, treating us to 20 minutes of yapping dog, we decided to move on, nipping up here. Again all very weird, but in the middle of nowhere the Internet TV worked a treat and we got to see a tearful Murray take his second Wimbledon championship. Fantastic stuff.

Apparently the Sami cut notches in their reindeer’s ears, so they can identify them

Furry antlers

What a wonderful sight

I love this woman, more than life itself, and believe me, I love my life very much indeed!

No need for snowshoes here just yet

In fact, the Internet’s so speedy I’ve just uploaded this video of Ju driving us up the road to get here. It goes on a bit, sorry, but gives a bit of a feel to how the road feels both absurd and completely normal at the same time, plus there’s another reindeer cameo :

Right, enough! Time to chill out with a small glass of vino and an evening’s telly, making the most of our unlimited Internet allowance before we hit Norway in a few days. The Euro 2016 finals and the Tour de France highlights are on the menu. Sweet. Ju’s got herself a bit of ‘snackage’ from the cupboard to keep her going, just the one bag of crisps, she’s got willpower that woman.

Cheers, Jay

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