Norway Nordkapp! The last Ride of Scandinavia for 2023

In our last episode we were exploring the iconic Nordkapp but now it's time to finally head south and head into Finland and that is the plan for our day. So let's go Sean! All right Em, let's go! It's one road in and one road out to the Nordkapp so we're going back the same way we came in yesterday but that's great because these are fantastic roads. A lot of the time the focus is on the actual Nordkapp and the globe but the ride in, the last hour and a half to get there is absolutely fantastic. It's such a beautiful coastal road and we're surrounded by reindeers which is a bonus. So we're going to ride this all the way back aren't we Em? Yeah we are and I actually think Sean, a bold statement here, but I think this is one of the best roads we've ever been on. You think yeah? Yeah I'd agree with you. Scenery wise it's unbeatable. There are a few curves in there as well. Yeah there's a few curves and twists in it but it's like it's an amazing coast. we saw a few little seals popping up in the water just here didn't we Sean? We did. I wasn't sure if it was an otter at first, like a sea otter, but then there was a bigger one next to it which was huge which was there must have been a sea lion. We also saw a dolphin back then before which was awesome. It's like the whole area is just full of life. Amazing wildlife. It is yeah. I still have to stop like every time we see a reindeer it's amazing and I never get bored of them. They are I think one of the most beautiful animals. They're majestic. They sure are aren't they? I have once seen a stag in Scotland that was also quite spectacular as well. I think I think we need to go to Scotland at some point. Oh do I hear Heading West? Did we hear it here first? I hear Heading West. The Home Tour. Oh there's a waterfall at two o'clock I don't think we saw that one on the way in. Oh wow that's a lovely one. It is. We're about to go on a new road Em. This is the road that we turned off yesterday or last night I think it was. So from here on it's all new and we're heading in the direction of Finland on the E6 heading south. Until next time North Cap. It's been fun. It has been. We have been awake now since 4am and it is what time Sean? Just come here half past six. And I'm starting to get really tired and a bit exhausted so I'm thinking we need to devise a plan. Yeah I agree with you there. I'm getting pretty tired myself actually. I guess we'll probably stop for fuel in a bit and drink water so we can have a look at the app or something there and see if there's what's available. See if there's any more of those huts available because they've been really good so far. Yeah I think that's a perfect idea and then maybe if we when we stop for fuel we can also pick up some groceries and then we go to cook at a cabin would be the ideal evening. Yeah they usually have a little kitchen don't they which would be nice. Oh my goodness that's stunning. Look at the colours. They're just everywhere now aren't they? They're like if they're not there like where are the reindeer gone? This national park we're in in northern Norway is fantastic. It is isn't it? I'm not too sure of the name of it but I do know that the fjord that we're riding against it like it is the Norwegian sea. Ah yeah I think it said that on the sat nav yeah Norwegian sea. Or is it if is it too big to be a fjord? Or not sure. Is it just a coast? I'm not sure. Yeah it could just be a coastal inlet I think. I've lost count of the amount of reindeers we've seen it must be in the hundreds. It must be pushing a thousand in like two days because every time we see them they're in like a herd of of like 10 or 20. This is my favourite time of day to ride. It is stunning. Yeah when the sun just sets it's still warmish and it seems like the wildlife is all around you. All the boulders just lying there and I wonder how they get there. If anybody knows write in the comments let us know. Yeah because it's been intriguing us for 200 kilometers. Yeah like giant marbles something Over Norway like I cannot the scenery change at all it's just all stunning every single. It's very dramatic as well. Considering it doesn't have like the gigantic peaks and mountains like say Switzerland does. Everything we see is very dramatic. And it's just it's that feeling of being in the complete wilderness. It's that feeling of not having anything around you other than nature. I can't get over it. It's so vast. What an incredible road and what an amazing national park. I've never heard of until today. I think all these northern places are not very well known of. They're spectacular. It's a bit bumpy. It's a bit isn't it. It's worth it for the view. It's a typical tour Friday night. We've basically ridden till we've had enough. We're both pretty tired as we only had four hours sleep last night. So it's seven o'clock now. Em's gone into the supermarket there to go and get some food so we can cook up when we get back to the hut tonight. And my sole job while I'm here is to watch over the bike which is a given and to open this rack pack here which is where we will be keeping our food. So as soon as Em's out of the supermarket we'll put the food in the rack pack and we will ride straight to the little hotel or the hut tonight. That was a great shop you got there Em. It looks like we are fully stocked up for the rest of the week. Yeah I had a great selection in there so I got us some yummy food for the next few days and I was really hungry which is like the number one thing you shouldn't do when you go shopping. That's true. I think you filled up our bags so hopefully we'll eat a big chunk of it tonight and tomorrow morning we'll have a bit more space left in that bag when we leave tomorrow. It's a last Norwegian supermarket anyway. Oh yeah you've got comfortable with the supermarkets now you know what products you can get. Yeah now we're going to switch to Finnish supermarkets. Oh yeah tomorrow it'll be Finnish all the way down. Oh when's the next turning Em? You're giving directions aren't you on the phone now? It does say here 10 kilometers so we should be there in the next like five minutes. All right awesome. I think we've arrived Em. Looks lovely. It really does. I wonder which cabin we've got. Not sure. What was this 45 euros for a cabin? Yeah it was. That's a good price isn't it? Can you see reception anywhere? I'm guessing this is reception. It's got a bar. There's a sign on the door there. All right I'll go and see if I can get us a room key. So here's what 45 euro gets you for a hut in Norway. This is a classic Norwegian hut. They're really compact but they're awesome. It's got everything you need. Who lives in a house like this? It's so cute. It is isn't it? It smells a bit like a pet shop. It does. The wood has definitely got like that smell. I think it's like the sawdust smell that you get from the pine. But hey it's better than um it's better than a wet tent in the morning. It is isn't it? Looks like the fridge. Electrolux fridge from the 60s. That's awesome. I'm so hungry. Let's get dinner on. Fair enough. That's it. That's the room tour gone. There is a communal kitchen here but I think someone's been cooking fish in there and it's put us right off. It's pretty stinky in there so we've got out our own cooking equipment and Em's got straight to work there. What are we having for dinner tonight Em? We are having mushrooms, potatoes in a plant-based sauce which is like a soy sauce and then we're also going to do some burgers as well. And you're steaming your face at the same time. I am getting the warm. The mushroom saute. It's a camping facial. Okay we're gonna finish tonight with a little story time of what has just very embarrassingly happened to me. So Sean and I were having dinner outside. It was really nice. We were chilling and in the corner of the campsite we saw like some people coming out in bathrobes from like a little cabin in the corner and I was like oh I think I read online that there's a sauna. Maybe we'll go check it out later. So sun goes down. It's quite dark. We come into the cabin and we're cleaning up and packing up, resetting tomorrow and I'm like I'm gonna go check out the sauna, see if it's worth going to. So I walk all the way over to the cabin. It must be like, I don't know, 150 meters, 200 meters away. I walk all the way over to the cabin in the corner and it's pitch black. It's kind of like, it's got that creepy thriller vibe to it. So I'm like very aware of myself so I like creep over to the door to see if anyone's in it. It's completely pitch black in there so I like really slowly open the door and I walk in and I'm like looking around for the light switch and I flick the light switch on and it's lovely in there like a real sauna vibe and I walk in a little bit further and the lights must have been on a timer. So I go to turn around to flick the light switch back on and as I flick the light switch back on I realise that there are three elderly Russian guys sat completely naked in the sauna that I have just walked into and flicked I jumped out of my skin. I was so embarrassed. I bolted like lightning. I bolted out of there. I ran straight down the camping site all the way to the cabin, flung the cabin door open, ran in and was like, John, John, John, John. He's panicking. He's like, you okay? What's happened? I'm like, oh no, I think, I think, I can't believe what just happened. Oh my goodness, I'm so embarrassed. So now I'm hiding in my cabin from our neighbours that I now have ruined their sauna experience and seeing them naked. Oh, it freaked me out. That was just like one of those moments from a movie. Anyway, it is about 11 o'clock at night. We have been up since 4am and we are exhausted, super tired and probably a little bit out of it to be honest. It's been the most hectic 24 hours I think I've had in a long time. So we're gonna get undressed and get ready for bed and then have a wonderful day tomorrow as we finally make it into Finland. So join us in the next episode where we explore Finland.