Norway bound (Sunday 10th February)
Narvik was our destination today, a road trip of 200km into another country, Norway. Last night we researched what Narvik offered and there seemed to be some impressive views, a couple of museums, in case we didn't find the views plus a couple of random sights to see in case all of the above failed.
There were hardly any cars on the road, those that were driving were towing snowmobiles for off-road adventures. We'd already experienced the E10 road going to Abisko and Narvik was twice the distance. As we got nearer to the border the landscape changed from the flat, frozen lakes with the temperature dropping to minus 30 degrees C to more twisty roads passing entrances to ski resorts. For a mile we had to slow down as the signs instructed to prevent road/wheel noise that couldn't set off an avalanche. The 4wd of the Skoda Yeti also felt the ice of the road below so made the progress slow. To the side of the roads were frozen waterfalls with even one of them being climbed at the time.
The Norway/Sweden border was at the very top of ski fields where the snow just seemed to be even deeper and whiter. We had brought our passports with us but they weren't needed as the checkpoint was only for lorries with something to declare. We simply drove past a queue of trucks and a completely frozen official's building.
Eventually the roads started to go down hill and the apprehension disappeared when we saw the fjord landscape. The temperature outside the car was even warmer rising up to a balmy minus 5 degrees C. After being awestruck by the scenery I spotted a massive bridge ahead to cross the fjord. I realised that we didn't have any Norwegian currency so hoped there wouldn't be a toll. Luckily there wasn't and within a few more kilometres we had reached Narvik.
After stopping at the town's tourist information centre and finding it closed we parked up in the centre (so we assumed) for free and pretty well realised that Sunday wasn't the best day to visit. No museums, no shops, no bars or cafes were open. Only a Spar shop was open where Kerry bought some tobacco (later we discovered that it cost twice the UK price). We could actually see the surrounding mountains that people were skiing hence the lack of people in town. All we could do was walk around and see the limited open air sights and public art like the big sign for where you could be instead.
So after less than an hour we drove back to Kiruna whilst there was daylight (sun setting about 3:00pm) and enjoyed the pink and purple lighting effects on the mountain landscape. We stopped for a hot chocolate at the Swedish ski resort of Bjorkliden and took in the views of the frozen lake below. After another few more kilometres we swapped seats for driving which was Kerry's first time on frozen roads and a left-hand drive car. Quite scary for her especially after 10 minutes a herd of reindeer barged onto the road just metres in front. With the reindeer remaining in the road and ignoring the car's horn it took another car behind us to drive at them and scare them back into the field.
Back in Kiruna and we wanted a decent meal. However, being a Sunday, hardly anywhere was open so we were limited for choice. The Scandic hotel near the tourist centre offered two in-house restaurants but when we got there only one was open and the other 'Mommas Pub' had a limited menu. So, that really only left going back to our own hotel, the Bishops Inn / Arms for prospect of another burger. The menu was still limited being a Sunday (and is still reduced Mondays too) but we ordered entrecote steak and I had the pasta which came with the odd side of pork leg and bratwurst sausage (each main course was about £29 each). Both didn't disappoint coupled with more Belgian beer. We even shared a dessert and blew the budget which was also delicious.
There were hardly any cars on the road, those that were driving were towing snowmobiles for off-road adventures. We'd already experienced the E10 road going to Abisko and Narvik was twice the distance. As we got nearer to the border the landscape changed from the flat, frozen lakes with the temperature dropping to minus 30 degrees C to more twisty roads passing entrances to ski resorts. For a mile we had to slow down as the signs instructed to prevent road/wheel noise that couldn't set off an avalanche. The 4wd of the Skoda Yeti also felt the ice of the road below so made the progress slow. To the side of the roads were frozen waterfalls with even one of them being climbed at the time.
The Norway/Sweden border was at the very top of ski fields where the snow just seemed to be even deeper and whiter. We had brought our passports with us but they weren't needed as the checkpoint was only for lorries with something to declare. We simply drove past a queue of trucks and a completely frozen official's building.
Eventually the roads started to go down hill and the apprehension disappeared when we saw the fjord landscape. The temperature outside the car was even warmer rising up to a balmy minus 5 degrees C. After being awestruck by the scenery I spotted a massive bridge ahead to cross the fjord. I realised that we didn't have any Norwegian currency so hoped there wouldn't be a toll. Luckily there wasn't and within a few more kilometres we had reached Narvik.
After stopping at the town's tourist information centre and finding it closed we parked up in the centre (so we assumed) for free and pretty well realised that Sunday wasn't the best day to visit. No museums, no shops, no bars or cafes were open. Only a Spar shop was open where Kerry bought some tobacco (later we discovered that it cost twice the UK price). We could actually see the surrounding mountains that people were skiing hence the lack of people in town. All we could do was walk around and see the limited open air sights and public art like the big sign for where you could be instead.
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