Hammerfest to Rovaniemi

Hammerfest to Rovaniemi

Day 16: Hammerfest to Rovaniemi: We leave the mountains of Norway to travel south through the lakes and forests of Finland. Cross back over the Arctic Circle to Rovaniemi, the traditional home of Santa Claus. (Breakfast and Dinner)

Hotel: Taveco Ky Napapiirin Saari-Tuvat, 96900 Kuusamonte Saarenkyla, Finland Telephone # +(358) (0)16 3560045 Fax # +(358) (0)16 3560045

Breakfast: 6:30 Bags to the bus: 7:15 Bus departs: 7:30

This mornings hot breakfast was chocolate pancakes, since Dion couldn't find any regular milk, only chocolate, they were tasty. Then we started our drive South to Finland, and saw a sign that the temperature was 11° (52° F). We had a stop at 9:30 at a supermarket, I tried to finish of my Norwegian Kroners since this was our last stop in Norway, but ended up with 50 Nkr left. Then we had another stop at the border to get back our Tax Free monies, I got 100 Nkr back. We entered Finland at 11:48 and had to set our watches ahead another hour. We made two more stops on the way to camp before arriving around 7:00.

When Che handed out the rooming sheet earlier he had neglected to mark which rooms were male and which were female. I had fallen asleep after signing up and am not exactly sure what transpired after, but shortly after I woke up Che came by asking if I minded sharing with Karl. I said ok, Karl is a sweetheart and totally harmless, it was one night anyway. So my roommates were Karl and Nancy. Karl volunteered to take the pull out bed. After scoping out the campsite (there were 4 co-ed bathrooms - getting ready in the morning would be interesting) and declining an invite to play soccer (I didn't feel the need to embarrass myself or hurt myself like others had done throughout the trip). Instead I waited on line to use the internet until dinner. I decided to miss my opportunity to use the internet and eat dinner instead.

We had a nice dinner of roast chicken, which made up for our average dinners the last few nights. I then made a mad dash to the internet so I could write home. Because there was only one computer here and pretty much everyone wanted to use it we had to limit our time to about 10 minutes each. At least everyone at home would know I was alive and well.

After that I hung out in the bar for a while chatting with everyone and having a few drinks. It was a nice night since we all got to hang out together, some got to play pool and others danced. Nancy and I decided to head back around 1am, and Karl stayed behind. When Karl came in a little after 2am Nancy and I were still awake. Apparently he had waited a while so we would have time to get ready and go to bed before he came back, but found us "giggling" in bed instead. I set my alarm for 6:45 and went to sleep.