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Finnmark is the northern-most region of Norway. Our first night in Finnmark was in the old timber town of Alta. The town was virtually destroyed during WWII so there’s not much of interest architecturally. However, it is the location of prehistoric rock drawings. Finnmark is also the location of the NordCap.
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The hotel we stayed at in Alta was at the water’s edge and had 3 different types of lodging. In the picture at left, the red seaside cabins are where we stayed, while the sod-roofed rooms were another choice. There were also run-of-the-mill hotel rooms in the main building. We thought our seaside cottage was the best of the three.
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The view from our room below right, is probably lovely on a clear day, but all the clouds made it rather dull for us. This was our chance at seeing the midnight sun from our room, but it was not to be. The view out over the Altafjord (below right) was beautiful in the morning light (and the weather was improving).
Next to the hotel was an area chock full of slate, obviously ready to be shipped to other areas (above left). The whole lot was full of crates of slate, the dock area was built from slate, and the entire beach area was covered with remnants as well. As we drove north, we found the entire region to be mostly slate.
The summers are not long, but they are warm enough for the wildflowers (below right) to bloom and set seed for the next year.
On the way to the Nord Cap, we came across several groupings and a large herd of free-roaming reindeer. Luckily all the traffic comes to a stop when this happens, so it is fairly easy to stop and take a few photos. The one below left had one of the largest racks while the guy below right was just getting started.
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Well, we finally made it to the Nord Cap, but much to our disappointment, it was quite foggy! But we got the photo (below), to say we had been there.We stayed a while at the center to see if perhaps the fog would lift (no such luck). But we did have time to do some souvenir shopping and send a few postcards.
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On the way back toward civilization, we found the weather to be improving and thought the photo at left showed clearly the type of environment that exists up here this far north. There are few trees and most of the vegetation is quite low.
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Although the hotels are few and far between in these parts, we did find a nice room at a fmaily run hotel about 20 km south of the Nord Cap. At right is the building we stayed in, with the bikes parked out front (our room was the bay window at top). It wasn’t as bad as it looks as the rooms were brand new, although not quite yet finished (there were no door locks on the doors yet, toilet paper holders, etc). We got a quiet clean room and a decent dinner (before the tour bus from Germany arrived). They served a local fish caught that day by the owners.
Above left is a view of the small fishing harbor where the hotel above is located (the hotel is just to the right of the water, just out of view). As we were taking our walk after dinner (just before 9 pm), a couple of men were taking out one of the small dingies to do some fishing. Since it stays light 24 hours a day, we guess it doesn’t matter what time you go out.
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And speaking of 24 hours of daylight, we found the postcard at right at the Nord Cap and thought it explained really well the concept of the midnight sun. As you can see from the clock faces in the lower part of the picture, the photos start at 6 pm and are taken once an hour until 6 am. During the summer season, the sun never actually “sets” and you have daylight 24 hours a day.
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