And finally North Cape. As usual, you can’t beat the view. Although Knivskjelodden is 1,5 farther north, The cliff of Nordkapp is definitely the best balcony ever, looking at north where there’s no land to be seen. Actually there is still a lot of land, especially the Svalbard archipelago, but it’s at north west and so far away you can’t see it. So you can easily imagine to be on top of the world.
And lots of people: cyclers, bikers, by car, caravan, house on wheels, bus, everybody seems to be here. The road is so long, that along the way you cannot imagine the amount of people heading north. There were even two guys from Italy who made the whole way on two Vespas 50 cc, which means more or less maximum speed 50 km/h. So like being a bit faster than a bike and a lot slower than anybody else.
Although being cloudy for most of the trip, the weather decided to get a bit better at North Cape, just in time for the ritual pictures at the monument of the globe and in front of the endless sea.
Now, since from here you can’t go any farther, I changed my heading towards south. I don’t like to do the same route twice back and forth. But this time really you have no choice, that’s the only road that gets here. Fortunately heading south the wind turned in my favour, so the hilly road towards Honningsvåg wasn’t as harsh as yesterday. It was however just much colder. I have to say this: I love cold weather, but cold wind on a bike is a bit too much. I had to play a lot with two jackets, taking one on (on downhill) and off (on uphill) in order to regulate the body temperature. Really, if you come so far north, be prepared for very cold winds.
Today I wasn’t supposed to cycle a lot, I just wanted to go a bit south and then stop next to a small creek for dinner. However on the island of North Cape I wasn’t able to find a suitable place, so I had to face the 7 km tunnel below the sea at around midnight. I was thinking to do it tomorrow, but then it turned out to be a good solution, since there were just a few cars at that time. And after that I found one of the best spots ever to camp!
Day 07 – Tour de Finnmark 2016: Knivskjelodden – Nordkapp – Honningsvåg – Kåfjord
Hiking distance: approx. 9 km
Hiking time: 1 h 30 m
Cycling distance: 72 km
Cycling time: 5 h 15 m