Rovaniemi, Finland - Polmak, Norway

Wednesday 25th August 1999

Today was mostly a day of driving. We'd arranged to stay for the next couple of nights with a couple living just across the border in Norway, about 550km away.

Things didn't change greatly as we drove north. The trees got a little more sparse and the wind got a little colder. Anita and I found that T-shirts would no longer be enough. But there were still plenty of lakes and rivers to break up the scenery.

We stopped briefly in Ivalo to photograph the road-sign marking 330km to Murmansk and again in Inari to have a quick look at some Sami, the local people, handicrafts. Other than that the drive was uneventful.

We finally reached Polmak, a tiny village of only 70 people, and found our way to our hosts home. Andreas and Astri were there to greet us along with their two grandchildren, who they were minding for a few hours. We quickly discovered that Andreas is a native Sami and we looked forward to learning more about their life and culture.

We'd barely sat down before they presented us with cloudberries and cream, washed down with tea and coffee. We'd seen the cloudberries throughout Finland but hadn't tried any yet. They were delicious and we could hardly stop eating them.

Whilst the main meal was prepared Andreas offered us a traditional local snack. As he carved a few small pieces from the frozen object he challenged us to guess what we were eating. Surprisingly, none of us managed to guess reindeer heart. It was actually pretty nice. Meanwhile we were entertained by the children. We were convinced that the toddler, Johannes, was speaking Norwegian until Astri told us that it was just gibberish. Five year old Mathilde however didn't let language barriers stop her from clobbering me several times with a cushion.

For dinner we had some more local delicacies, reindeer, smoked salmon, and more cloudberries. The salmon in particular was wonderful, freshly caught by Andreas. Andreas and Astri told us something of their lives. Winter is harsh this far north, with temperatures down to -50°C and perpetual night for two-and-a-half months. Andreas farms seventy sheep which he has to keep inside for eight months of the year. Despite the hardships there is much to enjoy, the long summer evenings, the northern lights in winter, or cross-country skiing under a full moon.

After all this talking and eating the time was growing late so we headed to bed. Mum and Dad stayed in the house whilst Anita and I headed for the outside cottage, known in Norwegian as a furtestua, which roughly translates as the sulking house. Something that could be quite useful during that long winter night.