Week 16 - Campervan Adventures


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December 11th 2013
Published: December 11th 2013
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Day 111 10th December 2013 - Rovaniemi

This week has been difficult both emotionally and physically and I have been miserable and a nightmare to be around, poor Steve, I just couldn’t bring myself to do entries each day as I knew they would be negative. So now that I sit in a nice warm cottage in Rovaniemi, our Northern most destination, I feel that I am able to write again. There have been a number of factors that have contributed to the difficult week, this includes; weather, not seeing any sites or anything due to the weather, long driving days and nothing being open because of the time of year. If it has not been raining it has been snowing or very cold. Due to the weather being poor we have not been able to see any of the beautiful scenery as we drive along the roads that are recommended for their outstanding natural beauty of fjords and mountains, all we can see is white. After a number of breakdowns, tantrums and wobbles from me we decided to give up on trying to see things and just head north to try and see the northern lights our main reason for visiting Scandinavia in the winter. We have made it to the Artic Cycle and things have improved greatly. I will give you a little snap shot of our journey to get here and how miserable it was.

Day 105 4th December 2013 Laerdalsoyri – Trondheim:

We woke to rain and wind, we had planned to catch a ferry with hope to see Europe’s largest inland glacier and fjord but we found out that the road we would need to travel along on the other side was only open in the summer, so we skipped the ferry and travelled around and up to Trondheim on the motorways. we drove for around 8 hours, once we got out the rain we went into snowy conditions and even though we were on main roads the road conditions were not great, we had to go up and mountain passes of nearly 2000m, the winds were extremely strong causing complete white outs and they were rather scary at times. We did drive into one area that was sunny and we got excited and stopped to enjoy the beauty of Norway, the sun did not last for long and by the time we
Poor StanPoor StanPoor Stan

Under 6' of snow @ service station in Sundsvall
made it to Trondheim it was snowing very heavy, we parked up at a service station for the night in hope that we would not have to dig ourselves out in the morning.

Day 106 5th December 2013 Trondheim – Sundsvall (Sweden)

We were lucky we did not have to dig ourselves out, but we did have to get at least 6 inches of snow off Stan before we could drive on. It had snowed all night and I had slept badly due to snow dripping on the tarp that covers our bikes, all night I did not know what this was, and finally worked out what the noise was when it was time to get out of bed, this is the most traumatic part of the day as it is so cold in Stan and this was one of the mornings the heater was being temperamental. We are warm while we are sleeping due to our excellent sleeping bags, but as soon as we take any part of our body out even our head we feel the cold instantly. Once Stan had the snow that Steve could remove taken off him we hit the road for another long driving day. We said goodbye to Norway the home to unpredictable weather and hello again to Sweden the home of Ikea. After a long driving day we stopped at Sundsvall where there was an Ikea and went in for a look around, I love going to Ikea just wandering around looking at furniture, I tried to make it fun for Steve as he hates the place and finds it traumatic and has done since childhood. After our adventure at Ikea we had to find a sleeping place, this was not easy as the snow had got heavy again and it was hard to see anything. We ended up parking at a service station again.

Day 107 6th December 2013 Sundsvall – Bjasta

Our travel guide had said the region we were in is geographically unique and is listed as a UNESCO world heritage site, the views around this area where therefore meant to be amazing. We wanted to visit some of the sites, little fishing towns and beaches, but we could not see anything due to fog, so after me having another breakdown we decided we would spend a day at a campsite, where we
Jump for joyJump for joyJump for joy

We made it to the article cycle
could have a nice hot shower and be warm with the van plugged in. I spent the afternoon relaxing, Steve went out running but it was too cold and dark for me to do that. The campsite we stayed at was not really for campervans and was not open to the public but the man was very welcoming to us and it felt good to be warm and have a nice shower, this made me happy but not fully happy as I had to hand wash my nickers.

Day 108 7th December 2013 Bjasta – Javre

We woke to a clear, sunny and dry morning, I was feeling a lot more positive, however Stan and the heater were not happy, we had trouble getting both of them started, most mornings Stan is a little sluggish and doesn’t want to start, but this morning he did not start at all. The nice man at the campsite had a battery gadget that we used and Stan was soon going, however like all of us he was not liking the cold. Due to it being a clear day we decided we would go to one of the little fishing villages we wanted to visit, it was very cute but it was like a ghost town. It made us think as nice as it is to see Scandinavia in the winter it’s a place we will have to come back to in the summer. After our site seeing, we continued our journey up north. This night was meant to be a good night to see the Northern Lights, however we could not find a place away from lights, so we ended up parking up by a nice lake just off the motorway.

Day 109 8th December 2013 Jarve – Kemi (Finland)

This was the day things started to get better, this was after we had to call out Road Side Assistance as Stan was having another wobbly, he did not want to start. That morning should have been one of the days I had a wobbly as things had hit rock bottom, Stan did not want to go anymore, we had run out of gas and our 5l bottle of drinking water had frozen from inside the van we had slept in, but I was doing okay. Once the lovely Road Side Assistance man came out and told us Stan would be okay if we got him a new battery, he also informed us that at 10am it was -15, this explains why our water had frozen. As it was a Sunday we couldn’t get a new battery so we made a plan we would drive to Kemi, park Stan out the front of a garage and stay in a hotel for the night. Kemi was our next destination as we wanted to visit the Ice Palace, however we should of read the travel guide better as it stated it didn’t open to mid-January. The ongoing issue we have traveling at this time of the year, nothing is open. So we made it to Kemi it was a slow cold drive as it was so cold outside Stan did not warm up inside so we did not get warm, but it was okay I knew we were going to a hotel I would be warm soon. We made it to Kemi, when arriving it was -22, we found a garage easy and a hotel for a reasonable price and had a nice warm night, we took some food out the van and made sandwiches for dinner and drank a bottle of wine that we had in the van since Spain. I was worried about Stan but things were looking up.

Day 110 9th December 2013 Kemi – Rovaniemi

The garage replaced Stan’s battery and Steve had a talk to a very nice guy (everyone we meet is so nice and helpful) who reassured him Stan would be okay to travel further north. Throughout this week there has been many times when I had had a tantrum and said we need to turn around. I am glad we haven’t given up. We were both feeling very positive after a good night’s sleep and a lovely breakfast in the hotel, for breakfast we had smoked salmon and rollmops ,such a lovely treat. We agreed while up North or while in minus temperatures there was no more sleeping in Stan. Once Stan was sorted we hit the road to Rovaniemi, home of the arctic circle and Santa. It was another slow drive and we saw a sign that said it was -30. We discovered on arrival that everything in the van had now frozen, by everything I mean fruit, veg, meat, tinned food, toiletries, and the now not so explosive mayo. We arrived at our accommodation for the night a resort called Santa sport, it was the cheapest place I could find for £80 a night. We tried to make the most of the facilities, however it seemed they did not want guests to use the facilities. The pool was so busy you could not swim and Steve was told he could not wear swimming shorts and was given speedos to wear, the gym could only be used at 6-7am, this is way too early for us. After our attempted swim we went for a drive, partly to try and see the lights even though we knew we wouldn’t see them because it was snowing and party to make sure Stan would start the next morning. We drove to Santa’s Village, this meant that we were at the Arctic Circle, I don’t know what I was more excited about, yes I may be 30 years old but I was just as excited as a 3 year old about meeting Santa.

So that’s a snap shot of the miserable week we have had. Today I did meet Santa, it was exciting and a little cheesy, but I did not feel like it was just for children. Santa was very nice and talkative, he asked more about our travels than what I want for Christmas but that’s okay, as he didn’t even talk to the children that were in line in front of us. We also moved from our hotel to a nice little cottage, on a frozen river, the weather is not so cold only about -10 and the locals are complaining it is to warm. Something I had always known about myself has been confirmed this week I am not cut out for the cold I am a sun worshiper.

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14th December 2013

Well done
It's an amazing feat to make it inside the arctic circle in an old camper van in winter! I thought the windscreen wiper comments were a bit harsh! Pity you didn't get to see the aurora borealis. Louise wanted to see a photo showing the outside temp at -30C. Not sure she believes it was that cold! Hope Stan is ok for rest of journey. See you in Tamsweg soon.

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