Copper history, prehistoric carvings and the North remembered

Tonight finds us parked close to a cliff, looking across the Barents Sea with the cold wind howling around the van. We have finally reached Nordkapp, the North Cape, a month after crossing the border from Sweden into Norway. That crossing took place in hot sunshine, now the sky is grey, the temperature is some 20 degrees cooler and the landscape has changed to tundra. This is the most northerly point in mainland Europe that can be reached by road.

Spaniel territory

Yesterday started in Kafjord where we had overnighted after visiting the local church to photograph some Cornish graves. The research project was not yet over. After allowing the spaniels a very welcome run off the lead we set off for the site of the old copper mines where Cornish miners, who justifiably described themselves as the best hard rock miners in the world, had toiled alongside their fellow workers from Norway and Sweden. The site of the mine itself was closed off due to the risk of slipping spoil heaps, but a well-marked path took us along the edge of the fjord to the remains of the old smelting works where the copper was separated from the rock. The resulting slag was still visible, much of it having been formed into square blocks for local walls. 

The remains of the copper mine on the hill

Kafjord was also the place where the German battleship, Tirpitz, was stationed in a bid to tie up British naval forces. In 1943 she was badly damaged following a daring attack by Royal Navy mini submarines. A stone in the graveyard of Kafjord church commemorates the British officers and men who lost their lives in the attack. Tirpitz never sailed again and was later sunk by RAF Lancaster bombers. 

Our next stop was Alta where we visited the museum. Its most valuable treasure is outside the building, a large number of rock carvings dating back some four or five thousand years, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Left where they were originally carved in the arctic climate, many have faded but some of the images of deer, bears, fish and ships have been highlighted in red paint. From there we moved on to the local church where we checked the graveyard but realised it had been built too late to have any connections with Cornish miners. Our attempt to get into the church itself was thwarted by a man at the door shooing us away because there was a wedding in progress. We paid a quick visit to a supermarket and then to the state off-licence for a much-needed box of white wine. Unfortunately it closed at 3pm. How Norwegians ever manage to drink any alcohol is beyond me. 

Rock carvings in Alta

Our progress further north saw a much changing landscape. Having spent the previous ten days on winding roads surrounded by cliff faces, we discovered that the land opened up and the hills were much lower.  Reindeer became much more common and we passed several small groups browsing in the sparse vegetation. We were now in Sami territory, the indigenous people who herd the reindeer and whose language appeared on roadsigns alongside the Norwegian, and we passed many of their wigwams and wooden houses. We overnighted in a lay-by close to a shallow river where there was plenty of space to walk the spaniels.The temperature dropped to almost zero overnight so we were glad we had broken out the extra duvet.

The spaniels have left their mark...until it rains

We had planned to make our way in the general direction of Nordkapp stop overnight and arrive on Monday morning. However, the roads were far better than we had expected, so much so that we found ourselves having lunch by a fjord only an hour away from our destination. The pebbled beach where we stopped had  a large number of stones on which people had recorded their names and countries of origin. Neri felt it was right to mark our journey by leaving one of our own. Late afternoon found us climbing over the last section of road before arriving at Nordkapp. 

We found that, like Lands End, Nordkapp is very commercialised and we were prepared for

the 500 kroner cost of getting in and staying for the night. The hit on our wallets was somewhat eased by the cheerful man at the pay point who told us he had studied at Birmingham University and lived in Worcester. With evening approaching we walked around the very high cliffs, took the obligatory photograph close to the globe that marks the Northern edge of the site, and retired from the biting wind for a celebratory glass of champagne and the rest of the reindeer fillet. Tomorrow we will see what the visitor centre has to offer and then plan to turn Florence's nose south towards Finland and the beginning of our journey to a Greek Christmas.