This page covers from Oksfjord to Kirkenes, which was about two days northbound. This segment was fascinating because of the departure from just scenery.

We started seeing reindeer and by law they can only be owned by Sami, the indigenous people of this region. The northernmost station of the Struve Geodetic Arc is located in Hammerfest. This is a chain of survey triangulations stretching from Hammerfest to the Black Sea which yielded the first accurate measurement of a meridian arc . This was done in 1816-1855. Satellite measurements with modern technology have established that the measurement from this survey are remarkably accurate!

We visited North Cape which is the northerrnmost point in Europe that can be accessed by car. This point is a few minutes of latitude different from the northernmost point of the US, Point Barrow Alaska.

The turn around point for the trip is Kirkenes only a few miles from the Russian border, which we visited. We learned that prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine there was extensive cross border trade. Since then the border has been closed, except for those who have family on both sides. This is causing some significant economic hardships for many Kirkenes businesses. Because the Russian army drove the Nazi army out in WW II, there is a warm relationship between the residents of both countries in this area.

Click here to go to the miscellaneous page of photos for this trip.