Swedish Birds....

Moved out of Pajala today and headed southwest. Pretty sad to be leaving a great location and a very good campsite, but at least it was a wonderful morning yet again. Packing up dry tents in the sunshine makes a big difference.

Enjoyed Pajala. Had an enjoyable encounter with a noisy Swedish bird ;-)

Initially travelling due west, we were only about 50km out of Pajala when the clouds rolled in and the temperature dropped spectacularly. Then we copped for the odd shower. This was the first rain we'd seen since a brief shower in Estonia about ten days ago, so can't complain, but it did mean that I was considering stopping to put my winter gloves on :-) We toughed it out for another 100km to Gallivare, then stopped for fuel, coffee and a warm.

Resuming, we headed south to Jokkmokk and started climbing. It was cold in the mountains and plenty of lying snow remained, but the weather was picking up and the views were ace:

Its pretty wild and wooley out here. You get a real sense of being in the wilderness as there's just no communities and no traffic for tens of miles. The roads were well surfaced, quite rippled in places, no doubt due to the harsh winters, but the bikes were soaking it up as usual. Plus they're virtually traffic free, so we were making good time and arrived in Jokkmokk in short order, where we wined and dined......well had another coffee and a bun. Then it was on south to Arvidsjaur, where we intended to stay. This was the stretch where we saw our first Raindeer. Running beside the bikes, I fancy I know who'd have won had we collided.

Back through the Arctic Circle:

Arvidsjaur is a moderately sized town and pleasing on the eye, but the campsite there was a big, sprawling municipal affair and, whilst it would have done us, the request for 14 quid each for a camping card, on top of the overnight fees, caused Steve to faint....I reckon he was just trying for a freebie. Didn't get us anywhere with the 36DD receptionist unfortunately, so we elected to move on.

It was about 5pm when we rolled onto a site at Slagnas, about 45km west of Arvidsjaur. Pitched up overlooking a river and, as we've come to expect, had all the usual Swedish services to hand......including WiFi....which is why this is getting posted on time.

I reckon we'll get to Norway tomorrow, providing the canvas in Steve's rear tyre holds out!