On the Circle:Cool!

The timing is out a bit on this post as it's being published from the USA: and as a result Andy in America has had to postpone his masterpiece!. A word of advice to start...never try shaving with an old blade! Our Circle day got off to an inauspicious start when in a moment's lack of attention I managed to jerk the razor and cut two nice slices on my upper lip. It seemed to take ages to get the bleeding to slow down and stop. It looked a mess: made worse by the fact that pulling the visor down caught it repeatedly during the day.

We were a day ahead of schedule at this stage and had considered a number of options. One was to take a day trip into Sweden across the mountains. Another was to take a boat trip to a glacier. Or we could go for the Circle. When the receptionist checked with our Thon hotel in Bodø that they would bring our two day reservation forward by a day we opted to do the circle. And so off we set, in wonderful warm weather.

The roads were, as ever, wonderful: not a pothole in sight. We had more company on this stretch of the journey as well. Mostly campervans it seemed and a regular stream of vehicle all headed in the same direction. As R was to point out in an email we were not the first to set the Circle as our target. Not even the first bikers! It was, however, our first time to do it and we were prepared to share our day with like minded souls.

We had only about 80k to do to 66°33’ and we savoured the journey, stopping en route to take photos.

I was required to study History, Geography and indeed Maths through Irish when in secondary school and much of the effort was expended in understanding the text so I missed some of the finer details. I though the Arctic desert would start at, if not before, the circle. At an absolute minimum I expected that the landscape would be like the Sally Gap. I felt cheated by the abundant trees. Forests of trees as we progressed towards our goal. Every birch I saw I took as a hopeful sign that the pines were about to give way to stunted species. As we moved closer to 6633 I became more concerned that this might be a place like any other. I threatened to get a chainsaw out myself if these coniferous forests continued.

I have since learned that in the Low Arctic, most land surfaces are fully vegetated, with the exception of rock outcrops, dry ridge tops, river gravel bars, and scree slopes. Moreover a transition zone exists at the northern limit of trees where coniferous forest mixes with treeless tundra vegetation. B, for his part was intrigued by how much growth there was in the grasses and other lush vegetation we came across. He was quicker to realise that the longer daylight hours meant the plants had more sunlight than they had had at home by now! The larch (Larix) is the primary tree line species but the major vegetation types of the Low Arctic include low-shrub tundra, dominated by species of willow (Salix) and dwarf birch (Betula); tall-shrub tundra, dominated by species of willow, shrub birch, and alder (Alnus); and combinations of sedges and dwarf shrubs, such as species of Labrador tea (Ledum), blueberry and cranberry (Vaccinium), crowberry (Empetrum), and Arctic heather (Cassiope), in wetter sites. Cushion plants (Dryas and Saxifraga species) are common on windswept uplands. Lichens and mosses are important components of the ground cover in some areas as we were to discover a few days later (AJ: keep track and make sure I follow up on this too please!).

The true polar desert generally occurs on coastal areas fringing the Arctic Ocean and on areas of a few hundred meters elevation in the extreme High Arctic where soils have not developed and the frost-free period and soil moisture are insufficient for most plant growth. The occasional plants growing there often become established in frost cracks that capture blowing snow and finer windblown soil material. Plants adapted to these conditions include species of the Arctic poppy (Papaver), some rushes (Juncus), small saxifrages (Saxifraga), and a few other rosette-forming herbaceous species

And then suddenly the scenery changed. Good on you Norway: never disappointing! Around a corner and the trees petered out and the snowline appeared. All changed. Later, I realised the impact of the fact that we had been climbing steadily since our departure. We left Mo at 24m above sea level and were now at 660 m. Travel broadens the mind…on a daily basis!

We arrived at the centre at 11:04 at a height of 691 metres, stopped and shook hands. Target

achieved. The guy in the camper van behind us got out to chat to us. For his own part, he had come from Austrian and gave us traditional chocolate bars. He had had seen us yesterday in all the rain and wondered how we would get on. We strolled to the back of his van where there was a map of Europe and traced our route and his on it. He announced that he would come to Ireland in 2008. B gave him one of a few ornamental shamrocks that he had brought with him and then, amazingly, gave him a lecture on St. Patrick and the Trinity.

We made our way into the centre itself (Polarsirkelsenteret)and bought our postcards. When cancelling the stamps

posted from the centre a special 66°33’ postmark is used. We cheated a bit here in that we brought pre addressed labels with us. That meant we only had to add the greeting to the cards. Nevertheless we spent over two and a half hours at the centre and had our obligatory sticky bun and coffee. We may even have treated ourselves to two sticky buns! Then we explored the rest of the grounds around the centre. The monuments include memorials to the Yugoslav and Soviet POWs who worked to build the Arctic railroad in terrible conditions to Narvik in WW2. That railway had been running beside us for much of our route and while we were at the Circle a train passed by and tooted at it crossed the line. For my part, I had crossed the Rubicon at 40, now the Arctic Circle at 50 (ok, ok, fiftyish) – I wondered where 60 would see me?

B realised that the Arctic Globe had been placed at intervals along the Circle for as far as the eye could see. We took some more pictures and were asked by others to take theirs. Again people engaged us in conversation and commented that they had seen us yesterday and were thankful to be in their campervans and not with the two lunatic Irishmen pressing along on two wheels in the dreadful weather.

And then it was back on the bikes and down the hill on the far side – where about 5km further on the trees were back. We stopped in Rokland for fuel and burgers (67 North) and on to

Bodø where after a quick visit to the visitors info centre we found the hotel. After check-in we walked the general area and found Café KAFKA, as recommended by R – dinner was good too! Well done R!

Meanwhile a quick visit to the Internet confirmed that back in Ireland, the first Fianna Fáil-led three-party coalition took office today, following the decision of the Green Party and the Progressive Democrats to approve a programme for government worked out in talks since we had left. The Greens had had an intense and sometimes tearful debate, but 86 per cent voted in favour of the programme. The new coalition will also be supported by at least three Independents who made their own deals with Fianna Fáil. So Bertie Ahern was comfortably elected as taoiseach, the Greens got two Ministerial posts and the PD one. The Green posts included Environment and Communications Energy and Natural Resources but not transport. Transport got functions form Environment and had Marine Affairs added to its title.

We also checked on the missing child Madeleine McCann who went missing from Praia da Luz, an Algarve resort in Portugal almost six weeks ago. On that day they were hoping for a breakthrough as Portuguese police confirmed they are investigating an anonymous letter and map claiming to show where the three-year-old's body is buried. The letter, sent to Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, strongly resembles another letter sent to the same newspaper last year, accurately pinpointing the spot where two missing Belgian girls were buried. The McCanns had travelled across Europe to highlight their daughter's disappearance but even now there is no word of the unfortunate child.

We were now at our most Northerly point with another 351 kilometres done. We would spend a rest day in Bodø tomorrow, which gave me a chance to oil the chain on the bike and check the tyre pressures. B was ok as his machine is shaft driven. Neither of us was feeling particularly good. The 24hr daylight had its effect on sleep and general pains and aches meant a welcome relief from significant riding distance. And there was an anti climactic feeling having reached the Polar Circle the day before. After breakfast we walked to Bodø tourist info office and had a long wait behind an American sailor who was seeking a doctor for his wife who had apparently fallen. When we (eventually) got to the counter the young woman could not have been more helpful but she could not get us to see a whale in the time we had available. The guest house, previously recommended was booked out, fortunately as it turned out, because we booked a log cabin (Hytter) for the next night – adjacent to the Svartisen Glacier, in the Holand area.



Meanwhile, back in Dublin a little pink car was making its way with increasing confidence around the roads of Raheny. Its driver had taken the precuation of staying overnight in Raheny to make sure she was fresh and relaxed for this test. And why not. For over 50 years AnD has been a source of comfort and refuge in times of challenge or trouble. And another generation welcomed the unique comfort and reassurance that Mother Superior provides. This was the third time to attempt THE TEST . No1 was a write off, No2 so close it only missed by a whisker but that one fault was enough. No 3 was a clean sheet. Well done S. Drive on! Safely!

Back to the hotel and into bike gear and out to see the “Maelstrom” at Saltstrumen on route 17. The exhibition centre was designed in the shape of an ‘upside-down’ Viking boat and built in timber. Very impressive construction. The external fish tanks – aquaria – had seen better days and had been decommissioned.. There was art and some small sculptured pieces from Norwegian artists on view in the exhibition area. One family of painters seemed to dominate the show but for now I can’t recall the name. We walked then onto the bridge over the narrow entrance between the sea and the Saltfjord. It is this very piece of natural landscape that is the attraction. Twice a day the Saltfjord fills and empties on the tide. The tide has to pass through this narrow entrance on its journey to and from the sea. At only 150m wide the tidal current reaches a staggering 20 knots the fastest piece of natural flowing water in the World! We were fortunate in our timing in that, the current was at its height, for about midday, and we were in position to witness this natural phenomenon.

From the Maelstrom we went back to the hotel, changed into civvies and walked to the Bodø Aviation Museum. This interesting building straddling the road had three elements: control Tower; civil exhibition; and military exhibition. We left the control tower to the end but by then it was fairly obvious we were knackered! We had little energy to climb the stairs. Nevertheless we walked back into town from the Aviation Museum Back to the (Franz) Kafka Café. Here we were not disappointed with the evening meal. Once again, well done R!

Tomorrrow we go South!