Happy, the friendly frog

We have reached the northernmost point in Europe! Until a few days ago, even Nilpferd thought that this is the North Cape. But the North Cape is only the northernmost point in Europe that can be reached by car. Knivskjellodden is another 1.3 km further north, but can only be reached by a 20 km hike that is quite muddy in parts. And of course, we did that hike.

The next day, we also visited the North Cape. To avoid the crowds (250,000 visitors per year), we went there at 6 a.m. It's still quiet then, and the parking lot is free at this time.
We only met two nice young ladies.
One of them had just arrived by bike from Switzerland.
4000 km in 36 days. Unbelievable!

First Sweden, then Finland, and now Norway. If we keep going like this, we'll soon be at the North Pole. But Nilpferd has assured that we will soon reach our northernmost point and then head south again.
Nilpferd had already been in Norway 25 years ago in winter, and because he liked it so much, he wanted to visit the country again.
We are now in the most north-eastern part of Norway on the island of Vardøya, which can be reached via a 3 km long underwater tunnel. The island is not large, so it took us just about an hour to reach the old lighthouse at the other end of the island.
And on the way, there was a sculpture to admire. Its meaning was explained there, but to me it looks as if it is meant to commemorate the collision of a dinosaur with a Viking ship.

We continue to the north and are now in Finland.
There are lots of reindeer here. You can see them in the forest and they even stand around on the highways. Honking is useless. You just have to be patient until they clear the way themselves.
There are many swamp areas but also mountains in Finland.
We stayed here for some days, especially since there are lots of blueberries here. Delicious!

We are heading north in Sweden. The highway runs straight through the woods. You can't see anything but trees. Pretty boring.
But now we've been in a national park for a few days. They even have mountains there. Well, they're only about 300 meters high, but the ascents are quite challenging.
Finally, we wanted to visit a cave today. It went steeply up the rock face and there were even ladders and stairs.
We didn't find the cache, but it was a nice tour.

Again we only drove a few kilometers from Lübeck and then the car was loaded again. This time, however, onto a ferry.
The journey took eight hours and was rather boring.
Nothing but water as far as the eye could see. We arrived in Sweden and took a short stroll to a nice castle in the evening.