Final stop - Kautokeino and Sami life

The final day of our expedition took both fires to Kautokeino, a town with the largest Sami population in Norway. We spent the morning visiting the Sami Museum and picking up some food from the local shop to add to our lunch by the riverside. In the afternoon we walked to the soon to be opened Sami University. Once there, we were given a talk by Professor Svein Matiesen on how global warming and climate change are affecting the Sami people and the Reindeer they herd. We then travelled once more to the camp site in Alta where we could get clean and relax ready to start packing up tomorrow for our return to the UK on Monday.

Bjorn fire - navigation skills tested

Another early start for our fire for our journey south across the Finnmarksvidda. Once again the paths were misleading and our navigational skills were put to the test. We’ve learnt that Norwegian maps are merely a guide and not a patch on our OS maps. After bashing through yet more bog we finally made the Kautokeino to Karasjok road and made camp for the night, proud to be leaders on the first BSES expedition to explore the Finnmarksvidda.

Javri fire - 5 day's weather in one

Later start today but found more bog. Today’s aim was to get to the finish point and learn more about the area we were walking through even if this involved sinking knee deep in mud just to collect a few amazing cloudberries. We did a bit of navigation on top of a hill taking in the amazing view in the sun. As we walked off the hill it all changed in seconds: it had gone from glorious sun shine to driving hail making us resort to our group shelter after 10 exciting minutes of hammering ice it stopped as suddenly as it started and was back to sun again. On the Finnmarksvidda we seem to have experienced every type of weather imaginable other than snow. After a brief unplanned detour due to coming across multiple paths rather than the one on the map, we reached the road and got in to camp. Today was another very good day, unfortunately this will be our last day of real expeditioning as tomorrow we will be going to Kautokeino to learn more about the Sami.

Bjorn fire - rivers and bog!

Today we enjoyed 12 km of continuous bog, interspersed by 10 river crossings. Blisters were common by the end of the day. The paths disappeared into the bog and we had some disagreement with the GPS which located us in the middle of one of the major rivers when we were actually stood on one of the higher summits. The day finished with us camped 2km from our planned destination when our river was one continuous bog. We retreated early to bed due to a mass midge fest issue.

Javri Fire - bog walking

Today we walked and walked and walked and for a bit of variation waded across 2 rivers. This was to be our longest day both in distance and time spent on the move. We started early, walking across open tundra making a good pace until we met river number one which involved swapping shoes and wading across. We then walked some more, met river number two and the same palaver was repeated, met the other team at mozzie heaven and had a very satisfying rat pack meal after the 28km, 2 rivers and numerous bogs we had covered today.

Bjorn fire (the girls)

We were blessed with a later start than the boys, giving us an extra 2 hours in bed. However we did lose our minds after spending an hour and a half in a group shelter in the pouring rain whilst waiting for the YE’S. By the time the YE’s arrived, the clouds were all rained out and we trekked the 4km up hill to base camp, sampling cloudberries on the way. An evening of entertainment followed including a team building, magic carpet game and sitting in a rather damp group shelter whilst eating some Norwegian waffles.

Javri Fire (the boys)

We had an early start leaving Alta Camp site at 6am on the first shuttle to our drop off point on the Finnmarkvidda. Our 5 YE’s joined us later on after travelling down from Oksfjord. They were welcomed by an unusually heavy rain, but we are all surprisingly at home in our waterproofs.

We had lunch in a traditional Norwegian trekkers hut, and shared Lefser, a cream filled waffle which is a favourite snack in Norway. Tim and I continued to lead our team named Javri (lake in Sami) to where we made camp that evening on the tundra. All the while sharing stories and facts we had learned while planning in the days leading up to the mini expedition. The day ended with a tale of Askelladden, a character known well in Norwegian legend and fairytale.

Last minute preparations

A day of logistics. Packing the van, picking up the Ratpacks and popping to the chemist to get the all important Mygg Melk, mozzie repellent for the Finnmarkvidda.

The afternoon was broken up with a walk to Komsa Gorravarri. We picked up Thomas, our in country tour guide, and headed up to see the views across Alta and the fjord. On our walks now we’ve become quite accustomed to berry picking and getting the essential 5 a day a rat pack seriously lacks. We tried a new berry shown to us by Thomas and known as Tyttbearr. This particular berry reminds us somewhat of an unripe pea, not as alluring as the infamous Cloud Berry.

Yet again the evening was spent panicking and preparing. Packing was on the agenda and a good night sleep as tomorrow the expedition leading starts!

Learning about Sami culture

A trip to Kautokeino, a Sami centre. Yet another recce trip for the last day of our mini expeditions. We broadened our knowledge even more by taking a trip to the local Sami museum. Outside the museum were mock huts and houses that we could look around and really grasp the Norwegian way of life. Mentioning no particular names, 3 YLs (not including Tim) thought it would be funny to lock Nikki in one of the huts! Releasing her very quickly when they realised it was too quiet without her.

The trip back from Kautokeino was broken up with a visit to Pikefossen Falls. Sami legend has it that a reindeer herder threw a young girl off the falls when his reindeer she was looking after drowned. We managed to get some good photos of the only waterfall on the Finnmarksvidda.

Recce for expedition leading

Today we split ourselves into our leadership groups for our mini expeds. We all went to the start points of where we wanted our expeditions to begin. The whole purpose of the day was to recce the beginning of each expedition so we feel more prepared when leading the YE’s. Both groups returned quite wet but even more excited for the mini expeditions that lay ahead.

Sadly the evening was spent doing essential paperwork and planning. Still a very exciting task!