Matthew's Finnish Roadtrip of Madness - Part 3

The most efficient route from North Cape back to Helsinki was a route 1,519km long.  The first 33km scared me senseless.  The following 200km weren't much better either.  

The convoy once again left North Cape for Honningsvag.  The first 12km of the journey were led by the snowplow, and turned out to be relatively straightforward.  There was only one lane, but I didn't need to worry about traffic coming the other way - the road was closed.  Accompanied by buses in front and cars behind, I felt relatively safe and comfortable following the crash course in snow driving I had had on the way to North Cape.

The convoy led by the Snowplow

It was the 20km after the snowplow left us that I wasn't quite prepared for.  It had obviously snowed while I was at North Cape.  A lot.  White out conditions once again prevailed with snow having been pushed up in the middle of the road as cars had been driving through.  Passing over the snow was audible as it scraped along the bottom of the car.  The bus drivers were obviously much more comfortable with the journey than I was, and left me in their dust.  I also lost sight of the car behind.  The snow just got thicker and I really started to question the wisdom of this journey.  The harsh reality of the unforgiving climate that I had driven into was delivered onto me in one fell swoop.  This is how people die - I thought to myself.  Doing stupid things like this...  I wasn't an experienced snow driver, I didn't have other people with me, I wasn't driving a 4-wheel drive car, but thank god I had snow tyres.  Surely I would be alright?  Where was that car behind me?  Had it turned off?  Was I now actually at the end of the convoy?  Oh help... 

Then I lost traction.  I felt myself decouple from the tyre grooves created by the buses and my subtle movements on the steering wheel having no effect.  Scenario check - current speed: about 50kmph, gear: 3rd, distance to next corner: maybe 150 metres = time left: about 10 seconds.  I've played enough car racing games and watched enough movies to know that wild turns on the steering wheel will not help this situation.  Small movements, get back into the tracks dug by the cars and buses ahead.  Grip!  Whew!

Honningsvag

Descending into Honningsvag the roads cleared up, the sky cleared and normalcy returned.  Honningsvag is pretty - a colourful fishing village come tourist destination set against mountains, snow and ice.  But at this time of year, Honningsvag is very quiet.  After the boat load of tourists returned to their ship, the place literally felt empty.  There was no point me staying also.  I had a quick meal and got back on the road south.  

A small fishing village just south of Honningsvag

The Sat Nav took me a different route from that I had come.  After driving some 100km south, I was detoured about 100km to the West rather than heading straight back to Finland.  The journey became something of a beautiful nightmare.  The drive once again became hard with mountain passes, snowstorms and snowcovered roads but with oncoming traffic to contend with also - but the scenery, the views, were otherworldly.  I passed a fox prancing through the snow and looking for prey, only 5 metres from the road.  It's brown coat making it very distinctive against the white snow backdrop.

The Northern Norwegian town of Alta was my intended resting spot for the night.  I eventually found a camping site with cabins that was available (many of the hotels had closed for the easter break) and climbed eagerly into bed having covered over 600km through the hardest road conditions I had ever driven.