Day 3: Tana Bru to Kunes - The journeys matter

125 km and 1600 m climbing

Tana Bru

The name of Tana Bru means Tana Bridge. As the bridge over the Tanaelva seems to be the main reason of this small settlement.

Today, a new feature is added to my challenge. Wind.

The first two hours, the wind helps me to maintain an average speed of 30 km/h. Which gives me wings when I race across all the beautiful farms located besides my road. I left the E6 highway on the bridge to take the Atlantic coast route. Longer, via the mountains and much more isolated than the route via the Finish border.

Somewhere in the middle

Although desolate, still there is a bus line following this road from Kirkenes to Hamerfest. On all the beautiful spots at the sea, people has build small kingdoms with colorful gardens. And the seems to take the bus very often.

And then I make a turn of 90 degree, hitting headwind full frontal. By coincidence this is also the start of very long climb into the mountains of more than 1300 m. Speed drops from 30 km/h to hardly 12 km/h.

To distract my mind on this physical challenging part, I listen for hours to the voice of Barack Obama who reads his book Promised Land. It kept me going.

On the steepest part, the speed drops to 6 km/h. The wind becomes so hard that transferring water from my buffer bottle to my drinking bottle becomes a challenge, as the water tends to fly away before it enters the drinking bottle.

On this part, I buzzard is floating 10 m above my head for hundreds of meters. Screaming constantly. I would like to believe she is supporting me, more likely I am threatening her nest. So i keep an eye on her, wondering if i would get an attack.

The top of the plateau is desolated. On the parking space where I stop for a very much needed energy bar, a single man is standing there watching the horizon. After a while he approaches me for a chat. He appeared to be a Finn, waiting for his son to return from the wilderness after a camping trip. They were travelling together 1000 km to Finmark, while sleeping in their car. To be in the most desolated spot of Europe. I was informed upfront that this what Finnish people seems to do as a typical holiday.

The road is littered with carcasses of Rendeer, foxes, birds, … But most often with lemmings. Many lemmings, i used to think they once in a while jump all together from a cliff. But these days they find there common end on the asphalt.

Infrastructure in Norway remains consistent, even in the most desolated spots. Every 20-30 km you can find a toilet hut. Very convenient.

At the other side of the road, one of the many waterfalls finds his way to the beach.

Kunes camping

The wind realy exhausted me today. So i was very happy to land on the only camping in a range of 225 km. Actually a camper site. But i can put my tent on the only spot with a kind of grass, between the boats, quads and other machines.

As there is nothing else open in this small settlement, food for today is a bag of adventure food. Add some boiling water to the bag full of powder. Wait 8 min. And my pasta carbonara is ready to eat.

The real surprise of the day, i got from the camping owner who is as well the owner of the supermarket/post office. Upon arrival, she asks me : are you the one of the letter? It confuse me, no clue what she is talking about. But when i finally receive the letter later that evening, all pieces fall together.

It’s an envelop with letters and drawings from my wife, kids, brothers, nephews and sister in law. They wrote it secretly during our common camping trip in the south of Norway. And send it to this supermarket. Knowing that I have to pass this place for sure. As it is the only one in a range of 225 km. A typical fun action of my wife.