Back in Norway: reindeer and rock carvings

After a peaceful night, we left Enontekiö and headed north again, towards Nordkapp, the north cape. We had planned to stop in Kautokeino, not far back over the border into Norway, to visit the museum about Sami life. However, when I checked the website it was closed on Mondays… today!

John did a geocache while we were still in Finland then half an hour later, as we crossed the border into Norway, we saw our first reindeer. She didn’t have any antlers… from my research, I think she was more likely to be female with no antlers at this time of year, although males do shed their antlers in early winter, after the mating season.

When we stopped for the loo in a picnic area, John heard a waterfall and suggested we walked down the path to look at it. Typically, although we’d seen few people all morning, a coachload of German tourists arrived as we were getting our coats and trainers on and also headed down the path!

Back on the road, we eventually left the forest behind. As we got closer to Alta, the road passed through a stunning gorge with a raging river tumbling through it, over the rocks. The waterfalls must be amazing after the recent rain.

We then stopped at the Alta Museum, which is a UNESCO world heritage rock art centre. After lunch, we walked the 3 kilometre trail through the rock carvings and along the coast. There are about 6000 carved figures in the area, ranging from 2000 to 7000 years old!

The rock art tells the story of life for the people who lived in the region all those years ago. It shows people hunting reindeer, elk and bears, and fishing from boats. There are even pictures of pregnant women and animals, and animals mating.

We discovered that the carvings were made on smooth rock on the shoreline and, because the land rose after the last ice age, the oldest carvings are now highest up and the newest are closest to the current shoreline.

When the rock carvings were discovered in the 1970s, many were painted red to make them more visible, but this is no longer considered good practice and the paint is being removed. We had fun trying to spot the figures that weren’t painted… viewing the rock at different angles and using the light to create shadows and contrast, bringing the pictures to life.

We also visited the exhibitions inside the museum, which were interactive and very interesting. When we’d had enough, we set off again towards Nordkapp, through more interesting scenery. We climbed almost 400m high as we crossed the Sennalandet mountain plateau and there were huge patches of snow still hanging around. That said, it is quite cold up north!

As we dropped back to the coast and approached our overnight stop in Repvåg, we saw two separate herds of reindeer wandering wild! Wonderful! Now we’re settled for the night, ready to drive the final 50 miles to Nordkapp tomorrow, and to hike to the northernmost point in Europe.