Journey: Jokkmokk – Harsprangs – Lancaster Bomber – Sodra Stubbs – Gallivare
I do love a lazy Sunday. We were late getting out of bed, had a coffee, took ages to get up, pottered about, had a second coffee and finally organised ourselves to go into town.
Today’s mission was to plan how far north we would go. I had spotted a tri point where Sweden, Norway and Finland meet but it’s not accessible by road and having spoken to a chap at the Arctic circle cafe he said you had to trek and get boat so as Mark wasn’t keen anyway…it was going to prove nigh on impossible to persuade him. Instead the cafe owner suggested going north towards Masi in Norway. We had originally ruled out Norway as the dogs would have to go to a vet for special worming and then travel between 24hrs – 5days later. With three dogs that was expensive…but turns out you have to do the same for Finland! Plus there are only three vets in north Sweden and only 1 enroute in Gallivare which is 1 hour from Jokkmokk. Thank God I researched before we got to the border! The huge perk is that now we can go north and do a little of Norway and then travel back into Finland, plus we can weigh Ernest and see how big he has got. Hoping the vets can see the dogs tomorrow 🤞
So knowing we couldn’t go too far we popped into the local tourist information and they were so helpful. We showed them what we had planned and the first thing she said was that dogs aren’t allowed in the National Parks this far north due to the wildlife (reindeer, bears, moose). We honestly had no idea so were glad not to have driven several hours only to be turned away (can’t walk without pups it would be mean). Instead she suggested some little walks we could do that proved perfect. The second lady there was from Finland and she was a fountain of knowledge and has basically sorted our route through the country with several recommended stops ❤️🇫🇮
Our first walk was at Harsprangs, which is a manmade waterfall and pool created as a result of the upstream dam. The second was close to Marks heart as we walked a bog land trail to see a Lancaster Bomber wreckage. His mum had been on the assembly line for these and he commented it was odd to think part of it may have been assembled by her some 70+ years ago. We then drove up to Sodra Stubbs and caught a glimpse of the remaining snow capped mountains, before exploring Gallivare.
After dinner we took the pups for a walk by the river and Mabel gave herself a roll on tan getting absolutely filthy in the dirty sand 😂 I can’t shout at her when she rolls it’s her true pleasure. Mark was not impressed and forced her to have a good brush down before being allowed back in the van… supposedly she is not allowed on the bed until she has had another proper bath…we will see what he says at 6am tomorrow 😜
Having done really well with my exercise and nutrition all week I was a bit frustrated with myself for accidentally going over my allowance today with a lazy dinner meal but after a 3mile run the endorphins soon lifted my mood and I can focus on tomorrow being a new day. Visualising my goals and working towards them to be happy and healthy.
SofaWolves 