The northernmost lighthouse of the world?

Already some time ago we had a trip through Lapland, driving – and occasionally hiking –  from Finland to Norway and back.

The nature is wonderful, and the more North you go the better it gets. We went all the way up: the last stop before turning back was the Slettnes Lighthouse by the Arctic Ocean. It’s a little lighthouse built in the very beginning of the 20th century. The locals claim it’s the northernmost lighthouse in the world, and the northernmost point of Norway (inland that is – Nordkapp is on an island!). To be sure it’s the northernmost lighthouse in mainland Scandinavia.

If I remember right, it took us about 5 hours to drive through the peninsula to the town near by, Gamvik. And it already took almost the same time to come from our previous stop close to Alta to that point – Northern Norway has some meandering roads. There are parts of the peninsula that are so bare that it seems like Mars. But still, at the very tip, there was still a lot of life. And landscapes.

It was a place I would still love to get back to. They rent out the house under the lighthouse proper, and even at the time we were there, some time in the very beginning of September, it was already pitch-dark at night. There was a lady intending to stay there for the whole winter, that must be an experience, since it’s right by the open Arctic Ocean and even the 3 kilometer road taking to the nearest town, Gamvik, will not be open for cars when it snows.

The town of Gamvik and the people who showed it to us were also unforgettable – put perhaps more on that later. Just to start, since there were very few stores and taking transporting stuff there simply takes forever, nothing was easy to buy. Even fresh fish – in a fishing village…