The Polar Plunge

We started the day a long way from anywhere, however the increasing patches of snow by the side of the road was a strong indication that we were still heading north. Braving bitterly cold winds we stoped off in the remodelled town of Narvik. Historically significant, Narvik was the site where the allied troops in WWII took a stand against the Germans to stop them from getting any further north where they would have had access to communication cables. In the process however, Narvik was completely destroyed and consequently, not a whole lot to see or do. According to Lonely Planet - as our fellow travellers read it daily and like to keep us updated, Narkik is the ugliest town in Norway. We really didn't think it was that bad.

Our next stop was at the Polar Zoo for lunch. We didn't enter the zoo but entertained ourselves the old fashioned way, by kicking around a well battered soccer ball and pretending we were world class jugglers.
We arrived in the Skibotn campsite with only one thing on our mind: joining the polar plunge society. When stuck in the middle of nowhere with a bridge, a river and a 80 degree sauna, what choice did we have?

After much debate (the 'plunge' was a hot topic of discussion for many days previously) on the best way to approach the icy waters of the artic circle it had been decided that the bridge was scarily too high so we would have to just bite the bullet and run in. Until the fearless Kate decided that no height was unconquerable and courageously (and alone - the object of many pointed cameras), climbed onto the top of the bridge, took a deep breath, and jumped.

From then on it was the only thing to do and after many jumps (Megan a record 5 times), brain freezes, and photos we hit the sauna.Crammed tightly into a small room with little fresh air we just had to hit the water again. Of course the hot water ran out that night but we still mangaged to find one more way to stay warm...

Marshmellows!

After inhaling a few packets of marshmellows toasted on the fire, we spent the night playing cards. However, the constant sunrise is extremely deceptive. After realising that it was actually 2.30am (even though the sky looked like mid-afternoon) we decided to stay up and watch the "sunrise" at 3. In other words, the sun went down behind a mountain, and came back up a few minutes later.

Now the hot water had reheated we could shower and pack for the early start the next morning. The bus tomorrow would have to serve for catching up on sleep.