The White Sea and mining town Apatity

Saturday the 17th we rejoined the R-21 heading north again. We enjoyed watching the landscape roll by, ever changing in appearance with hills and swamps and various forests dotted by lakes. It is a very big country. We made it as far as Belomorsk near the White Sea, but did not actually get to see the sea since the road out to the harbour was very bad and we were tired. We stayed at a hotel/camp site called Nord Camping (again?) next to a lock (Schleuse) connecting the sea and the inland water ways. The place was quite idyllic, yet, at dusk we made first contact with the enemy: mosquitoes by the billions. At night there were some strange noises outside and something was moving right outside the window. Three cows had wandered into the camp ground, grazing under the moon and one of them used Bruce as a scratching post.

The next morning we drove back onto the R-21 St.Petersburg - Murmansk and near Kandalaksha we actually got to see the White Sea. It is also not very accessible and the view was not as exciting as we had hoped. But, we are now officially in the Arctic (!) as we had crossed the 66°33' latitude North shortly before Kandalaksha (photo not related).

We arrived in Apatity on the Kola peninsula that evening and since there doesn't appear to be any camping we checked into a Soviet-era hotel for the night. The towns around here are all named after the minerals that had been mined here during Soviet times. Some mines are still active, though. In search for dinner we found a little pizza place and were very proud of ourselves for deciphering the Russian ingredients on the menu. As always communication worked with hand gestures, a lot of pointing and the occasional 'spassiba' (thank you).

Monday morning we stocked up the fridge, bought some longer lasting food stuff and headed to the fuel station. You have to go in first and tell the cashier how many litres of fuel you want and pay for it. Then you can go back out and fill up. Just in case we also filled a jerry can with Diesel. Because Bruce had developed a tiny leak of oil at the front differential we also bought a can of gearing oil. And then we headed off into Kola's wilderness. But that deserves its own blog.