Sunshine and beautiful warm day today. Drove along more fjords, outstanding vistas round every bend! Followed along Altafjord.

At the Alta Museum, there is a UNESCO site of Stone Age rock carvings, (up to 5600 years old) covering a large area . Walked the site, 3.5 km, and looked at hundreds of carvings; some had been "painted in" to show them better. Current thinking is not to paint them , so they are removing the paint slowly. The carvings are much easier to see if painted!! The whole display was really well done and we spent some hours there, including the museum displays on the Sami people and the Northern Lights (only visible up here in winter.)

People here speak three languages- Norwegian, Sami and a local Finnish dialect as there were lots of Finns crossing the border some years back, so road signs are trilingual.

Arrived at Alta, a town that lives on slate quarrying. Amazing new "space age" church, but unfortunately not open while we were there.

Stopped several times by reindeer wandering by or on the road. They are not worried by us as they are domesticated- some even wear "reindeer" bells like cow bells in Switzerland .

Crossed the 70 degree line of latitude - we really are a long way north. Alta only 500 km from the Russian border. Feel we are above the tree line, in that the landscape has changed to sparse trees, less craggy mountains and broader fjords opening to the Arctic Ocean. Snow on the mountains and almost to the edge of the road in places. Still beautiful sunshine all day and night, and not at all cold.

Norway continues to be amazing every day.
Another "free" camp on a beautiful fjord shore. John dipped his feet in the water- painfully cold. Watched fish jumping and swooping seagulls. Much of Scandinavia follows the rule of "every mans' right"- you can camp for free just about anywhere except within reach of a house or on cultivated land.
Nordkapp tomorrow!