Ski and Paddle Norway 2009

Distance 0km | Time 0hrs | Ascent 0m | Descent 0m

The very helpful receptionist at the hotel managed to enquire where I might get a flare. It was in one of the sports shops I tried yesterday. I went there but it was another false hope. However he suggested a ships supplier which I had so far not tried. They could get them in 36 hours. I ordered three and will get them delivered to Bugoynes in 36 hours and then I can pick them up from there as I paddle past.

Then I wandered around Kirkenes again getting some more small supplies before returning to the hotel to pack everything into drybags. This took a while as I kept reorganizing things into different bags so I could try and get a system, so I knew where everything was. Everything which was not going with me was put into the rucksack.

After many hours packing I then had to carry all the bags from the hotel to the Kimek shed where the kayak was stored. It was a huge pile. I have got quite used to bigger boats at around 380 Litres and the Explore X was in that category. However I had never had a skeg before and was surprised at how much room it takes up. After a few hours I had pretty much everything in the boat. It was not a voluminous as my other main boat, but far more streamlined.

In the evening it was back to the Kurdish pizzeria for some last junk food before the diet of pasta and mashed potatoes starts again. I was leaving tomorrow at around midday. There was a Norwegian guy who worked at the border post and he had kindly agreed to come and get the kayak and drive it to Grense Jakobselv which is the border with Russia. He was half Scottish and had spent a lot of time and some school years at Mallaig and had relations in south Skye. It is a small world.

I was too tired and uninspired to write the blog as it was essentially quite a tedious day again just packing up everything. The Barentsfrokost Hotel was a small friendly hotel and it was the perfect base to run my errands in Kirkenes. The reputation it once had is now ill deserved.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 at 9:41 am and is filed under Update. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.