The willow herb line

Officially the railway from Lulea to Narvik is called the Iron Ore line as it was built and is still heavily used for moving iron ore from the mines in the north to Lulea harbour.  During our 7 hour journey along it we certainly saw some of these monster trains with up to 70 ore carriages being dragged along by giant specially designed engine cars.  But equally striking along the entire length was the almost continuous border of wild flowers, most colourfully pink willow herb.

The train was very quiet with never more than 6 in our carriage.  It had opening windows which made taking photos easy though rattling along at times, it was very much point and hope...  We crossed the Arctic Circle, marked with a blue and white marker post and despite temperatures staying hot, after a further hour or so we started to see snow capped peaks and snow-filled pockets on the northern slopes.  

Kiruna is the heart of the mining business and there were monster trucks carrying ore out of the quarries.  This was where most people joined and left the train.  Amongst them some serious hikers with monster rucksacks.  The ones in our carriage disembarked at Abisko National Park, presumably for some serious camping.

the scenery along the route was never less than striking, whether it was tiny settlements of just a couple of houses, millions of trees stretching as far as the eye could see, bogs, beaver lodges in lakes or rocky hillsides.  In the last hour we followed the banks of a fjord into Narvik itself.

We are staying at the Rica - one of the easiest hotels we've walked to.  Set in the centre of town, the view from the 16th floor is amazing.

After dinner eaten outside in a cafe again under the midnight sun, we strolled down to the harbour where we watched some fishermen casting their lines into the still waters.

So we've achieved the first goal of the holiday - to travel to the Arctic Circle by public transport and after all the journeys, we arrived here, the end of the line about 30 minutes after our scheduled time!

Tomorrow we take a break from rail travel for 5 days as we head out onto the Vesteralen Islands and a stay in an old fisherman's home.