Dave set out from Vuonatjviken en route for Kvikkjokk about 55-60 kms away, early am 28th Mar and made good progress, reaching about halfway by mid-afternoon. He  had the good fortune to meet a Swedish family on a snow mobile, who directed him to their hutte and invited him to stay and fed and watered him, to boot, which was most welcome. He had a pleasant evening with the family and a good night’s sleep/rest before starting out early on the morning of the29th Mar, to complete his trek to Kvikkjokk. It was by now snowing lightly & overcast, a bit of a change from the clear cold weather of the past few days. Rumour has it, that it might rain as it is a lot warmer. Hope not!! He reached Kvikkjokk mid afternoon & has found a small, basic hotel to stay. Today 30th Mar will be “rest day”, much needed after six day’s skiing quite long distances. Still following the “Kungsleden”, the next target is Aktse

occasionally someone will ask me about what it was like in Afghanistan. like many others, when faced with this situation, i usually reply that i cant really be bothered to talk about it. the truth is that i would like to talk about it, but i have learnt that this is a pointless exercise. in the past when i have tried to relate my experiences, i usually come to a point in the conversation where i look at that person and say to myself, “you havent the faintest clue what im talking about”. no one who hadnt been through that experience could ever have an understanding of what it was like

so it is with this; im writing it, and you are reading it. but unless you have done something very similar, you will never be able to understand what i am going through, or what it feels like to be alone in this great white wilderness. some days are bad in ways which i cannot relate. being lost and alone and far from help. each day brings pain and exhaustion, i could end it now but it would mean a failiure which would live with me for ever - to continue means at least another month of this

i have been skiing and walking for nearly 90 days, by now i must have covered at least 2000 km

one of the hardest things about this trip is the fact that there are very few people who i can talk to about what i am doing. i even find it hard to talk to my father about this. despite his having been an army commando and an olympic biathlete. when i do phone home it is best not to say much about what it has been like, and just to ask about how things are going for him

i am now just a few km below the arctic circle, Nordkapp lies 500 km inside the arctic circle

Latest message from Dave. He set out to do the 55 kms to Adolfstrom from Ammanas on the 24th March ,starting early in cold temperatures of about -24C, initially hoping to do it in one shift. However, he tired and broke the journey in shelter, before setting out early am 25th March. The temperature dropped down to below -30C during the night, but by the time he set out at 7am, it was around -24C. Had a good ski into Adolfstrom arriving about midday where he has found satisfactory shelter. The target for the 26th March is Jackvik about 27 kms away. The excellent weather seems to be holding firm for the time being.

when i got up this morning, or more correctly when i didnt get up this morning. i decided that since this was probably the last comfortable place i would get the chance to have a rest in on this journey - that i may as well have two days rest here, rather than just one. so i languished in bed as long as i could, and had a leisurely breakfast. later on i learned that the outside temperature had been -35

while still back in UK i had decided that if the temp was less than -30 i wouldnt move, below this temp military training is discontinued, as beyond this point the risk of cold weather injury increases disproportionately. so it was just as well that i was overcome by laziness when i was, otherwise i would have ventured out into the mountains where the altitude and wind would have brought the temperature still lower

tomorrow the weather forecast predicts that it will be -24, and up in the mountains it will undoubtedly be cooler still. there will be no shelter for the next section of the journey, there was an emergency cabin along the route i am planning to take but it was burned down last year. below -30 strange things start to happen; zips fall apart because the teeth have shrunk in the cold, metals can shatter as they become brittle, and moisture on the breath instantly condenses and freezes on the nearest surface, causing the area around the mouth to become covered in hoare frost. since i am not very keen on finding out if i can survive a night in the open in temperatures below -30, what i am going to try tomorrow, is to start at first light and try to cover the 60 km to the next possible place of shelter before nightfall

there is a james bond movie with roger moore (that name always makes me laugh, go on, say it with a straight face - i dare you) i forget what it was called. anyway, it begins with bond having just shagged some gorgeous blond, in a cabin high in the mountains, and leaving her wide eyed with the words “im sorry my dear but England needs me” then he skis off with baddies on snowscooters chasing him, skis over a clif, deploys a union jack parachute, lands safely, gets chased by more baddies in snowmobiles and helicopters, defeats them with a combination of witty one liners and good facial bone structure, then escapes in a speedboat disguised as a mini iceberg and sails into the arctic sunset with yet another gorgeous blond

thats more or less how the last few days have been for me

i would like for that to be true . . .  but im afraid its not. james bond would not loose control on a slope, and somersault downhill in a tangle of skis and sticks, breaking his nose, and spraining his wrist in the process, and if he unexpectedly went over a drop off, he would have something better to say than “shit!”

the last three days have been some of the most amazing of the trip so far, the sun has been out every day, and the mountain scenery has been some of the most impressive i have ever seen. most of the time has been spent above the treeline skiing along the snowscooter tracks which abound in the Swedish mountains, and most of each day has been spent skiing across postcard scenery, but that is not to say that the weather has been ideal throughout, every morning is bitterly cold, most days have begun with light snow, and if it is windy i have had to wear my halloween mask to prevent frostbite

the first day i headed north, at around 14:00 i had a major wipe out on a downhill section, i came to rest “shaken but not stirred” almost at the doorstep of a mountain cabin, i decided to call it a day, the hut keeper gave me a beer which went some way to making up for the broken nose. the next day ended at 16:00 arriving at another cabin, and on the third i only had to do 22 km to come down in to Amarnas where i planned to spend a rest day. it being the easter weekend and all the hotels fully booked i am sleeping on the floor of a hotel gym

as i was skiing down into Amarnas some Swedes who had witnessed my latest ski crash invited me to dinner with them. it was an excellent meal after which two guitars were brought out, and they all sang songs, some of them sang very well and the guitar playing was first class, it made me wish that i was musical in some way, it must be a great thing to be able to make music which can uplift, or conjure emotions from other people

this trip was supposed to be about suffering and hardship in the face of adversity - one man, fighting against the elements, in a lone quest against the odds e.t.c. instead it has been a case of - one man, graciously accepting hospitality, on a quest to reach the cape, in the face of overwhelming kindness. i expected this journey to be a lot tougher, instead it seems that providence, or whatever star guides my fate, keeps contriving for me to run into some of the most generous people i have had the good fortune to meet, to all of whom i am very grateful. i can only hope that my luck holds

Dave set off early in the morning. We spoke as he had broken out above the tree line. The weather was fine & he hoped for it to continue as the snow was good & he could hear the sound of snowmobiles some way away, which he surmised he would have reasonable tracks to follow. He is now following the Kongeswegan from Tarnaby to Ammarnas, which he expects will take him 3 days. He will be up in the wilderness & doubts there will be a chance for him to communicate as the mobile coverage is sometimes dodgy in the mountains. He should get a signal in Ammarnas & will communicate with us then.

when i set off this morning it was -20, at this temperature the hairs in your nose freeze together and cause constant itchiness, when i was in Norway with the Marines two years ago i plucked all my nosehairs to prevent this annoyance, it got rid of the problem but im not sure i would wish to do it again. at -20, if you dribble a bit of spit out of the corner of your mouth, a la Ruprecht, then it freezes before it hits the ground. i have yet to be in weather so cold that your piss freezes before it hits the ground - sometimes i write my name in the snow

the weather improved and the sun came out by midday, warming the valley. when you set off in the mornings you have to start cold - that is, you have to wear just one or two layers, you are cold to begin with, but once your movement starts warming you up, you do not have to stop to take off layers. i typically wear a thermal top under a goretex jacket. fingers and ears are painfully cold to begin with, but before long the blood starts pumping and the extremities are warmed up

sometimes when the sun comes out it is necessary take off the jacket, gloves, and even the hat. if the sun is out then you have to wear sunglasses or goggles, as the glare from the sunlight reflecting off the snow can cause snowblindness. i reached Tarnaby in good time and located the Tarnaby Fjallhotel, where i had posted the next section of mapping. the girls at the hotel were curious to see who had finally come to collect the maps that they have been holding onto for these past months, and they are kindly letting me stay here for the night. the view from here out across the frozen lake to the mountains is spectacular, and it is very pleasant to sit and, enjoy the scenery without having to ski over it www.tarnabyfjallhotell.com

tomorrow i head for Amarnas (say it ten times fast) hopefully there will be more snowscooter tracks to speed me on my way

have crossed the border into Sweden.

after setting out from Hattfjelldal i was able to follow some snowscooter tracks. finding a snowscooter track is like finding . . . . something good, if you are trailbreaking through deep powder and you move onto a snowscooter track it can double your speed and reduce the effort expenditure. it was still exhausting skiing and through thickly falling snow which reduced the visibility, as the day went on this improved

at midday, quite unnexpectedly i came upon a church service being held up in the mountains, the padre had built an altar from blocks of snow and the congregation must have travelled to this place in snowscooters as there were over thirty parked around.

i am not religious at all, and although there are many things that i dislike about religion and its institutions, i never fail to be moved by being in a place of worship (i would feel the same if i were to visit Lenins mausoleum) i think that for me it has to do with the fact that such ceremonies and beliefs bring hope to the lives of so many, or maybe some vestige of my faith still lingers - who knows

i sat on my pack away to one side, and listened to the singing and the liturgy, the voices were clear on the mountain air and although i couldnt understand the words, i enjoyed hearing them as i ate my lunch, it was a special moment

when its really cold going for a crap is a traumatic experience, exposed flesh can freeze in minuites, and sometimes its preferable to crap into a plastic bag in your tent, rather than go outside and brave the elements. i slept well that night, with nothing to do after having fed myself, i was in my sleeping bag before nightfall and must have gotten at least 10 hours “in it”. i had set my alarm for 05:00 but when it went i said “sod it” and hit snooze for another hour

the day is over now, the border has been crossed, and i am exhausted - exhausted is a word whose meaning can be streched; “ive been shopping all day and im exhausted”, as opposed to the kind of exhaustion which precedes death. now i am feeling something in between, my face feels hot from the wind burn and sun, all my limbs ache

a great Sweedish guy has invited me to stay in his house tonight, and he gave me a hot meal almost as soon as i had sat down - any worries i had about being as warmly recieved in Sweden as i have been in Norway have evaporated. what luck i have had on this journey, and what amazing people i have met. thier kindness gives me another reason to go on - i must finnish this for thier sakes, if for no other reason

i was getting sick of updating this site, so i took a break from it for a few days

being by myself all day for two and a half months i have had a lot of time devoted to idle thought. ive exhausted a lot of possibilities in my mind, and i have to be inventive to come up with new things to keep me occupied. i once saw an interview with the Scottish lady who walked round the world; Fiona Campbell. in it she said how she would decorate an entire house in her mind as she was walking, and sometimes she could spend the entire day considering the right colour for a lamp shade. i tried this a couple of times, but my house always ends up looking suspiciously like tracy island from thunderbirds, so i gave up. i recently spent the best part of a day considering what name/costume/specialpowers i would have if i were super hero

whatever my powers may be, they do not include the ability to ski, or raise money for charity - that one isnt working out so well for me, nor would they include the ability to withstand pain, or recover from injuries, i am capable of making an awesome bacon and egg sandwich, but i doubt if i could defeat my nemesis with that . . .

“so Daveman you think you can defeat me do you? your puny powers are no match for Dr Zorg!”

“give it up Dr Zorg, your days of evil doing are at an end - TRY THIS!”

“Aaaargh Nooo Davemaaaan, how did you guess my one weakness - may i have some ketchup?”

“certainly”

i have now reached a town called Hattfjelldal, its probably the last town i will see in Norway before i cross the border into Sweden, when i got here i immediately liked the atmosphere, and decided to find a place to take the remainder of the day off, i met the manager of the Hattfjelldal Hotel and he is letting me stay here for free, the hotel has a great view across the valley and of the mountain after which it is named (the mountain looks like a hat)

over the border with Sweden lies a trail called the Kongsladen. this is an ancient route which goes right up the length of the country, if i am to have any chance of regaining the time i have lost, and reaching Nordkapp before the snow conditions deteriorate then this is the route i must take

in crossing the border it feels like i will be entering a new phase of the journey, so far i have never been more than a couple of days away from civilisation, and i have enjoyed a lot of hospitality from Norwegian families who have given me a meal and a place to sleep for the night - thanks very much to you all if you are reading this. along the route i am planning to take there will be far fewer habitations, and i will have to manage my rations much more carefully, the arctic circle is less than a weeks march northwards and the temperature will be much colder than anything i have experienced so far. nordkapp lies just over 500km inside the arctic circle - i try to suppress the thought, but the feeling that maybe the end is in sight is slowly creeping up on me, i cannot allow myself to think like this yet - maybe once i have entered the arctic circle i will let it take root

today i passed the 65th parallel, incase anyone has been confused by the to-ing and fro-ing i have been doing in order to continue north without putting too much strain on my injured ankle, i wish to make it absolutely clear that from Lindesnes to this point i have covered every inch of the route, either on foot or on ski

as the situation has demanded i have used road transport to dump my heavy gear further north, but i have always returned to the exact spot where i left off in order to continue under my own steam. i am going to stop doing this now - not because my ankle is any better, but because it is a gamble, as i found out yesterday, when i wasted a day and had to spend a night at a location which i hadnt rightfully reached

today i did reach that point. from here i am going to follow a valley north to Hattfjelldal, if the route allows i will do some skiing tomorrow, if not it means more walking, albeit with the full pack. tonight i am staying at a railway station, and a nice guy who works here has said that i can sleep in one of the rooms

i would like to thank Marlene and Brian Voke, who held a coffee morning in Shinfield and raised 220 pounds for MAG on behalf of the expedition, its really great to know that i have supporters on this journey and that someone is following my progress - cheers guys

this is completely unconnected with the trip but im going to relate it anyway: last night i had an awesome dream. i cant remember much of it but there were some vampires (or zombies, im not exactly sure, but they were up to no good), and i was dispatching them just like some guy in an action movie. the last, and baddest zombie/vampire was my ex-girlfriend, and i had to kill her with a sword - brilliant. i woke up in a really good mood, and walked 45 km today, i wonder what Freud would have made of it