Day 9 – 02-03-2025

We are now at the halfway point in the Rally – only 8 days left before we return to Hamburg – we can hardly believe it.

Our day started in Honningsvåg with a rather chaotic breakfast because the hotel was quite overwhelmed with so many guests, but all the teams took it in stride. Before we set off, we took a photo with the troll we spotted at the harbour to earn some extra points. Overnight, it had snowed lightly, so we first had to clear the car of snow.

After a brief route discussion – today was mainly about driving – we set off. We planned to drive for about 6.5 hours to cover half the distance in Finland, where we have a meeting point tomorrow.

Just before the Nordkapp Tunnel, we launched our drone again and tested our first “coffee on the go” – it worked perfectly!

On the way, the Porsche drivers in team #141 got stuck and needed help. We assisted them with some other teams and where regarded with a nice coffee. For lunch, we stopped to refuel and eat at the Burger House.

At 13:28, we crossed the boarder to Finland – and suddenly it was 14:28. We had totally forgotten about the time difference – thank goodness the phones automatically adjust! Luckily, our schedule for today wasn’t too tight. Unfortunately still no reindeers or moose spotted… we still hope.

At 18:30, we arrived in Tankavaara Gold Village. You can still search for gold here, but we are here to spend the night and for dinner 😊  We met up with team #34 from Switzerland here and enjoyed a cozy dinner together. Today, we drove a total of 466 km and spent about 7.5 hours on the road, including breaks and helping others.

Tomorrow we continue to Oulu with a stop at Santa Claus Village.