La daabacay: 13.07.2021
Finland versus Gert&Hanna - 2-0 for Finland
Woke up early in the morning, rode to the test site and spent some time there until we got the travel certificates. Then continued to Holmsund after a coffee, where the ferry departs. The ticket seller confirmed that we should be able to enter this way. Four and a half hours on the ferry, looking forward to continue cycling, excitement. And then the same thing again: no, you can only enter Sweden for tourist purposes if you are vaccinated. The German passport doesn't help either. Yes, if you fly to Germany now, you could enter without any further controls.
Hey people, how crazy is that? The websites of the Finnish health authorities, government, and border control have different statements. The border control, which makes the decisions, has an outdated incidence rate from Sweden... A lot of discussion, they even call the boss, no chance.
Disappointment and we realize that we would experience the same thing again in Happaranda at the next border station before any changes might happen. But we are not willing to spend time and money on 3 days of flights and decide to cancel the North Cape as our destination. Especially since the Norwegians also do not show any relaxations for non-vaccinated people, it is very unlikely that this will change in the next weeks, especially in July.
So, we are back in Sweden shortly before midnight and since camping is not allowed at the bathing area, we go to a nearby conference hotel.
We replan and will visit Sweden by train and bike in the next weeks, with the focus on going back south. Since SJ (Swedish Railway for long-distance journeys) does not take bikes, it's not as easy as in Germany.