Camping again, at 54 degrees north.

We turned off along a narrow track into a forest and came to a clearing about 100m across. In the middle was a gas well-head or part of a pipeline. Bill said it was used for injecting water into the ground to encourage gas flow.

It was a great spot to camp, it was 4pm, the sun was still well up, we had cold beer in the Engel, fresh supplies from Achan for another campfire pasta, oats for Sergei’s porridge in the morning, a good stock of Bordeaux and not a rain cloud in the sky. We’ll camp here.

Bill took charge of the pasta, Spirelli Leftoveri, followed by caramelised leftover fruit. Sergei assured us that he didn’t know if there were any bears around, so we all hit the sack early. The mosquitos were subdued by the cool, damp air and the swags kept out the dew.

There was just this smell of gas.