On remote mountains far beyond the Arctic Circle, there live a whole bunch of specialised butterflies, species that are, to me, almost mystical. About 16 species in all, the names alone are mouthwatering enough - Arctic Blue, Polar Fritillary, Dewy Ringlet, Norse Grayling and more.

However, with the world blighted by Covid-19 and its associated travel restrictions, and with myself suffering the consequences of tick-borne encephalitis, it was not perhaps the best time to ponder global travel. However, it was exactly what I felt I needed, so I decided on a 5350 km round-trip from Lithuania to the extreme north of Scandinavia to locate a number of these highly localised butterflies.

Stage Four. Unwelcome End, June 2020.

Lithuania's National Quarantine for Coronavirus came to an end on the 17^th June, the natural end to this phase of the Coronavirus story – still a handful of new cases each day, the country's total now sitting at 1800 cases and near 80 dead. But it all made no difference to me – most of June, I spent in hospital, failed rehab or otherwise ill. And the prospects for the near future are not much better.