The smell of snow and torsk

We headed north from Trondheim toward the Lofoten Islands. Can't make it in one go so we are stopping in Mo I Rana, which sounds like it should be in Tonga rather than northern Norway. The DK guide book notes that no one seems to know the origin of the name. My theory is that 7 centuries or so ago, Lothar, helmsman of a Viking longship came into land here a bit too fast. Lothar said to the captain, Motar, "Mo, I ran aground!" Over the years it was shortened to Mo I Rana.

Anyway it turned into the drive from hell, or Odin's revenge, or something - dark by 3pm with 3 hours still to go, no reflectors, no lanes marked on the road, freezing fog, road works and driving through moose country. Eric drove for the worst part and only tried to drive into the forest once, or maybe, more than once. Someone needs to tell the Norwegian roads authority about centre lines and reflectors on the side of the road! Arrived safely at our hotel in Mo I Rana at what seemed to us to be midnight. Of course it was barely 6pm, but when it is pitch black at 3pm it's hard to tell. Relieved that we had made it we found little notes on our beds - see photos. We also had a couple of beers to settle our nerves and were pleasantly surprised that an evening meal was included at our hotel; lasagne, salad and make-it-yourself Norwegian waffles with raspberry jam and sour cream. Yummo!

Then poor Eric had a bit of a Norwegian challenge. It appears the road from the last fishing village to Nordkapp (North Cape) is closed in winter so we can't go there as he wanted. He had spent ages finding hotels open and planning the route. But included a few days of driving six hours or more.

I (Cath) noted that continuing north where we had only 2-3 hours of weak sunlight a day with forecasted snow and sub-zero temperatures was becoming life threatening!

So we are now just going to Tromsø (which we had abandoned) as it will snow so may get some snowshoeing in, and then heading south. He's disappointed but has finally stopped crying and walking around with his shoulders slumping and pouting his lower lip....we did see our first reindeer today fortunately not on the road but on a hillside and crossed the arctic circle. It was -8 when we did that.

Next day refreshed we drove to Bodø to catch the 3 hour ferry to Moskenes in the Lofoten Islands. We had a pleasant lunch in Bodø and then queued at the terminal for the 15:30 ferry. Not a lot of vehicles were waiting and it was well past 3pm when we got a wave to drive onto the ferry. Oh, and it was pitch black and 0C so no lounging on the sundeck.

This was not the cruise boat ferry like the Colorline Fantasy from Kiel to Oslo. This was a ferry of truck drivers, tourists, and workers. Nice enough with a small cafeteria serving dinner. We asked for the special, which was written in Norwegian on the chalkboard, and the woman who ran the cafeteria informed us that it was "Cutlets of the pig." As we got further north the perfect English of the Norwegians faded a bit. I don't think the fellows in high viz vests loading the vehicles onto the ferry spoke much English at all. Anyway, "the cutlets of the pig" aka pork chops, gravy, potatoes and three veg were very tasty. A serve worthy of the Railway Tavern.

I (Eric) had booked two nights at the Lofoten Bed & Breakfast in Reine, just a few kilometres from the ferry terminal at Moskenes. I had gotten a confirmation notice from the B&B, which also owns and manages some refurbished fishing cottages in the neighbouring village of Sørvagen. Somehow in my brain I thought that we'd been allocated a fishing cottage rather than a room in the B&B. So, I successfully navigated us to the fishermen's cottages but was not able to gain access with the PIN code that we had been sent [edit: I, Cath, note no mention of the small, narrow and dirt track on which he had me driving, saying no this is it - it's fine etc!!]. Cath then re-read the confirmation notice and pointed out to me that we were indeed booked into the B&B facility in Reine, as I had always said, and that the fishing cottages were some kind of brain snap of mine. Yep. So we drove to Reine and there on the main street of the village is a large white building with a brightly lit sign on the front announcing it was the Lofoten Bed & Breakfast. The building had been built in the 1930s as the administration offices of the local electrical authority and had contained a three bedroom flat for the Manager and his family. It has been refurbished into a lovely b&b.

The Lofoten Islands are spectacular. They have been settled for hundreds of years, first by the Vikings, and then their Norwegian descendants. The economy is still 70% fishing, mostly torsk (cod). The smell of torsk is strong in the Lofotens. What is most spectacular about the islands are the mountains that rise right out of the sea. Our B&B in the village of Reine was maybe 10 metres above sea level but was dwarfed by the Reinebringen, a massive rock mountain looming 447 metres above the village. Many of the mountains along the chain of islands are over 800 metres. The sight is most impressive. {edit: I, Cath, was both astounded and terrified when I actually SAW the sheer mountains above us and the fjord below the next morning, realising what I could have driven into on either side of the road the night before…). We realised that daylight was short so we drove about Moskenes island and the neighbouring island for about 3 hours taking in the views (including one of the best coffees I've had in weeks in the Click Cafe and a great souvenirs shop / tourist information in which Eric made me buy lots of lovely things while he chatted to the charming man showing his sales chart to indicate numbers of visitors who was looking after it for his wife; in Ramberg) then had a late lunch of fish soup in the Reine bistro with the sky in darkness.

The tourist photos are usually with snow on the mountains and village and a beautiful clear blue winter sky, or a clear blue summer sky with green on the mountains all contrasted with the colourful fishing cottages and fishing boats. Our sky was various shades of grey with occasional rain and 0C. Not poster days for Lofoten tourism, but the scenery is still extraordinary.

Next day the weather turned colder overnight, and there was snow on the mountain tops. The higher ones having a thick white coating. We were driving to Tjeldsundbrua, about half-way to Tromsø, and hoping to make the journey before darkness. The road through there Lofotens is quite good but twisty and turny as it winds its way along fjords and islands so it is not a quick run. The weather got worse with an icy northwest wind of near gale force and snow. As we went along it began to snow more heavily and got colder. We arrived safely and relieved at about 3:30pm which was an hour and a half after dark. The Tjeldsundbrua Hotel is a glorified Norwegian roadhouse which also functions as a fishing and bicycling holiday location along the fjord in the summer. However, the room was warm and dry and large and we settled into the two comfortable chairs in the room with Cath stitching and I reading to her.

The following day the temperature had dropped further to well below zero with further snow. Once again we arrived in Tromsø is darkness after a slow drive in the gathering snow of close to half a metre on the ground. When I had arranged to lease a vehicle for 2 months in Europe I had requested a 2018 Peugeot 2008 Crossover with snow and mud tires and Arctic Grip which is a function that increases traction in snow and ice conditions. I must say that the vehicle works like a champ. Cath and I (mostly Cath) drive slower than the Norwegians who grow up driving in these conditions. We get some flashing lights from truck drivers sometimes but in general the Norwegian drivers are very considerate of the Aussies in a French registered car. At least the car is recognised as a good winter car, if not the drivers. Our hotel in Tromsø included breakfast, afternoon sweets and an evening meal. We took a short walk around the centre of town in the darkness and heavy snow and then retired for coffee and waffles.

On our last full day in Norway we walked about 2 kms to the Tromsø museum (not quite enough snow to show shoe) at the the University of Tromsø. Sunrise was at about 10:30am and sunset at just a few minutes past noon. Not much daylight particularly with cloud cover and snow. The museum is a combination of natural and cultural history with a continuing exhibit on the Sami people, the indigenous people of Lapland. On a cold and snowy and dark Sunday in late November there were many parents and grandparents with small children at the museum, especially for the bugs and spiders exhibit, including a number of species of spiders from Australia, all very deadly, of course. The young woman who served in the dining room at the hotel noted that Australia sounded lovely but she doesn't like snakes so she'll give it a miss. We did say that the streets weren't covered with deadly snakes, at least most of the time.

Norway has been fascinating. Less snow, at least in the south than expected, but that is the luck of the draw in terms of weather. The snow finally came as we got north but so did the darkness which was the most difficult part of driving. Norwegians are like many European countries with a small population (5.3 million) and their own language. They all learn English in school and most, especially the younger ones, speak it very well. They are not precious about their language because they know that so few people in the world speak it and do not expect visitors to speak it. Scandinavia is expensive for tourists and I think Norway is the most expensive of these countries. (The dress code in the cities seems to be big hooded down coats and hi-viz vests when out walking your dog, or if you are an outdoor worker an all in one, hi-viz, padded jump suit). However, it has been a great adventure and the smell of snow and torsk will linger for a long time.