Next on our list is The Lofoten Islands. So, we continued our journey north and crossed the arctic circle - a pretty uneventful occasion but we took the obligatory photo on the mountain plateau and gave a wide berth to the souvenir shop. Then we headed onto Bodø for the ferry. Stopped on the way at the Bula rock carvings, 4000 years old and still visible outlines of a deer, man on skis and a bear. Great place to free camp too, up in the quiet forests.
Vanda’s happy to drive here as there’s no mountain edge roads to draw her over, (C’s happy she doesn’t drive on the mountain roads too..)
At Bodø we got up early to witness the Maelstrom, where up to 400 million tonnes of seawater pass through a 150m wide channel as the tide changes causing whirlpools and currents. Quite a spectacle, seabirds and fishermen gather to catch the many fish the maelstrom brings. We caught the ferry from Bodø to Moskenes on the Lofoten Islands, a three hour journey out through the many fjords to the open sea and then across to the islands. We’ve used a lot of ferries in Norway and found them to be efficient and regular, and about the same price as our Isle of Wight ferries if you compare by journey time.
The Lofoten islands were initially a shock as there were so many tourists - pedestrians, cyclists, cars, coaches and campervans - when we arrived. The traffic was the craziest we’d seen in Norway and on very narrow roads! We escaped the port and headed to a quieter part. There are lovely white sandy beaches here, a rarity elsewhere in Norway. Fantastic scenery and seascapes with sandy beaches, turquoise waters and steep mountains. Awesome. We visited a quant UNESCO listed fishing village where they still hang the cod to dry in the sun and wind. Nice but a tourist trap at £10 each to enter the village. Henningsvar was another quaint spot, along single track cliff edge roads, across 2 bridges, and the place for RIB safaris. We joined up for a 2 hour high speed spin around the fjord to spot sea eagles and seals. Great fun and we saw sea eagles fishing. We enjoyed the camping on the beach sites and cooking on the beach bbqs.
A long slow drive through the islands bought us to Andenes, famous for whale watching as the deep sea canyon is nearish to the coast. The day’s trip had been delayed due to choppy seas but we eventually left port at 5 pm. It took a good hour of bumpy seas with a few seasick tourists to get to where the sperm whales feed. We saw three sperm whales surface and then dive, a wonderful wild thing to witness. Then a lumpy hour’s return to port with a lot of seasick tourists. We kept our lunch down but there were a few dodgy moments.
Although we are above the Arctic circle, the islands benefit from the Gulf Stream - which mean milder temperatures than other places this far north. Unfortunately for us the weather was really quite chilly, 12 degrees during the day. It’s been overcast a lot but we’ve seen very little rain. It was a shame not to make the most of the beautiful beaches.
The roads have at times been a trial, ruts develop on main roads due to HGV traffic that makes it seem that you are driving on rails as the van turns with the ruts not with the steering wheel. Also there a places where the tarmac is removed for works and not replaced, 20m stretches of gravel on an otherwise 50 mph road. You need to concentrate! All part of the adventure we remind ourselves.
From Andenes we drove back to the mainland, via bridges and tunnels, and then turned north to Tromsø. We freecamped on the way beside a waterfall on a quiet road. Tromso is a friendly town with a mix old and new architecture. We crossed another spectacular bridge to reach the city centre & the main road through the city is in a tunnel, with roundabouts - amazing how they build subterranean road systems (& you can’t see when you make a wrong turn!) It claims to have Europe’s most northerly brewery and cathedral. We enjoyed both of those - a small glass of beer for £8!; a midnight sun concert at the cathedral; as well as the excellent polar museum. We visited the memorial to the sinking of the Tirpitz, the German pride of fleet sunk by the English in 1940, fortunately there were no German tourists there. And left the island by another tunnel, this time under the fjord - it’s weird to see the road heading towards a huge mountain or water with no obvious sign of a way forward, to then disappear down a tunnel..
We’ve had a great time in Norway which has amazing scenery at every turn.
Sweden next. Cx & Vx