Relaxation, midnight sun on Senja, and an afternoon on Sommerøy

After a very relaxing morning (with a hearty breakfast, nice conversations with Davey and Sawa, and time to read and draw), I spontaneously decided to turn night into day (or simply skip the night…) and start my 'weekend trip' to other islands earlier.

So I set off on my bike around 6:00 PM in Tromsø with so-called oppholdsvær (weather without precipitation) and arrived on time at the ferry in Brensholmen at around 10:00 PM, under bright sunshine. I had planned to spend the night on Senja and to visit one or two attractions during the upcoming midnight sun, according to the weather forecast. Upon arriving on the island, I first went through (several) tunnels. Before each tunnel, there is a button that cyclists must press before entering. The tunnel is then illuminated, and a warning signal appears for drivers that a cyclist is in the tunnel. Still, the tunnels felt slightly claustrophobic to me - narrow, rather dark, and you can hear dripping everywhere. After about 40 km, I reached my first planned viewpoint for the day: Tungeneset (Devil's Teeth). Simply amazing! At this magnificent viewpoint, I enjoyed a delicious cardamom bun around 2 AM. I must admit that the journey to this point had been quite cold, and I had to grit my teeth a bit. But from this point on, it became magnificent. The sun came out, and it got warmer.

After that, I rode back about 20 km for a hike: to Hesten with a view of Segla. A relaxed hike with fantastic views!

The mountains here on Senja are so rugged, steep, sharp, jagged, and imposing. They are different from those near the mainland and are more comparable to those on the Lofoten.

After my hike, I went to a waterfall that I had discovered on the way to the first viewpoint, as my water supplies were running low, and I was looking forward to a nice break. I climbed a bit up the waterfall and found a perfect spot in the sun with fresh spring water. I lounged around for an hour, listening to the loud rush of the water, and read a little.

Then I headed back to the ferry from which I had come, back to the island of Sommerøy. There are countless small islands around this island. The beaches are bright white, and the water is crystal clear and deep blue. On the island, I checked into the smallest 'hotel' in Norway due to a lack of (affordable) alternatives. It is simply a kind of construction container with several small chambers (sleeping pod), where you crawl in and can sleep on an estimated space of 90 × 200 x 90 cm. Before I devoted myself to this tiny cabin, I had two exploration tours on the island (to the grocery store and, of course, to the summit). After more than 40 hours, I was now looking forward to stretching my legs and quickly fell asleep after such a impressive, fantastic (and also physically demanding) day.