सुंदर लोफ़ोटेन

2 weeks Lofoten and Vesteralen, with a lot of luck with the weather and indescribable moments...

07/01/2023

The weather has improved after a rainy night. In good spirits we took the short hike to Torghatten (Martin's Hole in Norway) under our feet. On the way we had to cross half a stream. As in many places in Norway (including Preikestolen), the routes are made suitable for everyday use by "Sherpas". The views in front of and inside the loch (the loch is about 200 yards long) were stunning. And we were lucky, a few days after our visit, the hole could no longer be crossed. We suspect that the construction work was the reason for this. After noon we left the campsite and drove or were driven (ferry) on the FV 17 further north. On the ferry we had a wonderful view of the mountains of the "7 Sisters". We parked Oski next to silo bales in the evening. We had found a very romantic place 😊

07/02/2023
For the first time we had some time pressure. We had to meet three fixed dates - maybe a bit much for us... The fixed dates were the departure times of the car ferries. They don't run every 20 minutes like in many places. Heidi (the organizational talent) created a schedule that had to be adhered to. And we managed everything. It was even enough to get fish & chips for lunch. During the meal we also crossed the Arctic Circle. That means the sun won't set for a while. After the last ferry we visited the Svartisen glacier, with 370 km2 the second largest glacier in Norway. And they saw with their own eyes that glacier shrinkage has also increased massively in Norway. Until maybe 10-20 years ago, the glacier tongue reached to the fjord.
We parked Oski in a hiking car park.

07/03/2023
In the last few days we have become early risers. Also today we had time pressure, we wanted to catch the 11.00 am ferry to the Lofoten (from Bodo to Moskenes) and wanted to be at the ferry port at least an hour before. We were even there 1 ¼ hours earlier and still it wasn't enough for us. We had the opportunity to visit Bodo and only took the 1:30 p.m. ferry. Unfortunately, the selected campsite was already occupied, so we had to look for a wild spot.

07/04/203
1. To do today: Go camping. We were able to mark it as done shortly after breakfast (about 10 a.m.) (we also work with "to-do lists"...). Then we visited the museum village "A". "A" is the shortest written village in the world and is located at the southern end of Lofoten. The best thing about the visit: the super delicious cinnamon rolls. Unfortunately, the coffee still takes some getting used to... Back at the campsite we were able to watch whales.

05.07.2023
Today we had a single day... Reto hiked up the local mountain of Moskenes (537 meters above sea level). The weather was overcast. Heidi enjoyed the day at the campsite and talked on the phone (like women do...).

06.07.2023
The weather should be super nice from noon today. The morning was still overcast, the sun came out at noon and nothing stood in the way of our trip to the Reineberge mountains. However, there were 1978 steps in the way (450 meters in altitude) - we mastered them in about 40 minutes. The effort was rewarded with a sensational view of the village of Reine and the surrounding countryside. A view that almost never let us go.
After a deserved coffee & cake we drove on to Ramsbergstranda. We just jetted off to the Caribbean, the beach is white and the sea is beautifully blue. Here we just let the pictures do the talking. But there are more beaches like this in Lofoten.

07/07/2023
A Swiss couple gave us great tips. We wanted to implement one today. We treated ourselves to a delicious breakfast buffet at a hotel in Nusfjord. Nusfjord is also a museum village run like a holiday resort.
We spent the rest of the day shopping and doing other things.

07/08/2023
As announced, today is a cloudy and cool day. Nevertheless, in the afternoon we hiked to a vantage point in the area and admired the beautiful, white salt beaches in the fog.

07/09/2023

Unfortunately, today was a cold and overcast day. Nevertheless, we moved on today and did a short coastal hike in Eggum. We were allowed to admire a statue made by a Swiss artist.
In the afternoon we checked in at a campsite near Henningsvaer. Heidi's nerves were a bit strained with the washing machine (well, Reto's nerves maybe a little too...).

07/10/2023

After cloudy days we were allowed to wake up today with sunshine and a blue sky. After breakfast we packed our things and drove to Henningsvaer. The village of Henningsvaer is best known for its football pitch. For us, a hike to a viewpoint was on the program. Unfortunately we took the wrong path and ended up at a climbing starting point. Heidi had to leave the comfort zone there too, but it wasn't enough to get to the top. Reto spent the last few minutes alone under his feet and was able to admire and enjoy the view. After the rigorous hike, we toured the village and the soccer field and treated ourselves to coffee and cake.
We moved on to Laukvik and occupied a lovely spot on a pitch by the sea. The pitch was very well occupied by Swiss people. So we made acquaintance with a couple of teachers from Oberkirch and with Derg & Chrege from the Emmental. With "Dikkies" we admired the midnight sun. The sun went down until about 12:30 am, but not quite, and then rose again. So we were allowed to go to bed (as sometimes after an exit) at sunrise 😊

07/11/2023

Today we drove to the starting point of our booked Hurtigruten cruise, to Stockmarknes. Before that we visited the Hurtigruten Museum which was very interesting. At 3:15 p.m. our ship Polarlys (130 meters long, 21 meters wide) left the harbor and headed towards Svolvaer. With the best weather, we were able to enjoy the Lofoten from a different perspective. We thoroughly enjoyed the 3-hour cruise. The highlight was the trip through the Trollfjord. The Trollfjord is considered to be the narrowest fjord (100 meters wide at the narrowest point and 2 KM long). Our Hurtigruten ship turned and then headed for Svolvaer.
In Svolvaer we moved into our hotel room and then enjoyed the delicious dinner and the nightlife.

07/12/2023

After a restful night in a very comfortable bed, we enjoyed the delicious breakfast buffet and set out to discover a viewpoint of Svolvaer. We enjoyed the rest of the day in the small town.
Our return journey to Stockmarknes started at 10.15pm. Thanks to the overcast sky, we were able to admire an unbelievable evening atmosphere. Also today our ship (Vesteralen) turned around in the Trollfjord (in unfavorable weather conditions the Trollfjord cannot be sailed through). So we were incredibly lucky. At 01.45 a.m. we returned to the mainland and started looking for a place to stay for the night. On the way we admired the sunrise and the incredible atmosphere.

07/13/2023

There's not much to tell there. After a short night, we quickly realized that we had landed in a horsefly and fly reserve. So we soon moved further north in the direction of Andenes and moved into a new camp for the night with fewer critters.

07/14/2023

Oski was thoroughly brushed on the inside today... (yeah M......) 😊 Brushing is good for Oski. We've been on the road for 2 months now.

And what happens now? We booked a whale safari in Andenes tomorrow. We will tell you about that in the next blog entry.

Every now and then we are asked if we are not bored yet. No it's not, because we often have a veeeeeery scheduled program (in the evenings anyway). We usually start with the aperitif at around 5 p.m. with chips & wine & beer. Then we also discuss what we could do on the following days. Reto then usually does the detailed planning and Heidi gets down to cooking. We'll have dinner at around 7:00 p.m., then we'll have coffee and biscuits and only then will we have breakfast. So around 8 p.m. After breakfast we play a game, treat ourselves to a crime scene or read our books. You see, we also have a “Gosu” on our trip.