The full load of Lofoten already on the 1st day!

In the middle of the night, we arrive in Bodø and go directly to the ferry to cross to the Lofoten Islands on the same morning at 3:15 am. Accordingly sleepless, we start on July 13, 2022. After resting for 3 hours, the Lofoten adventure starts in full swing!

We start in the beautiful small fishing village with the shortest place name in the world: "Å", at the southwestern end of the islands. Today, the village is more like an open-air museum where you can visit the old buildings such as the old post office, bakery, boathouse, fish oil factory, and a stockfish museum. We just wander around a bit and treat ourselves to a delicious cinnamon bun from the old bakery's wood-fired oven. In each gable of the houses, there are incredibly many seagulls nesting.

To make the most of the beautiful weather (yes, sun!), we set off for the most famous ascent of the Lofoten Islands: the Reinebringen. From the top, you should have a great view of the bay around Reine. But you don't get this for free... The 1566 stone steps of varying heights, built by Sherpas, are really not easy to master, and some (Tina) wish they had taken the stairs more often in recent years... We have to take a break every few meters and especially keep Tina happy with cookies. You can safely almost double the estimated time of about 1 hour for the ascent until you have covered the approximately 500 meters in altitude. At the top, the truly indescribable view of Reine, the many small islands, turquoise water, and the surrounding mountains awaits. Every step so far has been worth it! Despite the strong wind that almost blows us away, we have an infinitely long photo stop before subjecting our legs to the descent again. Fortunately, this one takes significantly less time.

And what else do you do after an eventful, exhausting day with little sleep? Of course, go for another hike! We feel pursued by the impending bad weather, so we pack our things and take advantage of the only good day to camp on the beach. When do we come up with this? At 10 pm. The only problem is that there are still 2 km between us and the beach, which lead through marshy landscapes and scree fields. With our overnight baggage and the previous hike in our bones, this poses a little challenge. Finally, at midnight, we set up our tent on Kvalvika Beach. The bay is beautifully enclosed by high mountains in the middle of nowhere, without cell phone reception, on the white sandy beach, with great water, and only a few sheep - and about 12 other tents besides us. But the people spread out well and you have your peace and quiet, so we read a little in our books in the light of the fantastic sunset before a cold night awaits us.

We sleep very long and then hike back leisurely. On the way back, we actually come across Survival-Mattin from the YouTube production "7 vs. Wild," who is also on vacation in Lofoten. When we get back to the car, it starts to rain...