Vesterålen: Nyksund and Whale-Watching

From the Lofoten Islands, today (18.7.22), we head to the Vesterålen Islands. We take a detour to reach Nyksund, which is a Lonely Planet must-see. It is a revived artist town. Many years ago, Nyksund was abandoned by its last resident due to the lack of infrastructure. Eventually, a German immigrant and artist settled here and rebuilt the small town. The beautiful light of the midnight sun and the northern lights attracted many more artists, and there are several galleries showcasing various forms of art. Otherwise, the village is mainly inhabited by seagulls (at least that's our impression). We take a coffee break at the café run by the (re)founder of Nyksund and walk to a small viewpoint. We think that taking the detour is not necessary, although Nyksund certainly has a special charm.

Then we drive back on the bumpy road and cross to the other part of the island, heading towards Stø. We park directly at the harbor's parking lot, aiming to be the first ones on the waitlist for a fully booked whale-watching tour the next day.

On 19.7.22, we wake up early in the morning and gradually see more people arriving for the tour... We hope for a lucky chance to get on the boat, and it happens! The guide and the captain overlook the fact that we are last-minute additions and allow us, along with Nicolas, another Berliner who made it just in time, to come aboard. We are super happy!!

We cruise the sea for over 2 hours without spotting anything. At least it's not raining, and we can feel the wind on our faces and have conversations with Nicolas, who has been on the road for 5 months, about travel destinations. Various birds fly past the boat, and the crew shares interesting facts about them. For example, the fulmar seabird is one of the few birds that can filter saltwater through its beak and spend most of its life at sea.

After about 3 hours, we see the first fin - and then another one, and another one... a whole family of orcas with 8 animals swims about 50 meters away from our boat! It's an unbelievable experience! On the rest of the tour, we see 2 more orca families with about 5 animals each, and in the distance, 2 harbor porpoises. No two orcas have the same dorsal fin; it's like a fingerprint, as we learn from the guide.

On the way back, we pass by the bird island of Anda, and we finally see the puffins we've been eagerly anticipating! These cute birds, also known as Atlantic puffins, can be found on certain specific islands in Norway, where they breed between April and August. They spend the rest of the year entirely at sea. Sea eagles are also present, competing with the puffins for food. We could watch them for hours here as well, but our tour ends after about 7 hours and nearly 1000 photos (which Carsten appreciates, as he unfortunately became seasick during the second half...).

We continue to Bleik, where we follow the tip of a Norwegian woman and hike to a hidden, secluded beach.