Adventure Otervika Beach (Bleik)

The Norwegians really have a thing for special toilets along their tourist routes... On the way to Bleik, we come across a truly architecturally impressive rest stop toilet. When you enter, one wall is initially milky and cloudy, but when you press a switch, the wall turns into a window with a beautiful view of the sea and the mountains!

We arrive in Bleik on July 19, 2022, around 10 PM. Several campers have already found their way to the bumpy path at the main beach of Bleik and settled there. It is already beautiful here, but we still decide to pack our things and hike to the next beach with our tent. The description of the hike: easy, suitable even for inexperienced hikers, about 1 km to Otervika Beach. We think, oh, this will be cozy, let's keep our white sneakers on, we don't need hiking shoes. You can probably guess what happens next...

With our tent and camping equipment, we walk through the first small muddy puddle. So far, no problem. At the second muddy puddle, we think about turning back and getting the hiking shoes. But the path will probably get better soon, and it's not far. We awkwardly climb around the next muddy puddle, as long as the white shoes don't get dirty... The first climb along the steep and unpaved coast follows. Tina is already on edge. Carsten: It's just around one headland, then the beach will come soon. Okay, let's continue. The listed points repeat several times. Eventually, Carsten ends up in the mud; the white shoes don't matter anymore. Tina suffers from several panic attacks, some of which are justified when she slips on a small rock ledge and sprains her shoulder. It takes us a long time to see the hidden beach in front of us. Now it can't be far anymore! We think. But the path knows better and sends us around the entire bay, only to end up in nowhere. We have no more desire and push through the deep and dense vegetation cross-country to reach the beach.

Once we arrive, we throw everything down and go for a swim in the beautiful midnight sun. After that, the previous hardships are almost forgotten. It is already after midnight. But this light when the sun never sets is simply indescribable! We set up the tent (besides us, there really is no one there, if you don't count the obligatory sheep) and Carsten has it in his head to make a campfire. But first, we have to find dry driftwood, which is not so easy after the recent rainy days. After several tries, the fire finally burns, and we can warm up a bit. When the sun disappears sideways behind the mountain (3 AM), we crawl into our sleeping bags.

After a cold night, we enjoy the sun rays of the next day and have a small breakfast. Then we head back, but this time we take the three times longer part of the circular hike, which is much more pleasant. It leads us over the mountain Måtind (408m above sea level) and on the other side with a view of two lakes back to the beach of Bleik. We arrive at the car just in time for it to start raining again... Today we continue with the ferry to the island of Senja.