Day 13 - Lofotens

Our parking place was wonderful in the evening sun but it meant a chilly start to the day as the morning sun had not risen above the steep mountains behind us. I’m glad we chose to drive north to south in these islands as every day gets more stunning than the previous one. I’m beginning to suffer from visual overload. It really is hard to absorb it all, even when going for walks (we did 6 miles today).

We headed off by 9, leaving the E10, to Fledvang, over 2 beautiful bridges. It was another bright sunny day so we pottered around this working fishing village. The car park was free but the turf-roofed WC was locked.

After returning over the bridges to the E10 we drove along a fjord - the mountains all around were even more jagged than the previous day. After going through a few tunnels we reached Hamnoy. I had seen photos of it and it is stunning with the steep mountain towering over the red houses set by the crystal clear blue water. What I hadn’t realised was that the red rorbu fishing huts were all fake and actually holiday houses. Even the poles for drying fish are only there for effect.

The bridge over to Reine was another elegant one - the islands are connected by tunnels under the sea, bridges or causeways. Reine is the biggest town in the south, also a very pretty holiday place. We headed to the only place to load fresh water and dispose of black and grey waste on the islands, apart from campsites but they don’t allow passing vehicles to pay for using the facilities which it is possible to do at home. We joined the queue of a couple of French vans. A lovely Frenchwoman chatted to me about their year out travelling in their van with 2 children aged around 8 and 11. They stood out in the cold for an hour last night because, guess what, the Northern Lights appeared for them at midnight. I looked out then and only saw a white light in the sky but apparently this was the start of it. She said the whole sky was performing. I think tonight we’ll have to take turns to sleep as it should be another clear sky.

Our next stop was only a few miles further on at A (with 2 dots on top), the end of the road. The bakery where the Irishwoman’s partner worked was open so we got a loaf - £6. We knew it would be expensive here but nevertheless that was a shock. We had another wander and found a place to park away from the main car park which was stuffed with cars and camper vans. It is no longer the high season so I’d really not want to be here then. It’s a bit like the NC500, a victim of its own success, not having the infrastructure to support so many visitors.

I’m making Sag Aloo to have with the leftover aubergine, chickpea, mushroom and tomato curry from last night. The last ferry for Bodo leaves Moskenes at 8.30 and the car park when we went by was full of lots of camper vans so we’ll head back up the road to it and park up. It’s good Mr C managed to buy the ticket on line as we might not have got on the 7am boat otherwise.