Thursday 22 June 2023 - Bostad to Nr Drag

Well it was almost midnight, but we got our photo!

111 miles

It didn't make us late getting up although it was a slow start, but it was another nice day as we rejoined the E10 and headed north to the ferry crossing from Lodingen. Our initial target was the fuel station and waste dump point we'd used a couple of days ago and we had lunch there after doing the necessary. Interestingly on arrival we noticed quite a substantial increase in the price of diesel but when we went to refuel after lunch it had dropped back to only a little more than we paid last time!

The one that got away!

So ever onward, taking a few more photos as we went - well it looks different going the other way - and we arrived at the port only to see the ship backing off the berth. Aw shucks, bother and other naughty words. Never mind we only had to wait just over an hour for the next one and we were in no hurry. Eventually the good ship Baroy left on time at 3.45pm for the hour and ten minutes nice smooth cruise back to the mainland. Again our Autoferry pass looked after the payment etc. the guy just scanning our number plate and that was that.

But now the weather was starting to deteriorate, the forecast telling us of rain later with wet and much cooler conditions over the next few days. Needing to get some water soonish we spotted a service point about 50km down the road towards Bodo on P4N. However it was getting on so we checked out a few parking spots on the way and chose a hard gravelled area alongside the main road partially surrounded by forest which was fine for our nightstop (water wasn't yet critical and we'd bought a backup 5l bottle of drinking water just in case). We settled down to tea and sure enough it started to rain, light at first but quite heavy later on as we were joined by 2 Italian motorhomes who parked their doors close together and put out an awning so they wouldn't get wet moving from one to the other. Yes, we've done that in the past as well.

The E6 road was initially quite busy but as I write at 9.15 it's gone quiet, which seems to be the usual pattern, although the sound of the rain drowns out the road noise anyway. We're not too concerned as we feel we have been very luck to have had almost 3 weeks of perfect weather and a couple of off days is not going to hurt us.

Wednesday 21 June 2023 - Flakstad to Bostad via A

90 miles of wandering around

 

Back to blusky today and an earlyish start heading south. Our plan was to go as far as the road permitted then later take the ferry across to Bodo. However there is only one a day, it's a 4hr crossing and expensive, so we amended that to return about halfway back up Lofoten and take a shorter crossing. Well that was the plan!

It may just have been the beautiful sunshine but it seemed the scenery got better and better the further south we went and it became obvious that this part was definitely the place that tourists aimed for with dozens of motorhomes/campers, quite a few coaches and a lot of hire cars too. Narrower and very "bendy" roads also slowed everything down quite a bit and almost every parking place was full. Tunnels and bridges linked the various islands making up Lofoten but strangely we never felt that traffic was building up. Eventually we came to the end of the road at the strangely named village of A with a turning circle, plus a big car/coach/camper parking area and luckily we caught a spot just being vacated by another moho. We took Jamie for a walk right to the end of the peninsular.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time to start heading back north and stopped at a Tourist Information centre at Remberg we had spotted earlier for some Lofoten souvenirs, there being few places selling such stuff then a quick visit to a supermarket, which looked tiny on the outside but was huge inside, for some bits we were short of. A chat with a Swedish couple then hallo to a UK couple (first we've spoken to since the UK) then a short drive to stop at the rest area we'd used yesterday for lunch. That's when Plan B unravelled, having realised that there was only one more sailing today for the ferry we'd looked at and we'd be pushing to catch it. On top of that we wanted to stop at the Viking Museum so decided we'd forget crossing to the mainland today, take our time and find an overnight stop on the way north.

Plenty of room to park at the Borg Viking Museum, unlike when we'd passed by yesterday (?) so opened all the vents and left Jamie while we explored. Briefly this was the site of perhaps the largest Viking Chieftains seat, name unknown, built around 500AD, abandoned around 900AD and only discovered by a farmer who ploughed a little deeper than normal in 1981. Since then the longhouse has been replicated alongside the site of the original and is fitted out much as it would have been, with costumed characters and craftspeople demonstrating the old methods. There is also a Viking ship in the fjord below with "trips around the bay" but it was a very long walk and anyway we don't do boats so missed that bit out. All in all it was interesting but we felt at £25 was a tad expensive for what was there. Of course a visiut to the obligatory museum shop resulted in more purchases - we won't go into the size of the bill! - before returning to Jamie and an ice cream.

A quick check on P4N and we headed for a nice looking spot just off the beaten track about 10 minutes north, but managed to miss the turn and it took us miles to get turned round. It turned out to be the parking area for a Community hall which the locals offer as overnight parking for a small donation although there are no services but a nice view over a lake. Empty on our arrival but we were later joined by half a dozen more vans. Today is the longest day so we're thinking of staying up to see the actual midnight sun! Thinking!

And now plan B unravelled when we checked timetables and the ferry we'd thought about using only had 2 sailings tomorrow, one too early and the other late afternoon. The final alternative was the one we used last visit, somewhat further up the road but with bi-hourly sailings so we've decided that's where we'll go.

Tuesday 20 June 2023 - Sigerfjord to Flakstad Island

157 miles

A little rain and thunder during the night and the morning was bright but mostly cloudy although still comfortably warm. Managed to get away after breakfast a little earlier after refilling the water tank - well we'd paid for it otherwise it was quite an  expensive carpark! We're not really sure why or how we ended up this road, which wasn't on our planned route so we just backtracked and rejoined at Gulholmen where there was a free service point, including an automatic toilet cassette cleaning machine. We've come across these before but don't quite trust them so we used the manual system of emptying which was also available. 

Just across the carpark was an unattended fuel station which our app told us sold the cheapest fuel in Norway! Don't know about that but we're not going to complain about £1.47 a litre so topped off the tank whilst we were here. Diesel is actually cheaper than petrol in Norway and as you can see somewhat less than in the UK.

Apart from fjords and mountains, Norway is well known for its tunnels and we came across a few today, the first 6.4km long and also a couple that actually went under the sea - maybe it's easier than building a bridge? Unfortunately the weather decided to have an off day and we encountered light showers over most of the time we were travelling, which also shows in the quality of some of the photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lunch just short of Svolvaer, where one of the ferry routes to the mainland is located, and then continued south. This turned out to be a popular and very busy tourist route with dozens of motorhomes and quite a few tourist coaches too. There were tourist signs along the way pointing to various "attractions", including a very busy Viking Exhibition which we'll likely investigate on our return north. We also investigated one that we'd incorporated in our plans before we left home which turned out to be a WW2 German observatory post, but tourism had taken advantage and they wanted silly money just to stop and look at it. As it was the end of the road anyway we just turned around, finding the cod drying racks just around the corner far more interesting. Fishing is the staple occupation here in the islands as the North Atlantic cod spawning grounds are located just off the coast and for a couple of months a year some of the best cod in the world is caught and prepared here before being exported. Regretfully none of the photos we attempted turned out, except the WW2 observatory.

Returned to the main E10 to continue south and paused at a brand new rest area for a cuppa whilst deciding on our nightstop. We could have stayed here but it was too busy for our liking so wandered on, checking out a few of the places mentioned on Park4Night. There were quite a few spots where roadside rough parking areas had, shall we say, been utilised by motorhomes, usually with a good view. Of course many had already been taken but we found a nice one, a little way off the road but well sheltered and level so decided that this would do.

Monday 19 June 2023 - Narvik to Sigerfjord

113 miles

 

Been having internet problems but have discovered that Three have cut me off with their "fair use" roaming policy so I can no longer use the datasim I bought specially for this trip! I can of course still tether my mobile phone and on checking it out it looks like it'll be no more expensive so 3 is going to get blown away.

But back to business. Another lovely morning but a bit of a slow start and it was after 11.00 before we headed back to Narvik to top up the gas bottles. We need to keep a fairly close eye on the gas situation as refilling places are few and far between and not necessarily at petrol stations, today was a general fuel distributor. But we had no problems and not the most expensive gas we've bought. We are carrying a backup (empty) Camping Gaz bottle but have yet to spot somewhere to exchange it for a full one.

We noticed last night that the catering staff had made a miscalculation as regards our supplies of certain things so a supermarket visit was next - I'm sure it's just a love of shopping! Plenty of choice though so again sorted easily enough and we headed out back across the toll bridge and westward towards our target, Lofoten Island. Lunch was at a picnic spot then after consulting the maps and our Rough Guide we deviated off our planned route to head north to the other large population centre of Harstad. Which turned out to be quite a bit bigger than Narvik and much more interesting although the Norwegian penchant for digging up roads was just as bad; we resorted to following a local bus until he turned into the bus station, but we wanted to see how the locals lived as well as the scenery so it was worth avoiding the (toll) ring road. Although we didn't get completely away with it!

Carrying on around the coast we began seeing the sights Norway is famed for, mountains, fjords and forests on well-maintained and relatively quiet roads. No motorways here and it was easy to keep to the generally conservative speed limits and just enjoy the scenery. Over 60 photos were taken during the day although as most were "on the run" they're not all really good enough to post here but we'll include some of the best.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The road came to an end at a small ferry terminal, which we were fully aware of, and as luck would have it the next sailing was only a few minutes away so we joined the queue. Before leaving home we were told about an Autoferry card which, after paying a refundable deposit, gave substantial discounts which was important to us as being over 6m long the fares were disproportionately higher than cars. It also features number plate recognition which, to the amazement of the ferryman, worked as advertised so no messing about with payment. (This is also linked in to the toll system as well although we understand we'll eventually get a discounted invoice for toll dues.)

A nice smooth 20 minute crossing and we were decanted back onto more quiet roads, although this time with a ferryload of traffic. As it was approaching our normal stopoff time we checked out our apps for something suitable and discovered quite a few places we could try. The first, although initially looking very attractive, turned out to be a tiny beach at the end of a rough track which we had some trouble getting back out of. Another was on a boatyard/marina type place with dedicated parking for motorhomes and although it was a pay site we thought it attractive enough so "dropped anchor". It did offer electricity in with the price but half a dozen Dutch vans had got in first and claimed the few points there were, not that we needed it but then it made the cost just for parking and a water tap a little steep. At least one of the Dutch couples did change a large note for us (stupid ATMs again) so we could put the right money in the honesty box. I don't suppose anyone will check if we did or not but again we try to do the right thing.

So a lovely day, marred only by a message that Mum had fallen again although there were no injuries, but you do worry about elderly relatives - she's 95 now.