Saturday 27th June. Senja to Alta.

Today was another drive through spectacular scenery. My photographs can't do it justice, but imagine the Alps cut up and floating in a sea and you can get a rough idea. The sides of many of the mountains are completely sheer, with snow on the peaks and small communities of brightly coloured houses clustered round the lower slopes close to the edge of the fjords.

Today was a long drive, and we had three ferries to catch where reservations were impossible. We left the hotel at 7.50, and our first stop was a lookout point at the side of the road. Interesting design, and a nice view! The second lookout should have given us a view of the sheer cliffs bordering the fjord, but it was too misty to see anything.

Mick and I took a small detour to get fuel, at a deserted petrol station in the middle of nowhere!

Everyone arrived at the first ferry in time for the 9.30 crossing, and we all got on board which was a relief. If anyone had missed that ferry then they would have had to take an inland route to our next stop, and would have missed the best of the scenery.

Our next stop was a shop on the outskirts of Tromso where we stocked up on bits of food and drink. They also had lots of samples of fish and cheese to try, so we left there fairly full! I now have my first souvenir to take home, a pot of fish seasoning! There was a bit of confusion as we left the car park, but everyone was very tolerant of us blocking the exit whilst we dragged the last stragglers out of the shop.

In Tromso we followed Bjarne around getting a look at the city, and allowing the residents to get a look at us! Judging by the number of camera pointed at us we were quite a novelty. A couple of cars had got to Tromso earlier than the main group, looking for a garage to repair Roger's shock absorber, and they told me there is an extensive series of tunnels under the town as well.

On the outskirts of Tromso we stopped for fuel (so our earlier stop was unnecessary) then drove to our second ferry of the day. We had lunch on board, either purchased there or from our earlier stop. Several people had to have an ice cream, including Mick (surprise, surprise), but as he still hadn't finished when we drove off it bought a new dimension to 'Arctic driving'.

We drove through more great scenery onto our third, and final, ferry of the day. Roger, while looking at his broken shock absorber, got approached by a local lady who, it turned out, had a friend with a garage who might be able to help. After a phone call he turned out to be on the same ferry, on his way back from a bike ride! Another local offered to give him and his bicycle a lift back to the garage with Roger following, so, shortly later, Roger had a welded shock absorber and was back on the road again.

We then had a long drive to our final destination, Alta. There was more spectacular scenery, especially when we turned a corner onto a high plateau with a wonderful view of water and mountains, and sunshine! We stopped for a couple of photos, then set off again.

Many of the fjord crossings have elegant bridges across the water. We are constantly surprised by how many people live so far north, and how much has been invested in the local infrastructure. Not only the bridges but also the long tunnels under the mountains. Some tunnels are 5 or 6 kilometres long, yet the roads are almost empty.

Just before Alta we hit a set of major roadworks. The road was rough gravel for several miles, and tough going for the cars. Finally getting onto a real road again we approached another tunnel when we got overtaken by a motorbike. Suddenly a policeman stepped out and we realised it was a speed trap. Luckily for us, plus Alan and Andy whom we had caught up with by that point, there were only two policemen there, so they could only book one vehicle at a time. Later on we learnt that Bjarne was the only one of our group to have got a fine, despite the fact that is was possible several of us had been driving rather faster than the limit.

We were all very happy to arrive at the hotel between 6 and 7 in the evening, and had plenty of time before our 8.30 dinner to wash and enjoy a drink (or two). Dinner was good, and for the first time we had no fish at all: reindeer steaks which tasted slightly livery and were very tender. After dinner we gave Bjarne the results of our whip round to pay his fine, and for the first time he was speechless, for a few moments at least!

Mick and I headed for bed at about 10.40, leaving the others to enjoy further drinks. We have slightly thicker curtains here so are hoping for a better night's sleep.

Total distance travelled today, 289 miles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Friday 26th June

Up fairly sharpish this morning, but very sad to leave our fishing hut. We had even managed to switch on he heating on the previous evening so it was warm in the lounge for an early morning cup of tea.

First stop was the Lofotr Viking museum, where we were shown a replica Viking dwelling based on the finds made by a local farmer when ploughing. The hut was 83 m long and 12 m high, and included general living quarters, a feasting area, workshop and stables for the animals. Our guide told us how, in around 1000 ad the Vikings were united under a single king, but many of them were not happy to relinquish their authority to left to immigrate to Iceland. Around 20% of the population left, taking with them treasures, all possessions, animals and even sometimes the structure of their houses. There is a possibility that the remains found were related to a family known to have settled in Iceland on a large farm there. That farm is still in existence and being farmed by the same family, some 25 generations later. After the serious stuff they let us play with the helmets and swords!

We then had a longish drive to Andoy Friluftssentre for lunch. It was our coldest driving experience of the trip so far, and the hot peppery soup/reindeer stew served when we arrived was very welcome.

After lunch we drove up the outer coast to Andennes, past craggy mountains and a bleak shoreline. There was a large amount of flat land here between mountains and sea, and a large number of installations for tracking satellites, submarines and shipping. We believe much of it was established during the Second World War, but there is now a weather rocket launching station and a visitor space centre.

The sun came out on the last section of the drive, and we almost managed to sun bathe on the boat before departure.

A short drive from the ferry terminal took us to our overnight accommodation at Hamn i Senja, where we were assigned rooms in a wonderful complex of apartments overlooking the fjord. Everyone relaxed with drinks on the terraces before we went to the restaurant for our daily dose of fish. Today we had fish soup, followed by baked cod. Very nice!

Robert decided it was warm enough for a quick swim, a first north of the Arctic circle for him.

After dinner several people decided to stay up and see the midnight sun, but Mick and I disappeared off to bed! Apparently there too many clouds for a good view, but there was the sight of two whales playing in the sea to keep everyone happy.

Miles traveled: 238 on Wednesday (forgot to put it in Wednesday's blog), 188 today.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Thursday 25th June Nusfjord

Today was a non driving day. We left our huts at 9am on four fishing boats. Which boat you were on was decided yesterday by a draw, and we were in team TR4 with 8 Norweigans and two Danes. We were issued with overalls, one piece insulated suits with built in flotation devices, and set out to sea. One boat spent most of the morning watching a whale, then puffins and only caught two fish. Our boat was full of serious fishermen (and women) and a skipper that was good at finding the fish.

We caught mainly scie (not sure what that is in English) and a few cod. Mick caught one cod, weight about 5 kg, while I caught lots of the scie (over 20). Tom on our boat caught a 8.5 kg scie, and won the fishing competition! In all, on our boat, we caught 120 kg of fish!

Our captain gutted some of the fish for us (keeping the cod heads), throwing the remnants over board to the delight of the following sea gulls. We tried a few pieces of fish raw, the rest was added into a cream and leek sauce for fish soup for lunch.

After lunch we all landed at Bunesfjorden where we had coffee and waffles, then went on a guided walk over the headland to another beach. Bjarne and several others had planned on walking up a large peak (1000 ft) next to the beach, but the cloud level was too low, and we were running late as well. The mountains here are very steep and can be dangerous. We were told that two walkers had died a few weeks ago!

At 5pm we were picked up by a faster boat and taken down the fjord to Reine, where we boarded a bus for the hour long trip back round the islands to Nusfjord. Had we gone to Denmark in September for the planned TR meeting we would have seen a model of Reine in Legoland - it has been voted the most picturesque village in Norway!

At 7.30 we all gathered for a drink in the old cod liver oil factory. We were shown how a dried fish was hammered to make the local snack edible and then some of our catch from today was bought in and we were shown how to remove the cod tongues (really the lower jaw), considered a delicacy. The rest of the cod heads are placed on wooden racks and dried outside. Apparently the dried heads are sold to Nigeria where they are ground up and made into a nutrition rich soup.

Our meal this evening was a buffet, which included thin slices of the raw fish we had caught today, served with an oily sauce, then sprinkled with a sesame/wasabi mix. We also had crayfish and lots of other fish dishes, plus lamb shanks and a veg mash - another really good meal. Some of the Norweigans are staying here for a few more days, they have already visited Nordkapp twice, so they said their farewells at the end of the meal.

Tom was presented with a captains hat for his winning catch!

We left our dark, candlelit meal at about 10 pm and were once again surprised to walk out into full daylight! It's another six days at least until we see the sun set.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Wednesday 24th June

We left our hotel this morning, ready for a long drive north.

The scenery was mainly trees and lakes with the occasional mountain popping into view. The road is two lanes only, but is pretty much the equivalent of the M1 in the UK as it is the main road going north (Norway is very narrow up here). Quite a lot of trucks, but also places to overtake, as we did regularly.

After about two and a half hours we reached the Arctic circle, on a plateau and close to the Salfjedden national park. A quick stop for some photos, then we were on our way once again.

All the cars which have had problems were intent on reaching Bodo early so that we could go to the garage which was expecting us, so we went straight to our lunch stop for a very welcome coffee and meal. As we were leaving the others were just arriving, so we waved and sped on our way, together with Dave Burgess in his sickly TR6.

We had no problems finding the garage in Bodo, but a few problems explaining what we needed; an inner tube replacing in our (now) spare wheel. Meanwhile Dave Burgess went off for yet another oil change to see how serious the damage is to his gearbox (he is now driving without using second gear at all). We finally were taken to a place where they could do the job (third stop), and I quickly visited a huge shop to see if we could buy some long johns. No luck, they had been removed from the shelves as it is summer, and the wrong season for buying warm clothing!
At around 4.30 we all congregated at the ferry terminal ready for our crossing to Moskenes at 5.45. Bjarne arrived with a local reporter who proceeded to interview me and Mick as we were driving the oldest car.

The ferry was slightly late leaving, but it didn't really matter. It took three and a half hours to reach the Lofoten Islands, then another hour to drive to our lodging at Nusfjord.

The road was wonderful!! I lost track of how many islands we crossed, nor how many picturesque wooden houses we saw. Sadly the clouds were quite low, and we only got an occasional feel for how high the mountains around us were.

At Nusfjord we received our key to rorbu 10, our fishing hut for the next two nights. We have two bedrooms, a draughty lobby area where we can see through the floorboards to the rock and sea below, a bathroom and a wonderful kitchen living area, complete with fridge and kettle.

We quickly moved our bags in, then joined everyone in the Karoline restaurant for our evening meal. We had whale ham, followed by blokstog, a meal made from semi dried cod, then pud. One of our best meals yet, and beautifully presented on the plates. We headed back to our hut at half past midnight, and had to take a photo to show how light it was. No twilight here, it's just light all night.

Posted with Blogsy

Tuesday 23rd June

We had a tour of the old part of the hotel last night. It used to be the mansion house of a local business man who was like a little king in the area. Fascinating house, full of mod cons circa 1880.

Left the hotel at around 8.30 this morning ready for the drive to yet another ferry. Several of the group left earlier to join in a guided tour of the Austratt Fort containing an enormous German gun installed during the Second World War, but not finished in time. Mick joined in on the second half of the tour, then we all left ready for the drive north to our lunch stop, Berg Gard.

Part of the route in the morning was on a dirt track road, and as soon as we turned onto it we managed to run over a nail and get a flat tire. With Mark and V's help the wheel was changed speedily, though we still arrived rather late for what was a delicious lunch at a farm house.

Then it was a long drive up the E6 towards Mosjoen. For the first time on the trip we had rain, and the temperature was significantly colder. Mick had to resort to his full hat and sheepskin jacket before the rain got severe enough for us to put up the roof.

Arriving at the Fru Haugans hotel we found that other people had also had car problems today: a TR6 had had a puncture, Roger had problems with his shock absorber and Dave had possible gear box problems, and got attacked by his wind screen wiper so badly that he had to go to hospital and have 4 stitches in his finger.

Total distance today: 313 miles

 

Posted with Blogsy