It’s been a couple of days without internet, and mostly spent heading on down towards Trondheim. We have managed to fit in a couple of stops as we meander southwards, including Mo I Rana. Heads up all other Info centres: Mo I Rana has a great scheme going that when you visit the Info Centre the delightful assistants give you a park for free card, valid for 2 days. Hmmm – chances of anyone picking up on this?
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Overnight in the carpark at the railway station was free, quiet, and provided some entertainment watching construction workers piling concrete pipes. As expected, level 3 put too much pressure on level 2, which had level 1 rolling off across the road …
A highlight of the week has been the Setergrotta, caves north of Mo i Rana. Two sets of caves, with the family version having the conventional coloured lights etc. Setergrotta, however, does it au natural, making this a fantastic experience. Even better, we were with a great young guide, a Dutch family, and German tourist – this lot had all come down from Nordkapp. Weather descriptions (snow in August) left us feeling glad we had decided to spend more time in the Lofotens rather than add an extra 1500km roundtrip. The kids in the tour were a hoot, taking off like weasels down a hole, leaving us to follow a lot more cautiously … with the regular ‘tack tack’ as Niki’s helmet connected the roof. A great 2 hour tour – we can certainly feel it the next day.
Amateur SpelunkersUnderground river courseChildbirth was tough, but this …6’5″ through the letterbox
Currently we are in great little carpark off the main road to Trondheim – and not planning on getting out the van – Oh, except that Niki has to get the levellers under the wheels, so we’ll have a drowned rat in here shortly J The day has seen continuous (like really, non-stop) alternating between raining hard and being torrential. Niki is going through her ‘I love the van’ bit, even though there are no tents around to add to the comparative delight!
Tats have a long history in Norway …Shell Garage, Mo i RanaSome more saggy than others 🙂Niki & Richard
And here’s our last blogs cousin, ready to take off on the next leg …
Yesterday evening brought one of those moments. We were playing backgammon, looking over the fjord to Svartisen glacier, when the sea began to boil in immense circles. This was followed by a festival of leaping predatory fish – I’m presuming salmon, and then, to cap it, a sea eagle takes flight and stoops for a catch. Seagulls didn’t let it get away too easily though, and mobbed it back to shore. Between the glacier, the ripple free fjord with its reflections of mountains and ice… wow!
Svartisen Glacier
We’ve taken advantage of an absolutely stunning morning – blue skies, temperatures up to 16°C, no wind … to do a bit of cycling. So we’ve packed up at our amazing free site overlooking the Svartisen glacier, and driven 11km to Halsa. Parked at the church, took the bikes down, and did a 60km loop down to Vassdalsvik, which is another little ferry station in an area simply littered with them. The area is marked as an outstanding Natural Landscape, and was well worth the effort.
VassdalsvikEngavågenOne of the numerous Artist sites
Got back to the van a little knackered, then took off for our 10 minute ferry ride from Forøy to Ågskardet, another 2 km and we are now parked off next to a lovely lake and, again, all by ourselves. This stretch has been so much quieter than the Lofotens, and none of the jostling for sites that characterised some afternoons there.
Rain forecast for the next few days which will determine a bit as to what is planned. Definitely some caving at Mo I Rana, with a walk or two, and perhaps some rafting a little further south – although at these costs 1 out of 2 is pretty good! Meantime, the Navigator stays two-dimensionally tuned:
Last – I knew Border Collies were clever, but this is ridiculous!
We’ve had a slow meander down the Helgaland Coast, which is, I’m almost sorry to say, breathtaking! There’s just no downtime from the scenic beauty …
The weather has definitely closed in. We are now at 6°C and rugged up in jackets. Before that, however, we took an inadvertent hike … We parked at our overnight stop at the base of Holmvassdam after a very interesting drive up what seemed to be a single lane. Getting through the tunnels on the way up proved equally entertaining, and Niki was good enough to keep her eyes open and film one small section. Anyway, after parking, and in a light drizzle, we put on light raincoats for a 10 minute walk to the top of the dam wall. Looking up to the left we could see a saddle that looked to be accessible, and with a glacier peeking out of the cloud, and, by now, heavier rain. Fortified by another couple who looked eager for a walk we took off, skirting a small river plunging down from the glacial edge and scrambling over various rocks, streams, muddy banks etc, to arrive at the edge of Norway’s 2nd largest glacier, Svartisen. What a sight, made all the better for not having planned this at all! So, drenched, frozen, and very pleased with ourselves, we stumbled back home.
Svartisen Glacier
Svartisen Glacier
Summit – Svartisen Glacier
Chilly! With wet gear now strewn over the seats we turned on the Truma gas heaters which got us to a living temperature in no time flat – and made for a good overnight in the back end of nowhere.
Campsite: HolmvassdamView from HolmvassdamView from Holmvassdam
The weather had cleared a bit, but without internet access, and no detailed maps, we decided to give the planned Corbels Canyon a miss. Did take some photos of rocks to compensate a bit!
So we’ve settled down for the afternoon at the info/informal van overnight site at Holand, with a classic view of the same Svartisen glacier, but much further down the road. The glacier is 400sqkm! With the weather closing in again I’m glad we skipped our planned walk – cold rain, fog, no map … we know how those stories end. Nevertheless, the view out our van door is not too bad. And our Glacial Day continued …
Svartisen GlacierView from our front door 🙂
Clever Niki has sorted out our internet woes, hopefully until we get our data plan card – bought in Germany, shipped to Denmark, and now waiting for us in the UK. Ah, missing the carrier pigeons… In any case, we are now able to better plan a couple of days ahead. Niki seems to do so by looking for convenient dumping stations – surely there’s better ways of planning a route that from toilet to toilet?
Getting over to Bodø was a breeze, with a really flat (almost) passage. Out of Bodø and on to Saltstraumen . not a moment to waste – Oh, apart from the 600NOK PARKING TICKET!!! I certainly did not budget for a speeding fine (France) followed by parking tickets. That’s €120 down the drain – and to think we take our time to compare the /kg price for a loaf of bread!
Salstraumen was quite spectacular, with the sea rising against a narrow neck in the fjord caising enormous pressures and a current in excess of 35km/hour – and a fisherman’s paradise! My photos were awefull, so take a moment to check out these!
The weather has definitely taken a turn for the worse, and we are taking full advantage of the driving rain, howling wind, and 12C temperatures to catch up on washing, getting a couple of decent stews and soups done (thanks Cosori), battery charging etc. Most important, we are setting up the next few days of things to do – Thank to great internet service here at Reipa campsites.
So, what’s coming up? With some better weather on the horizon, we are looking to do some steps (Fykantrappe), walk on a karst plateau (Corbels Canyon), overnighting at Holmvassdamme, walking to Norway’s second largest glacier (Svartisen), and then ending off with some caving (Setergrotta). Certainly after all of that we’ll be needing a holiday!
A completely different landscape from Lofoten, but just absolutely stunning. Driving through the rain today, looking at hillsides erupting with waterfalls from every nook & cranny – WOW!
Looking back – a short video clip from one day in the Lofotens … and a soundtrack that may well summarise our present condition!
The Russians arrive! I’ve had an interesting hour or two watching a Russian invasion force, consisting of two families, prepare for something – time will tell. Looking surreptitiously out of my window – they are Russian, after all – I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s possibly a good thing that Eisenhower organised the D-Day landings, or we might still be waiting. Unopened boxes from Amazon, I’m certain containing high-tech camping gear, interspersed with a number of overnight essentials, including numerous 2L bottles of Coca Cola and Aparol (surely not as a mixer!!), 8 sleeping rolls (for 5 people – whose the softie then?), obligatory leopard skin rug, disposable BBQ, BBQ in a box, camping stove, camping stove in a case … If they return I’m going to hire them to repack our van as all this stuff has simply poured out of two little cars – together with the quite large people. They’ll surely find ways and means of increasing our possible load – I can see canned vegetables in the air filter, salami in the wheel arches. And speaking of salami, why would 6 people pack 13 large salamis – has cholesterol not been an issue spoken of north of the Arctic Circle? The last (fit-looking) couple who returned from the foray over the ridge (looks more cliff-like in reality to the map on the notice-board) looked exhausted. I’m seriously considering using my €30 credit on my German phone to pre-emptively call out rescue services. I am heartened to see that many meters of potential life line is currently being used to tie various swinging bits to very small backpacks. I think some folks will be learning lessons involving inertia and momentum as all this gear begins to gyrate wildly with every step.
Sneakyphoto
Perhaps not the best packed crew …
We had a lovely morning, waking in our lay-by off the E10 with a beautiful view of an inlet, and all to ourselves. Traffic during the night seemed to tail off, or else we just had a great night’s sleep.
Not a bad view?
5 meters from the E10
View from the campervan
We took off on our bikes down to Nusfiord. What a cycle ride! Huge cliffs surround you as you cycle along a very good, albeit narrow road, and with very little change in elevation, or at least not enough to bother the motors! Nusfiord itself was beautiful, ochre huts on stilts over the clearest of water. Unfortunately, entry to the little harbour costs 75NOK each, to see an old bakery and the ever-present museum/art gallery. I believe this section has been bought and the owner is looking to recoup costs – fair call, but then there should be some payback in the form of adequate parking. I was intensely sympathetic when a car, obviously from Poland’s great plains, looked at the steep entry/exit to the carpark, revved like Indianapolis, and left tire tracks all along the path. Even more sympathetic when watching a couple reversing their campervan into a parked car! Lesson learned – reverse with your windows open so that you can hears cries of distress as you near, and then engage, parked cars.
Entering Nusfiord
MUCH steeper in reality!
Cabins for rent, €260
What a cycle ride!
Nusfiord was, I’m sorry to say, one of those places that Norway Tourism has simply oversold. It’s pretty, colourful, scenically located – but that’s good enough with gushing. In any case, a short drive brought us to Fredvang on the north coast of the largest of the Lofoten Islands, Moskenesøya, and only about 34km from Å, our end point. As you can see from the photos of the bridges – space for one car only, on a hump-backed bridge so steep you can’t see if anything is coming towards you. Living on the edge, we are! Stunning beach, with water warmer than New Zealand’s in summer, or at least until I got knee deep! Blinding white sand backed by stupendous cliffs and, out seeward, islands. What’s not to like. Not sure what Norway Tourism could do to this lot, but I’m hoping they leave it alone!
Really, really don’t want to reverse
Space for one.
We are camped out in a field for 50NOK, which includes interesting toilet facilities. The toilet is raised on a platform, so that the toilet itself is level with both the windows in the wall alongside, and the windows in the door. Clearly it’s important that the throne occupant has an adequate view of their world, and at the same time affording all in the vicinity to observe that the throne is, indeed, occupied.
Contented-Campers.com 