31 May E41 A few notes on the trip so far

We are really enjoying our trip through Norway.  We have been very lucky with the weather for the last week and until today every day has been warm or hot with clear blue skies and very light winds.  The scenery is a non stop source of breath taking ‘oohs and aahs’.
Something that has impressed itself upon us the most is the quality and duration of daylight.  After more than a week in ‘near 24 hour daylight’ we still find it a complete novelty to go to bed late in the evening yet with bright daylight outside!  Tonight (Saturday 31st May) in Bodø the sun does not set until 01:20 and then rises at 01:40, so of course it doesn’t really set at all!   It’s weird!  The colour of the sky is also very different to what we are used to in the UK.  There is a certain ‘purity’ to the depth and colour that is difficult to describe.
The position of the sun in the sky also feels very strange.  Instead of rising and reaching a high point at local noon as it does in the UK, the sun appears to slide across the horizon all day, never really getting very high but staying there all the time.  The shadows at noon are quite long and the light changed little in intensity between mid afternoon and ‘late evening’.
All this of course is playing havoc with our time perception!
Fishing! ………ah yes, fishing.  This is becoming a new obsession for us.  We have been moderately successful over the last week and have enjoyed a few tasty meals of Cod and Saith (Coalfish).  In fact we are now a little too choosy and release any fish that is ‘not big enough to fill two dinner plates’ back in the water (get us!).  So now the first thing we do when arriving in a new area is check out the best place to fish before we get on with the more serious matter of sight seeing!
Another little surprise, well perhaps I should say BIG SHOCK is the price of food.  Apart from a few things most food is two to four times the price of food in the UK.  Milk for example…..£1.50 per litre, bananas £2.30 per Kilo, a loaf of bread about £3 or so, a standard bar of chocolate £3.50, a 150g bag of crisps £3 to £4………………you get the idea!
It is a good job we stocked up in Sweden with as much stuff we could store and keep fresh for a month!  We are also becoming expert bakers of bread and cakes…….ooh yummy!
I hope that this blog does get to you before we get back as internet on out phone is slow and intermittent and wifi appears to be as rare as cheap milk over here!
Tomorrow (1st June) we are taking the ferry across to the Lofoten Islands.  I am hoping that in the morning I might be able to ‘send’ all the past weeks blog updates to Blogger.
Let’s hope so, bye for now
G

31 May E40 Storvik to Bodø

Our night stop last night was in a picnic site overlooking this harbour….

One of the many barns that we have seen but no yet photographed (until now).  They all have solid ramps halfway up (?)

Stopped for coffee here (no wind, 21c, blue sky………nice!)

A ‘drive by’ photo….


Now this is where we stayed in the ‘Saltstraumen’ which is the sea inlet to Skjerstadfjord.

Every six hours or so 400 million cubic metres of water pass through this gap into the Skjerstadfjord at speeds of up to 20 knots forming huge overfalls and whirlpools.  It is the worlds strongest maelstrom and an impressive sight to see...
one of the whirlpools forming

and just below the Saltstraumen Bridge we spotted this grass roofed house………cute.

29 May E39 Jetkvik to Storvik

Our first night stop in the Arctic circle (this IS night time!)

Having a cheeky glass of vino (imported from Spain by us..haha)

and in the morning (today) we awoke to this………..

Then our last ferry journey on the Kystriksveien coastal road from Ågskardet to Forøy started from here (just look at the colour of the water!)

Our first ‘glimpse’ of the Svartisen Glacier, which is the 2nd largest in Norway

a few miles along the road we spotted this glacial calving (ice river to you and me!)

in close up!

After driving through a 7600 metre long tunnel (!) we drove up a rather precarious service road to the Holmvass Dam.  This turned out to be along another really steep (and I do mean really steep!) service tunnel only to find out that the road was closed at the top due to snow!   See photo below….haha

but the view looking back down the road was impressive...

28 May E38 Nesna to Jetkvik

The last two days have been quite epic.  The scenery is becoming difficult to describe without running out of superlatives!

 

Grahame stood in the middle of a WW2 German Fortress at Grønsvik

and in the middle of one of the 4 massive 155mm bore canon sites

one of the many many breathtaking views….

and another...

This little harbour at Kilboghamn was our launching point into the Arctic…….. !

At the base of this mountain is the ‘Arctic Globe’ which marks the crossing of the Arctic Circle (N66,33)

In close up (well sort of)

The two happy and rather excitable ‘Arctic Explorers’………  as they cross the line

Oh, another fantastic view….

27 May E37 Horn to Nesna

From Horn we spent a couple of days making our way to Nesna.  The weather began to improve and by Tuesday it was positively tropical! (well, about 21 degrees centigrade)

Cute harbour of the day…….

This bridge is the Helgeland Bridge and is one of the worlds largest cable stayed bridges with a total span of 1065 metres and has been voted Norways most beautiful bridge (well we liked it anyway!)

 

Night stop at the harbour in Levang

Approaching Nesna harbour……...

Where we stayed here…… and caught a couple of tasty cod here too!

25 May E36 Holm to Horn

At long last…… we spotted an Elk (Moose) !

The view from our nightstop on Saturday …..

Coming into Vennesund harbour on the ferry…..

Walking up a unique geological feature in the Torghatten mountain (a big hole 160 metres long through to the other side)

The view from the other side...

A typical view around these parts

And THIS is the first Cod that Grahame caught on Sunday at Horn ferry terminal (we actually caught 5 Coalfish and two cod that we kept plus a few more that were too small to eat.  Katy also caught a Redfish)

The view from our van as the sun set

and just look at this!!

23 May E35 Norway!

Leaving Sweden this was our first view of Norway...

And we were greeted by these reindeer….

How about this for a picnic site (on the Kystriksveien Coastal Route)

This inter island ferry took us from Lund to Hofles

The harbour at Hofles

and this is the one fish we caught today, apparently it is a Coalfish…….(we cooked it and it was yummy)

22 May E34 'no blog for a while?'

Hi guys, we are in the tourist office in Gädedde just before crossing into Norway.  Now due to the modern wonders and complications around mobile telephones and internet access we might not be able to update this blog for a while! (may 4 or 5 weeks actually).  We will try to see if we can buy a Norwegian SIM card or maybe get internet access over wifi here and there.

Otherwise we will be available to call or text on our UK mobile no.  This will cost you the same as UK or nothing at all if you have inclusive minutes or text on your phones!

 

Our plan is to drive the Coast road from Stinkjer to Bodø then unto to Nordkapp for midsummers day.  The days are already very long here but actually is did not get dark last night at all!

 

Land of the Midnight Sun here we come!

 

Bye for now xx

22 May E33 Sweden to Norway

On our way from Östersund to Norway we drove along the ‘Wilderness Road’ from Strömsund to Gädedde near the Norwegian border.  Half way along we night stopped here……...

with this view…….

and the facility to do this…… :)

 

one of the views along the way….

then today we saw wild reindeer (much excitement in the Connolly team!)

 

And lastly just before leaving Gädedde we wondered about buying a Skidoo or a boat!  haha