2011-08-14 -- 18: Lofoten in our hearts

We arrived to Lofoten by ferry from Bodö. The weather reports had predicted that it could be a bit rough on the sea, but we had a wonderful crossing with calm water and sun. We arrived at the most westerly part of Lofoten, in the small town of Moskenes.

As dried fish is a very important part of Lofoten culture and business, we decided to visit a museum that specialised in that area.

It was an interesting visit, and also the way to serve cookies was a bit different.

The car has been working very well for us so far, but here we had some problems with the drainage. Mats made a temporary repair.

It was very easy to find good places to spend the night. Every night we spent close to the water with amazing views.

You find sheep everywhere on Lofoten islands, so you drive very carefully.

The last day at Lofoten we went for a whale safari. A well organised trip with very good information.

We were soooo lucky and had the warmest day so far this summer, sun and no wind.

On top of that, there were a lot of whales. We saw 8! All of them sperm whales.
Wikipedia info about sperm whale: Wikipedia_Sperm_whale.
It was a fantastic experience to see these huge (up to 20 meters) animals catching air and dive back to hunt for giant squid and fish.

The day after the whale safari we left Lofoten as we arrived - by ferry. The ferry from Andenes to the island of Senja was enjoyable, as we once more had wonderful weather. We really loved Lofoten with its friendly people and fantastic nature - a place to come back to, and spend more time!










Some more pictures from Lofoten: NordicTripPart3

2011-08-05 -- 13: Nordic trip part 2, Höga Kusten to Bodö, Norway.

After saying goodbye to our young ones in Gävle, we continued to Höga Kusten (High Coast). We passed the famous Höga Kusten bridge, which is kind of a port to this beautiful area when you drive from the south.

To avoid traffic and enjoy the drive fully, we selected smaller roads. After many days of beautiful weather, it is now and then rainy, but the drive is still very scenic.

Höga kusten ends at Umeå, and here we took a left turn and started driving E12 or Blå Vägen (Blue Road) as it is called. The road follows the river Ume älv, and is really beautiful. The fishing in the area is suppose to be very good, so we tried our luck a couple of times without any luck. We are a little bit more lucky when it comes to picking blueberries.

More or less every night we spent next to a river in the wilderness.

We had a overnight stop in Tärnaby - the village that produced top skiers like Ingemar Stenmark, Anja Persson and Stig Strand. From Tärnaby we headed towards the border to Norway. Our first destination in Norway is Svartisen - a glacier north of Mo i Rana. We used the road signs and ended up in a camping just next to a lake with a fantastic view to the glacier. There was a small ferry that offered transportation to the other side of the lake, but we decided to let our GPS (Gertrud) find the roads to Svartisen glacier. Our GPS didn´t make it, and Svartisen is still an illusion for us.

We stopped at the Arctic Circle monument for a short brake, before we continued towards Bodö and the ferry to Lofoten.
 











Some more pictures: NordicTripPart2

2011-07-30 -- 08-04: Nordic trip part 1, Stockholm.

We have since a couple of months planned a trip in northern Sweden, northern Norway and Finland from north to south. Our plan is not very fixed, and we might change route when we go along

For that purpose we rented a RV (mobile home) for six weeks. The RV is a well maintained Fiat Swift 10+ years old with plenty of space for us two. It actually has the ability to sleep 6. Most of the first week we are very happy to have Anne´s newly wed daughter Mikaela and her husband Johan on board, so the extra space comes in handy.

We all looked forward to see Stockholm, and we were blessed with fantastic weather all the time. Our base was a camping on the island Långholmen, just 20 minutes walk from the beautiful Old Town of Stockholm. As soon as we arrived we put on the walking shoes and headed for the Old Town to meet our friend Joakim and have a couple of beers, and maybe something good to eat. Joakim know Norway rather well, and had a lot of good advice. We decided to include Lofoten in our route.

The second day in Stockholm was planned  for a full day on  Djurgården. Gröna Lund was the main attraction, but we also managed to visit Aquaria and spend time in the Old Town and the Royal castle before we walked back to Långholmen.

Barbeque on the beach of Långholmen - can it be better?

The next day we walked the beautiful Norr Mälarestrand to get to city. We visited Hötorget with its vegetable stands, passed Sergels torg and spend some time at the Pride festival in Kungsträdgården. The main attraction for the afternoon was a steam boat trip to Waxholm, with stops along the way. We had the fortune to meet a couple that new a lot about the area, and pointed out all the interesting places we passed, making the trip even more enjoyable. We had a wonderful meal on the boat going back to Stockholm.

Johan had decided to do ONE thing while he was in Stockholm, and that was to eat the most spicy hot dog in the world. As Johan is a very intelligent man, we had some difficulties to understand how he could choose to do something sooooo stupid. We decided to keep him company and support him anyway. The picture speaks for itself - please note that it was mandatory to use plastic gloves!

"The after picture".











Some more pictures from Stockholm: NordicTripPart1