Country: Norway
Distance travelled:
Weather: Blustery cold rain

We were to have no luck with the weather today. I woke to rain on the roof encouraging me to stay in bed until 9am when we could hear our little carpark getting more active. Some time was spent getting the van back in order since the washing was festooned about the place but eventually we decided that there wasn’t enough room for the three motorhomes already squeezed in with us so we left.

There was quite a cold gusty wind blowing and the rain seemed reluctant to ease. We drove to Leknes where we managed to top up our depleted fresh water tank and then headed out to Eggum. I had read that Eggum is a picturesque location with great views of the midnight sun and since today is the Summer Solstice, I hoped we might manage to see the sun fail to dip below the horizon. Upon arrival, it was found that there was an entrance fee of 20kr to the area which had the feel of a National Park. Alternatively we could pay 100kr to stay overnight in their very windswept carpark.

Since the rain hadn’t let up, we decided to pay the 20kr access fee and forgo staying the night. There would be nothing to see with the weather the way it was and we could find a quiet carpark out of the wind later on. We had lunch, Mark watched some movies, I caught up a little on the blog and played some computer games. At about 5pm, the rain had eased a little so we went for a walk. It was still blowing quite a gale, so rugging up with beanie and gloves, we set off.

Lake at Eggum

High cliffs on our left led down to a lake and then to the sea. The track led along a causeway between the two around a headland. I was staring out to sea, watching the waves break over rocks, when Mark spotted an animal scampering across the road in the distance ahead of us. Quickly craning my neck, as it had reached the long grass by the time I turned, I was excited to see another otter! It was smaller than the one we had seen while on the Isle of Islay but no doubt about it. We watched as it ran down to the waters’ edge, disturbing a flock of seagulls on the way. I tried to catch it on the camera but of course with the lens I had, there was no chance.

Further along the path we came across a sculpture I had read about on another blog called ‘Head’. A rather clever piece which looks like a head either correct way up or upside down depending on your point of view. I’m not a big fan of sculpture generally but I quite liked this. We turned back to the van at this point as the cold wind was getting a bit much and neither of us were in the mood for a long hike.

Shore line at Eggum

As we headed back to Borg and a ‘car park tolerating overnight parking’ marked in Autoroute, we spotted a large relatively level area across from the Lofotan Motorsport Centre and swiftly pulled in. I had a lovely view of the clouds blocking the sunset for the rest of the evening. The rain had eased but the sky was still blanketed by the time we conceded defeat at 12.30am and went to sleep although it was still light enough to read by outside.

Overnight near Lofotan Motorsport Centre