Country: Norway
Distance travelled:
Weather: Rain clearing by afternoon

We must have slept ourselves out since we we both awake by 8.30am today. Mark stubbornly stayed in bed a while longer but even he had to admit it was time for breakfast eventually. We were hoping to catch the ferry to the Lofotan Islands this afternoon and had to get fuel, water and LPG and attend to the full grey water tank and toilet cassette before then.

It was only a relatively short drive from our overnight stop near Rognan to Bodø where the ferry terminal was and we managed to attend to all these chores as well as take a side trip to see the Saltstraumen Maelstrom, the worlds largest tidal current.

According to Wikipedia:
The Saltstraumen has the strongest tidal current in the world. Up to 400,000,000 cubic metres of seawater forces its way through a 3 km long and 150m wide strait every six hours, with water speeds reaching 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph). Vortices known as whirlpools or maelstroms up to 10 metres in diameter and 5 metres in depth are formed when the current is at its strongest. The current is created when the tide tries to fill the Skjerstadfjorden. The height difference between the sea level and the fjord inside can be up to 1m.

The days’ weather which had started out with more dreary rain had a brief attempt at excitement by hailing on us and then gave up and resorted to almost sunny by the time we were parked in the queue for the ferry. Much to the confusion of the lady selling the tickets we took the longer trip. We could have left at 6.30pm for a roughly four hour trip direct to Moskenes but opted to catch the 4.30pm boat which travels via Røst and Værøy, taking over seven hours in total. It was the attraction of seeing these smaller islands, even if just from the deck of the ferry that drew us and the price was the same, so why not?

Initially the boat trip took us out past a collection of small islands scattered off the coast from Bodø but we had reached the open sea after about an hour and the ferry began to roll and pitch with a disturbing rhythm. I was able to ignore it for a while but eventually resorted to trying to sleep through it. Four hours after our departure, we reached the small island of Røst. Any intestinal disturbances were quickly forgotten as we braved the brisk arctic wind to take a few photos and see what was there to be seen.

A few people had disembarked and a few joined us as we set out again for Værøy not quite two hours sailing away. I had dashed down to the car deck to grab some stuff in the pause at Røst and we were endeavoring to entertain ourselves when the ferry, heading north now instead of west, seemed to want to wallow with a bit more enthusiasm on this stretch of sea. A few cups and saucers slid off tables, a crash of china from the kitchen and a few other groans from the bowels of the ship had us looking at each other askance. We both went back to sleep, better not to think about it. Værøy wasn’t worth the effort it took us to rug up and trudge back outside on arrival looking rather more industrial from the ferry deck than quaint Røst. It’s a larger island though so perhaps beyond the harbour area it would have been better.

There was a much larger contingent of people boarding at Værøy, most sounding and looking like a French hiking group, and as the boat headed back to sea, the crew started the safety talk about life jackets and hypothermia suits. The explanations would have made more sense with a diagram. Now we were really concerned. Was it just because of the extra people? Or was the weather getting worse? I had visions of the van bouncing its way around the car deck in the rolling seas and all our gear tumbling out of cupboards. The people around us chatted away and we went back to sleep.

After another hour and a half of pitching, we finally docked at Moskenes. Making our way to the van, where I was relieved to see everything just where we had left it, we headed back onto dry land. A short drive south to Å (yes, really) and we were parked up in a carpark, one in a crowd of many.

NB: I just want to mention that in the last few days I have seen tulips everywhere both in private gardens and in municipal plantings. We may have missed the tulips in the Netherlands but they are still flowering in Norway!