`In search of the perfect photo...`

LOFOTEN ISLANDS (NORWAY)

I left Trondheim about lunchtime, the day after my massive bender and was feeling a little sore and sorry for myself. However, the prospect of a 18 hour boat ride on the Hurtigruten (Kong Harald), northbound to Bodö did provide me with the consolation that there would be plenty of time to recover. I must say that the trip wasn't the most exciting thing I have ever done - the weather was pretty ordinary and hence there wasn't a whole heap of magnificent scenery. However, I used the opportunity to catch up on some sleep, just chill out and watch TV, update my diary (which was about a month behind) and meet some other travellers. Also, I seemed to consume an enormous quantity of food, which tends to happen when there isn't a lot to do. The boat was dominated by 60-70 year old Germans although there were a few Spanish and Italian groups too, which I spent some time talking with - which helped to pass the time.

I slept on one of the couches in the main lounge on deck 7 - one of 2 poor backpackers who didn't want to fork out the money for a cabin. Still it was comfortable enough. Passed through the arctic circle in the early hours of the morning and then got into Bodö about lunchtime the next day and spent the rest of the day just checking out the town - which was quite nice, even though there was a fair bit of low lying cloud around. Camped in the backyard of the local youth hostel that night, but managed to smuggle a mattress and pillow into my tent at night and had probably my most comfortable night's camping ever. Also met some nice backpackers at the hostel - a few Germans, a pom and a handfull of others.

Left Bodö the next day on a ferry to Moskenes in the Lofoten Islands. Surprisingly the weather changed from pretty poor to quite good over the course of trip and when I arrived I dumped my bags straight away and spent most of the day wandering around - soaking up the sun and getting some good photos. On my way south to a small town called Å, I met some nice Italians who were spending about 10 days looking around the islands as part of some organised group holiday. They were kind enough to invite me around to their cabin for dinner that night and after finding a top spot next to a lake to pitch my tent (for free !) I gathered about half a kilo of blueberries that were growing naturally around the place - my contribution to dinner. Met a crazy Russian who was camping close by and then arrived for dinner. VERY ITALLIAN ! Heaps of food, lots of noise and good fun... Everyone was very kind and I was surprised at how well a number of them could speak english.

Departed to bed quite late and was awoken quite early by the 'pitter-patter' of rain. The rain settled in for the whole day, which meant it was very depressing. Thankfully I was able to hang out with the Italian crew in their warm, dry cabin. Played cards, more updates of the diary and then whenever the rain stopped (which lasted for about 10 minutes before it started pouring again) I tried to duck out and check out more of the surrounding area. A pretty abismal day, but not completely wasted and at least I managed to avoid spending it alone in my tent. That night it was another dinner with the Italians - the boys had also invited a number of local girls for dinner, which ended up being quite hillarious for a number of reasons.

Firstly, they had thought that 5 or 6 girls were comming and had spent most of the day saying 'cinque bara sei' (5 or 6). However, when only 3 of them showed up, a number of us took great delight in repeating the line as much as we could. Secondly, many of the boys seemed to have brushed over the fact that only a handful of the group could understand or speak english very well at all. Given that none of them spoke Swedish or Norweigan and none of the girls they had invited spoke Italian, the need for translators (or ambassadors as the boys referred to the role) was apparent. So, I along with a few others spent most of the night trying to translate things back and forth between the 2 parties, which was pretty hilarious because I ended up talking to the girls more than the Italian boys did, which frustrated them immensely. However, the message seemed to be conveyed with them understanding my spanish-italian mixture most of the time.

The food was once again great and it was definately an experience. A few of them headed out after dinner to a small pub a few kilometers down the road but I decided to hit the sack. Thankfully there was room on the couch in one of the cabins so after making a quick dash through the rain to pack up belongings and the tent, I returned, laid everything out to dry and then got some quality sleep (alot better I'm sure than if I had been in my tent !)

The next day, we parted as the Italian group headed to another Island to the south by ferry and I trundled my way north towards Narvik. Caught a bus to Svolvaer and whilst there were a few nice towns along the way, most of them were very similar and it was good to finally arrive in a town with more than 1 shopping centre and some other basic infrastructure. Finding accommodation proved to be the biggest hurdle in Svolvaer, however I managed to convince a German couple that they could let me sleep on their floor (using a spare mattress) and pay something towards the room. The weather improved markedly in the afternoon and so I made the most of the sunshine by just wandering around and taking in some more of the nice scenery the place had to offer. After a nice warm dinner I managed to semi-decent sleep until I was awoken by the Germans departing at 6am !

Lazed around in the morning and after some emailing and a little more sightseeing, it started to rain so I went to the tourist office to find out when I could leave. Unfortunately this turned out to be the next day- major bummer ! There was no accommodation to be found (well nothing for a reasonable price) and there was no way I was camping in the rain, so I 'borrowed' the largest book in english which I could find in the library, acquired a couple of cushions from seats outside a local restaurant and then shacked up in a relatively dry and warm patio outside one of the main town buildings (away from prying eyes thank goodness as I don't think the townspeople would have approved of my 'vagabond' ways). Pretty much read continuously for 18 hours, with a few breaks for eating - didn't move at all and needless to say, the rain kept falling. Feeling pretty rude and tired the next morning I dragged myself off to the ferry and finished my book on the 3 hour ride to Narvik. Definately an experience and as my Mum said, at least now I know what it is like to be a refugee !

Narvik was a nice little town - one of the primary ports shipping out iron ore from the large mine in Kiruna, Sweden (not that I really cared so much given my state at the time). Located the nearest youth hostel and crashed for a few hours, checked my mail and then watched some TV. Unfortunately the weather was much the same as in the Lofoten Islands so that didn't exactly lift my spirits. Wasn't in the mood for going out (even though it was a Friday night) and took a well earned and needed early night. The next morning I grabbed the earliest possible train to Sweden, hoping to finally escape the crappy Norweigan weather - which for the record I managed to do.

Norway was certainly a spectacular country and at times when the weather was kind, I got some amazing photos. The fjord area around Geiranger and Ålesund along with the Lofoten Islands were definately the highlights... However, the poor weather and high costs of everything made the trip a lot less enjoyable unfortunately and I am convinced that the country would be best attacked in short 1-2 week trips rather than in longer bursts. Still I'm glad that I had the chance to finally see it for myself and I have no doubt that I will return at some stage in the future to check out a few places that I didn't manage to visit this time.

Photos 1-2: Hurtigruten ship which I took from Trondheim to Bodö.