We get up early today because we want as much sunlight as possible for our big day of driving down the Lofoten islands and back. The plan for the day was to drive all the way to Å and back. In case it’s not obvious, Å is the name of a town on the southern tip of the island. It’s also the southernmost end of the E10 road. Additionally, we have two bonus destinations that Peter, our kayak tour guide from yesterday, recommended. We plan to slip them in along the way.
We’re on the road by 8:30. Our first deviation from the E10 is to take the 815 which is a coastal route along the southern edge of Vestvågøy (that’s the name of the island). It makes for a beautiful drive and we make frequent stops to take pictures along the way. Dawn pointed that whenever you see a car pulled over by the side of the road here, the reason is almost always that the driver had to pull over to stop and take photos. You see these views while driving…. and you feel compelled to try and capture them.
The 815 rejoins the E10 around Leknes, and we punch in our first bonus destination for the day: Uttakleiv. At this point we have no idea what Uttakleiv is, only that we should go and see it. The drive there takes us along some pretty narrow back roads. I’m doing better with the roads today. I think it’s been good to give myself a chance to get a feel for the rental car and the roads before doing our day long driving excursion. It’s still stressful at times. Sometimes the roads on the islands are two lane roads with lines and everything. More often than not, they are roads with no central line marking….and it’s technically possible to pass a car going the other way if you both are over as far as possible. And that’s on the E10… which is the “main road.” On the back roads the lane is only a single car width wide with these bulges from time-to-time to enable you to figure out how to get around oncoming traffic. Keep in mind that these roads are being used but cars, campers, RVs, buses, and semis…. Add in the blind corners, and blind summits…. And that makes for some stressful driving. At times I would chant “no bus, no bus, no bus” as I rounded a blind curve on a narrow road.
Before we get to Uttakleiv we encounter Haukland Beach, which is a nice sandy beach, next to a mountain with a tunnel into it. After stopping to take some beach photos we enter the tunnel assuming whatever Uttakleiv is, is on the other side. It turns out that Uttakleiv is an even nicer beach and small farming community nestled up alongside some mountains. We go for a walk around what used to be the treacherous pass carved into the side of mountain before they built the tunnel. All and all we enjoy this crazy fairytale farming community and are happy we stopped.
Next we head south for Å. All the tourist info we’ve read has some paragraph dedicated to how great the bakery at Å is, and how famous their cinnamon rolls are, and how their oven was built in the mid 1800’s…. And whatever. Å is essentially closed because it’s not tourist season. The town is basically a tourist trap and it’s not open when it’s not tourist season. No cinnamon rolls for us. The even bigger disappointment is the stockfish museum in Å is also closed. I was kind of looking forward to learning more about the history and vital economic role that stockfish has played for this area (no joke).
On our way back north we stop by Reine, which is another village on the water. Dawn gets some fish soup for lunch, but we don’t hang around for long. Our next objective is the second recommendation from our tour guide: Nusfjord. Once again, we don’t really know what Nusfjord is, but so far he hasn’t steered as wrong. At some point we get off the E10 and start going down some more back roads (I’m so happy the rental came with built in GPS). Eventually these give way to narrow roads a steep drop-off on the right side into a lake with no guardrails. STRESSFUL DRIVING.
Eventually we get to Nusfjord which is a tiny fishing village that has been kept more traditional than anything else we’ve seen. It’s more or less been converted into a hotel/recreation area, but the fishermen huts are still up on the piers (for rent) and the whole thing is nestled into this deep fjord. There is a restaurant and a general store. I’m guessing during tourist season there is a lot of chartered fishing going on out of here. Without claiming to be a historical recreation, the tiny village does a good job of communicating what life must have been like for fishermen back in the day in a remote fjord.
Eventually we get to Nusfjord which is a tiny fishing village that has been kept more traditional than anything else we’ve seen. It’s more or less been converted into a hotel/recreation area, but the fishermen huts are still up on the piers (for rent) and the whole thing is nestled into this deep fjord. There is a restaurant and a general store. I’m guessing during tourist season there is a lot of chartered fishing going on out of here. Without claiming to be a historical recreation, the tiny village does a good job of communicating what life must have been like for fishermen back in the day in a remote fjord.
We opt to take the 815 again on our way back to Henningsvaer, and the views are still astounding. We make it back to Henningsvaer around five with sunlight to spare and head back to Lofomat for dinner. This time I order the Bacalao, and again, I am not disappointed.
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