Jeff: Lofoten part 2

The next day we managed to get another quick load of washing done and have another shower before we serviced the van and headed off to our next destination. We reached Tennstrand after about an hour and 15 minutes driving and set about checking if our plan for tomorrow will work and it looks like it will. We are planning to just chill here for the rest of the day as the weather isn’t great, although it was a nice surprise when another set of brits turned up and it turns out they have been travelling for 11 months as the wife has an Irish passport as well.

The next morning the alarm clock went off at 5am and we were up and getting things ready, Rich popped outside to blow up the paddleboard while I prepared food and packed a bag. We have planned to paddleboard from here, on one side of the strait to Trollfjord on the other side which is about 4km width and then the fjord is around 2km long. This has been interesting planning as there are very few tours which do any kayaking in the fjord and none that do SUP tours, mostly due to the location of the fjord and the time it takes to get here from Svolvaer, where most of the tours leave from. We also couldn’t find any blogs from people who have done this, which is surprising as usually you can find something on the internet and while we were not really worried about the fjord it was the currents we may face in the strait that could be a concern, especially on the way back. We had also planned to do this early as there can be a number of big boats coming in and out and the wake they give can make affect the paddleboard, plus we like it when its quiet.

Anyway by 6am we were getting into the water and starting the long paddle out and we made fairly good time. There were some currents to battle but none were that strong and there were no other boats around so we slowly paddled across the whole straight and just as we were entering the fjord I noticed something in front and to the right. I pointed it out to Rich who first thought it was a bird ducking under but we stopped paddling and waited and then we saw them two porpoises swimming around us to get out of the fjord. They calmly crossed in front and then around our left side before disappearing off with small fins popping up out of the water and the “pufft” of their breathing each time they came up. It was amazing and being so low we were really close to them. Once they had departed into the strait we continued into the fjord which was truly stunning with high cliffs on either side and clear blue water below. We kept our eyes out as this is a nesting area for sea eagles (although there are fewer nests now due to the amount of boats coming in) and it wasn’t long until we saw our first one flying high in the sky. We continue until we got to the little beach at the end where we had a stop for awhile and relaxed and ate some food and had a walk around. The big boats cant moor here so only small tours get to see the land and the streams around here. The fjord is used to create hydroelectricity so there are two areas dedicated to that with small moorings for official (not tour) boats only.

Now it was time to head back and again we slowly paddled out and managed to spot another couple of sea eagles flying high above us while we took turns to stand on the board and really enjoy the calm waters. We also spotted some huge (and I mean huge) lion mane jelly fish. Rich believes they were around 6 foot if you measured from the head to the end of the tentacles and I’m not going to argue because I haven’t seen any that big before, we couldn’t really see the end of the tentacles as they just kept going!

We carried on paddling and both sat down to cross the strait and in parts it did need some slightly harder paddling to pass through the currents but we managed to get back safely, get the paddleboard back to the van and have a outdoor shower and had a short rest. The paddling alone had taken around 3 hours and we covered over 12km but it was worth it. We didnt get any photos of the animals we saw as they always appeared while we were on the board and its really difficult to get phones out of waterproof covers in any time at all, also we wanted to enjoy just seeing the animals.

Because we are mad we then decided to have a short bike ride as we were on part of a long bike route I had read about but the route is on the road, but these roads are very quiet. We cycled for around 10km and covered around 10 hills and then we decided enough was enough and headed back to the van and said goodbye to the brits and headed off for a stop on the way out of the Lofoten islands. It was now getting rather hot so we tried to find somewhere were we could sit outside the van and chill but the camper stop we chose turned out to have ants near it and no breeze but it was quiet so we could sleep with the windows open and the fan on which was really nice.

The next morning we headed out of the islands to Narvik as we really needed to get some grocery shopping done (but we failed to get several things) and we needed to pop to the shopping mall, where we bumped into the British couple again (it is a small place after all). After this we went to a local beach where we planned to chill for the day as its supposed to be another hot day. We relaxed, ate food, read books and had a cold swim (followed by a hot shower) and enjoyed relaxing day.

The view over the strait to Trollfjord the day before we paddled - it was grey. If you can see the houses in the distance on the right, after this there was a space between the mountains and this led to the fjord