Jeff: The island of Senja

The next morning we were due to go for a run and Rich had found a great looking run about an hour and a half north on our route so off we headed to Bardufoss to run around an airport – two of Rich’s loves together! Once there we found somewhere to park we got changed and headed for the start of the route……to quickly find it was inside a military barracks and not accessible to us (as was the whole route) so we had to ditch that idea and plan a different route which involved hills (my most hated thing) and was less than half the distance we had planned to run. In the end we did manage to get a semi decent run in by turning around and retracing our steps on the flatter section of the run before heading back down to the van for showers and breakfast. After that we headed to service the van and try and get some LPG. We don’t really need it yet but we know that it will become harder to find now. Unfortunately after waiting in a queue for around 15 minutes behind someone filling their gas bottle we found that the machine for vehicles was out of order. So we looked at our options and there was another station around 20km off route so we headed there before we continued on to our next destination Senja which is an island north of Lofoten. We parked up for the night after a long day of driving, had some dinner and headed to bed.

The next morning we headed to go and see the island of Husoy which is connected to the island by a relatively new bridge. We didn’t drive onto the island as there is very little to see but enjoyed the views of it from the hill side before we headed out for our first hike on the island called Heston which is a hike opposite a higher mountain (called Segla) and gives great views of the water and the mountain. We grabbed some breakfast and got ready to head off up the hike when a British van came in. we had a good chat with them as they were from Birmingham and compared travel stories as we started up the hill. Due to the heat it was a real struggle to climb it all and it took a lot longer than it normally would have taken us but after a couple of rests we got to the top and enjoyed the views before climbing down onto the ridge and walking between the two different peaks and then back down the hill and heading to the van for lunch and a shower

We then had decided to head to a free camper area which is not something you see much of in Norway as there are lots of free service areas and lots of wild camping spaces you just don’t need the free camper areas. The area was really busy but we found a space and headed off on a short walk to some caves which were disappointing. The caves were, apparently, used to hid from invading Russians, and were small caves made out of boulders rather than withing rocks. We headed back to the van and set about relaxing and having dinner but this is a busy camper stop and there were people playing music loudly and vans coming and going. We did consider moving but the music was stopped (due to someone telling them to turn it off) and the place was now full so there should be less coming and going.

It was a bit of a noisy night for us, between a couple of vans arriving late and the seagulls being Chatty Cathys outside. The next morning we got up and headed out in the van on the national tourist route to see a couple of different things, first we went to the beach (Ersfjordstranda) which was full of campers (motorhomes and tents) but had a nice view and a gold plated toilet building. Considering this island is supposed to be quieter than Lofoten, that is not the impression we have got in our short time here, Lofoten was quieter when we were there. We then carried on to Tungenest which had a walkway out to the rocks which allows you to walk to the end of the peninsular and admire the views. It was pretty cool and had some great views but we did have to watch our footing (especially as we were both in flip flops, while everyone else were in hiking boots or trainers). If the sea is rough it can come over the rocks so care needs to be taken on them but for us the ocean was calm and the waves only lapped at the ends of the rocks.

We continued on and next came up to Bergsbotn platform which is a viewing platform overlooking the fjord and someone obviously got free reign with the design of it as it had almost waves of footpath in the centre while the edges remained flat, it was an interesting design and had great views over the area.

Next we headed to another hike, this one called Sukkentoppen and involved a fairly easy hike up past lakes to some great view points at around 350 meters and then it started to become a lot more difficult and very exposed and once we reached the chain section I decided I had done enough and needed to climb (with Rich’s help) back down to a safe level while he continued up the last few meters.

He got to the top with some scrambling and enjoyed the views before coming back down to me to have an orange and then head back down. We got down a good proportion of the climb we headed to one of the lakes so Rich could have a swim (I decided against it this time – mostly because I couldn’t be bothered to bring my swim stuff, towels and change – all meaning I have to carry a bag up the large hill) before we continued down to the van for lunch and to continue on our day of driving. We then headed on towards Anderdalen National park where were plan to go on a hike tomorrow before leaving the island.

The next morning we headed to the national park where we did a 6.2km walk to some lakes with the hopes of seeing some moose/elk in the national park as this is the only location where they live on the island. We didn’t see any on our way to the lake but we walks through some stunning forests with silver birch trees with trunks which spiralled around. The walk was fairly easy as it was mostly flat and had informative signs along the way about the Sami people who live around the area and the reindeer they herd and the flora and fauna within the national park. We made it to the lake and as it was now hot and sunny we both had a nice swim in the lake and then sat on the banks of the lake to dry off before getting ready and starting the walk back. On the whole walk we kept our eyes peeled for moose, or even reindeer but had no luck seeing anything, except a frog and some birds. Next we headed to a town called Nordkjosbotn which is off the island and back on the mainland where we planned to spend the night.