Our goal today was to get to the next city north, but we took the long way there so instead of the normal forty minute trip, it took us seven hours. That’s what I call dawdling. We took every dirt road we could find and stopped at every view point. We walked the beach and picked up rocks, we climbed around an old fortress used in World War II and we sank ankle deep in moss that’s surely older than Kory (although he claims he’s never allowed to sit still long enough to have moss grow anywhere on him.) The boulders have been tumbling down these hills for thousands of years and there the huge rocks sit, waiting for something to be brave enough to grow on them. The moss is so thick you’d never even know there was a rock under it all, and it’s an awesome sight to come across a hillside with a blanket of green literally sprayed across the boulders. And now with the fall colors, the scenes were just downright “eye candy.” (see photo) We even managed to find some blueberries just waiting to be eaten.
We drove around the middle of the Lofoten Islands today – between Stamsund and Svolvær. We discovered the middle of one of the islands to have a lot of fresh water lakes and beautiful farmland (see other photo with Kaleb running) that once was a huge Viking village (discovered to be so in 1982 when a farmer was ploughing his field and came across some artifacts.) They rebuilt a Viking longhouse near one of the original sights and there is a lot of Viking pride in this neck of the woods. We ate another tail-gate picnic lunch in a deserted whaling village. Sheep were everywhere up in the hills. (I saw a weasel this morning and a few sea eagles, a harbor seal, and some blue herons, but other than crows and seagulls, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of wild life around here.)
The big difference between the towns today and yesterday is that there were actually a few people in them. It wasn’t so desolate and some of the roads even had two lanes! There are a lot of art studios so I’m sure they have their share of artists as the nature here would inspire anyone to want to replicate it in some form or another. Kory and I spent a good deal of time talking about WHY people would still be living here. Yes, it’s beautiful beyond words, but it’s a three hour ferry ride to the mainland, it’s north of the Arctic Circle and far removed from the rest of the world and there is absolutely nothing going on anywhere. Life is at its most basic element. I’m sure it’s totally different in the summer months, but there are still ten months out of the year it’s NOT summer here. There must be a lot of loners that live here or something. We even saw a little tiny island in the middle of a good sized lake and someone had built a cabin on it. An island on an island… how isolated should one be? It was Sunday today and we saw lots of churches, but not a single one that was open or had a service. What do people do with their lives here? It’s gotta be a tough existence, but then Norwegians aren’t exactly known for taking things easy.
We managed to keep ahead of the rain today, as we saw it coming from the south and it didn’t hit until we were checked into our hotel for the night. Let it come, it’s dark outside now! I’m sitting in a hotel lobby and the windows are moving, as the wind is gusting outside. I think these islands should take a lesson or two from the Northeastern states and promote the fall foliage. It really is fantastic and yet there’s not a tourist in sight. We were the only ones at the hotel in Stamsund for two nights and tonight we are in a much larger city and there are only three cars in the parking lot. I guess there is no guarantee that the weather would cooperate for a fall foliage tour, but I’m sure many have come in the summer here and not seen the sun for days. We feel so blessed to have the weather cooperate which only adds to the great memories of this trip. I feel a bit guilty about how good we have it and I worry we might be “heaping lusts upon ourselves.” As Kory has been known to say from time to time, “Life shouldn’t be this good.” Oh wait, that answers my question as to why people live here!
We drove around the middle of the Lofoten Islands today – between Stamsund and Svolvær. We discovered the middle of one of the islands to have a lot of fresh water lakes and beautiful farmland (see other photo with Kaleb running) that once was a huge Viking village (discovered to be so in 1982 when a farmer was ploughing his field and came across some artifacts.) They rebuilt a Viking longhouse near one of the original sights and there is a lot of Viking pride in this neck of the woods. We ate another tail-gate picnic lunch in a deserted whaling village. Sheep were everywhere up in the hills. (I saw a weasel this morning and a few sea eagles, a harbor seal, and some blue herons, but other than crows and seagulls, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of wild life around here.)
The big difference between the towns today and yesterday is that there were actually a few people in them. It wasn’t so desolate and some of the roads even had two lanes! There are a lot of art studios so I’m sure they have their share of artists as the nature here would inspire anyone to want to replicate it in some form or another. Kory and I spent a good deal of time talking about WHY people would still be living here. Yes, it’s beautiful beyond words, but it’s a three hour ferry ride to the mainland, it’s north of the Arctic Circle and far removed from the rest of the world and there is absolutely nothing going on anywhere. Life is at its most basic element. I’m sure it’s totally different in the summer months, but there are still ten months out of the year it’s NOT summer here. There must be a lot of loners that live here or something. We even saw a little tiny island in the middle of a good sized lake and someone had built a cabin on it. An island on an island… how isolated should one be? It was Sunday today and we saw lots of churches, but not a single one that was open or had a service. What do people do with their lives here? It’s gotta be a tough existence, but then Norwegians aren’t exactly known for taking things easy.
We managed to keep ahead of the rain today, as we saw it coming from the south and it didn’t hit until we were checked into our hotel for the night. Let it come, it’s dark outside now! I’m sitting in a hotel lobby and the windows are moving, as the wind is gusting outside. I think these islands should take a lesson or two from the Northeastern states and promote the fall foliage. It really is fantastic and yet there’s not a tourist in sight. We were the only ones at the hotel in Stamsund for two nights and tonight we are in a much larger city and there are only three cars in the parking lot. I guess there is no guarantee that the weather would cooperate for a fall foliage tour, but I’m sure many have come in the summer here and not seen the sun for days. We feel so blessed to have the weather cooperate which only adds to the great memories of this trip. I feel a bit guilty about how good we have it and I worry we might be “heaping lusts upon ourselves.” As Kory has been known to say from time to time, “Life shouldn’t be this good.” Oh wait, that answers my question as to why people live here!
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