About thirty years ago I bought a poster of Norway and hung it over my bed and only dreamed of going there one day. The poster was of the town called Reine on the Lofoten Islands (see photo on left). Today, I got to enter the picture. But thirty years has added a lot more buildings to this quaint little fishing town on the southernmost tip of these incredible islands, so I included a photo of another town we passed along the way that hasn’t had quite so much construction – just for the feel of the area up close and personal. Fish drying racks fill every empty space here, as they dry fish the old fashioned way. In fact, most everything is done the old fashioned way – it’s part of the charm of the Lofoten Islands.
We drove around for eight hours today – all on a one lane road. Kory left the map I bought of this area on the ferry, so he stopped in to buy a new one and the man at the store asked him why he needed a map, as “there is only one road here.” We headed south to the end of the road, then turned around and drove back north to our hotel at Stamsund. It was nice to have the map as there were some off shoot little roads that lead to incredible places with amazing views. Oh wait, the whole area is like that. I guess that’s why I took over three hundred photos today. I don’t know what I will do with them all but I imagine someday I’ll want to relive this day. (I’m so thankful we have entered the digital age as I would have been in agony trying to not use up all my film. Everywhere is just stunning.) The things we saw were just like another world. Some of the landscape was like a George Lucas film – where the landscape is so wildly intense it can’t possibly be real – but it was. And God blessed us with no rain and some sunshine and the most amazing fall colors everywhere we looked – the hills were crawling in oranges, reds and yellows, all nicely contrasted against the grey rocks. Just mind boggling. (If you double click on the photos they will enlarge.) These islands are way north of the Arctic Circle and yet there is no snow because the Gulf Stream keeps the ocean warm so none of the ports freeze in the winter, but snow will come to the mountains. I’m just glad it didn’t come before today.
I’m not sure I would enjoy these islands as much in the summertime though when they swell in population – not only because of the one lane roads, but claustrophobia would surely set in as there are hardly any places to park a car and there are nothing but dead ends everywhere because of the steep mountains backing everything up. The bulk of the buildings here are “fishing cabins” that have been turned into tourist accommodations – but mostly they are just new cabins built for the tourists right at the edge of the sea like the fishermen used to use. Although tourism is huge in the summertime, fishing is still the main industry for the locals so there was an abundance of fishing charm in every village we passed (no commercial fishing boats in sight – it was all wooden bottomed little one-man boats). We rarely saw a car and we only saw a handful of people all day. The entire southern end of this chain of islands was completely deserted. I’m not sure if the locals left for fall vacation too, or if they are some kind of snow bird that leaves as soon as the summer is over, but it was a most desolate place and it only added to its charm. We couldn’t find a restaurant open so we had a tailgate picnic overlooking the harbor at Reine and enjoyed the view in the photo. A little chilly, but we had coats, hats, gloves and a million dollar view. No tip required.
We stopped a few times to get up close and personal with the terrain and to let Kaleb explore things a little. We saw how weathered the rocks are and how many plants find a way to survive in the cracks. We also walked along one of the many white sandy beaches around – which was such a shock to discover. We weren’t able to buy any souvenirs today because everything was closed, but nature provided. I got some rocks (no surprise there), sea urchin shells and white sand to take home. It was one of those days where I’ll think back upon in later years and wonder if it really happened.
We drove around for eight hours today – all on a one lane road. Kory left the map I bought of this area on the ferry, so he stopped in to buy a new one and the man at the store asked him why he needed a map, as “there is only one road here.” We headed south to the end of the road, then turned around and drove back north to our hotel at Stamsund. It was nice to have the map as there were some off shoot little roads that lead to incredible places with amazing views. Oh wait, the whole area is like that. I guess that’s why I took over three hundred photos today. I don’t know what I will do with them all but I imagine someday I’ll want to relive this day. (I’m so thankful we have entered the digital age as I would have been in agony trying to not use up all my film. Everywhere is just stunning.) The things we saw were just like another world. Some of the landscape was like a George Lucas film – where the landscape is so wildly intense it can’t possibly be real – but it was. And God blessed us with no rain and some sunshine and the most amazing fall colors everywhere we looked – the hills were crawling in oranges, reds and yellows, all nicely contrasted against the grey rocks. Just mind boggling. (If you double click on the photos they will enlarge.) These islands are way north of the Arctic Circle and yet there is no snow because the Gulf Stream keeps the ocean warm so none of the ports freeze in the winter, but snow will come to the mountains. I’m just glad it didn’t come before today.
I’m not sure I would enjoy these islands as much in the summertime though when they swell in population – not only because of the one lane roads, but claustrophobia would surely set in as there are hardly any places to park a car and there are nothing but dead ends everywhere because of the steep mountains backing everything up. The bulk of the buildings here are “fishing cabins” that have been turned into tourist accommodations – but mostly they are just new cabins built for the tourists right at the edge of the sea like the fishermen used to use. Although tourism is huge in the summertime, fishing is still the main industry for the locals so there was an abundance of fishing charm in every village we passed (no commercial fishing boats in sight – it was all wooden bottomed little one-man boats). We rarely saw a car and we only saw a handful of people all day. The entire southern end of this chain of islands was completely deserted. I’m not sure if the locals left for fall vacation too, or if they are some kind of snow bird that leaves as soon as the summer is over, but it was a most desolate place and it only added to its charm. We couldn’t find a restaurant open so we had a tailgate picnic overlooking the harbor at Reine and enjoyed the view in the photo. A little chilly, but we had coats, hats, gloves and a million dollar view. No tip required.
We stopped a few times to get up close and personal with the terrain and to let Kaleb explore things a little. We saw how weathered the rocks are and how many plants find a way to survive in the cracks. We also walked along one of the many white sandy beaches around – which was such a shock to discover. We weren’t able to buy any souvenirs today because everything was closed, but nature provided. I got some rocks (no surprise there), sea urchin shells and white sand to take home. It was one of those days where I’ll think back upon in later years and wonder if it really happened.
