We were blessed with the weather yesterday, and once again the same today, so we decided it would be nice to go back down south as far as Hamnøy and Sariskoy, to get better photos.

So not much more to say other than the extra side trip we did to Yttersand beach, well worth the 5 km or so side trip! Lots of people in summer hike on from here to Kvalvika beach, but we were super taken with the stunning scenery at Yttersand. The beach was partly snow covered, the mountains also snow covered, it was just gorgeous! And to think that we almost didn’t bother with this side trip, it is definitely worth it!

Some photos from today, note that some are very similar to Day 3, but in better weather…

A lovely sunny day all day today! This time we decided to head north as far as Svolvaer. The islands we covered were Vestvagoy, Gimsoy & Austvagoy.

We followed the E10, taking our first side trip up to the surfing beach at Unstad. We thought we could drive round from there to Eggum, and back on to the E10, but you can’t (there is however a walking trail to Eggum, but considering the snow and that we’d have to come back we passed on this).

At Unstad we saw some crazy guys out surfing, it was about minus 5 air temperature, I don’t even want to think about how cold the sea must be! The drive was dramatic, and it was fun to watch the surfers for a while, just a shame we couldn’t continue on to Eggum, but we have now saved that for another day, as it was a LONG day, from 9.30am till 5.30pm.

Next stop, after plenty more photo stops along the way, was Henningsvaer. This is a really pretty and colourful place, and you cross a few small islands connected by bridges to get there. Lots of fishing boats, and cod drying (the latter as you see at this time of year all over Lofoten). We spent a short while walking around, then got back in the car to drive on to Svolvaer.

We have to say that to be honest (in our opinion) Svolvaer was nothing special. And pretty dead on a Sunday in March. So after a short stroll round, we started to head back.

In summary, the drive north was very scenic indeed, lots of photo opportunities along the way. Both Unstad and Henningsvaer are worth visiting, and later in our holiday we will try Eggum, which we are sure will also be worth a side trip, we just didn’t want to rush things or arrive back after dark.

Once again we struck it lucky and saw the aurora in the evening, not as dramatic as yesterday, and just a couple of short displays, but with the mountains and lights reflected in the fjord outside our cabin, we have some lovely photos (again the northern lights photos to come later).

Some photos from today…

So the weather wasn’t great last night for the northern lights, too much cloud and there wasn’t much aurora activity anyway. This morning the clouds were still around, it it was dry and we got up pretty early and decided to head South.

We covered some of Vestvågøy, Flakstad & Moskenes. The weather was a mixed bag, cloud, sunny spells, light snow showers. The scenery was stunning, and although most people favour Moskenes as the most stunning island, we were pretty blown away by Flakstad, perhaps partly as the weather was a bit better there, some spells of sun in between the clouds.

Our favourite place today was Nusfjord, a small but very pretty and colourful fishing village about 6 miles off the main E10 route. Of course, Hamnoy, Sørvågen & Reine were pretty awesome too!

We travelled all the way as far as the road goes, to A, then returned.

Another highlight, where we stopped both on the way and on our return was Ramberg beach – snow, pale sand, then turquoise sea – beautiful!

To top the day off we had an amazing display of aurora in the evening (photos of that to follow later)

Some photos from today…

Thursday 14th March –

Just yesterday we were rather worried when our carrier Norwegian Airlines grounded all their 737 MAX aircraft, which included the flight from Edinburgh to Oslo! On checking, we found our aircraft today was to be a 737 – 800, so hopefully all ok, although there was talk by the airline of them reallocating some aircraft, therefore a possibility our aircraft would be sent on another route. Anyway, all’s well that ends well, the flight went ahead, carrying many of the passengers whose flight on Wednesday was cancelled.

We are feeling very lucky with the dates we chose to travel as tomorrow’s Edi-Oslo flight is also on a 737 MAX, and I guess therefore also very likely to be cancelled.

The flight was quick, only 1.5 hours, and we are now relaxing at the Park Inn airport hotel. We even got a room upgrade, as when we entered our allocated room we found it with crumpled bedsheets and towels on the floor – the cleaners had obviously missed it! On arrival the pilot announced a temperature of -2 degrees, and there is a light(ish) dusting of snow around the airport.

Tips from today…. we bought passes for the Aspire Lounge which I had googled for discounts and got for just under £20 each. Very worthwhile as the check-in opened early and we then whizzed through security, arriving early at the lounge, having a couple of hours instead of the expected 1 hour. Had some drinks, lunch, and put a few snacks in our bag for “dinner” later, to have along with a couple of drinks from our Duty Free bottle of rum.

Our flight to Lofoten (Leknes) is at a good time tomorrow, 10.55am…

Friday 15th March –

After a hearty breakfast at the airport hotel (if you have never tried the Norwegian goats cheese, try it!) we checked in smoothly for a full flight to Leknes, Lofoten. It was a small plane and a full flight consisted of only 39 passengers.

The flight left pretty much on time and went smoothly, quite a bit of cloud cover, but some lovely views in between, and on landing. The jagged peaks of the mountains and turquoise sea are really quite striking from the air!

Our bags arrived ok, car hire pick up was right next to barge reclaim and was quick, friendly and easy. We have a Toyota Auris hybrid, though we have no idea how the electric part of it works! Finding our accommodation was relatively easy, despite a couple of wrong turns. The car has sat nav, and Paul’s phone also has it. Between the two, we got here!

The cabin is lovely, right on the waterfront and looking across the water to the mountains. If we do get lucky enough, apparently we should be able to see the Northern Lights from our cabin. Still waiting, although if the skies (which unfortunately have clouded over some now with light snow starting to fall) clear, we have a fairly good chance.

Some photos….