Narvik

After an easy day of sightseeing in Tromsø we fast-forwarded a bit and took the bus to Narvik. Which was surprisingly uncomplicated with two bikes. They easily fit in the hold and a third cyclist's bike as well. The bus was rather convenient in that it allowed us to catch back up on our schedule. What's more, we avoided some of the more busier parts of the main E6 road.

Narvik is situated on a cliff above a branch of Ofotfjorden and enjoys a breathtaking view over the fjord. In the valley below the inner town runs the track of the famous Ofoten line, the railway that carries iron ore down from Sweden. The Swedish border is really close to the innermost tip of the fjord, one of the bottlenecks where the mainland of Norway is thinnest.

Ofotfjorden

From Narvik we followed the fjord outwards to the camp site in Ballangen, one of the nicer places we've stayed at so far with its clean, new facilities. The road is one long series of stunning fjord views culminating in the triplet of bridges over Kjerringstraumen. Once more we were lucky for the weather to play along nicely as well so our pictures from that part of the trip might as well have been taken somewhere at the Mediterranean.

Not exactly Mediterranean was the only sighting of an elk we had the entire trip. The huge creatue was stalking the forest, keeping its distance to the busy road. The sudden elk safari didn't last, after a minute the animal vanished in the undergrowth and was gone.

Hamaroya

The night at Solvik campsite suffered from periodic interruptions by batches of cars that unloaded off the Bognes ferries. Soon after the roads got much quieter once we left the E10 en route to Skutvik. The scenery changed once more as the area is dominated by steep, treeless rocks. Hiking and climbing supplanted fishing as the main outdoor activity we could spot people engage in near the roads. Some of the memorable rock formations like Hamarøyskaftet, a pillar standing 602 m tall, we could spot from afar for the better part of the day.

The streak of rainy days we had finally came to an end and we rode in the rain pretty much all day. Hoping to get a cabin we rolled on to Nes campsite, just a short detour from our destination Skutvik, but were out of luck. Nevertheless we enjoyed one of the best nights of the entire trip camping out in the rain: No major roads run through the village so the night was as quiet as can be except for the occasional seagull crying.

In Skutvik the next day we concluded this second leg of the Norway trip by boarding the "express boat", a catamaran that cuts through the coastal waters at 60 km/h to get us back to Bodø in time. A fitting conclusion, watching the mountains, settlements, fjords, coves etc. zip by at high speed shielded from the rain and wind by wide glass windows.

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