The MS Nordlys called at Bodø harbor in the afternoon, a much more humane hour than the stops I used during my first Hurtigruten trip two years ago. The ship itself is much newer than the vintage MS Vesteralen and appears to be larger too; the lounge in particular offers more space to us short distance passengers to hang out, rest and admire the scenery as islands, fjords, ports, and long stretches of nothing but blue sea pass by. The past couple days haven't been too stressing so this time I declined the food options – no need for a five course breakfast after a night in the hotel!

These days the Hurtigrute advertises itself mainly as a sea tourism line and less as means of traveling between coastal towns. Thus the already slow (compared to the express catamaran from Skutvik) boat still takes the time for a half an hour detour into Trollfjorden, a remote corner of Austvågøya that is unreachable except on hiking trails and by boat. The entry to this spectacular fjord is narrow, only a hundred meters of water to navigate between two almost vertical cliffs on each side. It gets more spacious in the interior though where there is enough room for the MS Nordlys to turn and leave the fjord again. Being so close to the rocks made the entrance and exit a dramatic experience.

Trollfjorden was just one of the highlights of the boat voyage. I also got to see the coast of Lofoten and Vesteralen again where I rode the bike just a week ago: Henningsvær, Stokmarknes, Sortland all passed by outside the window in superb weather. The sun was setting much earlier already, although it never really got dark during the short "night". I picked the deserted on-board bakery as my sleeping spot only to be woken up mere minutes later by the sound of vacuum cleaners. Nevertheless I slept undisturbed on the bakery couch until the staff reappeared around eight o'clock to resume business.

Next stop: Tromsø. My plan is to get the crew to take me one stop further to Skjervøy where I wanted to start the third leg of my bike trip anyways. This would save me one day compared to the alternative, the express boat line that only sails infrequently. Booking the entire trip is not possible however without booking a cabin as well due to the 24 hour limit of on-deck travel. That would easily triple the cost however which is not really justifiable to get a few kilometers closer to the envisaged starting point. Should they decline I might as well just start out on the bike right away as Skervoy can easily be reached in a day from Tromsø. Let's find out!

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