A Boat in a Can
When I got up in the late morning, it was still raining in Stokmarknes. The forecast on yr.no said the weather would improve in the afternoon so I stayed holed up in my hotel room. When I had maxed out checkout time I went to see the town's main attraction: The Hurtigrute Museum. Twice I've been to Stokmarknes before, on both occasions too late for a visit. Today the stars finally aligned for me to check it out.
From the outside the museum building appears like one gigantic hall of glass wrapped over a coastal cruise ship, the MS Finnmarken which entered service in 1956. Built in Hamburg by Blohm und Voss, it was powered by a diesel engine, after the last steamboats serving the Hurtigrute route were decommissioned in the 1940s. Unfortuately the engine is about the only part of the ship that cannot be seen, at least not without a guided tour, due to the risk of injury in the claustrophobically small engine room. Even so, the museum is extraordinary. The boat hasn't just been moved to dry land as-is, its interior was completely reconstructed to look like during the prime days of its service. And one can walk around freely on all the decks from the storage layer to the bridge. All in all it makes for much more immersive (pun intended) experience than the Vasa museum in Stockholm which for obvious reasons only allows for admiring the exhibit from the outside.
When I finally left Stokmarknes it was late afternoon, but the rain was about to subside. In the first couple kilometers the rear tire deflated again. After topping up the sealant with the new stuff I got from Leon in Harstad the day before, I noticed it wasn't the hole that was leaking -- it seemed to have sealed perfectly eventually -- but the valve which must have come loose during hours of riding with very low pressure. With the valve tightened I inflated the tire again and it would keep pressure for the rest of the ride. Perfect.
Lofoten at Night
I caught the ferry to Lofoten just in time. There were four bikepackers already in the hold. Judging by the grim expression on their faces they must have had a horrible day. No wonder the mood on deck was rather mellow, these guys were facing rain all day all the while I was hiding in the hotel and the museum.
Among the four there was one guy who had the same goal as me: to reach Tolga to ride the Bright Midnight! Evidence that my plans aren't altogether original.
On Austvagsoya I skipped the beautiful Midnattsolveien as I didn't need to spend the night in the Grunnfor shelter, and I'd seen that magnificent road already twice. Instead I headed directly to Svolvaer. Due to the rain I had already scrapped my idea of taking the express boat from there to Engeloya and then heading south on the mainland. That ship had literally sailed two hours before I arrived.
I might have reached the Hurtigrute sailing from Stamsund to Bodo, but ended up not even trying as I had enough of chasing boats. Instead, I was going to enjoy the Lofoten islands at the night of Sankthans when the locals gather around large bonfires to (approximately) celebrate the summer solstice. Of course here north of the arctic circle the longest day of the year is many weeks long, but I still spotted many bonfires throughout the night.
The roads were quiet, especially after 2 a.m. when most people had gone home from the bonfires. My immediate goal was to make the 5 a.m. sailing from Moskenes to Bodo. For this I thought I had ample time with a buffer of about two hours to stop for cooking a meal and to take pictures. I even made a detour to the 24 hours shop on Gimsoya to stock up on instant soups.
As always on Lofoten, the weather was rather chaotic, changing from island to island and from bay to bay. The first half of the route it was raining on and off, with some freezing cold moments on the south road on Vestvagsoya. Wind would come from any direction depending on the angle to the next cliff. When I reached the Nappstraumtunnel however it got markedly more stable and dry.
Passing Nappstraumtunnelen however wasn't as easy as I thought. There's roadworks going on and to avoid interfering with the campervan drivers' bliss, construction is schedule for the night hours from 23 p.m. to 6 a.m. During these hours the tunnel is closed. Luckily there was one kolonnekjoring halfway during that interval that I was instructed to use to get to the other side. Unfortunately this meant that I had to wait for over an hour for the kolonne to start, and killed off my plan of having lunch in the waiting room at the Moskenes ferry terminal. Instead, I decided to have lunch at the spot. Considering the temperature had dropped to six degrees and it was still raining on and off, a hot meal and beverage was exactly what I needed in this situation.
Turns out this time I didn't get to ride through the tunnel for safety reasons. Construction was still ongoing even during kolonne time. In addition to stripping the tunnel walls of the spray concrete, they had ripped up the sidewalk and parts of the tarmac. The kolonne leader put a trailer on his Tesla and told me to get the bike on it, then we got in the car and drove through the tunnel. On the one hand it took away something from the experience as undersea tunnels are always exciting, especially when you're basically alone at night. On the other hand, I didn't mind the ten minutes in a warm car chatting with the kolonne master.
From the far side of the tunnel I had just under three hours to reach the Moskenes ferry which was certainly doable. Here Lofoten approaches peak postcard potential with one picturesque bay after another, separated from another by steep cliffs and mountains that have been half ground down by the relentless forces of nature. Nighttime during the polar day is the best time in the year to explore this part of the world, as in the whole of Lofoten I saw only like a dozen campervans. Which is nothing compared to the thousands that roam the streets during daytime.
Skjerstadfjorden
I made it time to Moskenes. The ferry, however, didn't. We had to wait another 45 min for the boat to show up. What a bummer, had I known this I could have continued until the proper end of the Lofoten road in the town of A before heading to the terminal. On the 90 km boat trip to Bodo I caught some restful sleep and I felt refreshed when I disembarked the vessel. After a few minutes of sightseeing and shopping I headed for Fauske on the E10 road along the Saltfjorden and Skjerstadfjorden coast, enjoying blue skies and the occasional ray of sun.
The E10 is a trunk road that while not overly busy in terms of the total number of vehicles, carries a lot of heavy traffic. About every tenth vehicle passing me seemed to be a large truck of some sort. For the most part the road lacks a shoulder or other opportunities to let traffic pass so it could get a little annoying from time to time, but overall drivers were behaving respectfully (except for Hungarian truck drivers, fuck those guys). There's a short detour that's labeled as a bike path about ten kilometers outside Fauske that I took. I was almost alone on those roads which was a welcome change.
Fauske doesn't have much going for it except for numerous supermarkets and a fountain in the port waters. I did my shopping and headed for the campsite, which I reached pretty much exactly at check-in time.
gps tracks
gallery
