From Tromsø, we took the coastal route (300 kms) towards the Lofotens. We stayed overnight in Harstad at the start of the Lofoten archipelago, and this was the view from our camper
and the following morning, this was the beautiful scene that greeted us.
Looking more closely at the map, we saw that there was only one road in and out of the islands and as and we'd seen them from the Hurtigruten many years ago, we decided not to go any further.
About a month ago, Mark found an article on the BBC by Anthony Ham called "Is this the Earth's most beautiful road trip?" the Kystriksveien – a route also known as the Coastal Way or Fv17. As we were already in the Arctic, we followed this route south instead.
We drove from Harstad to Lodingen and boarded the first ferry of many, this one to Bognes.
Then lots more stunning scenery as seen through the car window
Our next stop was Saltstrauman, renowned for the strongest maelstrom in the world.
The phenomenon is governed by the rise and fall of the currents and very 6 hours almost 400 million cubic meters of water have to pass through a 3 km long and 150-meter wide strait. The water can move at speeds of up to 20 knots or about 10 meters per second. It was quite something to watch, especially the fishing boats moving backwards around one of the whirlpools
It was also the second and final chance to see the midnight sun but one of their mountains got in the way .
These photos were taken at 00.45 am
Later that day we followed the FV17 and the scenery was fantastic with majestic snow topped mountains and streams cascading down as the snow melted.
The second ferry that day from Jektvik to Kilboghamn crossed the Arctic circle
That night we stopped at a free rest stop by the side of a fjord
The next morning it was up into the clouds on the high ground. More bridges and another 4 ferries before we camped for the night at another farm in the hamlet of Flått where river joins fjord.
The route is 650kms long and we finished the drive on June 30th.
In the article, historian Mette Larsen comments
"In Norway, if there is an obstacle, like a mountain or a body of water, we build a road over it or around it, a bridge across it or a tunnel under it. We have the longest road tunnels in the world. We build roads in places that others think are impossible. And where we can't build a tunnel, we send a ferry."
So far we've been on 8 ferries, some only 15 minutes long and I've lost count of how many bridges and tunnels we have gone over or driven through. I suspect there will be many more before we end our tour of Norway.
