Norway

February 3 to 17, 2024

Friday february 2nd : departure from the house around 6:20 p.m. to the Campanile hotel in Le Mesnil Amelot, near Roissy. Arrival at 8pm. We take possession of the room after paying for breakfast, the airport shuttle for tomorrow and parking for two weeks. Carpet picnic!

 

Saturday february 3rd : up at 6:00 am. Hearty breakfast. Shuttle bus at 7:30. 10 minutes to the airport. Drop-off at 2B, then back up to 2F. We meet up with Martine, who has already arrived. Etienne, Stephane and Sophie arrive around 8:45. We label the luggage and place it on the carpets. You have to do everything yourself! At 9.15am, we take our seats at the boarding gate. Take-off scheduled for 10.55am. Boarding at 10:20. We're stuck at the gate! Late departure at 11h20. Take-off at 11:30. Landing in Tromso at 3.50pm. Waiting in the plane as another occupies our door. It's snowing and there's snow on the ground. The forecast is for -3°. Around 3.45pm, we go to the Rental Car to pick up the car. At 4pm we look for the car! It's in the basement just as we were looking for it outside. It's an Opel Vivaro (103,388 km).

We go shopping at a SuperSpar next to the airport. At 5.25pm, we set off for home in Elvevoll. We arrive at 7:05pm. The interior is lit up, the living room large but the bedrooms not so much.

 

Sunday february 4 : departure for the drive at 11am, time to clear the snow from the car. The sky clears a little. The temperature is -5°. We make several photo stops along Lyngenfjord on our way to Skibotn.

We find a nice beach with clear skies for the aurora.

We continue to Lokvollen. Not a café, not a bar, nothing. We turn back. We buy muffins at a gas station. Back home at 2:45pm. Lunch/snack at 3pm. Casting! Aperitif at 6pm and dinner at 8pm. We leave around 9pm to hunt for aurora. We head north up our fjord towards Koppangen. On the way, we stop at a small parking lot, but there are trees. In Koppangen, there's no way to park. We retrace our steps. We turn right onto route 91. We find a larger parking lot. There's an aurora, but it's not crazy crazy.

Back home at 1:30am. 

 

Monday february 5 : the weather is forecast to be fine today, but for the moment it's overcast. Departure at 9.25am. We take the road to Nordkjosbotn. A few photos. The sun starts to come out of the clouds. We continue to Sorbotn and a campsite. The temperature is -10°. The light is beautiful.

 

We take the opposite route to the Bergeneset factory in Nordkjosbotn. The temperature is -4°.

We do some shopping. We take route 7930 towards the Signaldalen valley and Mount Otertind. It's really nice.

Back home around 2:30 pm. Lunch. Aperitif at 5:45 pm. Dinner around 6.30pm. We're off! We leave at 7:40pm to chase the auroras in the direction of Lakselvbuktvegen. It's completely blocked. We turn around. We spot a few stars and head for Skibotn beach. There are a few nice aurora drapes, but it's not violent. It's -9°.

Back home around midnight.

 

Tuesday february 6 : the weather forecast is -16°. We set off at 10:45 am under almost clear skies. We head for the Signaldalen valley (route 7928). The car announces -18°. Photo stop en route. -20°. Superb view of Mount Otertind. But it's freezing.

We branch off onto Parasveien. But there's nothing there, it's a dead end. On the way back, we turn right onto Fosseveien. Nice view of the mount.

We then head for Kitdalen, the next valley. There aren't too many viewpoints. Back to the house with a photo stop for sunset colors.

Our rental :

We take a short walk along the road in front of the house. It leads into a forest, but there's not much to see. At 8.00 pm, it's snowing. To keep busy, we take part in a “ pupil of the eye ” photo workshop: taking photos, processing and assembling them. My eye and David's:

 

Wednesday february 7 : departure at 9:50 am. It's -13° and the sky is a bit clear. Direction Lyngseidet.

Stop at the sports store: buy merino socks with sheepskin soles. We then take Route 91. We pass Svensby and its pier. The temperature is -10°. We continue.

We have some views of the Lyngen Alps.

We stop at a nice spot in Jaegervatn, river and steam. Photographers are on hand but leave when we arrive.

Further on, in Lattervikveien, there are some pretty red fishermen's huts. With a little sunshine, it's great.

We retrace our steps. At 2.30pm, we stop for burgers in Lyngseidet at the Go2Arctic Grill. The bacon cheese is good. We set off again at 3:35pm. The day begins to wane. We spot an Aurora spot on the Ornes Sieiddinjarga peninsula. Back home around 5pm. We set off again at auroras around 19h20, in the same spot as this afternoon. It's -7° and windy. It's a bit overcast in places, so we end up on route 91. We park further away from the pier. The sky is clear, there are stars but no aurora. We wait... 9:15 am it starts. It's more or less intense. Only KP2, but it's not bad.

We set off around 11:20pm. It's -10° and windy. Back home around 00:45.

 

Thursday february 8 : wind and -14°. Departure at 10:10am for Lakselvbukt. The wind is icy cold.

Photo stops and “bubble crystallization” workshop, but it's not conclusive. We can't manage to make big bubbles.

It's -20°C. We take the road back to Jovik and pass a small church.

Superb photo spot at Olderbukt with frozen fjord floor and large chunks of ice.

We turn around a little before Lakselvbukt to go to the other side of the fjord via Laksvatn. Last light on the mountain.

We catch up with the highway to Nordkjosbotn. Sunset over Balsfjord. Back home around 4pm. Croziflette at 5pm. Out for the auroras at 7:40pm. The temperature is -14°. We head for the Signaldalen valley. We're in place by 20:20 but no activity. We wait... It's -17°. We move to Skibotn but it's no better. We give up and go home around 11pm.

 

Friday february 9 : departure at 9:30 am. Blue skies, a few clouds and -10°. We're heading for the “three-branch” fjord to the west of Balsfjord: Malangen. We arrive at Nordfjordbotn, then drive along the fjords (route 7834). We photograph a boat stuck in the ice.

Stop at Aurdfjordsaga, where there's a pretty watermill at the bottom of the fjord.

A little further down the road...

How lovely! On Route 864, there's a small frozen road that crosses the fjord.

We walk on ice. Oops, it's cracking...

We head back down to Olsborg for the return trip home. We meet Yves and Valérie Deneyer at Nordkjosbotn, chat for ¼ hour and head for home. Arriving at 2:45pm, we prepare pancake batter and salted butter caramel. We're also packing our suitcases, as we'll be moving to a new area tomorrow. Dinner at around 4pm! Departure to see the aurora at 5.50pm. At 6.30pm, we're in place at Skibotn beach. Nothing happens. It's quite windy and -12°. We head off down the E8 towards Finland. We park in the Rovijokkfossen waterfall parking lot. We wait... 8pm and still nothing. -16° at 8.30pm. We pick up at 9:20pm, nothing happens. Back home at 10:15pm.

 

Saturday february 10 : up at 7am. Departure at 8:30 a.m. for the Lofoten Islands via the E6. A short photo stop to watch the sunrise over the mountains.

After Bjerkvik, we catch the E10. The sky is getting overcast and snowflakes are falling from time to time. The temperature is -11°. We enter Lofoten via a large bridge.

It's -4°. Burgers and fish&chips stop around 12:15. It's snowing. We set off again at 1:30pm. The weather's getting worse, it's all misty with snowfall. But it doesn't last. Photo stop on sunny peaks. It's -3°.

We then go shopping in Svolvaer. We arrive at the rental house in Bostad around 6pm.

We settle in. It's a bit old-fashioned and kitsch.

 

Sunday february 11 : departure at 9am, big blue sky -9°. Heading south. Photo stop for sunrise over the mountains. -13°.

We make several photo stops

 

including Flakstad beach.

12:30 stop in Hamnoy. Not much room for parking and it's crowded. Too bad, a cloud hides the sun from the red houses. 

Then a stop at Reine. We park at the port and walk to the bridge. Same problem as at Hamnoy, the sun is hidden or too low.

We set off at around 2pm. On the way back, we stop at Sakrisoy. The houses here are yellow.

Back home by 4pm. We almost have a snack, an aperitif and a pasta gratin before setting off again for northern lights at 6:50pm on Eggum beach. The temperature is -13°. We see an aurora in the shape of an arc with a hint of red. It intensifies and gets nicer. We reach KP3.

Back home by midnight.

 

Monday february 12 : departure at 9.15am for Unstad at -2°. It's windy. The view is average.

Then off to Vik. On the road, we help a German car stuck in the snow. Several cars stop, and there must be about 15 of us pushing.

The car struggles to move, but we finally succeed. Stops at Vik beach

and the beach of Haukland

then on to Uttakleiv. There is a 50nok charge for parking on the latter beach. It's very windy. But it's the prettiest.

Come on, second stucked car rescue, they're Asian.

Three or four pushes and it's done. We then head for Nusfjord, a small fishing village transformed into a museum with its red and yellow houses on stilts.

We see a whale skeleton. We have a hot chocolate and a waffle in the Landhandel & Kafe. It feels good, it's very good. We leave again at 4pm. Back home at 5pm. No outing tonight, the sky is overcast.

 

Tuesday february 13 : departure at 9.20 am. Direction Gimsoy. Never 2 without 3... the 3rd is us! Barely out of our way from home (a 5-minute walk), we come across a car that doesn't park and we stuck ourselves in the snow. We're in deep.

After several attempts at pushing, we get even deeper. A few vehicles pass by but don't stop! But we've helped everyone! A Norwegian finally stops and helps us with a rope, but it breaks. He calls a tow truck to get us out. We wait... The tow truck arrives at 11:15. With his winch, he gets us out in 5 minutes.

We start our day at 11:25! We start by visiting the Gimsoy church. A small white chapel on the water's edge.

Then it's off to Henningsvaer. Called the Venice of Lofoten, according to the tourist guides, because several small islands make up this fishing village. Parking is available for 48 nok. A 2-hour tour of the village

 

to the slightly elevated viewpoint and the soccer pitch, which seems to stand alone on its island. Well, you can't really see that it's a soccer pitch!

We then drive to Kabelvag and its remarkable church.

 

We go shopping and refuel in Svolvaer. Back home by 6pm. The only problem is that we can't climb the slope leading up to the house because it's full of snowdrifts. This is definitely the day! We start to clear one side of the bend to park and finish on foot, when finally the neighbor comes over with a tractor.

He makes two trips up and down the driveway, and it's all right. The sky is overcast again, and it's a shame there's no aurora this evening, even though KP5 was forecast. So we set off for an “incense smoke” photo workshop.

 

Wednesday february 14 : departure around 9:30 am. Our driveway has been cleared. We're going to try to find Yves's dragon's eye in Flakstad. It's -3°, very windy and the sky is leaden. We don't find the eye, but some small pools.

We then go to the red church in Flakstad. Dating from 1780, it's very pretty.

We stop off at another beautiful red and green church: Buksnes Kirke in Gravdal.

We continue along route 818 to Ballstad. Nothing out of the ordinary.

It starts to snow. In Leknes, we go to Hertz to see if they can change the tires, as we're not gripping the ground very well. But... no, they're fine, or so they say! A bit of shopping. Back home around 2.30pm. Lunch. Dinner. Snow!

 

Thursday february 15 : departure at 9 a.m. for the village of A (pronounced O). It's -1°, but the wind makes it feel colder. Photo stop at Hamnoy. It's not the same light as the other day, but it's still pretty.

Then we stop at the first viewpoint on Reine.

In A, we park in the parking lot at the tunnel exit and take a walking tour of the village in a few snowflakes, 1°.

It's pretty dead. We set off again around 1pm. Hot chocolate and pastry stop at Bringen Kaffebar. Back home around 3:20pm. Preparation of pancake batter and suitcases. Aperitif. Pancake dinner!

 

Friday february 16 : departure at 9.20am for Skibotn. The sky is blue, the sun is out and it's -1°. Several photo stops along the way.

The reflections are amazing! We're lucky: blue skies and no wind.

This area is too beautiful:

This one too! :

Finally, we cross the Tjeldsund Bridge, linking Lofoten to the mainland.

We arrive in Nordfjordbotn around 6.15pm for dinner at the Vollan restaurant (reindeer burgers and pasta). We then head for our home for the last night, in Skibotn's Strandbu Camping. We arrive around 8pm. It's a cosy little chalet.

Photo of the day after:

We set off again around 9pm in the direction of the Finnish border to try to see the aurora. When we get there, there are quite a few people and tour operators. There are a few gaps in the sky, but they get clogged up. We don't see anything, and leave at 10pm.

 

Saturday february 17 : departure at 10am. The temperature is -7°. Overcast and snowing. Off to the airport with a stop at Burger King around 12pm. We return the car to Hertz (we've covered 3,329 km). At the airport, we do everything ourselves: printing boarding passes, baggage tags and placing them on the carpets. Then we grab a coffee and wait for our flight. We board at 3.20pm and take off at 4.15pm (scheduled for 3.55pm) after de-icing the plane. Landing in Paris at 7.30pm. Waiting for baggage. We go to terminal 2B to pick up the shuttle to the Campanile hotel where we've left our car. The shuttle is already there when we arrive at 7.30pm. At the Campanile, we pick up our car and arrive home at 10.30pm.

 

 

* * * 

 

Two weeks of snowy enchantment! 

Snow-covered mountains, frozen lakes and icy, cracked fjords are magnificent. All this embellished by the sun on some days. We didn't have the worst weather, with sunshine, clouds and snowfall. Very cold temperatures in the first week, down to -20°, eased off in the second. We really enjoyed Lofoten.

 

As for the northern lights, there wasn't much activity. On the four evenings we spent observing them, the green lights weren't very intense, apart from one time when they were slightly stronger, but it wasn't “crazy” (as Stéphane would say). I think it's going to be difficult to see again the grandiose spectacle of green and pink that we had in 2022. 

 

So, apart from the little run off the road to play with the tires in the snow, everything went well. It was a great trip in good company.