Day 11, A Ferry Good Day!

We left Ersfjord quite late; we couldn’t tear ourselves away from the view! We drove up Route 82 and stopped after a few minutes at the Tungenset viewpoint. Norwegians take their viewpoints very seriously, and they are usually quite artistic in design.

We walked along the wooden pathway, and onto the big rocks and just stood, taking in the view.

We then drove on to Gryllefjord, to catch our ferry to our next place, the Vesteralen. The route there was amazing. At times we could see beaches and blue sea that looked straight out of the Caribbean.

Catching a ferry in Norway can be both fraught and relaxing, often at the same time. First, you have to decipher the Norwegian timetables. Then you have to get there, whilst estimating just how early you have to be there to actually get on. Then, you play the waiting game, which is the relaxing part. Once your van is in the queue, and within the embarkation lines, you know you have nothing to do but chill and wait.

We wandered around the little port in the sunshine, taking in the views, and I read my kindle till it was time to drive on. We were soon up on deck for the 100 minute long ferry, watching the coastline as we sailed.

Lyn had used the app on his phone to buy our ticket, only to find out it expired two minutes before we were due to sail! We needn’t have worried, as you don’t buy your ticket until you are nearly half way across and they open the window. It’s very much an honour system, with not many checks in place!

We were soon driving off the ferry, and headed towards the office of the company we were due to do a whale watching trip with on Tuesday, just to check on things. It was a good job we did; the sea conditions were not good, it was very windy out at sea and they were about to cancel that night’s trip. We decided to ring in the next day to check on ours, but the forecast did not look good.

We drove to the camp site I had ear marked. We have loved wild camping, but it was time to do some laundry! We checked in, and found our spot. Lyn, as ever, found the most perfect spot there. Not playing it safe like most of the camper vans there, he drove to the top of a mound and we had an absolutely million dollar view out over the sea and the islands. We even had our own little access down onto the sandy beach.

We had to go for a beach walk, me, being ever classy, with a can of Swedish blackberry cider. The sand was amazingly fine, and the sea the most beautiful turquoise blue. There were quite a few jelly fish washed up; some amazing orange ones, and other lilac ones. I had a little paddle, then it was time to go and eat.

It was time for our first BBQ, so Lyn braved the cold, and sat outside barbecuing some steak.
There wasn’t much of a sunset tonight as it had clouded over, but it was still light till gone midnight. It just doesn’t get dark at all, which has played havoc with our sleeping!