Hurtigruten: Lofoten Islands Excursion

We knew we were in for a treat when our Day 3 dawned on our Hurtigruten 6-day sea voyage, the day before we crossed the Arctic Circle (last post). Our only excursion of the trip wasn''t leaving till 6:30 that evening, but this is what we saw in the morning as we entered the area of the Lofoten Islands:

It took our breath away. An understatement!


The brochure had said this would be some of the most stunning scenery on the journey.
They did not lie!

It so happened that this was the only day we had excursions available to us because we were too early in the season. No dog sledding, for example, which I would have died for. But this day, we had 3 options and had to choose one. After e-mailing Vagabonde and Dutchbaby, both of whom had passed this way before, we all agreed the excursion through the Lofoten Islands would be the one. And it was!

It was a 3-hour coach ride from Svolvaer to Stamsund, with a long stop in one of the cod-fish towns. Because it started at 6:30 p.m. and the weather was misty and cloudy, it was dark by the time we finished and joined the ship at 9:30. But we still saw what we wanted to see and were not disappointed.


As a for instance, we saw the Vågan church (above left), built in 1898, at the beginning of the tour and the one on the right (still doing research on it!) towards the end, all lit up (both from the tour bus).
Addendum later: it's the Borge Church in Vestvågøy, 1987,
humorously referred to by the locals as the ski jump.


Thankfully, our drying-cod-fish stop was at the beginning when we still had plenty of light.
The delightful fishing village of Henningsvaer was our stop.
Population? "More than 500" per Wiki.

Our first impressions were these 3 separate houses, which gave us their different faces:




The first two houses (above) gave us our first glimpse of the cod fish drying.
As you'll see later, it was just an appetizer!


What is is about a house that can have so much character?!

At this point, our tour bus stopped and basically gave us an hour to go view a painting gallery and then a video about the Lofoten Islands, including the entire fishing operation there. Following that, we'd have the chance to do some shopping and whatever walking around we could manage.

It won't surprise you that Astrid and I decided to have none of it but to use our precious hour walking to the real cod fish crop drying right outside the town. We had seen the racks as we drove in. So we told the guide and driver what we were doing, skipping out on the formalities. We were the only ones!

But look at our reward!

On this side of the bridge, enough stockfish (in this case, cod) to sink a ship! And why don't the birds eat them to the bones? Because they dry so quickly the first day, their skins are too tough.


See the boys cresting the bridge as we crossed over to the other side?
They're the ones (the kids of the town) who pull out the fish tongues from the fish heads.
It's a Lofoten delicacy!

And there they were, all the fish heads severed from the hanging cod fish on the other side of the bridge.
What do those eyes see, I wonder! And what or for whom are they looking?

BTW, stockfish is Norway's longest sustained export commodity, and the socioeconomically most profitable export over the centuries (Wiki). The fish heads go to Nigeria because it's what they can afford (tour guide).


THIS, my friends, is a typical Norwegian fishing village...


...and once back on the tour bus, we drove through town and saw the evidence everywhere.
Fishing is their way of life.

Then, after some more driving through the countryside, as it started to get dark, we arrived back at our ship in time to embark for a 10 p.m. departure from Stamsund.

Without a doubt, this will be one of our best memories of the entire sea voyage. Totally worth it.

[Thanks again to Astrid for a handful of her images here-n-there!]