Monday, 04 March Week 04

Tomorrow 1 °C

Noon 7°C

Evening 4°C

We leave Laukvik and find something almost like winter on the way. A little snow, frozen lakes and the mountains are still really snowy. But otherwise the Lofoten appear almost spring-like.

We also learn that this is rather rare at this time of year. You don't often find a lot of snow here, but the landscape is usually more wintry at this time of year. The main thing is that the sun is shining. We can do without snowstorms, which can certainly happen.

Our route takes us to Henningsvaer again this time. A walk is a must and we always discover new corners in this pretty town, just like today.

For example, finally fish racks that aren't empty. :-)

We drive to Eggum again to spend the night. We actually find ourselves completely alone in the lower parking lot!!!

The night brings us a wonderful starry sky and some beautiful northern lights.

Daily route: Laukvik - Eggum

Distance: 115 km

Average consumption: 9.7 liters

Average speed: 40 km/h

Travel time: 2 hours 51 minutes

Pitch costs: In winter 40 NOK parking fee (I think we were the only ones who paid that))

Tuesday, 05 March

Tomorrow 2°C

Noon 5°C

Evening 2 °C

Well, we would have loved to photograph Haukland Beach in its winter dress! It's more like spring here, but we're enjoying the sun to the fullest.

After almost nine years, we are once again drawn to Nusfjord. Here, too, time has not stood still.

Some of the buildings are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Nine years ago we were almost alone walking around here in the spring. Now you have to pay 100 NOK to visit this pretty village and in March a lot of people do that! OK, some turn back because it's too expensive for them! We think it's worth it!

Daily route: Eggum - Reine

Distance: 106 km

Average consumption: 9.3 liters

Average speed: 35 km/h

Travel time: 3 hours 0 minutes

Pitch costs: 0 euros in winter, including toilet, grey water and waste disposal

Wednesday, 06 March

Tomorrow 0°C

Noon 5°C

Evening 3 °C

According to the weather forecast, we were actually expecting another beautiful day. Our first look out of the window left us amazed - thick fog! Around zero degrees and the ground outside was white because the moisture had frozen.

For us, that means we have all the time in the world! We'll just wait patiently until the situation changes.

So there's plenty of time for showering, relaxing, having a hearty breakfast and just hanging out.

At 11 a.m. we drive to the disposal point. Since the water is turned off in many places, we flush our toilet cassette with our grey water. Since there is no ice or snow on the ground, we can even drain the rest of the grey water here. Then it's time to leave, but we stop at the petrol station ahead, where we can refill our fresh water tank. Without this service from various petrol stations, it would be difficult to get fresh water in Lofoten.

We take the gondola to A, turn around and start our return journey to the Lofoten Islands. We have to stop countless times and capture the special atmosphere of the day with our cameras.

We also stop at the glassworks in Viken, look over the glassblower's shoulder, admire the works of art and, who's surprised - Pfüdi is a little bit heavier afterwards. :-)

It is said that the best cinnamon rolls in the world can be found in Unstad! Today we want to find out if that is true. And we can say - they really are super delicious! And they are also very beautiful to look at.

A cinnamon roll for afternoon tea and you've got dinner taken care of too.

Later we'll just have tomato soup.

We don't have to look out for the Northern Lights today and we are literally standing in the dirt!

Daily route: Reine - Unstad

Distance: 107 km

Average consumption: 9.3 liters

Average speed: 36 km/h

Travel time: 2 hours 58 minutes

Pitch costs: 0 euros in winter, including waste disposal

Thursday, 07 March

Tomorrow 2°C

Noon 4°C

Evening 1°C

Before breakfast we change our place because there is less dirt here and you can also step outside the door!

We are in the starting blocks and Hansruedi is about to start the engine. I then spontaneously take out the binoculars and look to see why the big stone far back has such a funny point.

There are birds sitting on it. Wait - those could be sea eagles.

We quickly grab the camera and start running. The closer we get, the more carefully we move.

Thanks to the good zoom of the Sony camera we get impressive pictures of these rare birds.

And then there are days when the plans don't quite work out. We actually wanted to finally go to the Viking Museum, but it doesn't open until 11:00 and it's only 10:00. So maybe next time!

So we finally stop at the Lofoten Cathedral. An impressive building. The outside light is on. In Norway, that actually means that someone is at home or is open. But here too, we find the door locked and later find out from the Internet that the church is open from Tuesday to Friday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

But filling up with LPG in Svolver works perfectly. We also find the V/E in the industrial area of Svolver and everything is open.

Last but not least, an extensive shopping trip to Rema 1000.

And at the end of today's journey we land back in Lodingen. And we are amazed - by the evening there are 11 motorhomes here! We have never seen so many on this trip!

Tagesstrecke: Unstad - Lodingen

Distance: 173 km

Average consumption: 9.2 liters

Average speed: 50 km/h

Travel time: 3 hours 26 minutes

Pitch cost: 280 NOK, incl. water/electricity

Friday, 08 March

Tomorrow 1°C

Noon 3°C

Evening -2 °C

We are leaving the Lofoten Islands today. We have had wonderful days with lots of sunshine and wonderful northern lights. The only thing that was missing was snow. Unfortunately, it rained for days before we arrived and there wasn't much left of the white splendor. It was a bit of a shame, but the sun made up for it.

The decision has been made - we will not travel further north in Norway. Senja and Tromso have been cancelled. There, too, the winter landscape is missing. But that is exactly why we went to Scandinavia. So we are heading back to Sweden. The weather forecast is more stable and the winter has not been washed away by the rain.

We travel on the E10 towards Kiruna again, but stop at a rest area before we reach Abisko. There are a few husky teams with sledges waiting for cruise ship tourists from Narvik. Of course we head out immediately with our cameras. Since it's still a while before the tourists arrive, we have plenty of time to observe everything.

The dogs then immediately realize when it starts and are hard to stop.

But the landscape here at Lake Torneträsk is simply magnificent and the ice pictures fascinating.

Day route: Lodingen - Abisko

Distance: 181 km

Average consumption: 9.5 liters

Average speed: 50 km/h

Travel time: 3 hours 33 minutes

Parking space costs: 0 SEK, incl. waste container

Saturday, March 9

Tomorrow -3°C

Noon 2°C

Evening -1 °C

We are in Abisko National Park and are almost sweating while hiking!!

But the ice and snow landscape is impressive and it really doesn't matter that we don't have to be wrapped up warmly!

OK, we meet hikers who are so masked, you would think it was at least minus 20 degrees!

The sun was supposed to come out during the morning. But when we had lunch it didn't look like it would happen. The weather is not conducive to seeing the Northern Lights at the moment.

We decide to travel on to Kiruna. Here we stop in the newly built part of town. A lot is still under construction, but the shopping mall is already open. It is already 2:20 p.m. and we are amazed - everything closes at 3:00 p.m.! Oops, we are lucky. We quickly do a little shopping at the Coop and at the Systembolaget we buy our favorite rosé and some red wine.

Our journey continues towards Gällivare and since we don't see a nice place to stay overnight anywhere on the way, we end up at the campsite in Gällivare. We make ourselves comfortable here after the rather long journey. The stars are still hiding behind the clouds. There will probably be no northern lights again.

Route: Abisko - Gällivare

Distance: 229 km

Average consumption: 8.7 liters

Average speed: 62 km/h

Travel time: 3 hours 38 minutes

Pitch cost: 290 SEK, incl. water/electricity

Sunday, March 10

Tomorrow -3°C

Noon 6°C

Evening -1 °C

Only this morning did the clouds finally begin to clear and make way for a bright, beautiful day.

On our journey to Lulea on the east coast of Sweden we pass the Arctic Circle once again.

This time heading south.

Our first stop today is the World Heritage Site of Gammelstad Church Town (Link or Link) just outside Lulea.

From a Swedish woman who lived in Lucerne for 19 years we get interesting details about this world cultural heritage site - and of course in German, a broken Swiss German.

The Hägnan open-air museum is also part of this whole story and we will spend the night here in the parking lot. Our nose is pointing roughly north, the sky is starry and the houses of the open-air museum would be a beautiful backdrop for the northern lights.