August 10th 2015: Norway: From glacier to beach

Monty the Motorhome is resting his wheels (and brakes) after some challenging driving conditions today. We’re at a beachside location for the overnight stop, just north of the town of Ørnes.

Rain greeted us this morning as we scurried about to get the 0830 hrs ferry from Kilboghamn to Jetvik. This journey takes 60 minutes, so it seemed a good idea to have breakfast on board. The choice was not extensive and we ended up having burger and chips. Not too healthy, but really filling.

This ferry crosses the Arctic Circle, which is marked by a globe shaped structure on the shore line. We had been able to see it in the distance from last night’s campsite, but today we sailed past and into the land of the midnight sun.

At Jetvik we drove on to get the last of the ferries on the Kystriksveien route. There is only 28 kms between the two and every vehicle piles off the first ferry and goes hell for leather to get the next ferry, even though there is plenty of time. Somehow we got involved in these ‘wacky races’ and were in a line with two huge lorries at the front and a number of cars behind us, on a single track road with all kinds of horrendous corners. Daft really, as we hurtled past some tremendous scenery, just as the weather improved and the sun came out.

Anyway we reached the last ferry at Ågskardet in plenty of time and as soon as it got in to Forøy I pulled over and let the racers by.

The next section was alongside Holand Fjord, with views across to the Engenbreen, the lowest-lying glacier on the European mainland. It is part of Svartisen - Norway’s second largest glacier. It looked like a whitish blue blob of toothpaste flowing down a valley and almost reaching the fjord.

Further on we decided to take a small road into the mountains, on the strength of some tourist information literature. It was billed as being good asphalted road, built in connection with a major power plant construction project. Sure enough it started out as a good surface. Then we came to a tunnel and blindly plunged in, thinking it would be just like all the other tunnels we have been through in Norway - decent road surface and lit. No and no again, as immediately the road surface changed to something like compacted soil, with no lighting whatsoever. There were plenty of potholes, the tunnel was narrow and the gradient was steepish. And it just went on and on. So it was just a case of ploughing onwards and upwards and hoping nothing came down from the opposite direction. After an interminable age we emerged into sunlight and the road surface improved.  By now we had gained some height and the road came to a fork. I opted to go in the direction signed Holmvass and soon we were driving alongside lying snow. Then suddenly around one corner we came to a snow drift covering half the road-width. It was too much for Monty to cope with, so I ended up reversing back to a space wide enough to make a turning; which was a bit hairy, but we lived to tell this tale.

So it was back to the fork in the road and up in the other direction, signed for Storglomvass. Then came the second tunnel. This was just as bad as the first, but at least it was shorter, and suddenly we were coming into a rough car park with several other vehicles (no motorhomes though) parked.

A rough track continued from the car park, heading in the direction of the top of a dam, but this too was covered in snow drifts. I had a walk over these drifts, on a path trodden out by previous walkers, to view the lake behind the dam. The area was arctic in appearance - dwarf vegetation, alpine flowers, the odd hut with snow shovels outside and the Svartisen glacier in the distance.

After this breath of the tundra it was back down the tunnels, which were still a bit scary but at least we knew what to expect this time, and at last re-joining the Kystriksveien.

'No Through Road' even in August

Our overnight stop tonight is a wild camp. We are in the district, or Commune, of Meløy, and their on-line tourist information has a bit about beachside parking at the community of Stia. It sounded promising and when we arrived there was a large parking area, just off the road, adjacent to a beautiful little sandy beach. We pitched up and later in the evening several other motorhomes joined us. 

The sun is shining in the west and the waves are lapping. Looks like a decent evening ahead.

Our pitch for the night