0336 Lofoten to Polar Park Arctic Wildlife Centre

23^rd Aug 2015

Grey skies,  a Viking Longhouse, and back on the mainland

There was cirrus cloud around last night before we turned in, so when I saw the overcast skies this morning I wasn’t surprised, although I was a little bit disappointed.  We have been spoilt rotten weather wise for the past week or so, and we are way up in the Arctic after all, so not really surprising.  But it didn’t rain, so that was good.

When we left our very pleasant free campsite just above the islands in a fjord, we decided to go down on a small loop to a village that is supposed to be really pretty.  After about 20 kms of windy road, we got there – And the village was terrible – It really was not attractive in anyway – And that is not just me being rude, it was just a series of fishing warehouses by the water, and a few very non descript houses – We were very disappointed after having gone out of our way to see it.  Nevertheless it did mean that later on we had to drive along a road we had been on yesterday, past the Viking Long House and Museum that we hadn’t stopped at yesterday since it was about to close, so there was a redeeming side to our big loop !

The museum was quite interesting, but since we got there just after opening time, there were very few people there yet to a lot of the interactive displays like woodturning and the smithy etc were not yet up and running.  However, to hear the history of the site at Borg which was only found in 1981 when a farmer ploughed up some remains of an 83 m long dwelling of a powerful Viking Chieftain dating from AD500 – 900.  It is the largest building of its era ever found in Scandinavia.  We learned of a chess-like board game played in those times, and saw how they would have lived.  There was an excellent museum display about how the find was discovered, and some of the history they learned from the discoveries made on the site.  The “new” house has been built immediately beside where the original house was discovered, which gives it added meaning.  A very interesting morning.

From the museum, we basically just followed the main road as it wound eastwards across the islands.  The scenery continued to be stunning, but with the mountain tops hidden some of it was not quite as dramatic as yesterday.  We also found that the western end of the islands, where we were yesterday, was much more scenic, and the villages more picturesque, than what we saw today in the eastern half.  And today there were SO many motor homes on the road – Nearly every other vehicle was a motorhome.  Many of them were Norwegian so maybe they were hurrying home on a Sunday evening – But if so, why were they passing us driving ONTO the island ?  Interesting.

With several long tunnels and bridges today, and the very twisty roads, especially this morning, it was a tiring day’s drive for me, and by 4.30 pm we were looking for a place to stop.  We were back on the mainland, just north of Norvik, and heading for Tromso tomorrow.  The first possible camp site we found was well off the road down a little track, but there were lots of mosquitoes there, so we jumped back in the car and

headed further down the road.  Soon afterwards we saw a sign to an Arctic Wildlife Park and also a National Park, so we headed up there, and found a big car park with camping facilities at the Wildlife Park, so decided to stay there overnight.  Very pleasant, only one other van here from Switzerland – And no mosquitoes !!!  Janet made a delicious pasta and we then settled down for the evening.  Not really cold yet, which is surprising considering how far north we are – Certainly nothing like as cold as the Arctic in Alaska.  However, we still have over 1000 kms to go to Kirkenes, so now doubt it will get colder as we head further north. 

Pics here :-  
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