Tuesday 30 April 2013

Crossing the line


There are prettier places to wake up than Narvik. The town was flattened in WWII, and the style of rebuilding reflects its industrial heritage. It's still in an impressive setting though, and the skiing here runs right into town. It's meant to be good skiing too, but given how late in the season we are, the lifts are only open at weekends to help save the snow.

Keen to do something with my day, I jumped on the train. Funny how the train line that brought Narvik's industry and slightly dour looks, offers some of the finest views in the area. I spent the journey gawping out of the window at towering cliffs (loads of ice climbing potential in winter) and beautiful fjords, before the scenery changed to that of an Arctic plateau.


The small Swedish ski resort of Riksgränsen actually straddles the border. It's the most northerly resort in the world, and is characterised by lots of cliff drops and acres of off piste. I spent a really enjoyable afternoon skiing here - the potential of the place under some fresh powder was evident. I had to settle for a bit of wind-blown and some slush, but I was more than happy just to be charging around, using my skis on a new mountain.



The summit of Nordal is an easy bootpack from the top of the lifts, and a good ride down:


But my favourite run of the day involved seeing how many times I could cross from Sweden to Norway to Sweden again! Here's a photo on what I'm pretty sure is THE border (looking into Norway).




There's something special about skiing in Lapland - the whole place just feels properly 'Arctic' - something you don't always feel closer to the coast.

After the lifts closed and I had to call it a day, I was shocked (in a good way) to find a really rowdy afterski downstairs in the hotel complex! Mid-week, late season... those Swedes still love a party!


I'm going to be taking the train down to Stockholm tomorrow - provided they let me on, as I may have ballsed the ticket up. Assuming I do go, it's supposed to be a beautiful journey. Although quite long, it's also one of the cheapest ways to get to Northern Norway (provided you book well in advance) so worthy of mention on FlyDrive Norway's blog! Watch this space, hopefully I'll get away with it. If not, there are worse places to be stranded!

Monday 29 April 2013

Getting out in Lofoten, going "out out" in Lofoten, and getting out of Lofoten

It's been a hectic few days here in the North of Norway. I've been staying on-and-off at Svolvær Sjøhuscamping, which is a budget guesthouse right on the harbour front. The setting is great, it's really well-looked after and actually very well-appointed in every respect - I'd recommend them fully! As is often the way in these places, I got chatting with Matias, an Argentinian backpacker, and Christine, daughter of the owners. Christine was kind enough to invite me to a reggae night in Kabelvåg on Friday night, called "Dread Light District".

A reggae night? In Kabelvåg????
Damn straight. It was one of the best nights I've had in Norway.




4 bands played, firstly a group of keen local youngsters - most of them students at Kabelvåg's art college. Chatting to the lads afterwards, Lofoten sounds a tough place for aspiring musicians. Band members continually leave to continue their education elsewhere - as a result the guys had a whole new line-up for the evening, and had only rehearsed twice. Despite this they really got the crowd involved and played a great opener.

The three remaining acts all hail from Tromsø - Bislaget, Dread Men Walking and Skada Vara. While Skada Vara were great headliners, I preferred Dread Men Walking's set of upbeat reggae and ska. The crowd were loving it!

For the encore, all the acts performed together - it was hard to tell where the band stopped and the crowd started. There aren't that many people in Lofoten outside of the season, but I think everyone was at this gig! What a good night!


The next day, I was struggling. So after a late start, I set off up Fløya, the mountain behind Svolvær. This is a relatively small peak, but it rises straight out of the sea so the climb up (passing the celebrated 'Svolvær Goat') soon saw the hangover off!

The Svolværgeita, a popular goal for rock climbers




The views from the top were something else - I'll put some of the best shots on Flickr in due course. Once I gained the summit, I traversed around the ridge, aiming to climb the next peak around. However I soon realised that the sun's heat was making the snow unstable, so I picked a safe spot to bail out (although not without setting off a small 'sluff' of wet snow first). On the way down I met some guys who had been making a TV show, and were climbing on the goat that day - a good effort so early in the season.

I camped out that night. In Norway, as long as you're 150m from the nearest house and you're only stopping for 1 night, you can camp pretty much anywhere. I found a rocky outcrop sticking out into the sea at Kabelvåg. Great view, and I found some more live music that night too. The locals are so friendly - probably because they've barely seen anyone all winter! It was an unexpected bonus night, and I finally made it to the tent at 3am ready to crash out. Shame it snowed on me at 4am!

My campsite

Sunday promised to be the best weather day of the week, so I was up early for some ski touring on nearby Småtindan. The skiing on Lofoten is legendary, and we got some great runs in that day - nothing too difficult but the 4am snow had its uses! Blue sky day and fresh tracks on perfect slopes - yes please! If you're thinking about skiing in Lofoten, get some local knowledge and guidance first - we had to be pretty careful of wet, avalanche-prone snow lying on blank rock slabs.



Once the touring was done, I realised I'd screwed up - being a Sunday I had missed the bus. "Never mind", I thought. "I'll hitch". Yeah, right. With two large bags, on a Sunday afternoon, I had no hope. My 10km walk home took me past the beautiful Lofoten Cathedral, so I grabbed a quick picture before slogging it out up and over the hill. Just what you want after a full day's ski touring!

Today the weather's been turning, and I was cream-crackered from my escapades over the weekend. As a result, I jumped on a bus to Narvik earlier (260NOK, 4hr20min journey) and am now preparing to sleep out again before heading to Riksgränsen tomorrow. That's right, it's got an 'ä' in it - because it's in Sweden. FlyDrive Norway in Sweden? I'll explain more later. It's time for bed.

Safe travels, Phil


Thursday 25 April 2013

Inside Anker Brygge

I enjoy sleeping outside. Just saying. I love a good camp, I do. On this trip, I'll probably spend quite a few nights out - partly to save money, and partly because I like it! A downside this far north is that it's daylight by 4am (getting earlier and earlier...), but I was knackered yesterday so slept straight through to 8ish.

The rate I'm going this week, I could write a blog on touring Norway's libraries. But in all seriousness, if like me you're in need of an internet connection and don't want to pay for it then the 'Bibliotek' is a good bet. After a morning of battering through emails, I managed to get down to Anker Brygge for a look round. During my travels around Norway, I'll be dropping in on FlyDrive Norway's partner suppliers, to give you a bit more insight on what they offer.




Rorbuer are traditional waterfront fisherman's cottages. In Svolvær, they characterise the look of the town's focal point, the harbour. Anker Brygge has several Rorbuer of various sizes, some old and some new, but all traditional on the outside and well equipped on the inside. Staying in one is a must-do for anyone visiting Lofoten, and it shows in the bookings - they're full tonight and we're still in the low season!

The inner courtyard at Anker Brygge houses the prettiest and most unusual maintenance building I've ever seen (former employers take note - your sheds do not meet expectations):





There's also a sauna for guests to use (complete with nautical decor including a ship's wheel - love it), and that's not all. Last night I enjoyed a beer in the Bryggebaren, a warm and welcoming pub just across the bridge as you enter Anker Brygge - take a look at our twitter (@FlyDriveNorway) or facebook for a picture of the karaoke carnage...



Just next door to the Bryggebaren is the Kjøkkene restaurant. They serve a traditional regional menu, including Stockfish, Lofoten's signature dish. Inside the restaurant is bright and charming, with plenty of unique touches to finish:





So visitors to Anker Brygge don't need to venture into the rest of town then? That's not how Market Manager, Morten Moe seems to see it. Morten was kind enough to show me around, and I was impressed by his pragmatic and open-minded views on bringing visitors to Lofoten. There's no doubt in my mind that as a visitor to Anker Brygge, you are more than welcome (encouraged even) to explore the other restaurants etc in Svolvær during your stay. And for non-residents, the doors to the Kjøkkene and Bryggebaren are wide open. Anker Brygge is open year-round - in fact, most of Svolvær is, making the winter a great time to visit if you'd like to avoid the crowds and the high-season prices.

After I left Morten, I spent a little time wandering around taking pictures. This one in particular sums the place up for me - out on the quayside with a coffee, newspaper and cigarette if you like, soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying the view. 



I didn't fancy camping tonight - it's going to rain later. As in WEST COAST OF NORTHERN NORWAY rain. It'll probably be biblical in scale and ferocity. So I've rented myself a little room with a view at Svolvær Sjøhuscamp, very pleasant indeed. It didn't take long for me to strike up some banter (shock) with the other guests, so it looks like I'm heading out for a bit later on. Expect instagrams. This could get messy.

All Change...

I mentioned before that Bodø is the end of the train line, so now my mode of transport would need to shift to the sea! I spent the morning on the 'Gamle (old) Salten', but my trusty vessel for the next leg of the journey would be her younger (but not smaller) sister.



Torghatten Nord operate ferries and express boats throughout Norway's coastline. The Salten serves the Bodø to Svolvær express route. This crossing gets busy in summer, so it's advisable to book in advance. Yesterday I had ample space to stretch my sea legs and try to get pictures through sprayed-up windows. The scenery on the trip was amazing, but there's no 'above deck' area. To be quite honest, the boat's not hanging about and I don't fancy man-overboard drills in the Arctic Circle, so no outside area is fair enough.



The express boat's route links many isolated communities to civilisation. I saw plenty of passengers who had just popped into town on the boat for a bit of shopping! The voyage was similar to visiting the Small Isles off Scotland's west coast, only the the isles had become Big instead.



The journey takes 3hrs 50mins - there's a reasonably priced cafe-kiosk on board and the views keep getting better and better. The final leg involves crossing Vestfjord. There were plenty of big rollers, and the sea was calm (for here) yesterday. I've spent plenty of time on boats, but seriously, walking was a struggle. I'd not drunk anything either.



The famous Lofoten wall crept closer and closer, until after a final stop at the tiny island settlement of Skrova we reached Svolvær, Capital of the Lofoten.



Fishing is in the heart of this town - there's a rack of fish drying just outside my front door right now. I wasn't sure how the mixture of traditional buildings and modern fish plants would work, but it all sits together pretty easily. The backdrop plays its part too. As a climber, I've always wanted to visit here! Lofoten is famous all over the world for its sheer granite cliffs, rising straight out of the sea.



Last night however was not about climbing - I'd been up since 5am, and I took the photo above at 11pm on my way into the Bryggebaren pub. I couldn't choose between beer and bed, but seeing as it barely got dark last night and I was doing a little 'urban' camping, the beer won. Turns out, not all things change!

Wednesday 24 April 2013

Damp in Bodø, and all aboard the M/S Gamle Salten!

Woke up on a train heading North. As far North as possible without going into Sweden first, to be precise. A combination of full-blown daylight and sleeping on a train seat meant a 5am wake up, still the ride through Nordland featured some dramatic scenery and cool views so I can't complain - especially when you see the price of the ticket:



So 249 NOK (around £28) got me from Lillehammer to Bodø. 650 miles, on comfortable and quick trains. All you have to do is book at least a day in advance and look for 'minipris' tickets. Nice one NSB!

Bodø today felt a bit like Mallaig in Scotland - end of the train line, end of the road, all future options out at sea. It's been grey and wet outside, so I've been hitting the paperwork and haven't got to see that much of town. I did have time to head down to the M.S. Gamle Salten though.


This former Hurtigruten ship has been lovingly restored, and now sails throughout the summer on short tours around the Lofoten Isles. They're one of our newest partners on www.flydrivenorway.co.uk so I dropped in to lend a hand with their web listing. In return, Kristin Konradsen the General Manager was kind enough to let me have a look around! Here's some photos from above and below decks.





The M.S. Gamle Salten is the only ship of her kind in Norway - historic sailing and floating accomodation all in one package! Surely a must-do if you're in Nordland.

Anyway I must dash - as it happens I've got a boat to catch of my own!

Tuesday 23 April 2013

Trondheim - Gateway to Nordland

Hi folks, I'm in Trondheim! I've been waiting for my connecting train since arriving from Lillehammer at around 3pm local time. As a result, I've had plenty of time to look around and get a feel for the place (as well as work out which local suppliers we will be looking at for new Premier Partnerships).




Trondheim is great! It has a quirky mix of influences, with traditional waterfront architecture meeting a boho student population. The result is fairly unique - quaint old buildings housing chic cafes and bars, and bicycles everywhere. Despite being Norway's 3rd largest city, it's easy to walk around and is fairly quiet - but then what would you expect in a country with five and a half million inhabitants? Despite the lack of people, there's a certain buzz about the place, particularly early in the evening as the bars start to fill up. Having such a young population is doing Trondheim no harm at all it seems. Not that the history has been overlooked - I went to take a look at Norway's oldest cathedral in the centre of town, the Nidarosdomen.


It's worth bearing in mind if you're visiting that opening hours out of season are limited - I just missed out on looking around inside as the ticket office currently closes at 2 on a Tuesday. Not that the outside wasn't impressive! You can see all of my pictures from today on the flickr stream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/flydrivenorway/ .


Oh, and just for your reference, in case you didn't know, this is me, trying to look inconspicuous...

Right, time to eat! I'll not say where I'm off to now - all I will tell you is that when I wake up, I'll be somewhere very different without spending much money!

Welcome



Hi. I'm FlyDrive Norway's 'man in the field'. To start off with, I should clarify that I'm not in a field. I'm sitting at my laptop, which is where I'll be spending part of my time over the next 6 months. The rest of the time, I'll be travelling all over Norway, promoting www.flydrivenorway.co.uk and bringing you pictures and blogs that I hope will inspire you to get out here and take a look for yourself!