Loop 2 start was at the top of Austnes fjord (nearly bisects
the eastern side of Austvagoya – the biggest island of the Lofoten chain?) at
Liland. We were doing this clockwise so
it was south first and then past the airport runway at Helle, then west past
Svolvaer and its more expansive harbour/leisure moorings – saw a large dog
otter in amongst the foundations of an old warehouse here. Went west past the
Lofoten Katedral and to a beach camp near Kalle still in the sun. Next day was a paddle through many islets /
skerries and inside the breakwater at Hennigsvaer (the bridge linked village at
the SW tip of Austvagoya).
Turned north up the big sound with a following breeze so had some down-wing paddling fun – boat speeds seen of up to 14kph. Took the NE’ly route past the island of Gimsoya and into the lagoon like features around Sunnlandsfjord. Lots of shallow bright emerald green pools and the attendant risk of being stranded by the tide. Headed out using the GPS map display and made camp on the north coast after a 50 km day. Had seen sea eagles, herons and lots of kittiwakes.
The circuit continued eastwards past Stronstad &
Fiskebol with glassy conditions; we went down an inside passage at Arnoya and
into the finishing sea loch to its southerly dead-end. A quick 20min walk down the road to Liland for
the car and loop 2 was complete at 106 kms.
Not content with that day’s achievement we had coffee,
re-stocked the boats, and then started Loop 3 from just near the Helle airport (SE
Austvagoya). This involved launching the
loaded boats onto a tidal loch inside the main road causeway and then shooting
the “overfalls” through a short tunnel to get out to sea proper. Went south across open water and then into /
round the skerries before settling on a beach on Litlmolla for a camp. Very still conditions by this stage of the
evening so were exposed for the first time to the wee beastie midgies; dinner in the tent, a dram, and turned
in.
Our second day on this loop was to
be a figure of eight circumnav of Skrova & Litlmolla so we left the tents
up and went lightweight for once. Again
there were some very atmospheric looking clouds across the peaks, but it didn’t
stop us scrambling up the hill on Skrova (called Hogskrova 258m) and taking
some great photos from the top.
Skrova
says it is one of the biggest cod-fishing communities in the region so the
racks of drying fish were ever present.
How can I have got this far into my tale (!) without mentioning hanging
fish again. All the villages had their own
racking and the fish heads are strung up in bundles of ten, the gutted bodies
hang in pairs like kipper. It also
smells. Anyway back round the skerries
and the lighthouse we went, finishing at the beach / tents & the midgies.
Loop 3 completion was a simple cruise of 15kms looking at
new beaches on the SW coast of Stormolla (for a future trip?) before the paddle
across to the runway end at Helle. We
had planned the tide correctly and were able to “ascend” the tunnel overfalls back
to the landing slip/car. This had been a 52 km loop of less exposure than the first
two but a very pleasant few days.
Another hill walk up into the rain / mist was our recovery
activity and an interesting look inside a Norwegian climbers’ hut whilst
chatting to the sole resident – an American.
A day at a public site in Kabelvag sorting gear and this concluded Gordon’s vacation time; so he was off back to work in Aberdeen – a total of 438 kms plus 6 hill walks. We'd had a tremendous paddling time in a beautiful region, achieving our plans on the water and on land. Great stuff.
Part 4 (the conclusion!) to come ......
(Credit to Gordon M for some of the photos).
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