Ballstadøya

At the petrol station at Leknes we obtained directions to a town where there were more Brygg] (sea-side cabins) available for hire: Ballstad, on the southern tip of the island.

Being out of season still, we encountered another empty reception; once again though a quick call to the number left chalked up on the door. The reception was actually, very interesting in and of its self; the room was decorated with antique ships tackle and curios, juxtaposed against a rack of modern fishing rods, and a windsurf suspended from the ceiling.

The cabin we found was a real gem. It was large, comfortable, had another very well equipped kitchen and was painted in pastel blue and white gloss paints. There were just enough nicks and wear in the paint to give it a feeling of having been lived in, which just added to the charm of the place. I couldn’t quite get over how, in addition to the typical mugs and glass tumblers, wine glasses, shot glasses and champagne flutes were also provided.

The windows overlooked the harbour. Nearby stood many fish-drying racks, which produced a pungent and distinctive odour, but it was not unpleasant.

The evening was relaxing we cooked a ‘Grandiosa’ frozen pizza in the oven (Norway's favourite) and sat around the dining table to talk. We rounded out the night with a game of ‘crazy caterpillars’.

On the morning of our 10th day in Norway. we were greeted by the now familiar smell of drying fish in our fisherman’s cottage.

We had planned to take the Hurtigruten MS Nordkapp from Stamsund, but when we managed to contact the ship we found that work was being carried out on her cargo deck, so she was presently unable to load cars. This left us with two options.
Option 1: complete our journey down the archipelago, find accommodations on the southern island (an uncertain prospect at best) and then rise early for the 07:00 ferry to Bodø from Moskenes the following morning.
Option 2: Skip the two southernmost island altogether and head back up the island chain to get to the mainland via the Lofoten tunnel. In either case the end goal was to be in position to catch either the 11:00 or 16:20 passenger ferry from Bodø to the island of Landegode the next day.

We decided that option 2 was probably the best of the less than ideal choices. It involved a lot of driving, but allowed us to save on a night’s accommodation an early start an allowed us a relaxed morning in Bodø, instead of a manic day of ferry hopping.Read more