Kayak trip in Lofoten 23rd to August 1st

Linda and Kjetil arranged a wonderful kayak trip in Northern Norway on a chain of islands sticking out of the west coast above the Arctic circle. The group was made up of Linda, Kjetil, Kjetil’s parents, Wenche and Kjell, Knut and myself. Linda and Kjetil had been planning this for months, the first time they mentioned it was over a year ago. This spring we had several trips out to Wenche and Kjell’s summer house on an island outside of Stavanger where we practiced kayaking. We even had a day of learning what to do when the kayak tips, how to turn it right side up and climb in again. Remember that the water up here isn’t exactly the warmest and we needed dry suits in order to be in the water for extended periods.

By late June the kids had put out a packing list with strict instructions on holding the extra “fun-to-have” things to a minimum. The storage areas on a kayak are quite small. Knut and I dried 4 dinners, Wenche and Kjell dried 3 dinners. Linda and Kjetil made all the breakfasts, lunches and snacks. As the 23rd approached we checked the weather forecast about every 1/2 hour - hoping beyond the realm of reason for nice weather. Something that is not the norm - at all. We left Sandnes on one of the few warm and sunny days this summer, and by the time we arrived in Svolvær three flights later, it was even warmer than in Sandnes! A good sign? We kept our little fingers crossed.

The camp grounds at Kallebukta

We took a taxi out to a camping ground at Kallebukta outside of Svolvær which was filled with rock climbing enthusiasts. Lofoten is a mecca for climbers and people come here from all over the world to climb. Linda and Kjetil had been there several times earlier which is where they got the idea for this trip. It was interesting to see, at least 30 tents there and hardly a sound. People get up early, spend 10 - 20 hours climbing, come home eat, sleep and head off climbing again. I’ve never met a more peaceful group of people.

Linda in her climbing gear

We had two nights there before we headed to Stamsund where we would pick up the kayaks. As soon as we met Linda and Kjetil, Knut and Linda took off to buy food for the next two days. There was a beautiful little beach by the campground, so we just sat in the sun and read books for a while. 

Not exactly the first thing I saw myself doing in Lofoten (remember, we’re above the Arctic circle). That evening we went for a 1/2 hour meander out to a site where there are some easy climbs. Linda and Kjetil took some of us up a short route and it was so much fun. The view from the top was lovely; little did I know that in one week, I’d be looking at the same spot from the water while paddling a kayak.

Kallebukta at high tide

Kallebukta at low tide

The next day wasn’t as hot or sunny, but it was perfect for a long hike up Glomtinden, a 419-meter-high mountain close to the campground. The mountains up there are steep, pointed and spectacular. 

The narrow pass in the fog

There was fog covering the top and we didn’t make it all the way up because of two things: it was so foggy that we couldn’t see anything, and Wenche isn’t the biggest fan of heights, so when we came to a narrow pass that went straight down on either side, we all decided it was a good time for a break.

Time for a break

Safely back at camp again we had another nice meal before heading out to the climbing area one more time. This time Wenche decided that she would try it, so up she went. Linda was beside her every step of the way and Kjetil was on top securing her. She did beautifully and was as pleased as punch once she was at the top!

Linda and Wenche climbing

The last evening in Kallebukta was filled with thoughts of how it would be in the kayaks. Would I manage all the paddling? Would there be space for all out equipment? Would there be only wind and rain? Would I suffocate in the dry-suit all day long? Would I sleep at night? So exciting and such a great gang to be doing it with! 

Monday morning Birk, a friend of Linda and Kjetil’s, came to help drive all of us to Stamsund where we would start the trip. It took over an hour to get there as the road follows the winding coastline. Alone the way we stopped to admire two young red foxes that were sitting beside the road, not at all bothered by the traffic whizzing by. 

A red fox cub

Once in Stamsund, we emptied the back of Linda and Kjetil’s “pizza van” and started sorting through our stuff. All the comforts of Kallebukta camping stayed behind and the bare necessities were stuffed into sea-to-summit waterproof bags and piled up in anticipation of the arrival of the kayaks. We had a nice lunch at the restaurant by the dock, well aware that it would be our last meal sitting in chairs for several days. There was a grocery store around the corner and some last minute purchases were made there as well. 

Packing and re-packing the kayaks

Finally, a van with XXLofoten on the side drove up and the kayaks arrived. They looked comfortingly larger than I feared. The sky was bright blue and it was warm out, but the wind was blustery. We carried the kayaks down to the floating dock and started packing them. It is amazing how much you can get into those few storage areas! Linda had her own kayak with her which she knew inside and out. She had a small storage room, easily accessible where we kept things we would need during the crossings; snacks, sun cream, the Spot, toilet paper and other things. Each of the rented kayaks had one large storage area on the back and a smaller one in the front. They are covered with watertight covers. 

Wool underwear, dry-suit, life vest, sunglasses and cap. Ready to go!

We wore woolen long underwear, including socks under the dry suits. After the dry suit is on, you have to squat down, crunch your body together and let all the trapped air out by pulling open the rubber cuff at your neck. Kjetil quickly found he could entertain us by making the best fart sounds ever while doing that. I laughed just as hard every time he did it all week!

Putting the kayaks in the water for the first time

Kjetil had mounted a set of maps on the front of his kayak, along with a camera and water. Kjell had a GPS available and I had my little camera in a waterproof casing. Not perfect, but better than nothing. So, there we were, getting warm in the dry suits and ready to take off. It was already late afternoon, not that daylight was an issue, it is light there 24 hours a day even though the sun does dip under the horizon for a few hours in the middle of the night. 

We made a stable kayak-float for our first break

The wind became very noticeable as we sat in the kayaks and we couldn’t really talk that much so we just paddled. Linda was itching to work on our paddling techniques, but at this point we had to concentrate on moving. The waves were choppy, the sky was bright blue, the mountain tops all around us were astounding and we paddled for at least 1 1/2 hours before we took our first break. 

Linda in her yellow kayak

We didn’t get all that far the first day and as soon as we saw a sandy beach on a tiny island called Silsandholmen we stopped for the night. There was a soft sandy side and just over the hill was a rocky beach. 

Pulling the kayaks up onto the soft sand

By rocky I mean larger to huge boulders. The kind of terrain that makes walking a challenge for most people. Linda and Kjetil scampered over the boulders like goats, while us four “grown-ups” paid very good attention to the fact that one slip could spoil the entire trip. 

Nice beach for landing

The sandy side had a strong wind blowing, while there was lee on the rocky shore. First the ladies, then the men took turn bathing in the chilly but refreshing water and we soon decided that we should make food and eat in the lee and save the windy side for tents and sleeping. 

Dinner on the lee side

Soon after that I realized that Wenche and Kjell took Linda’s strict instructions on restricting the amount of goodies with a large grain of salt. To all our delight, they soon call us over for some hors d’oeuvres; homemade hard bread with avocado and smoked salmon with cherry tomatoes. Wenche was soon christened the minister of happiness and well-being. 

Getting dinner started

Dinner that evening was my Hungry Boy’s dish served with homemade tortillas. As we heated dinner an almost-accident occurred. Kjetil assembled a Primus burner while I was stirring a pot already being heated. The little escaping gas caught fire in a flash and torched my face for a split second. No one had a chance to react and it was over in less than a second. Luckily I was wearing glasses and only felt a warm flash on my face. When it was over we could only smell burnt hair and I had some burnt curls on my forehead. We learned a lesson and got off easy there. The dinner tasted great and was a hit, as did all our meals this trip. 

We went to bed early as we did every night, already looking forward to our morning coffee. 

Tents pitched on the windy side

Tuesday morning came with slightly overcast skies, warm temps and no wind at all. The water was as smooth as a mirror and it looked lovely. Kjetil was the minister of coffee and morning delights and he was already brewing a nice pot of coffee using his brand new MSR Reactor water cooker that boils a liter of water before you can say Bob’s your uncle! Breakfast was homemade muesli with fresh Biola (thank you again, Wenche and Kjell!) and freshly picked blueberries.  

Breakfast at Silsandholmen

After a relaxing coffee and breakfast, we packed up the camp, packed the kayaks and headed out again. We had no island in particular as a destination, our goal was to cover a certain distance each day and then start exploring the islands in the area for a good camp site. One thing I learned was that it is possible to put up a tent almost anywhere! 

Nice calm waters, perfect for paddling

The beautiful calm weather gave Linda a chance to teach us the proper technique for paddling a kayak. She did a great job also. After she was done with us, we looked like a crew of experienced paddlers. It is amazing how much easier it is on the arms and shoulders when you know how to do it correctly. We also practiced grouping our kayaks together for a snack, pep-talk, decision or photo session. When making a “kayak-raft” we were amazingly stabile. 

Wenche and Kjell

We stopped for a lunch of Linda and Kjetil's homemade hard bread with cheese, sausage and other yummy things. 

Lunchtime

It was warm and we all were happy to take off our dry suits for a 1/2 hour break. Knut found a message in a bottle, but despite all our excitement little Emilie had only drawn a couple of hearts on a piece of yellow paper. No address or date, so we couldn’t tell her we found it!

Nice time to air out the dry-suits also!

That afternoon, we stopped at a small island called Hestøya after covering about 6 kilometers. There was no sandy beach today so we climbed out of the kayaks on the rocky shoreline. It’s a matter of heading between two large boulders, finding a slip where you can get your feet out on either side, hopefully touch some sort of bottom, get your balance and climb away from the kayak. All without going in. 

Hestøya

We all managed and not once all week did anyone fall in! The difference between high and low tides was huge, about 2 meters 60 (almost 9 feet) so we had to carry the kayaks far up to ensure that they didn’t float off during the night! 

A beautiful evening

This was a grassy island with three big pot holes in the grass and some moss and grass covered rocks higher up. The flora all over Lofoten was rich and beautiful. Hundreds of wild flowers everywhere decorated the landscape with lovely grasses, thick mosses and small struggling, trees here and there. 

  

Lovely flora all along the coast

By the evening, the sky had clouded over and in the distance we could see the rain falling, the fog rolling in and even a rainbow. All the while, we had a warm breeze, fantastic light and sunshine from the west.

Dramatic weather in the distance. 

Wenche and Kjell were responsible for dinner that evening and after a round of hors d’oeuvres of homemade smoked mackerel, they served a Mexican meal they had dried. Yummy. Knut and Linda did the dishes by rubbing the pots and plates in the saltwater with seaweed. Works just fine! The rain in the distance threatened to hit us, so we put up the tarp in order to be ready for breakfast. 

Doing dishes

We awoke Wednesday morning to a light drizzle and a little cooler temperatures and we sat happily under the tarp while Kjetil spoiled us with freshly ground coffee and then rice porridge with butter and cinnamon sugar for breakfast. 

The Reactor

It tasted wonderful and gave me almost a feeling of Christmas as that is the only time we eat rice porridge at home. 

Rice porridge - yumm

I also have to mention the quantity of food we consumed. He probably made the double of the recommended amount for 6 people. What didn’t get eaten for breakfast (and it wasn’t much) was eaten cold of fried later on. 

Getting the kayaks off the rocks and into the water

The lunches were often hard bread with different things on top. We ate 4 - 5 pieces each. We also had at least 2 stops each day in a kayak-raft for snacks of brownies or homemade snickers bars. Each evening before dinner Wenche had an appetizer for us before we ate a huge meal. We ate like kings and burned a lot of calories too.

Morning stretches and Kjetil checking the course

The light rain was on and off and the wind had picked up a bit. The waves weren’t so choppy today, but there were large swells and when sitting at the bottom of a big swell in your tiny little kayak with a wall of water on either side, you feel rather insignificant. 

In fact, that feeling hit me several times during the trip; another time we saw another group of kayakers, they weren’t very far away and still we could hardly see them. You’re almost invisible when in a sea kayak. 

We are not very visible on the water

For lunch we found a large, sandy beach on the mainland at Rørvika. We figured we could refill fresh water there and have a soft landing on the sandy beach. Well that was the case for the other six, they managed to surf ashore, riding the big swells like pros. 

Not me. Again I felt very insignificant as my kayak no longer rode the swell and instead turned parallel to the waves and was instantly tipped. I was close to shore and aware that the biggest danger was hitting my head on the ground, but I crawled out of the kayak without even thinking about it. It all happened in a matter of a few seconds. As my head came out of the water I saw Kjetil running toward me like a star from Baywatch, his worried grimace melted into a huge smile the moment he caught me smiling back at him. I never felt safer in my life. He dove into the surf to rescue my cap and sunglasses and just smiled at me. “Everything OK?” “Yupp”. That was the end of that.

The sandy beach where we had lunch

The kids planned a freeze dried purchased lunch that day. Kjetil just boiled a few liters of water in the magical Reactor, filled the individual bags and passed them out. That tasted great as well. We were told to rinse out the bags and keep them, as we’d use them for another lunch later on. The 6 kayaks on the beach quickly became a tourist attraction and tourists (the few that were out on an overcast and drizzle filled day) took pictures of us and the kayaks. There was a public toilet and a fresh water tap there so we felt somewhat civilized.

Approaching our island for the night

We headed back into the waves after lunch and after about an hour and a half of paddling, we found a nice little island for camp. There weren’t loads of tent spots and Linda and Kjetil pitched their tents on a flat bare rock. 

Linda and Kjetil's tent, pitched on bare rock.

Those two have more days behind them in tents already than most people do in a lifetime. Knut and I climbed up high to find a nice spot with our own tree for drying the sweaty dry suits. Wenche and Kjell found a grassy spot close to the “kitchen”. Knut was the chef today and he named this meal “Oriental Knyte”. His own recipe of dried meat and vegetables deliciously spiced and served over whole wheat ramen noodles. 

Linda treatment

Even though it wasn’t as warm as the other days, we still found a private spot for bathing, splashing around and washing off today’s sweat. It was a peaceful island, but we could see the mainland and hear the odd car drive by. Unfortunately, as is the case with all islands and shorelines around the world, there was debris everywhere. We noticed this from the very start. 

Making a bon-fire

This island had lots of driftwood as well and we decided to build a bonfire on the rocks. Kjell told us about how he would gather the debris on the islands where he grew up each spring and burn it. We thought long and hard about that, weighing the difference between loads of plastic in the sea or toxic fumes in the atmosphere. Six of one, half a dozen of the other and we decided to build a huge bonfire with plastic and all. 

Our tent with a nice view

Thursday morning the sun was shining on our tent and it was very hot inside. We crawled out of the tent to bright blue skies, flat calm seas and no wind. Nothing to do but put on our swimsuits and go drink morning coffee with the others. 

A beautiful morning

It was warm so we didn’t need a hot breakfast and ate muesli to which Linda had added dried fruits, nuts and powdered milk. We just added water and had a yummy breakfast. The powdered milk from 2016 is much better than it was in the early 1970’s!

Ready to go for the day

After the camp was packed, the kayaks filled and we were ready to go, Kjetil hopped in the water dry suit and all - just to cool off a bit before the days first stretch. We hoped to get quite far today as the weather was so nice. As we paddled off, we got a beautiful view of the mountain called “Presten” (the priest), it is a well-known destination for climbers from all over the world. Linda and Kjetil have climbed it and if I’m not mistaken, it takes about 10 rope lengths to get to the top. It was majestic.  

Presten

We paddled to Henningsvær that day to visit a touristy little village that is well known in Norway, especially because of a delightful children’s song telling about a little cod fish from Henningsvær. We wandered around the shops, had a nice lunch at a seafood restaurant and were only slightly tempted to pop into a grocery store. But we decided to make the whole trip “unassisted” so we wandered right past that. 

Henningsvær

From Henningsvær we headed out to find a camp site for the next two days. There were several small islands to choose from and we took our time in the nice weather. 

Our site for two nights

We finally found the trip’s most comfortable camp site. We pitched the tents on a bed of think, soft, compact and dry moss. It was like nature’s version of a tempurpedic mattress! The moss was at least 7 inches thick, light yellow and delightful to lay on. What a place to spend two nights!

The most comfortable tent sites - ever

Dinner that evening was by Wenche and Kjell and we had a homemade meal of game in sauce over rice. It was delicious and plentiful and we all enjoyed it immensely. I should mention that we had little to no alcohol on this trip. While at the camp sites we only had a few sips of Cassis a few times. That’s it. No one missed it and anyway we needed our senses while climbing over the boulders and rocks at every camp site! 

Hurtigruta passing Steinøya

Steinøya is a lovely little island with a beautiful view looking across the bay at the bridges near Henningsvær. We sat and studied the mountain top we were planning on climbing the next day.

A long and relaxing breakfast

Friday morning was overcast, relatively warm and dry, but the mountain top we were headed to, Festvågtinden, was covered in fog at the top. So we had a long breakfast, sat around reading and wandering around the island while waiting for the fog to lift a bit. The shallow tide pools were so interesting. The water was crystal clear since it was refreshed twice a day. There were small red anemones and many other plants there. It made me think of Thomas so much! 

Roasting coffee

We passed the time watching Kjetil roast some coffee beans he had brought. He roasts his own coffee regularly and it was fun to see how it works. 

The floating docks near Henningsvær

Finally, we decided that we should get going. We climbed into the kayaks, and without all our gear we could feel the difference in how stable the kayak was when it was heavier. We paddled about 1/2 hour to a floating dock where we hoped to leave the kayaks while we went on a hike. Kjetil found someone to ask and they said that it was fine. There was also a water tap there so we could fill the water containers on the way back. 

It was a steep hike

The hike up Festvågtinden is quite steep. The trail is very well marked as it is a popular hike. About half way up there is a small lake and we couldn’t resist the urge to take a dip in the fresh water. 

Nice place for a break

It was quite cool, so we just ate lunch number one instead and continued the climb to the top. The people we met who were on their way down said that they never got to see the view through the fog and wished us better luck. As we came closer to the top, we left the beautiful sight of Henningsvær in the distance behind us and entered the mystical fog at the top. 

A beautiful view of Henningsvær

Once up there (541 meters over sea level) we waited a while hoping for a hole in the fog so we could see the view. It lifted a tiny bit once, but not enough to get a good view. Another hiker pulled out her iPhone and showed us a picture of the spectacular view she took just a couple of days earlier! 

It was foggy at the top

We sat there, eating lunch number two and finally decided that we should give up and head back. The lake was still calling us for a salt-free wash. Going down was harder than going up as it was very steep, but we all made it with no problems. Once at the lake we did swim/wash and it felt great, but Linda, Wenche and I decided to save the hair-washing until we were back at the dock where the tap was waiting. We sat in the sun a while, eating lunch number three before heading back to the kayaks. It was some day.

At the top of Festvågtinden

During the trip back to camp, Kjell and Kjetil decided to fish a bit and they caught 4 huge mackerel with a minimum of effort. Once back at camp, we simmered the mackerel and ate it right away. It tasted so good, there is nothing like fresh fish. Both Kjell, Wenche and Kjetil are used to fresh fish from their summer house, but Knut, Linda and I were in 7th heaven. 

View of "our" island in the center. Zoom in and you'll see the red tents on the far side

We still had room for dinner and it was my turn to rehydrate the indian inspired meal I had brought. It turned out good, especially drying the curry paste. It rehydrated beautifully and we even used it the following day. We went to bed rather early as it had been a long and exciting day. 

We awoke Saturday morning to yet another beautiful sunny day. Our trip was coming to an end, we were getting quite close to our destination and we couldn’t get over how lucky we had been with the weather. Still, we didn’t dare depend on the weather holding and we wanted to get nice and close to Svolvær on Saturday - just in case the weather turned against us. 

Another beautiful morning

Packing up camp went better and better each day and by this morning we were done in no time. Getting into the loaded kayaks actually felt good and it felt good to paddle again, after a day’s rest. Strange how quickly these new feelings affected all of us. The weather was delightful, if anything it was too hot in our dry suits and after an hour or two, we started looking for a lunch spot. 

A lovely lunch spot

We found a delightful little island with a tide pool that was nicely warmed up by the sun. We all crawled out of our suits, and sat down in the sunshine to have lunch. Some of us took a dip in the tide pools, others basked in the warm sunshine as long as possible. We sat there for ages, almost wishing that we could camp here for the night, but we still had a ways to go. We had to take advantage of the nice weather, after all. So we crawled into our dry suits, climbed into the kayaks and took off once again. 

Passing Kallebukta and watching the climbers

Soon we were passing Kallebukta and we could look up at the rock wall we were climbing just a few days earlier. It felt like it was weeks ago we were there. A couple of hours later we were close to Kabelvåg and started looking for a camp site. There weren’t many islands in the area and everything we looked at offered no space for three tents. 

Not the best landing spot

The wind was picking up and we finally looked at a spot on the mainland. It was just on the other side of a hill from Kabelvåg. It wasn’t the best place, there was lots of high weeds, creepy crawly bugs, and on the hill just above us the youth of Kabelvåg were having a Saturday night party! Oh well, we didn’t have much choice and made the best of it. We found spots for the tents while trying to ignore the ants all over the place. We took turns taking a dip in the sea to wash off the day’s sweat and tried to settle down for the evening. Wenche, Kjell, Knut and I took a walk into Kabelvåg to look around before bed. The most interesting thing about the area for me was all the interesting formations in the bedrock that Linda happily told me all about. 

Wenche dishing out dinner

Wenche and Kjell were responsible for the evening’s meal and they didn’t disappoint us at all. It is amazing what good food can come from dried game and vegetables!

Always a smile on her face!

The weather cooled down a bit that evening, making sleeping easier, but the Kabelvåg teenage party kept some of us awake several hours into the morning. They don’t have that many warm summer nights up here and I couldn’t blame them one bit. Besides we had earplugs.

Sunday morning arrived, the sun was still shining and I attached the solar charger to my cap to take advantage of it. Much to everyone’s entertainment. We packed up camp after breakfast and didn’t mind leaving that little camp site too much. It took several hours before the ant bites on my butt quit itching..

Solar power

There wasn’t much wind, the paddling went smoothly and we didn’t have to go far. We took our time and soon stopped for lunch on another nice big rock sticking out of the ocean. I’m not mentioning the scenery and views much but that doesn’t mean I was in any way just growing accustomed to how spectacular it was. I still find myself wondering how we could be so lucky to have experienced this. The sky was lightly overcast and it was still warm out - much warmer than the poor souls at home in Sandnes were experiencing. 

Our final lunch spot

Shortly after leaving our lunch spot we approached Svolvær. We had been looking at the characteristic pyramid shaped mountain that towers over Svolvær for almost two days now.  It felt strange to be so close to the end of the trip. We had been following the weather forecast and saw that there was to be lots of rain and wind on Monday. We checked out a couple of islands but found nothing that looked very comfortable. While we were looking around I suddenly heard Linda yell to me “Stop, back up!” She and I had fallen a bit behind the others and as Linda paddled past an island, she spotted a white-tailed eagle sitting atop a rock. We had seen a few earlier, but this was the closest we had come. It just sat there and it was huge. I have since looked it up and see that it is the fourth largest eagle in the world. It can reach up to 37 inches (94 cm) in height with a wingspan up to 8 feet (2.45 m). It sat there for the longest time and we were mesmerized. Some seagulls would dive-bomb it, trying to get it to fly away, but it didn’t seem to even notice. It turned it’s head a bit every now and then. Wenche come over to us and saw it also. Finally, we saw it lean slightly forward, rotate itself so he was facing into the wind, lean forward and take off. It was majestic. 

The landing spot at Finnvika, out final campsite

We finally stopped in Finnvika on a peninsula just outside of Svolvær harbor. Knut and I wandered around for a while looking for a good spot to put up tents while Wenche and Kjell fished. We had to go a ways up, away from the shoreline and above the boulders, but we found a beautiful little spot just beside a picturesque pond. Again we found the soft moss that gave us a comfortable night’s sleep.

The characteristic pyramid shaped mountain of Svolvær in the distance

It was a nice area with a delightful tide pool on the opposite side where we could take a dip and refresh ourselves. Kjetil and Wenche walked to the road and back to Kablevåg where they met Jokke, a friend of Kjetil and Linda’s. Jokke drove them back to Stamsund so they could pick up Linda and Kjetil’s car and park it near Svolvær. 

Bathing in a delightful tide pool

Wenche and Kjell had caught two pollock and a mackerel. Yumm. Again we just simmered them and it made a delicious little snack. It was a beautiful evening and we had a nice time sitting around talking about the week and what a great time we had. 

We put up the tarp just in case the rain hit

The sky was clouding up, it looked like the forecast wasn’t kidding this time. We put up the tarp and made a good area to sit just in case. Knut was responsible for dinner that evening and we all enjoyed his “Pasta Knyte” dinner. No one can say that we didn’t eat well on this trip. We all went to bed thankful that the trip had gone so incredibly well. Even if it was pouring rain the next morning, it wouldn’t matter at all. 

Finally - some rain!

Well, it did pour the following morning, and it didn’t matter at all. We awoke to wet tents, wet clothes and pretty much wet everything. No one cared at all. We crawled under the tarp which was held up by driftwood poles where we had to dump out the pools of water that collected every ten minutes. We drank coffee and smiled. Linda came and made rice pudding for us and we smiled. Wenche discovered that as she sat a pool of water filled up just behind her. She stood up and the water ran all over us. We smiled. It was just fine that the rain came today. 

No one really minded being wet

We packed up the camp, everything weighed twice as much when it was wet, but we didn’t have the weight of all the food, so things evened out. We were just about done when we were called into Linda and Kjetil’s tent for a final get-together. 

A final get together

The six of us sat there for a few minutes reflecting over the past week, the past years that we all have known each other and all the great experiences we have had together. To put it mildly, we were six very pleased people sitting inside a tiny tent. 

Bye bye

So we pulled the kayaks down to the water, climbed in and took off around the peninsula to Svolvær. We took just over an hour to paddle in, it all went very fast. 

I tried towing Linda to see how it felt

I tried towing Linda to see how that felt, we stopped by the sculpture of the “Fiskerkona” for some pictures and then gathered together in one last kayak-raft for snacks before we landed. This time we made a picture perfect exit with every other kayak going forwards while the others went backwards. We looked good and we knew it. We just hoped someone saw us!

We put on a little show in the harbour

We found the dock where XXLofoten was located and landed there. Then we started unpacking everything. It must have been quite a sight. We piled bag after wet bag outside XXLofoten and slowly got ourselves organized. We rinsed out the kayaks, the dry-suits, the skirts and the shoes. The friendly guy there found racks for us to hang things on, charged our iPhones, let us use a big bathroom for changing and chatted with us the whole while. 

Unpacking and repacking for the plane ride home

We unpacked and repacked and finally were ready to go. We found a nice restaurant called Du Verden where we all ordered fish-n-chips. It felt strange to have the luxury of sitting at a table, hot running water and flush toilets in the restrooms and being served a meal. It was only 8 days, but we couldn’t have gotten further away if we had traveled to Timbuktu. 

After the meal, we wandered around town a bit, trying to understand that the trip was over. Linda and Kjetil loaded Linda’s kayak atop their car and packed the last things in the back while we called a taxi to take us to the airport. Hugs and kisses, laughter and smiles, thanks for a great time, drive carefully back to Tromsø, have a nice flight, more hugs and kisses. The last minutes went by so fast and suddenly they were driving to Tromsø and we were headed to the airport. 

Thank you Linda and Kjetil. It was a wonderful trip!

There is no way to really express how grateful I am for what those two great kids did this for us. I know that they could have done so many other fun things these past days but instead chose to drag their parents along on a trip that required days and days of preparation, constant care during the trip and patience above and beyond the call of duty. They were smiling all the time, helpful, positive, strict when necessary and constantly caring. It was an experience of a lifetime.

Oh, by the way, the lady at the security check at the airport saw our brilliant kayak-raft stunt in the harbor. Yes.