Narvik (and even more history!)

We spent a little too much time in Hamarøy and there was a lot of road between us and Narvik, where we were hoping to stay. Andy was driving and rose to the challenge; achieving impressive speeds and Top Gear style drifting across the road during bends (complete with screeching tyres) down a particularly steep mountain along Highway 81. 

The cultural island

The next stop in our journey north was Hamarøy, also known in Norway as the cultural island because it was where the contraversial writer Knut Hamsun lived and also because of the art museums here. The most famous one is the Hamsun Centre which hosts art exhibitions that mainly has some connection to Hamsun and his works. 

The obligatory history hour

After eating we walked down some wooden steps to have a closer look at the view and stumbled across an opening into the mountain where the entrance had been covered with a black cloth.

The food is a little different up here

At the cafe Andy was tempted by the whale steak, but opted instead for the salted mutton. Since reaching the North we have discovered an interesting (and also tasty) change in the food on offer. On the menu there’s usually whale (either as a steak, stew or on bread), elk and reindeer in varying forms (stews, burgers etc), and of course fish (cod tongue seems to be a popular dish).

Tunnels, tunnels, tunnels...

After Kjerringøy we headed back to the E6 through Fauske, known for its marble. Buildings from around the world feature marble from this little place, most notably the former Tsar residence in Krakow and the UN building in New York. 

Fishermen's Paradise

Leaving Bodø we went back to the spot we’d been at last night to catch the sun at midnight to take the 10 minute ferry journey to Kjerringøy (old missus island). Despite being a glorious sunny day, it was windy and AH had to put some tights on under her skirt before boarding the ferry. She was very glad she’d put them on when she had several Marilyn Monroe incidents on the boat! Suddenly the skirt blew up her back! 

Finding the Midnight Sun - HURRAH!!!

We checked into the Bodø Hotel (pictured) and ate at the harbour.