Netherlands, Norway and Svalbard

[jxv]

Thanks the photos and information, jxv. I'll stay aboard for the rest of the trip, but this was the bit I really wanted to know about. Can't wait.

Did you hear or see anything about 'Arctic Tapas'? Arctic Tapas Tour | Arctic Tapas
I'm thinking about going on this on my one night in Svalbard, before flying out after my cruise/expedition.

I have seen Arctic Tapas mentioned on a website with activities, but don’t know anything more about it. Sorry!

I hope you will have a good time on your cruise and your stay on Svalbard.

 

[jxv]

We had not much more than one full day in Tromsø and it rained most of that time. We had intended to visit the Arctic Cathedral, but when we tried to walk across the bridge the rain and high winds drove us back.

We ended up spending most of our time in museums. First the Perspective Museum, with photographic exhibitions about the diversity of Tromsø and a few other themes. Then the Polarmuseet (Polar Museum), all about the expeditions to the North and South Poles and finally the Tromsø Museum, mainly natural history exhibits. The last two were on a combination ticket (NOK 80, $14) also including the bus to the Tromsø Museum. It included entry to Polaria (Arctic Aquarium) and MS Polstjerna as well, but we did not have enough time for these.

A few more or less random photos of Tromsø.

The very modern library.


The bridge and in the distance the Arctic Cathedral we did not get to.


A typical streetscape.


The Polar Museum.


The Methodist Church, interesting architecture.

 

[jxv]

We checked out of the hotel in Tromsø at 08:30 and walked about 10 minutes to the Hertz office to pick up our car, a Toyota Yaris Hybrid. Soon we were on our way to Reine in Lofoten, with an overnight stop in Svolvaer.

Around midday we encountered some snow.


At 14:00 the sun had come out, as we crossed this impressive bridge.


I had booked a unit in a holiday park near Svolvaer only the day before. The confirmation message read: “Pick up key to unit 9 from letterbox at reception office. Someone will come to you at 21:00 to take payment.”

There were three keys in the letterbox and when we returned from dinner in town the lights were on in all ten cabins, but ours was the only car in the carpark! Payment was collected as appointed. I should have asked whether anyone else was staying, but I did not think of that till later.

The cabins with son on our balcony taking photos.


The beds were in the loft of the cabin. The view from the loft early in the morning.

 

[jxv]

From Svolvaer to Reine was again a nice drive with lots of good views, but few places to park in order to have a better look.

I had rented the “Retro Villa på Reine i Lofoten” for three nights. When we got to Reine we had to ring the owner to find exactly where it was and to obtain the code for the door lock. Renovations of the house were not yet fully finished, but that did not detract from our enjoyment.

Retro Villa på Reine i Lofoten.


The retro style was evident inside!


The views over the bay were amazing. First on the afternoon of our arrival in between showers, the second photo the next day with late afternoon sunshine. How the light can change the appearance of a mountain!

 

[Cossie]

Wow, that is really off the beaten track! What tempted you to go there?

Love the photos, by the way.

 

[jxv]

Wow, that is really off the beaten track! What tempted you to go there?
Love the photos, by the way.

About two years ago we proposed that we, our son and daughter and their families, would independently travel through Europe, but spend a week together in the Netherlands, where we have family and friends. Our son saw it as an opportunity to chase the Northern Lights, a long held aspiration. He was going to do it with a photographer friend, but he could not make it. So we arranged for Mrs jxv to stay with my sister-in-law while I accompanied our son. The itinerary was entirely my son's work, I just booked flights and some of the accommodation.

I am very happy that you like my amateur photography! I have the occasional lucky shot, but it all pales in comparison with my son's work. Some of the difference can be explained by the use of superior equipment, but most of it is from time-consuming attention to detail and post-processing. It also helps that he has a BSc degree in Scientific Photography.

 

[jxv]

Reine is a small town: quite a few houses, the tourist office/gallery, some accommodation options, a restaurant, a café, and a petrol station with take-away and small shop. It is 3 km to the supermarket on the other side of the bay and that is only small with not much fresh food.

Boating and fishing is a favourite pastime and a working environment here in a world of islands and lakes.


Cabin accommodations. Note the “green” roofs which seem to be common here.


Green roofs, on the take-away shop’s outside seating.


A somewhat gloomy view over the bay with mountains in the distance.

 

[tgh]

super pics , we will be there in june.
What roads did you use, just E6 and E10 ?
I am looking at crossing from Tromso to Andenes and then down to the Lofoten peninsula

 

[jxv]

super pics , we will be there in june.
What roads did you use, just E6 and E10 ?
I am looking at crossing from Tromso to Andenes and then down to the Lofoten peninsula

We indeed took the E6 and E10. It is a very scenic drive, even in the rain.

Would you drive from Tromsø to Gryllefjord and then take the ferry to Andenes? Is that a car ferry? That would be another good route. You could take the E6 on the way back, if you intend to go back to Tromsø. It should be beautiful in June!

B.t.w. Lofoten is not a peninsula, but a chain of islands with bridges in between.

 

[jxv]

We went to the Reine tourist office to see whether they could recommend a good walk. The lady there told us there was an easy, signposted walk from Sørvågen to Munkenbu hut at the foot of Munken mountain. She said that it would take three hours all the way, or we could turn back at any time.

We packed lunch and drinks and drove to Sørvågen. The start of the walk was indeed signposted and easy to find. It was the first day with sunshine after a period of rain. Lots of water came down the mountains. Where the track crossed exposed rock it was very slippery and where we had to cross vegetation it was like walking on a saturated sponge. I managed to sink no further into this sponge than just below the top edge of my waterproof shoes and so keep my feet dry!


Looking back over Sørvågen and Sørvågvatnet (vatnet = lake)


We climbed higher and looked out over Stuvdalsvatnet.


Higher again was Tridalsvatnet. By this time we had started to doubt the “easy” aspect of the walk.


Then came a section where we had to pull ourselves up on a chain. While I stopped to take some photos my son went on to the next chain section. I did not see him do that and I could not see a safe way to get to the start of the second chain. Surely this was not “easy”. I rang my son and said that I would slowly go down the first chain again and wait for him there to have lunch. Thank goodness for mobile phones!

After lunch we safely descended back to Sørvågen.

View from the top of the first chain.

 

[jxv]

After our return from the Munkebu walk we drove on to Å, the town at the end of the road, 10 km SW of Reine. It could as well be at the end of the world.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Great to see all those double-enders in the marina; real sea boats for a change

 

[JohnM]

Aaaahhh, the Lofoten Wall - brings back memories - visual and olfactory from the fish drying .

 

[jxv]

Aaaahhh, the Lofoten Wall - brings back memories - visual and olfactory from the fish drying .

I counted myself lucky not to be there in the fish drying season!

 

[JohnM]

I thought I saw in one of your pics a frame that did look empty. It was an acquired odour...

 

[jxv]

On our last day in Reine it rained again, so we went for a drive to explore some of the side roads of the E10.

Lots of dramatic scenery. Look carefully, @JohnM, more empty fish drying racks.


Not all bridges connecting the islands are tall and impressive.


We found the Sund Fisheries Museum, but it was closed.


Son checking when the museum would be open. Maybe this afternoon? No, next March!

 

[tgh]

Gee it is pretty country , looking forward to it.
#2 son drove through last year and managed some great images

 

[jxv]

It was time for me to return to the Netherlands. My son had two more days before flying from Tromsø to Oslo and two days there before returning to Melbourne.

Getting to Amsterdam was not going to be easy: LKN-BOO-OSL-AMS.

Widerøe flight WF809 was supposed to depart Leknes Airport (LKN) at 11:40, so son dropped me off at 10:00. Everything was locked, the airport did not open till 10:15 and check-in did not start till 10:45. A bit later came the bad news: a technical issue was delaying the incoming flight and departure was delayed by about an hour. This meant I was going to miss my connection in Bodø (BOO), but I was rebooked on the next flight to OSL, two hours later. This in turn meant that the connection time in OSL was only going to be 30 minutes. Unfortunately SK4113, a B738, left BOO 30 minutes late, but on arrival in OSL I was happy to find that SK827 to AMS, also a B738, had been delayed by more than an hour! We arrived at the gate in AMS 1h15 late and then I had to wait nearly half an hour for my luggage. Picking up a car at Hertz was a bit slow too. Again I got a Toyota Yaris Hybrid. It was a 1h20 drive to Heerde in the East of the country, where I finally met up with Mrs jxv at 22:00, two hours later than expected.

Just as a note of interest: the original and amended boarding passes issued at LKN had all three flights printed on the same pass, something I had never encountered before.

LKN Airport where I was the first passenger for the day at 10:00.


Widerøe Dash 8-200, a 40 seater, arriving from Bodø on the mainland at Leknes in Lofoten, a 64 mile hop. Bodø is Widerøe's home base.


View over Leknes.

 

[jxv]

The next morning we were on the move again in the Netherlands.

Mrs jxv had requested that we visit the Northern province of Friesland on this trip. I had booked a mid-week stay at golf estate and holiday park Buitenplaats de Hildenberg in Appelscha.

On the way there we visited Giethoorn, the “Venice of the North”. Foothpaths and canals provide the only ways to get around the village.

Tourists can hire electric boats to go around a one-way circuit through the village.



Deliveries are made by barge. Tourists must move out of the way!


Old friends joined us for our stay in Appelscha. We were so busy catching up that I did not make any photos of the holiday park. This is a photo of a house, similar to the one we rented, from their website.

 

[jxv]

A few photos from Appelscha environs.

Near Fochteloo we discovered an old graveyard with a “klokkestoel” (literally: bell-chair).


It was noticeably autumn. This photo is on the road to the holiday park.


Another autumn photo, this time of the “Brink” (Common) in Dwingeloo.


Autumn also is a good time for fungi. I have never before seen them this big!