A polar explorer, some laundry and the Hurdy Gurdy ship

We left Henningsvær, fairly promptly. There was nowhere handy to walk the spaniels so we decided to drive back up the narrow, twisting road to the E10 junction where we had seen some possibilities. A walk down a path and a scramble over a few rocks took us down to a sandy beach where, for the first time in ages, we felt confident enough to let the pups off the lead for a game of ball. Unfortunately Elsa approaches a ball in the water in the same way a whale engulfs a shoal of plankton. A quantity of sea water is ingested which, in Elsa's case, results in a delicate tummy, the full results of which we were not to experience for some 14 hours.

It's hard to find a bad view

Back in the van for the short drive to Svolvær where we called in to a motorhome dealer to get some lpg. Autogas for our refillable gas bottle is getting scarcer as we drive north so we try and keep it topped up. We also wanted get some laundry done and buy some groceries. On a trip like this you have to depend on laundrettes for the weekly wash and a good place to find them is on marinas where they cater to the boating fraternity. Luckily there wasn't a queue of people waiting to use the two machines so we were able to chuck everything in and walk to the supermarket. 

It wasn't big but it was a beach

As I may have mentioned before, food shopping in Norway is not for the light of pocket. If you start to dwell too much on the outrageous prices, you'd come out with nothing. £4 for 200g of cherry tomatoes and £1.25 for a single red pepper soon rattles up the bill. It didn't help that I was determined to try some reindeer, and picked up what I thought was a stewing cut. It turned out to be fillet at £40 a kilo. Oh well. The other problem with Norwegian  supermarkets is the very small range of products they carry. The locals seem to exist on a diet of Tex Mex with shelves groaning under numerous brands of tortillas, taco shells and salsa sauce plus the occasional prawn. 

Hi-tech disposal

A quick call into a garage to fill up with fresh water, Norwegian garages are extremely accommodating in this respect, and it was on to a lay-by where they had a cassette cleaning machine. These miracles of modern technology swallow your toilet cassette, empty it, give it a swill round and then spit it out again. A lady from a Finnish coach was leaning on the door as I approached with a plastic box full of effluent. She moved surprisingly quickly.

It is impossible in Northern Norway to find any overnight spot without an incredible view so we fetched up in a lay-by on the E10 next door to a fjord and surrounded by huge rocky peaks. At around 2am the sea water (see above) finally made its presence known and Elsa woke up and needed to go out. To any passing motorist who spied, in the Norwegian half light,  a British male, wearing just shorts and attached to a dog with a runny tummy, standing by the side of the road, I can only apologise. 

The sun deserted us today

We'd gone to bed after yet another day of 20+ temperatures. Early morning rain heralded an abrupt change in the weather and the temperature plummeted. For the first time since we left home, we had to dig out the waterproofs to walk the dogs. The drive north was through drizzle and low cloud as we headed towards Risøyhamn where we planned to spend the night in a small picnic area decorated with two brightly painted oil drums. Previous visitors had spoken of seeing sea otters but the nearest we got to wildlife were the cases of long-dead sea urchins on the shore which became a source of great fascination to Max. 

Appalling sexual stereotyping

The walk back from the baby supermarket the next morning was enlivened by the arrival of the Hurtigruten ship, Trollfjord. This is one of a fleet of boats, which I have christened the 'Hurdy Gurdy',  that shuttles the full length of the Norwegian coastline carrying cargo, vehicles and passengers to sometimes remote coastal settlements. Each stop gets a daily service, one southbound, and one going north and they are seen as a real lifeline. To boost income they also carry tourists on mini-cruises. It was fun watching this 16,000 tonne ship casually docked as easily as someone parking a car. After a brief ten minute stop to load a couple of cars, and unload a bit of cargo, it was off again, heading south. 

The Hurtigruten arrival 

A remarkable man

With the weather still clamped in we decided to take our time travelling up the scenic coast road to Andenes. We stopped by the village church in Bjørnskinn and found ourselves looking at the grave of Helmer Hanssen. Born in the village he took part in three of Amundsen's Polar expeditions and was one of the first five explorers to reach the South Pole. His biography reads like something out of a Boy's Own paper with a career that also encompassed seal hunting, ice pilot , sled dog driver and ship's captain. His book, The Voyages of a Modern Viking, was published in 1936. 

We took the spaniels for a long walk through a local forest, the only sound being the ringing of the bells tied round the necks of local sheep. This presumably makes them easier to find when the heavy snows hit this part of the world. We enjoyed a nice chat with a local lady who was fetching water for her animals and Neri found out which local berries it was safe to eat, as opposed to the ones that would cause a great deal of unpleasantness. As the rain continued to fall we travelled along the coast road, stopping to walk out to look at a lighthouse. On returning to the car park we discovered that the extremely modern toilets had one-way translucent walls so you could enjoy the view while performing. At least, I hope they were one way.

PS. The reindeer was gorgeous