Travels with Spaniels: A life on the ocean wave and lots of dried cod

I've never been a huge fan of islands. It seems to me that many of them have a sometimes tenuous link to the rest of civilisation and are too easily cut off due to the vagaries of weather and transport. When I have found myself on island clusters, whether it be the Scillies or Shetland, I spend time scanning the weather forecasts and the plane timetables, just to ensure that escape is possible if needed. Having witnessed the MS Scillonian rolling while still attached to the quay at St Marys, or the Northlink ferry pitching and tossing at the beginning of the 14 hour trip to Aberdeen, I avoid ferries like the plague.

Is breakfast ready?

However, our visit to the Lofoten Islands, that archipelago of islands and rocks off the north west coast of Norway, did not present a problem. Firstly because the weather, as it has been on almost every day since we entered Scandinavia, was gorgeous. Secondly, and more important from my point of view, a beneficent Almighty has seen fit to join said archipelago to the mainland with a series of bridges and tunnels, so it is possible to get there with dry feet.

That however necessitates a very long road trip so we boarded the ferry at Bodo for the three and a quarter hour trip to Moskenes, almost the southernmost point of the Lofoten Islands. There had been a gentle nautical build up to this expedition as we had used a number of ferries, albeit relatively short crossings, on our way up the west coast. Luckily the sea was like a mill pond which made up for the fact many of the seats in the lounge were falling to bits.

Å is made for picture postcards

Our voyage followed an overnight in a forested area just outside Bodo, making the journey along twisting roads and through long tunnels from the Svartisen glacier. We did stop off at the little town of Ornes where we walked the spaniels and, in a moment of desperation, having run low on red wine, popped into a branch of Vinmonopolet, the state run off-licence, where a charming assistant relieved me of £33.00 for a 3 litre box of bog-standard Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon. It's little wonder you don't see intoxicated individuals in the streets of Norway, no one can afford to buy any quantity of alcohol.

Cod hang here for three months in the spring

If you have never been to the Lofoten Islands you are missing one of the world's great gems. After disembarking we drove to the small village of Å which is the beginning (or end if you are coming the other way) of the E10 road which runs the length of the archipelago. In the brief summer it plays hosts to a horde of tourists but its main industry is stockfish, the catching and air drying of white fish, usually cod, which is then shipped to southern European countries including Spain and Portugal. We saw piles of it in Portuguese supermarkets when we were there last year where it is called Bacalhau.

Every village we passed has wooden drying racks, known as hjell, on which the fish is hung from February to May, before being moved to indoor drying facilities. We walked the spaniels through one set of these racks, which was a huge mistake, as the ground is covered with decayed fish heads. According to food experts, Norway is the producer of the best stockfish, and it is seen as up there with Italy's parma ham and a well matured cheese.

We desperately tried but failed to find a bad view

We overnighted in the small car park in Å popping down to the artisan bakery in the village which everyone raves about. One rustic barley loaf, a cinnamon bun and a wallet lighter by £11 later, we took the spaniels for a walk on a trail along the edge of a small fjord before heading east. We got in a queue for the service point at Reine and waited impatiently while a French motorhome managed to block all the facilities at once. The man in the German motorhome behind us opined that the French think there are 28 hours in the day, but only work for one of them. We agreed on that, establishing a new link in Anglo-German co-operation

This may have something to do with fish

The beach where we had planned to overnight was packed, we had not bargained for hot sunny weather and the fact it was a Saturday. Instead we drove back along the road and found a beautiful little parking area close to a local hiking route with fantastic views across the fjord. This evening it briefly rained, the first we have had in a month. Next week the forecast is for cooler, wetter weather. I bet Lofoten looks just as stunning in that too.