Rainy Day and Coastal Trail in Straumsjøen

After the long night of northern lights we sleep in today. We do not sleep through the whole morning, though, because shortly after sunrise we are briefly awake and grab the camera. The sky over the bay of Straumsjøen turns pink, the water is as smooth as a mirror, and the fishing boats at the quay appear twice, once in the harbour and once reflected in the water. A few photos later we go back to bed.

When we get up properly, we have a relaxed breakfast. In front of our accommodation a green kayak lies on the wooden jetty, and next to it the fishing boats wait in the small harbour.

After that it rains almost all day, and we are in no hurry. Nicolas sits at the laptop and works on this blog, while Annina reads an e-book. After two weeks on the road, a slow day like this does us good.

At some point the rain stops for a while, and we use the break for the Coastal Trail. It starts right where we are, at the end of the road in Straumsjøen, where there is a small car park for hikers. According to the hiking tips from Bø, the coastal path, Kyststien in Norwegian, runs from Straumsjøen along the coast to Spjelkvågen. Anyone who wants to walk the whole way leaves a second car in Spjelkvågen first, because the path does not end where it begins. There are two small lighthouses along the way, the first at Vikan.

The first stretch is a wide gravel track right by the water, below steep rock faces. After that it becomes a path through grass and over rocks. Because of all the rain it is quite muddy. Even so, we can imagine how beautiful the view must be here in sunshine.

Along the way we also see the small heart-shaped island again, the one we spotted from Skårvågsfjellet yesterday. From down here we get a completely different view of it.

Then we see the first lighthouse, a small white tower with black bands and a red top on the rocks by the shore at Vikan. Far beyond it there is only the open sea. Right here the wind picks up strongly, and it starts to drizzle again. The second lighthouse and the rest of the path will have to wait, and we turn back.

In the evening we cook Indian. We have it with rice and the potatoes we still have left over. We are glad we made use of the dry spell.