Moose up close!

Today is our last day at this accommodation, which means packing up and loading the car. Then we drive towards Nusfjord, a small fishing village on the edge of the Lofoten. The road is icy, and even with the spike tyres we slip when pulling away. In Nusfjord a stiff breeze is blowing, whipping the sea into foam and making the boats in the harbour rock wildly. We decide to stop in at the local café, carrot cake and cinnamon buns with a great view of the harbour and the sea. Nicolas then very nearly loses his drone: because of the extremely strong gusts it can no longer fly back and gets pushed towards a mountain, at which point the signal cuts out too. He has all but written it off when the automatic return-to-home function saves it after all.

On the way back we spontaneously decide to drive to Leknes, a larger town in the Lofoten, to visit a shopping centre. As we’re driving home we spot two moose right at the roadside, probably two younger males that shed their antlers not long ago. We’ve never seen moose this close, and certainly not in the Lofoten! We would never have expected to see moose here in February. We stop in the middle of the road to take photos until the moose disappear back into the thicket.

The drive back is extremely windy, resulting in heavy snowdrifts and badly reduced visibility. We still make it to our next accommodation, a small rorbu in Sakrisøy. The rorbuer were originally fishermen’s huts, used by fishermen to rest after a successful catch. Today, though, they’re completely renovated inside and beautifully, cosily furnished. We have a studio with kitchen, bathroom, dining area and sleeping area.