Lofoten: Stamsund to Reine

After around 32 hours aboard the Hurtigruten, we arrived at Stamsund. Almost all our nerves, building up during the crossing from Bodø disappeared into excitement as we saw our kayaks being lifted onto the quayside, ready for their first big adventure. We wheeled them down to the small-boat harbour 150 m away, and went to stock up on supplies at the local supermarket.

It was a very brief paddle through the harbours to our bed for the night – the youth hostel. The hostel was situated in a Rorbu (fisherman's cabin) from around 1920, and run by Roar, who was happy to give us his tips about the local tidal currents. We had a full dorm room for 8 to ourselves, sharing a large kitchen and dining room with just one other pair. There was another group in the other side of the building, but corona meant that it had been a very quiet season so far for Roar. We enjoyed an evening wander to the nearest high-point to enjoy the views. This was clearly used by the Germans as a military fortification during the war, but now had a large Star of David atop the ruins, along side a phone mast.

Day 1: Stamsund - Nappsstraumen

The next morning there was a forecast for moderately strong headwinds, dying down through the day, so we took a lazy start, before pushing off at around 11. Unfortunately, I forgot to press start on my tracker, so no tracking for day 1.

We had a great paddle through stunning scenery and glorious sunshine. We were pleased both with the performance of our boats (the first test of them fully laden) and our new paddles (I had only just finished making my new main set, and Amy's reserves days before we left). By lunchtime we had reached the first proposed campsite of the trip, just south of Ure. We were in good form and great spirits, so the thought of stopping for the day barely crossed our minds. We headed onwards to what we had pessimistically planned as our second camp spot. It would have been a good camp spot, but also made for a nice lunch stop.

After rounding Ureberget (which we were warned by Roar has always got tidal currents flowing, but with nothing significant to note from the paddle) we found ourselves in some fun bigger swell from the earlier wind. Paddling towards Buksnesfjorden we had planned to take the inside of the islands, but were having too much fun in the swell, and enjoying the clear views south too much, so took Moholmen and Litjmoholmen on the outside, before turning in to sheltered waters and a pretty hamlet.

The crossing to Ballstad was pretty, and suitably uneventful, we carefully kept a sharp watch for boat traffic. Once we arrived at Ballstad we realised that it was a lot prettier than it had appeared from a distance; where all that was visible were the industrial silos at the front. As well as many houses which looked like they may be lived in year-round, there were also a lot of what looked like weekend/holiday homes, or holiday lets. Balstadheia towered above the town imposingly – later that night we would be atop it.

It was a gentle paddle round the headland to Grænvika, to a small patch of grass that I had hoped from satellite images might be suitable for a tent. We were not very convinced as we approached, but we did manage to find a spot big enough for our tent, and could have accommodated a couple more small tents in a pinch.

After dinner of noodles, we headed up Ballstadheia – it started with a steep climb to a narrow ridge which we walked to the far end of for views west, east and south. The evening sun illuminated the stunning landscape beautifully. Walking the other direction along the ridge took us to a rare patch of flat-ish land which took us to some great viewpoints: over Ballstad; north to Leknes; and to the north east where we had come from. It was late when we reached the tent, and good weather was forecast all day for a short paddle, so we did not set an alarm.

Day 2: Nappsstraumen – Kunna

We woke late, and boiling in the tent, at around 9.30, and discovered that the windstill conditions outside that had been set to continue all day, were now set to change to a moderate wind in a few hours, so we rushed to get packed up as we had read that crossing Nappsstraumen, with its tidal currents, in the wind can be “interesting”. The wind started picking up when we were around a third of the way across, but not too much, so we made it across without problems – singing songs of the sea on the way.

The rest of the paddle to Kunna island was stunning, and uneventful. Nusfjord was very picturesque as we paddled past the end of the fjord. We disagreed about our feelings of the town’s appearance: I reckoned that it looked like a lovely safe haven, protected by the towering crags on all sides, where Amy felt that it was too cute and pretty for the fierce landscape it inhabits. Lovely either way, but we did not take the diversion to visit, as we expected nothing for us there. There were several more picturesque hamlets nestled into the mountainside as we continued along the coast.

We reached Kunna at three, and initially stopped for lunch – but not committing to whether we would paddle onwards or not. What we found on land, above a very sheltered L shaped bay at the south east of the island was an oasis of calm beauty sheltered by severely faulted rocky crags. Green meadows and light forest filled the low lands in the middle of the island. By the time we had to make the decision whether to continue, it was already four, and we had nothing pulling us away from our lovely island, so we stayed the night, and enjoyed a wee wander to the high point at 89 meters with great views all around.

Day 3: Kunna to Reine & Reinebringen

We started early to catch the high tide, to make it easier to lift our boats into the water. It was a short paddle into Reine, and not the most interesting, kayaking along the main road blasted into the rock, but once we passed Hamnøya and paddled under the bridge into Reinefjorden, that all changed. I’m not sure what hit us first, the stunning views, or the potent smell of fish drying. The fish were lining racks upwind of us, and the smell was not pervasive around the fjord or town.

We paddled to the Coop to buy some bread and fruit for lunch. I scrambled out close to the Coop as Amy watched the boats. We paddled into the centre of Reine, but did not land, instead landing on the opposite side of Reinevågen for lunch.

We left the kayaks siting at the edge of the bay and left to climb Reinebringen. It is a hike that I have heard many say that you should not leave Lofoten without doing – and was well reviewed by my parents when they visited around eight years ago. A major change since their visit was the addition of 1669 stone steps (Amy counted) most of the way up. These were added due to the popularity of the route, and the erosion it was causing. Interestingly this year the mix of nationalities and languages on the trail were much more limited than usual – dominated by Norwegians, but with a significant spattering of Finnish, as corona regulations have allowed them into the country for a few weeks already. None the less, the path was busy – many hundred people must have made the 448 meter climb on that day alone. The steps were not the most natural, but a very practical – and necessary – solution to the high footfall, and risk of falling rocks causing injury which has sadly had tragic consequences in the past. What had not changed from my parent’s visit were the stunning views. We walked up both east and west of the main viewpoint at the saddle overlooking the town, where many stopped. The path to the west lead higher, and had an even more spectacular view than the saddle, but the best views came from a slight scramble east to a lower point than on the west. This are had 360 degree views to enjoy and was a lot quieter than the saddle or eastern point. The weather was stunning – almost too hot for the hike, but clear skies made for stunning views over Moskenesøya and to the islands to the south and north, and back to the towering peaks on the mainland.

Once we were back in Reine we went out for dinner – fish soup for me, fish for Amy, before setting out by kayak to find a suitable campsite. We found what is probably the most spectacular campsite either of us have been lucky enough to experience; by Veines peninsula. From our camp we watched many kayak tours headed for Bunes beach to watch the midnight sun, but it had been a long and busy day so we did not join them, and curled up under out sleeping bags (too hot to be inside them).

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N.B I’ve written this after a rest day on Day 6, but it is time to go to bed, so the next instalment will have to wait for another day.