Lofoten Islands - Pure Physical Attraction

Littered with anchors, fishing-nets, and wooden racks of drying cod, the surroundings of the blood-red rorbu fishing cottages are delightful. Photograph: Ingrid Rodriguez.
 
Firstly, I had to find out where on earth they were. Even though I know where Norway is, it took some time to locate the Lofoten Islands on the world map. I find them right at the top of the world, completely isolated and within the Arctic Circle.

The Scandinavian Airlines flight from London to Bod?, via Oslo, is the fastest way to get there. From Bod?, I take a ferry across to the islands.

The ferry is quiet, only half-full. Studying a detailed map of the Lofoten Islands, they're oddly shaped, like vertebrae and deeply-incised by the ocean. This string of islands - made up of tongue-twister names such as Austv?g?y, Gims?y, Vestv?g?y, Flakstad?y, Moskenes?y, Vaer?y, R?st and Hinn?y - run for a little over a hundred miles from top to bottom.

They were first populated when Tore Hund, a fearsome Viking warlord ruled the seas in long-ships, fighting the bloody Battle of Stiklestad in 1030 AD.

The backbone of the islands is called the Lofotenveggen, or Lofoten Wall. As the ferry sails up the narrow Trollfjorden, the Lofoten Wall becomes lunar-like with spinach-green pinnacles rising 3,000 feet.

My home for the week is at Svolv?r, and in this stark scenery, the accommodation is all about civilised comfort.

The traditional fisherman's cottages or rorbu ('ror' meaning fishing boat, and 'bu' to live, or a small dwelling) are painted blood-red and raised on stilts around the stony harbour. My 150-year old rorbu goes someway to show how fishermen used to live but still has the comforts a tourist would expect.

The rorbu are painted their distinctive colour using an old paint mixed with cod liver oil. Inside, it's cosy with fresh flowers and crisp linens. When I open the curtains, I can see far up into the mountains in the lemony sunlight. Artists are drawn here for the light and the dramatic relationship between nature and the living conditions of the local inhabitants.

Outside my rorbu, anchors and fishing nets lie scattered about. Cod dries on large wooden racks in the sun. Some of the rorbu have their own rowing boat. Cod-fishing is an important main-stay on the islands with the season usually starting from March each year.

The weather is sunny and very warm. On an afternoon walk, I see a beach of sand so white that it hurts my eyes to look. The ocean is almost fluorescent green. Norwegian tourists are bathing in the warm shallows. A fisherman’s shack is offering boat trips to watch for whales, feed eagles or fish in the seas which churn with migrating cod in the waters of the Gulf Stream.

From the end of May to the 14th July each year, the Lofoten Islands become the Land of the Midnight Sun, when the sun never sets and you can go out for walks in broad daylight at 3 in the morning.

Meal-times are difficult affairs. The Lofotens serve nothing but Norwegian food on its menus and choosing which gorgeous dish to have is the hard part. Eventually I order warm rhubarb soup, smorgasbord with seagulls' eggs and lutefisk. When the meal arrives, it’s delicious.

The following evening sees me trying fried cod tongue, followed by reindeer steak served with cranberry sauce, a side dish of fishcakes and for dessert, Trondhjensuppe, a milk soup with raisins, rice, cinnamon and sugar.

On my first morning, after dawn rain, the skies clear and are swirling with birds. This is a paradise for bird watchers with eider ducks, puffins, oystercatchers and the white-tailed eagle. Excellent walking trails run in every direction. I walk into the interior of the island through sparse pastureland and bright-green peatbogs. I see cloudberries growing wild: these orange-coloured, sweet-tasting berries are considered to be a local delicacy.

In the past 150 years, they were highly sought after among sailors not for their superior taste, but for the fact that they kept for a long time and were a good source of vitamin C, thus effective in preventing scurvy.

On the southern island, the deserted fishing station of Hell overlooks the Maelstrom, the waters west of the Lofoten Headland. These waters were first described by Edgar Allan Poe and Jules Verne, and have the strongest tidal current in the world. The Maelstrom has appeared on historic sea charts accompanied by terrifying illustrations and warnings. In 1555, the Maelstrom was described as an ocean vortex, devouring hundreds of great ships.

Villagers from Hell described hearing whales bellowing in rage as they swam involuntarily into the Maelstrom.
Nowadays, the Maelstrom has a calmer (and safer) reputation. The locals have great respect for the waters and at certain times of the day will take tourists on a guided fishing trip to see the strange tidal phenomenon as well as whale-watching. Hell was deserted relatively recently in 1950 when villagers dismantled their wooden homes and moved them to ? and S?rv?gen.

The 115-foot deep Refsvikhula cave is gigantic, formed like a cathedral, and contains red drawings of matchstick men made by cavemen three thousand years ago. In July, the Midnight Sun pours into the mouth of the cave filling it with light and it is thought that this light shining against the cave drawings was symbolic to Stone Age people who performed rituals in the depths.

Touring the islands by car or by public transport is easy as the islands are connected by bridges or tunnels. Stamsund is a particularly pretty port and whilst I’m nearing the southern extremities of the islands, the village of ? is worth a visit, especially the Norwegian Fishing Village Museum.
Remote islands have always exerted a magnetism on me. I enjoy the insular nature of an island, and the stoicism it seems to lend the inhabitants.

This is especially true of the Lofotens. In this northern outpost of Europe, commercialism is refreshingly absent. The scenery is wild and arresting, with wildlife obligingly on display. Come here to see the wildlife, enjoy the seafood and warm hospitality, lounge around sunbathing or swimming in the summer months, explore caves, go fishing or walk in the heights.

How to holiday here

When to go: The best times to visit Lofoten Islands are from May to August, when the weather is at its best. June temperatures can reach 30?c. Summer days are usually warm and calm. During summer, the cruise ships are busier, and therefore booking well in advance is advised. Rorbu can be rented in many parts of the islands.

Flights to Bod? via Oslo on Scandinavian Airlines, www.scandinavian.net.

Further Information on the Lofoten Islands and details of the traditional rorbu can be found at www.lofoten-info.no or at www.visitnorway.com

29 October 2006