Today is definitely a car day. The town of Leknes is a teeny tiny little outpost of no real consequence – or at least no touristic value. All around Leknes however, are scenic overlooks and beaches (the guide books say the prettiest beaches in Norway). Our only challenge today is actually getting the car – because it is in the town which about 5 KM.
Fortunately there is a local shuttle that will run us into town. The problem here is that it doesn’t leave until it is fairly full – and well – you know the story – we are the first ones off on the tender (Karen our concierge gets us on the first non-tour passenger tender) and then we have to wait for the rest of the humanity to come strolling over. Sigh. So frustrating. The wait was made even more frustrating when we see that Avis and Europcar are actually here at the port with all their cars. Bummer. But then again, our car was way cheaper than theirs, there is always a trade off. We did accomplish one good Karma thing though. We’d been listening to these 2 couples talk about getting their car, and long torturous story short, they finally decided to send the guys into town on the shuttle to get the car. They would come back and pick up the girls. I had overheard they were with Europcar. So, as we are sitting on the bus, waiting, waiting…I see what I think is Europcar in the lot. I get off to double check – and make sure it isn’t Hertz which is our rental – it is indeed Europcar. So I was able to come back and tell the guys to get off the bus and go get their car here. They were ecstatic. And we figured a good deed was done.
Finally the darn bus leaves, and we get into town, doing the Amazing Race thing because we know there are at least 2 others on the bus who have Hertz cars. We fast walk it to the office, and get there before the others. Yay. We all hit the restroom, hop in the car and head out of town.
There are 3 routes around the Lofoten islands we are contemplating – we don’t know if we can do them all, so we are setting our sights on accomplishing 2 today – North and South. We start out north toward Borg, where the Viking museum is located. We aren't going to go to the Viking museum,we’re not that interested, but on the way is what is supposed to be a great scenic overlook at Unstad – which is also the home of Arctic Surf . Yes, Surf, as in surfing. The story goes that in early 60’s two boys went to sea to make money. They ended up working on ships that sailed to Australia, where they saw surfing for the first time. They went home to the Lofoten islands, made surf boards patterned off a Beach Boys album cover, and began surfing at Unsted. Many have followed, and years later there are now (as we are soon to find out) 2 outfits in Unsted that offer surfing in the bay.
On the way to Unsted, we drive through beautiful pastoral country, all greens and browns, dotted with farm animals, with the ever present mountain ranges and cliffs as backdrops. The road bisects the island, inland, winding neatly around valleys up and down little hills, until we reach the turn off for Unsted. Then we turn toward the water, winding around a huge, totally picturesque lake with little cottages and fishing houses hugging its coast.
As we begin to rise above the lake, we encounter yet another tunnel through the mountains. We have n0w dubbed this the freaky tunnel tour – because this one is definitely made for a hobbit or Troll sighting. Tunnel people here in Norway! Emerging from the tunnel we are rewarded with a spectacular view down onto the tiny village of Unsted and the relatively calm coastline (no surfing today). Sadly, there is now where to pull off to take a picture, so we continue down the mountain to the shore, where we make a brief photo stop – brief because a) you have to pay to park and b) it’s windy and cold down here!
Reversing direction, we navigate through the little village (easy enough, there are only 2 roads, and 1 says “private” – we can figure this out) and head up the hill to the freaky tunnel. We celebrate our successful re-entry into the light by stopping for freaky tunnel pictures.
The other side of the mountain finds us passing a family of sheep – so cute – they just stare at us, no fear there – fish drying racks (those wooden saw horse looking things) and various buildings, most with fish drying lines on the outside (dried fish is BIG here – everyone does for their own personal use, but big manufacturers also supply virtually all of Spain’s Baccalao), and simply stunning long view scenery.
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