Vesterålen and Andøya

Day 29: Taen-Sørmela (108 km)

The morning started sunny. From 7:30, the sun hit my tent which was nice because it was a bit humid. When there is no chance for rain, I prefer to sleep without the waterproof outer tent because then I can enjoy the view. But then the morning dew can make things a bit wet.

We had breakfast on a bench in the sun and left our beach at nine o’clock towards Stokmarknes, which was 15 kilometres away. Here we were invited by Henny, Kathrine’s mum (Kathrine is a former colleague). Henny served us coffee and a good chocolate cake which we enjoyed on her balcony with a nice view.

After one very pleasant hour here, we continued to Sortland. On this part, it was very warm. We had lunch at a pizzeria. When we continued from there, a cold wind had come from the sea and taken fog with it which we could see on the water all day.

When we got closer to Andøya, the next island, we met two cyclists who were going to Nordkapp, too, and visiting their father on Andøya on the way. They told us about a nearby café at which we stopped for a waffle with cloudberry and cream.

This gave us new energy, so we actually continued much further than originally planned. I spotted a nice beach on Google Maps (using the satellite function). So now we are at Sørmela at the west coast of Andøya. We are the only human beings here. But a flock of sheep has just joined us and enjoy dinner nearby. The sheep wear cowbells here (or sheepbells?), so we have some nice background music.

It is cloudy now, but the weather forecast for the coming days is still good, so we hope for the best.