In 2007, we (Henry Jonker and Marcel Jonker) made a trip to the Lofoten, an archipelago in front of the Norwegian coast. During three weeks, from Sunday the 29th of july till Friday the 17th of August (20 days), we followed the route as shown on the map. The total distance was about 7100 km. This page contains a photo and travel report of this holiday.

The summer of 2007, we made a trip to the Lofoten. On sunday, july 29, we depart in the morning at 6:00 in the rain from Epe. The first part of the trip remains rainy. Only around Hamburg the weather starts to improve. We can easily drive through without delays and already at a quarter to four we enter Sweden. After driving the E6 little north, we set the tent up at our known spot (2004) in a forest area. While setting up the tent, we have little rain and also at night it rains.

We drive in the direction of Oslo while sun and rain exchange each other frequently. In the neighborhood of Gothenburg we go to a supermarket and leave the E6 at Halden (where a new bridge is built). We find a suitable place for camping. The next day we drive on to Kongsvinger, Trysil and then go through the forest at Engerdaelen. The temperature varies greatly per location (12-20 degrees) and in general it is nice sunny weather. On the way we see a group of reindeer. At the end of the day we find a nice campingplace overlooking the Femuden lake.

Wednesday, August 1, we drive to Roros, where we refuel, fill water and go to the Supermarket. Then we drive further in the direction of Trondheim and see many animals on or along the road, among other goats, sheep, cows and reindeer. It is sunny weather today. After Steinkjer, we find a campingplace at the Snasavatnet lake.

It rained quite a lot during the night but the next morning it is fortunately dry. We lunch at the Namdalen river and make a small trip along the rapids. We go further to Rossvatnet, where we find a place overlooking the lake. The weather has been beautiful all day, but at night it starts to rain again.

The next morning the weather looks very promising. We drive to Mo i Rana and go on towards the Svartisen glacier. We make a trip through the Gronligrotta caves, where one can see beautiful underground streams and waterfalls. After, we drive on through the beautiful landscape and find a campingplace with view on the glaciers

On saturday the weather is great. We go to a supermarket in Mo i Rana and then to the Svartisen. On the way we see a few Moose. We take the boat over the lake and make a trip over the rocks to the glacier. The weather gets slightly worse and already on the way back it slightly begins to rain. We drive back to the beautiful campingplace of the previous day.

The next day we make a beautiful walk through the area and enjoy the view over the Melfjord. On Monday morning, the whole area is covered with fog. We drive further to the north and late in the afternoon the clouds disappear and the sun breaks through. We pass the Arctic Circle and in Nordland, we find a beautiful campingplace at a lake in the mountains.

In the sun, we drive in the direction of Narvik and take the ferry over the Tysfjord. Before Narvik we drive along Skjomdalen, where there are many summer-residences. Then we'll go on to the Lofoten. We find a place overlooking the Vagsfjorden and enjoy the midsummernight sun.

In the morning, we have breakfast at the fjord and see ducks and an otter swim past. The weather is beautiful and we continue our journey to Andenes, where we book a whale-safari for the next day.

We drive around on the peninsula and at the coast we find a very nice place to camp. The evening sun is again very beautiful.

Thursday, August 9, we wake up early to be in time for the whale excursion. When we leave, the weather is beautiful. After a story and a slide presentation of no less than 2 hours we finally go to the boat at around 11.00. The weather just now starts to get worse and it starts to rain and become very windy. With about 50 people we go on a very small boat. We see some spermwhales, but at least half of the passengers don't see anything as they are busier with filling puking-bags. We have fortunately do not suffer from that. At 15.00 we are back in Andenes.

We drive back over the peninsula and take the ferry at Melbu-Fiskebot. We find a spot where we can put up our tent when it is still dry, but the whole night it rains. The next day we drive further on to Svolvaer and along the south coast of Vestvagoya. The sun breaks through and it is a fantastic day again. On Moskenasoya we drive to the Nusfjord and Ytresand. We find again a nice campingplace at a lake.

On Saturday the weather is splendid, and we continue to drive to Reine. We go to the supermarket and refuel. After lunch we climb the Reinebringen mountain. After this trip over steep paths we'll go further to the village of Å. We set up the tent at the northern coast of the Lofoten. A camper owner understands reluctantly and with great difficulty that he cannot camp next to us, thereby blocking the road.

We sleep late and leave after breakfast to Moskenes, where we want to take the boat to Bodo. We are there at 12.00, but since there were already many cars waiting, we can not get on the boat of 14.00. With the five cars before us and many behind we wait for the boat of 18.00. Also for this boat many places are reserved, but we can luckily enter and leave with just half hour delay. Past Bodo we find a campingplace at the tourist route along the fjords.

On monday we drive further along the coast. At the Svartisen, we drive through a beautiful landscape to the Holmvassdam at the Storglomvatnet. We were also here in 2000, but this time it is beautifully sunny. We take various ferries and during the crossing at Oldevika the weather gets worse. It became quite late, and on all the nice campingspots there is already a camper. When we finally find a place and set up the tent (in the rain) it suddenly starts to get very stormy. We take no risk and drive little further to Nesna, where we rent a cabin for this night.

The weather has improved and we drive further south to Mosjoen. Before the Snasavatnet lake we find again a nice campingplace. In the distance we hear thunder, but it does not reach us. We see again a magnificent spectacle of yellow and red reflections of the light at the sunset.

We continue driving the E6 to Trondheim and along Dovrefjell and Rondane. The weather becomes chilly, rainy and very windy. Locally the temperature drops to 9 degrees. At Lillehammer we take a camping and fortunately it is just dry at the time that we put up the tent.

Despite the rain we pull down the tent early in the morning and we continue driving southwards. Already at Hamar the weather improves and in Oslo we drive under a blue sky. During the lunch we let the tent dry on the parking lot and then we go further to Sweden. At Gothenburg it unfortunately starts to rain again, but luckily it is just dry when we put up the tent at our last campingplace. It is dry throughout the night and the next day we drive back in the sun to the Netherlands. It was again a wonderful holiday in Norway.