We’d planned a walk today but both woke feeling weary and the mist was low on the mountains, so we decided we’d have a rest day… it didn’t end up that way, but that was the plan!
After breakfast and housework, we left the campsite and drove to the north of the island. I’d already taken pictures of the drying racks that the Norwegians use for cod, although the ones by the campsite were all empty. On the way out, John spotted a rack that still had fish on it… in fact, hundreds of fish heads strung together! Yuk!
Next, we stopped at the most beautiful little beach, Breivika, which has white sand and turquoise sea. I made coffees and had a paddle, while watching the oyster catchers and seagulls, and John flew Dave the drone.
Back in Molly Moho, we drove a little further to a pretty little harbour where I took some photos. The low mist was still on the mountains but there was no wind and it was warm in the sunshine. John spotted a huge bird flying around, which we think was a white-tailed sea eagle. Apparently, there’s a large population of them here although, in centuries gone by, the locals used to catch them with their bare hands!
Our next stop was Old Værøy Church in the village of Nordland. It was built in another location in 1714 and moved in 1799. I liked its spire, and the houses next door which had sod roofs in the traditional style.
By now it was lunchtime and we parked up near the old airport runway. The airport opened in 1986 and was closed in 1990 when a plane crashed killing 5 people. Heavy wind caused the structure of the plane to fail and there’s controversy over whether an airport should have been sited next to the high vertical cliffs, and whether the plane should have flown that day. Very sad.
After lunch, we decided we’d do the flat part of the walk we’d planned, without ascending the mountain at the end. It was still long… 7 kilometres each way… but from the map appeared to be relatively flat along the shore, before heading to a former fishing village that can now only be accessed on foot or by sea.
I should know better than to think a coastal walk in Norway would be flat and easy. Even John admitted it was tough! We began by walking along the old roadway, but this soon disappeared in an old rock landslide and the single track path headed uphill.
It wound around the hillside above the coast, and up and down through meadows, boulder fields and scree slopes. We followed red dots on the rocks and posts from old power lines. Hornet and Håen, which we climbed yesterday, towered above us on the left and the sea crashed on the shore on the right. It became quite hot and I wished I’d put short sleeves on.
Eventually, we could see the huge dome of Måstadheia, the mountain we’d seen from the Håen viewpoint yesterday. Shortly afterwards, we turned inland to cross the Eidet pass to the south of the island and Måstadvika bay, before turning towards Måstad village.
The path was generally easier now, although we did have another hill to climb over. We finally reached the village and I was disappointed to find it wasn’t full of abandoned buildings, but mostly new buildings… probably holiday properties. They were still photogenic anyway!
There used to be a large colony of puffins on the rock faces here but there aren’t many now, and we didn’t see any. The Norwegian lundehund dog was historically used to hunt puffins and their eggs, which decimated the population.
We had a rest, a snack and some water then turned around and retraced our steps… winding up and down, boulder hopping, scrambling, and avoiding rocks hidden in the vegetation which seemed determined to trip up our tired legs! We were very pleased to see the road and finished up along the old runway. The walk was definitely harder than we expected but it was lovely to be out in such a wonderful landscape, in good weather.
Back at Molly, we’ve had a good wash, changed and had something to eat and drink, ready to catch the ferry to Moskenes. The next chapter of our journey begins.
Ramblings 
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