Nyksund: abandoned fishing village

Yesterday was an unplanned rest day because, when we woke up, the whole place had been swallowed by fog! We’d made the mistake of paying for 2 nights on the campsite because we intended to walk up a mountain. There was no point in that because everything had disappeared from view!

Then, last night, we were buffeted by gales and woken at 2.30 by Molly’s constant shaking… unsurprisingly, we’re tired today! At least the fog has lifted!

After getting ourselves up and organised, and preparing Molly, we drove south through more beautiful scenery, reminiscent of Northern Scotland. En route, we stopped off in a fairly large town, Sortland, to do some shopping and fill up with fuel.

We then drove up to the north of Langøya Island to the tiny, isolated village of Nyksund, where we’re hoping to walk tomorrow. We’re staying on an aire in another wonderful spot overlooking the sea. The last 9 kilometres of the drive were on a winding pot-holed gravel road so Molly was abused again! It was a pretty route though, with cliffs on one side and the sea on the other.

We did some planning over a cup of tea before putting coats and hats on and walking into Nyksund. It was one of the largest fishing villages in Vesterålen in the early 1900s but was gradually abandoned as fishing boats became larger and no longer fitted in the narrow, shallow harbour. The last residents left in the early 1970s.

I’d read that the village has been revived and now has permanent residents who operate tourist businesses, including hotels, cafes, restaurants, craft shops, art galleries, and ocean-going activities. In images I’d seen online, it looked vibrant and a good place for photography.

We found it an odd place though… quite shabby, with a mix of better maintained properties alongside run down ones. Several old fish processing buildings had been taken over by the kittiwakes. There didn’t seem to be much happening today and the village was very quiet… apart from the kittiwakes screeching!

Now we’re back at Molly. The rain has finally stopped, the wind is gradually dropping, and the sun is trying to shine again. Fingers crossed for some reasonable weather for tomorrow. It really is unpredictable in Northern Norway!