Bucket List – The Lofoten Islands in Norway Part 3

Bucket List – The Lofoten Islands in Norway Part 3

With the Road Glide ST 117 on the Lofoten Islands in Norway.

The new day in the Lofoten Islands in Norway begins with a plan! I'm in Ballstad at the harbor, pretty much in the middle of the Lofoten . The first night I was immediately afraid for the Road Glide ST , which was right in front of my door. It stormed really hard throughout the night and the wind came across the Norwegian Sea directly into the harbor and caused the Harley to rock a lot, I had never seen anything like that before, but luckily it stayed steady.

The first thing you learn on the Lofoten is that you have to be prepared for anything weather-wise; everything can change from one minute to the next. After the wind and rain came the fog and when I left the house at 9:00 a.m. the sun came out straight away, or let's say it was visible, because it doesn't really want to set at this time of year.

My daily plan for today

A good breakfast at the bakery in Leknes

First I need a good breakfast and thanks to Google Maps, I found the right bakery in Leknes . The bakery is called “Lofoten Bakeri” and is right opposite the gas station, you can easily remember that. I get my breakfast here and can then fill up the Harley again so that I can explore the island today.

First of all, however, I have to go shopping first, after all I now have a refrigerator in the house and I'll have to spend another night on it before I move my location on the island a little further north. The petrol also cost 25.59 Norwegian kroner in Lofoten. So about 2.17 liters, that's really heavy, without moss there's nothing going on in good Norway.

First go shopping in the shopping center

About 500 meters from the bakery is a shopping center where many people from the surrounding area go shopping. Lofotsenteret is just right for me now . I think stores like this are great, where many locals go shopping. I'm amazed, right next to the entrance there is a parking lot specifically for motorcycles , where is there something like that, I thought to myself. The Road Glide ST gets its own parking bay, really awesome.

A friendly Norwegian woman helps me at the scales

In the center you can get everything possible, pharmacy, pizza and everything that can be found in a normal store. I'm a bit desperate about the bananas, you're supposed to put the bananas on the scales like we do and stick the sticker on them, it's just stupid that they don't have any pictures on the scales, there are just a lot of names here, nothing with Bana, or anything like that .

A friendly Norwegian woman spontaneously came to my aid and realized that I was a bit at a loss standing in front of the scales. There must be some Norwegian umbrella term for bananas, I just don't know where she pressed it, so again, learned nothing. No matter, I've stocked up on the most important things and now we're off again, back to the port to my accommodation and my plan for the day is set, now it has to start at some point. It's almost lunchtime, but now we're off to Haukland Beach, which is on the other side of Ballstad.

Haukland Beach in Lofoten

The drive to Haukland Beach is really cool, beautiful curves and new, deep black asphalt lead to the beach. The total idyll and Norway shows itself at its best in beautiful weather. It goes along the sea for a bit and then I can see the iconic bay in front of me!

Haukland Beach and the turquoise water

The extraordinary thing about Haukland Beach is its turquoise blue water and the white sandy beach that makes you think you are in the Caribbean. It is one of the most beautiful beaches in Northern Europe and visually invites you to swim immediately. However, we are 300 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle and up here the water is a maximum of 10 degrees. If the Gulf Stream is in a good mood, it can sometimes even raise the water temperature to 13 degrees in August, so it's not for those who are faint-hearted. The Gulf Stream is the most powerful ocean current and has its branches near the Lofoten Islands.

As a North German, I am used to fresh sea air

People always say that the climate in Lofoten is so mild because of the Gulf Stream, but I actually mean something different by mild. Some fish may feel this way, such as cod , which comes to this region in winter to spawn. As a North German, I'm used to good air, anyone who comes out of the pot will certainly feel like they're in seventh heaven.

Haukland Beach is an Instagram hotspot

Haukland Beach is even an Instagram hotspot and photographers in particular have discovered this beach for themselves. A photographer and YouTuber from Germany even named his company after the beach. But well, seen, photographed and deemed good, the journey continues now. I continued through the tunnel to Uttakleiv Beach. It's also nice, I only have to walk so far to get to the beach, I still want to go to the Viking Museum, so I can continue without visiting the beach.

The Bøstad Viking Museum

The Viking Museum is located north of this section of the island. In just under half an hour I relaxed and arrived at the parking lot in front of the museum. There's a lot going on here, lots of campers and buses. Not really my world, but what the heck, if you want to find out something about Norwegian culture, I'll get through it.

To my surprise, there are two Harleys from Germany in the parking lot. I'm probably not the only one interested in Norwegian culture.

Viking chief seat in Bøstad

More specifically, the Viking village is in Borg, it is easy to find. I was there for over 2 1/2 hours. There is a canteen near the entrance where you can get food and cake. I made a mistake with the whole thing, normally I always do my research beforehand, but this time I just went for it. This Viking village existed for about 400 years, from 500 AD to 900 AD. It was a large clan and the last known chief, Olaf Tvennumbrunni , suddenly left the village and the village in 900 AD for unknown reasons Leaving Lofoten with his entire clan for Iceland.

Today's museum is a very large area that can be explored on foot. If you are interested in history and plan to visit this Viking museum, you should take a look at the following website: Spektrum . All the information is listed there very well; anyone who has read the page beforehand will get to know the museum from a completely different perspective. In hindsight, the visit was worth it for me, but as I said, you should be fit, the weather was great, and if it stormed, I would just look at the exhibition in the entrance area and the nave.

The evening in my house at the harbor

I still have great weather and cruise relaxed around the island on the Harley. If you drive on the side streets it's even more beautiful and somehow you always drive along the sea, just beautiful. In the late afternoon we head back on Road Glide ST in the direction of my little house in Ballstad harbor. When I arrive at my accommodation, I first stock up on what I bought in the shopping center.

Norway slows you down completely

I enjoy the sunset in front of my house, on a small bench. Now just don't do anything and just look into the air. It's amazing how relaxed life can be when a man or woman is in the right place. The next day we continue, I found an extremely nice hotel and a fantastic route. I wouldn't have expected that there could be an improvement on my house at the harbor. In the fourth part you will find out what happens next.

Text & image credits: Volker Wolf / Harleysite