Food festival day two

Thierry is a Parisian chef who has lived in Norway for years. He no longer works as a chef but he offered to cook for his friends. He gave us a seven course meal. Amuse Bouche of melon balls with bacon on top, fois gras with onion cooked in honey and served with a sweet white wine...delicious! Salmon and halibut served in pastry baskets, boeuf bourginon (the beef was marinated in wine for four days), chèvre and a blue cheese from north of the Auvergne, strawberries in rum with sabaillon?

The food was delicious and I'm glad it came after our rough and ready Irish meal!

Food festival

Everything was going along swimmingly. The house now has thirteen residents. Italians, Norwegians and Irish. I was making a butterfly net from grandmother's nightdress. Helen and Aslaug were preparing a treasure hunt and sorting the clues with shamrocks attached.  Karl was internet banking and practicing his Irish whistle. 

Thierry arrived and had a long discussion with Finn outside then departed.  Finn came inside and announced that Thierry had understood his food festival day was Saturday not Friday.  So 25 people were coming and there was no food to eat! So we decided at 1pm that we could prepare our food and be ready by 7 pm. 

Then we realized the three legs of lamb were still frozen!  Fast track defrosting without a microwave!  Baking four loaves of wheaten bread from flour we had brought over from Ireland. Making a chocolate and pear pudding which was the wrong recipe and took two hours to cook. We managed to burn out the mixer so had to handwhip the cream.   The wheaten bread didn't cook right through so we had to toast it before the smoked salmon was laid on it. 

We had two cookers on the go and by seven o'clock guests arrived.  We were ready. The guests loved the mint sauce with the lamb and enjoyed every morsel of food. The evening was rounded off by most people performing a party piece. Atmosphere was good and the last went to bed at 2pm.  I have a lovely sky to show you later......

The farm

We are well settled in at the farmhouse which has seven bedrooms, all occupied. There is Karl and Aslaug, helen and me, Finn the house owner, Anne line his sister and her Italian husband Guiseppe, their two grown up sons and Guiseppes brother  Guitano and his wife Daniela. Finns daughter and friend will also arrive.  Mealtimes require military planning. Helen, Karl, Aslaug and I are cooking for the food festival on Saturday for about 20 people. We will prepare an Irish meal of smoked salmon on wheaten bread, main course of roast lamb with roast potatoes, carrots and broccoli followed by pear and chocolate pudding.  Finally Irish coffee. By that time I'll be on the floor! However we'll also have Irish music which Karl is in charge of and probably a bit of a welcoming speech at the beginning providing a background about Ireland. 

I walked up to the forest,  saw hardly any birds until the return route when I heard squawking and screeching. I thought it sounded like a woodpecker. However this bird with chestnut outer tail feathers and similar colour on the wings was a new bird for me - a Siberian Jay.  Lots of fieldfare about, chiffchaff and a breeding pair of yellowhammers. 

Day 11 from Senja to Tromso

This morning we left at 9:30 and headed for the North of Senja. Said goodbye to Frode and Jane. The weather has improved and patches of blue have appeared. 

We drove north through the middle of Senja up a mountainside to a frozen lake then through a long tunnel. The highlight was a white sandy beach near the north end of the island. The sun shone and the sky was blue but the air was cold at 10 degrees. Apart from that it could have been the Caribbean. We ate lunch gazing out of the car window unlike the Norwegians who eat outside in all weathers.   I discovered at this point that I'd left my coat behind in Frode's house. I phoned him and he had it immediately packed and posted to the farm in Steinkjer where we are going.  

Photo here later......

Our Couchsurfing host in Tromso was away on an island and missed the ferry back. His housemate welcomed us in, took us for a guided tour of Tromso and then cooked us a delicious meal of Norwegian fish cakes in a tasty sauce with vegetables. Erling is also a fluent Spanish speaker. He suggested we return to Tromso in the Winter to see the magical Northern lights.  In fact everyone we spoke to said it was worth having the dark nights to gaze at the lights in the sky.   He is also convinced there are visitations from outer space. If you look up You tube and put in Tromso UFO you can decide for yourself.  Personally I think it's military devices.  

 

Day 10 Harstad to Senja

We spent last night Couchsurfing with Elza, a nurse, in Harstad. She offered us a bed at the last minute and we were so delighted.  She arrived in Norway eight years ago from Romania and trained  as a nurse. 

Now we're on the Hurtigrute Trollfjorden sailing to Finnsnes which is the closest stop to our next couchsurfer. 

We arrived in Finnsnes refreshed and drove to South Senja to find our host Frode and family. One of the sons has vacated his bedroom for us but Frode is building a room over his garage for guests. He enjoys hosting because giving something for nothing makes him feel good. Frode finds car maintenance fun and he is in the middle of completely stripping out and rebuilding  a 1988 Mercedes coupe and also a VW beetle. 

Jonathan, young German who has befriended that family for 10 years talked to us about being a Wandergeselle. He is a member of a guild and is a carpenter. He will be travelling all over the world doing carpentry. He is not allowed to go home for three years. You can read about them here.

wandergeselle

Frode told us about a few places to go nearby so we set off at 2:30. The weather is much milder than Andenes. 

He suggested walking up the ridge which is visible from the house.  "It will only take 30 mins...."

90 mins later we returned to the car!

Drove on down the peninsula. And came across an unimproved Rorbu on a jetty.  In most places these are improved and painted red which you will see in tomorrow's post. 

On the journey spotted two pairs of bullfinch. Met an elderly German man living in a camper van down a remote lane by the sea.  He didn't speak English but managed to tell me that he loves the fresh air and fishing.  I was informed that he has been living there for four months every year since 2000. 

Had a tasty meal cooked by June, Frode's wife' who is a teaching vice principal.  Lamb casserole and rhubarb with sugar syrup. 

Andenes Senja ...oops

Drove north to Andenes. Spotted Willow grouse on the raised bog.

Arrived in Andenes in time for the ferry to be told it was too stormy. Now we are reconsidering our plan to get to Senja.

We sat in the car and ate lunch whilst thinking. Phoned Hurtigrute boat to find out the time of departure. Eventually we decided to get Hurtigrute at Harstad and travel to Finnsnes near Senja. Boat leaves at 8am from Harstad so we needed to find somewhere in Harstad. It's the start of an Arts week so the hotels are full. Helen wrote to a couch surfing host. We drove south through wind and rain...mostly 5 degrees. 

Driving in to Harstad our phone rang. It was the couch surfer Elza offering us a bed at 5:20 pm. We were just about to try camp sites. Elza is a nurse from Romania. She trained in Norway. She is a lovely person and we squeezed into her daughters' bedroom, which was vacant. 

Facing the North Atlantic

Our Andoya accommodation is facing the sea which is about 100 metres away across bog, freshwater pools and swampy grassland.

Spotted breeding snipe, lapwing, whooper swans, teal, merganser, redshank, meadow pipit, starling, greater black back gull,  common gull, Sea Eagle, cormorant, herring gull, curlew. 

It's the best view yet, which is what I said about each of the previous views! Every single night we've had amazing views over water. Andoya is wild, and craggy  with peat bog and heathers. The west coast is dramatic in a different way from Lofoten. There is more low land between the high cliffs and the shore. This afternoon we watched at least 7 sea eagles within 1 km of shore line. John from Kaljord told us yesterday that they have become a bit of a pest as there are too many. They used to be allowed to shoot them.

We drove past a huge listening post facing the sea. Lots of masts and aerials and an enormous semi circular dish. There was a No Photography sign. 

About 10  or so camper vans passed us on the western coast road but otherwise it is very isolated and beautiful. Some brave and healthy cyclists struggled on against the bitter headwind. We snuggled even deeper into our comfortable, leather, Volvo, heated seats!

The place where we are staying is about to host 1000 daily next weekend as they host the Highland Games..World Heavy Events Championship. Our host is a strongman. They wear kilts whilst competing. You can read about it here. Www.marmelkroken.no  I think World Heavy events even has a Facebook page.  The farmer has just come out to cut the meadow between us and the sea. The huge tractor and cutting machine is disturbing the nesting places of the lapwing, snipe and curlew.  They are flying around highly agitated. 

When I get a faster connection I'll add a few photos. 

8th day - Kaljord to Risoyhamm

This a view from our window in Kaljord last night. Fresh snow on the mountains. 

A walk in A - late post from 18th June

The rain stopped for an hour so we wandered about the small settlement. 

Came across racks and racks of drying fish.

Helen found this one.

Thursday

We left A i Lofoten this morning in sunshine. Dropped Karl at the car hire spot in Moskenes. Drove north and spotted Killer Whales just off shore. Stopped to study them through the binoculars. There were about 12  fishing boats in the area too so there was lots of fish about. 

It was only 4 degrees so we stepped into the car shivering. Thankfully the Volvo has heated seats as well as being automatic. This was a very welcome upgrade by Hertz. 

Next pause was for the impressive roadworks where they continue to build boulder proof shelters  whilst blasting with dynamite  to clear loose rock. We were driving to Hanoy to catch the 4 pm ferry to Kaljord. Our landlord John had checked on the web to tell us the time. When we arrived at the ferry quay we studied the timetable to see that the only ferry left at 9:00 am.  Oh dear.  So we drove along the E10 through the tunnels and then on RV 85 and RV822 to Kaljord. Saw a sea eagle flying parallel with car. 

Met John who was apologetic about the wrong ferry info but it was the website. He showed us into a roomy attic bedroom with kitchen. John also showed us into a wee museum of local artifacts gathered together by local women. Spades for digging peat which were broad and quite unlike Ulster peat spades, a hand churn for separating cream from milk, carding paddles for preparing wool to spin, a rope twister used by fishermen, barrels for cod liver oil, a large, wooden, dough tray, a seamans kist (chest) for holding clothing and food for two months fishing in Lofoten, large, square, wooden snow shoes for horses! 

....And here we are...ready to go out for a late drive on an otter hunt.

Can't post photos because the internet is too slow here. 

Orca

Driving out of Reine we spotted a pod of Orcas close by the shore. Long dorsal fin with white below the chin. They were heading out to sea. 

On the road tomorrow

We had yet another wet day. Karl is staying in A whilst we drive North to Hinnoya island then on to Andoya. Lofoten is really beautiful. Lots of tour buses arrived here today taking the visitors to see the Stockfish museum and the village life museum. Last night we watched the German fisherman come back to the quay after 10 hours fishing. They had quite a huge catch - all on fishing lines. They gutted them and filleted them for the freezer. They'll probably take them back home when they leave. 

Bought 3 cinnamon buns and 3 bread rolls for £10 which would have cost £4 at home....ouch.

Roadworks

Just before we arrived there were massive roadworks on a two km stretch of the sea coast road. Huge machinery and lots of  yellow-coated people were repairing the road under the high cliffs. We heard that two weeks ago a one tonne boulder fell onto the road splitting it from side to side win a two metre deep chasm. The southern part of this island chain was completely cut off.

Heavy repairs with dynamite and cranes is ongoing before someone gets crushed to oblivion. I am impressed by the speed and quality of the local authorities' reaction.  You can see a rockfall shelter in the photo. One machine was creating this as it moved along the road.  There were about five of them in a 1 km stretch.

Day 3. Drive to A on Lofoten

Today we left Vesteralen by driving along the west coast. Took the ferry from Skagen to Stockmarknes. Interrmittent sun and showers made for an interesting drive through dramatic scenery. Graylag geese breed along the shores. 

Stock fish dries for about four months. Exported worldwide.

We are now in a small village called A at the south end of Lofoten. Pronounced Awe.  We are staying in a hostel on the quay with kittiwakes breeding on an old building opposite. The sea is totally calm. 

Day 2 Lapphaugen to Sortland

Sorry this posting is late. 

We took a walk up the mountain behind the campsite through birch wood and bog with spring flowers and patches of snow.

Then it was my turn to drive along the quieter roads instead of the E6 and E10. Took the ferry from Navsnes to Flesnes. We stopped along the way to spot rough legged buzzard and white tailed sea eagle. Heard a bird like a wood warbler call in slow motion.

Eventually arrived at our Couch surfing host, Svein Flaaten. He hosts international students on Exchange and this time he has a 17 yr old from north Italy and and 18 yr old from Indonesia. They've been with him for ten months and speak fluent Norwegian plus fluent English. Another boy from Greenland was also visiting. He is an Inuit who has hunted seals (with gun). He hopes to work in the EU. 

Svein's house has a most spectacular view over a lake and jagged mountains.  He cooked a traditional Lofoten meal of cod, salted for 3 hours then rinsed and cooked with egg bacon and cheese. Delicious.

Travelling and Day 1 to Lapphaugen

Karl, my brother and I travelled from Dublin by SAS to Oslo. We had a short transfer time to the next flight to Trondheim so we rushed to collect the luggage and pass through Customs. The next stop was Trondheim to Tromso via Bodo.  The connecting flight wasa held back for ten minutes until we raced on board. 

We arrived in Tromso 10 minutes early and met Helen. We had been upgraded to a Volvo v70 automatic estate ( from a Toyota Auris). Now we have it packed we think the Toyota would have been too small. 

The first night we stayed at Brigittesheim in Tromso. Rather expensive at £119.50. The sky was bright all night. Today it was raining. We bought a Data Sim for the dongle and one for the phone. Then we drove down the E8 and E6 as far as Lapphaugen Turiststation where we had booked a lovely little cabin with dramatic, snow streaked  mountains and tumbling waterfalls. 

We've just eaten A wonderful meal cooked by me! Smoked mackerel, cauliflower, tomatoes, rice and balsamic dressing.  Ring me up any time you need a cook!!

Please send me any camping recipes you have ...

Getting ready

Suitcase is open on the spare bed, waiting for the next adventure. Off to Norway on Friday 13th...