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.