After our Lofoten adventures, it was time to head south and explore the wonderful coastline and outlying islands along the Norwegian coast south of Bodø, an area called Helgeland. For this Sue and I were joined by Crispin and Lottie, who flew into Bodø airport and immediately experienced a 20 degree drop in temperature from that being experienced in UK!

Rather than relate the journey sequentially, I just wanted to highlight some of the wonderful places we were able to visit. The first was one of those unexpected pleasures you come across when stopping by for lunch. Sørfugløy was a tiny harbour set against giant cliffs.

We moored on a private pontoon having ascertained that the owner was away, and enjoyed a stroll across some of the island, bumping into some climbers who were camping, climbing and generally enjoying themselves.

It was a good introduction to some fantastic scenery. On the island of Bolga, a little further down, we climbed quite a tricky mountain (Bolgtinden), requiring some scrambling and quite a lot of exposure.

We knew that a visit to Svartisen glacier was a must, and it didn’t disappoint. We headed into the magnificent Holandsfjorden, mooring at the end at a place called Engen, then hired bikes to get to the place where you can walk up to the glacier. Needless to say the walk is longer than even 20 years ago: the glacier is retreating fast.

This was Sue’s 2nd glacier of the year, as she has also visited one on Iceland. It was very impressive, and after a good walk there and back we retired to a nearby café for some very recuperative reindeer stew.

Calmer weather and a northerly wind allowed us an excellent sail down the inner lead, crossing the Arctic Circle again as we arrived in Lovund, an island a fair way out to sea. There we sought (rather unsuccessfully) puffins, seeing them flying high above, but enjoyed a fine walk.

We enjoyed another delightful lunchtime anchorage at Hjartøya, where we wandered with sheep, past wild raspberry plants and Iron Age graves.

We explored the history of Eider duck down farming at Vega, in a wonderful new museum – a perfect activity on a wet and windy day. It was also great to catch up with the crew of ‘Ruby Tuesday’ who were having similar experiences.

After a pit stop at Brønnøysund, where we bought diesel and a new toaster (!) we headed down to the famous mountain with a hole in it, Torghatten. We managed to moor close by, and had an amazing walk up, through and round the mountain, albeit in drizzly, cloudy conditions.

This trip was a mixture of mainland and islands. We spent a day out in the skerries, 10 miles offshore, navigating around a myriad of rocks and narrow channels, arriving at a remote old fishing village called Sorgjaeslingen. It was delightful to walk around and we had waffles in the old church.

The wind finally started to veer from the south west, and with the angle we were able to beat towards Villa, another island nearer the mainland. It was almost Hebridean – we strolled along the rocky crags, past lily ponds, to an old coal-fired lighthouse.

Our passage south was coming to an end, and as we neared Brekstad and Trondheimfjord we passed by the wonderful lighthouse at Kjeungskjær.

Crispin and Lottie kindly took us out for dinner at Brekstad before catching the ferry to Trondheim and flight back.

It has been a wonderful 10 days. The inner lead down from Bodø is quite spectacular and the outer skerries a delight. We saw so many pretty places, and despite some indifferent weather it has been a memorable cruise within a cruise. Sue and I are now at Trondheim, having sailed down the fjord, and intend to sail down to Bergen over the next 10 days.

Thank you, Crispin and Lottie, for being such great crew! And to Sue. Many of the photos taken in this post were taken by you.