Wednesday 8th August
The day began with some welcome sunshine so we headed off to visit the nearby island of Gimsøya as well as hoping to spot the perfect fishing spot, a bit like the signs for moose we have encountered.
Elusive creatures 😉
A short drive from the campsite and over the Gimsøystraumen Bridge brought us to the island. On the smaller FV 861 then FV 862, we could circumnavigate nearly the entire island.
We made two stops to test the fishing rod. Once just over the Gimsøystraumen Bridge and the second near the other bridge, which connects with the E 10 and onwards to Vestvågøy Island.
Neither attempt was successful.
Gimsøya was not very populated but the drive was good and we spotted a couple of well located campsites, one on the beach, just after we came across the Lofoten Links Golf Course right on the coast.
Those out on the course had been lucky to pick a superb day for golf. The course looked picturesque and some of the holes a little tricky with some accurate shots to the green required, as there wasn’t much in between tee and green!
As we continued around the island we enjoyed the raw beauty of the landscape, with little human activity to spoil it. The Gimsøya nature reserve or Gimsøymyrene was vast and the road took us around this area.
The late afternoon sun was a bonus and we decided to make the most of the good weather and head for Henningsvær.
Our homework told us that Henningsvær is a fishing village located on several small islands off the southern coast of the larger Austvågøya Island, linked by a bridge.
The drive along the 816 road which hugs the coastline was spectacular and particularly busy but we managed to make a few stops and take some photographs. We saw rock climbers, hikers and some kayakers enjoying the calm waters on our approach to Henningsvær.
Despite the many vehicles we encountered including the tourist coaches we found a spot in the car park. You could also pay to overnight here using the phone app.
Despite all the hype about this village, it wasn’t one of our favourites but we were glad we had made the trek.
We did have a little chuckle at this sign in one of the tourist shops.
We managed to walk all the way out to the village football pitch, made famous through the invention of drone photography and a stunt sponsored by Pepsi Max, which was situated amongst hundreds of fish drying racks.
