Rost - the last Island (south) in the Lofoten

Monday 27^th June 2011 – Rost – the last of the Lofotens

We left Vaeroy in the mid-morning with clear skies and light winds, 60 odd miles to the east we had excellent views of the Svartisen Glacier (the one we visited after we crossed in to the arctic circle) which covers around 370 square kilometres.   

Svartisen Glacier from over 60 miles away

Ferry going into Vaeroy, as we were leaving and the Lofoten 'Wall' in the background, with the clouds above.

 We motored the 24 miles to Rost the most southerly group of islands in the Lofoten chain.   

The route in through the rocks to Rost

We had just got tied up as per our guide book to the harbour wall along a causeway between two islands, and as he tide was dropping we had hurriedly put the folding bikes in their bags ashore and these James had just assembled when a youngish man approached us and said there was a pontoon just around the corner, James said he would dispatch me with the bikes, when he said “no problem I’ll just pop them in my pick up truck and catch you on the pontoon” which he did.  It later transpired that the pontoon was his and that the cost would be no different from the town wall, which had electricity for which one paid on a credit card and rubbish bins but no notice of any berthing fee.  Steinar Greger, our Rost entrepreneur, charges NOK150 per night including electricity, no water was seen anywhere.  Steinar is the export manager for his family’s stockfish company, selling 96% of their air dried cod to Italy; apparently the island produces the best stockfish of the Lofoten, he also has a ‘pub / café’ near the pontoon and when he is available he will give guided tours of the Island which includes a visit to see the inside of the church, where he will play a few tunes on the organ.  The cost of the Island tour is NOK150.   Here is his plug – if you are ever visiting Rost, then do use his pontoon ‘Utrost Havn’ right at the very end of the harbour where he will make you very welcome.  He also has houses to let out and can be contacted by email at: sjgreger@johngreger.no or by telephone: 00 47 926 85601.

Paddington IV alongside Utrost Havn

After lunch we took the bikes to cycle round the island; in the north we identified some possible places to return to see the midnight sun, no more than about 3 miles away. 

? Curlews seen on our walk

 The early evening saw us having coffee and waffles (Norge style) at Steinar’s café.  It was here that James asked if he could get us some cod for the next day, I thought great he is planning to cook me supper for my anniversary rather than visit the local hotel for a meal out.

Soon after 11pm we headed back up to the north of the island, near the cemetery to see the midnight sun and welcome our 31^st wedding anniversary in.

Midnight sun on our Anniversary Eve

Carol & the boat at 1am

Tuesday 28^th June 2011 – our wedding anniversary

We awoke to rain, although James did brave the elements to visit the joker stores for fresh warm rolls and an anniversary card!  The morning was spent planning the return journey south.  At about 2pm Steinar arrived with a medium sized cod (headless) and also a saithe which we declined due to lack of fridge space and needing to fillet it and frankly I was worried about the cost as we are finding Norway very expensive.  When we tried to pay for the cod Steinar said it was a present, so we gave him a bottle of sparkling wine as a thank you.  He also said he was taking a Danish couple to see the church and for a drive around the island and there was room for us in his car, so we accept his offer of the tour and met him soon after at the café, parted with our money and were off to see the Church which has one of five triptychs (alter screen) given to Norwegian  churches by Princess Elizabeth of the Netherlands in 1520, in heartfelt gratitude to higher powers for having survived a stormy voyage to become queen to Christian II in Copenhagen.  At that time Norway was part of Denmark.  The triptych has been in at least 5 churches, surviving fires and hurricanes and other disasters which struck them, it has been restored several times and most recently between 1982- 1989.  As most church are made of wood they tend only to last for about two hundred years and this current church was consecrated in 1900.  Steinar played the organ for us and surprised us by saying he does not read music just plays by ear, no wonder he is so good at languages!

Rost Church

After the drive around the Island we went to the supermarket and re-stocked the fridge.

On returning to the boat James found me a video on the internet to watch showing me how to fillet the cod!  However, before starting on the cod the rain stopped and we rushed out on the bikes to do one of the recommended walks which started from by the airport in the north of the island, it was a 2 miles cycle ride to the beginning of the walk, made longer because the map dropped out of my jacket pocket and we had to retrace our steps for three quarters of the way to find it!  We chose to do the blue walk which took us to the highest point of the island – all of 10 metres! 

James at 10 metres - the highest part of Rostlandet

  The longer ‘red’ walk was across to an island which we had been warned about, because you risk getting cut off by the tide and we knew the tide was coming in.  Returning to the boat at 7pm I had to get to work filleting the fish, not very beautifully done as we have no really sharp knives on board but I did persuade James to cook his first meal of the voyage which was excellent as I knew it would be if he put his mind to it, but I fear for our cholesterol levels having seen how much butter he used!

The cod, before I filleted it

The finished meal!

After supper we joined the Danish couple and a few others at ‘Skomvaerkroa’, Steinar’s café for coffee and waffles.  We joked that Steinar must be very wealth as he is good at making one part with one’s cash – a real salesman.  However, it goes to prove that if you chat to people and tell them about the place and country they are more inclined to spend their money – this was certainly the case with us and really the first place this has happened in.  Whilst I think the honesty boxes or credit card machines found in most places for paying for ones berth are a good idea, especially for the little used marinas, as one feels honour bound particularly with the honesty boxes to pay up, they do not lead to any communication which can help endear the area to the visitor.