From day one In Vesterålen it’s been go go go. I was expecting lots of free time while volunteering here but we’ve been kept busy in a very good way, doing plenty of outdoor activities and also hanging out with the other volunteers so I’ve become very far behind on my blog posts! It’s now…
Tag: humor
Exploring Vesterålen’s beautiful coastline | Norway
The coastline around Vesterålen is home to some incredible white sand beaches with turquoise water gently lapping the shores. To access them though, we needed a car so one day we borrowed our hosts and went for a little roadtrip around Bø. We received a fair amount of snow earlier in the week and the…
Two hikes up Mount Vetten | Norway
Mount Vetten stands at 467m and is one of the most popular hikes in Vesterålen so we were keen to check it out. Unfortunately when we went up we had pretty shit weather with clouds engulfing us, so it was hard to envision what the ‘magnificent view’ actually looked like. Occasionally a patch would open…
A rough canoe trip to the frozen Hellfjord | Northern Norway
It was our first full day at Guvåg’s wilderness cabin and after a night of heavy snowfall we woke to a calm morning and decided to take our chances and go for a canoe trip. As soon as we sat in the canoe and began shuffling down the ramp into the sea, the wind picked…
A perfect kayak trip in the Norwegian Arctic
We had an action packed day waking up at 5:30am for a photography roadtrip and then returning three hours later to such perfect weather that we decided to go sea kayaking. We put on lots of layers and then climbed into our drysuits. It’s important to take the air out of these suits in case…
Aurora and Sunsets | Two months enjoying the colours of the Arctic
Winter has proved to be the most colourful time of year for us to explore Northern Norway. The sun lingers low, creating a sunrise that lasts hours as it slowly blends into the sunset. If there’s clouds in the sky they’ll be stained pink or orange, and if it’s a crystal clear day, the horizon…
Winter paddle boarding in the Arctic
It was -3 degrees outside when we tried our first winter paddle boarding in Norway. I was really worried about falling in the water and dying of hypothermia, but we gave it a whirl anyway. We wore long johns under our wetsuits and boiled up almost instantly, so it was actually a relief to go…
Boat trip around the neighbouring islands | Norway
After a night of aurora filled skies, we woke rather sleepy-eyed to a crisp morning with tiger-striped clouds behind the mountains. We had planned on doing some work at basecamp, but our host suggested a boat ride so we obviously jumped at the opportunity. We were given float suits to wear which would keep us…
Hiking to frozen lakes in the Norwegian Arctic
The weather has been below zero for a few weeks now and the effects can really be seen along the bay near our house. There’s a large section which is now totally frozen with thick slabs of ice. As the water comes in at high tide, it pushes the ice up so these amazing sculptures…
Camp fires and wild winds | Northern Norway
Living on a jetty is all fun and games until there’s gale force winds, and then it’s kinda scary. After days of wonderful, calm weather and mirror-like sea, we were hit with 45mph winds and even stronger gusts. The wind howled through our extractor fan and wrapped itself around our apartment with a loud whistling…
The untold stories of Vanlife | Part One
You see all the good times of vanlife smeared across social media these days, but is it really as idyllic as it looks? What you don’t see is the breakdowns, the expensive mechanics bills, the restless nights spent in dodgy car parks and the general shit times. It’s still our favourite way to explore the…
How to travel long-term | Volunteering around the world
Volunteering has really helped us stretch our budget whilst travelling the world. We first tried it out in Australia when we lost our job at a sweet potato farm after only 6 days. We drove to the beach, covered in red soil, eating a pot-noodle whilst feeling very sorry for ourselves and our dwindling bank…
