Yesterday we had another lovely evening. A cloudless sky; our lovely position next to Steinfjord; midnight sun; and a final bit of grog!

We ate dinner outside and then spent our final evening on the beautiful island of Senja just sitting and watching the sun sink to the horizon – it was bliss.

When we awoke this morning we knew we, reluctantly, had to say goodbye to Steinfjord and Senja, but what a send off it gave us. The final twenty miles of the Tourist Route was glorious. Another two fjords and both the same lovely colour as the other Senja fjords. At the first fjord, after a 2 km single track tunnel (not fun), has been built a clever viewing platform, up on the side of the mountain, jutting out towards the fjord so everyone can get a perfect view of Bergsfjorden, perhaps the most perfect of the fjords to date.

Bergsfjorden

We continued along the coast to the pretty little village of Hamn. The part of the village you can see, perched on a promontory amongst a sea of little islands, looks as if it is all tourist accommodation, but it doesn’t much detract from the visual spectacle.

Hamn

Finally we arrived at Gryllefjord, the end of the Tourist Route and the embarkation point for the next of the western islands, Andoya. We were deliberately two and a half hours early for the ferry. It only runs in the summer and three times a day, so we didn’t want to miss the 3pm sailing. When we arrived there were already ten or more cars, motorhomes and caravans waiting, so we were none too soon.

We settled down for the wait and had lunch and a warming beverage of Lipton’s tea. Our home bought supplies of PG Tips have long since gone.

Sarah and I wandered around Gryllefjord together and separately, anything to kill time. The village is set on a fjord of the same name and if it hadn’t been for our other experiences on Senja, it’s another location we would have been raving about.

Gryllefjord

The queue for the ferry steadily increased and by the time the boat arrived was overspilling the available waiting area. Two enormous Austrian coaches arrived later than everyone else but jumped straight to the front of the queue, presumably to everyone’s annoyance.

The ferry queue

Once we had got on and looked back at the queue from the upper deck, we were sure vehicles would be left behind, but somehow they managed to fit everyone on, except two large motorhomes which had arrived as the boat was already loading.

Our ferry approaching Gryllefjord

Our ferry slipped it mooring and set of on the one and a half hour crossing. Our route was across open ocean in an area famous for whales and so I stood for most of the journey scanning the horizon like Captain Ahab. Unlike the deranged Captain, apart from a fleeting glimpse of a dolphin or porpoise, I never had the opportunity to shout “thar she blows” in my best pirate accent – never mind.

View of Senja from the ferry

Mabel and Melek are allowed up on deck on these Norwegian ferries and after our crossings from Italy to Greece and Estonia to Finland are both now old sea dogs. They settle themselves down on deck as if it’s second nature. They usually attract attention from a variety of admirers, but take it all in their stride.

We disembarked at the tip of Andoya in the small town of Andenes. I parked Basil outside the local Tourist Information and while I obtained some leaflets, Sarah and the dogs had a quick wander round the centre and discovered there were some shops that might almost be called supermarkets. Basil’s shelves are a bit empty of some essentials and so we decided we would stay in Andenes and start the day tomorrow with a food shop before tackling our third Tourist Route.

As we had left the harbour we had seen half a dozen motorhomes parked up on a small area overlooking the port and so we doubled back and have sent up camp for the evening. A bonus is that we have some decent connectivity for the first time in 48 hours.

Basil and his friends at Andenes Harbour