We have spent the day on Senja Island and the scenery has been stunning. If Norway continues in this way I will run out of superlatives very soon!

Last night the sun finally gave us a good display. We sat out in our chairs, with the sound of seabirds everywhere, and drank in the view across the still fjord to Senja Island, little knowing what it held in store for us.

Sommaroy looking over to Senja

Team Basil were, unusually, up early. The ferry from Brentsholmen to Botnhamm on Senja only runs sporadically and then just in the summer. We decided that we would catch the 10.45 ferry, but because the weather forecast was good and it was a Saturday we expected the boat to be busy and so we planned to arrive early to make sure we got on.

The weather at the start of the day was disappointing. As we drove the short journey to the port, thick low cloud covered all of the mountains. No rain, but dark and cold.

We pulled into the single line queue for the ferry at 9.15, a full hour and a half before the ferry was due to sail. We were fourth in the line and so were confident of getting a berth. The beauty of motorhomes is that for the wait we simply switched on the gas, brewed some tea and coffee and sat in comfort as the clock ticked down.

When the ferry arrived, there were just a handful of vehicles on board, which were unloaded with customary efficiency. We were quickly onboard and waiting for the rest to be loaded. This ship was slightly more traditional in layout than our previous two ferries, so we went to the upper decks with the dogs and watched proceedings unfold. By the time the ferry left, on time, more than ten vehicles were left on the quay. The next ferry – four hours time!!

The crossing on the glassy smooth fjord, which took nearly an hour, was as smooth as is possible. Sarah and I stayed on deck to watch the cloud encased scenery and enjoy watching the floating puffins dive to get out of the way of our ship.

By the time we arrived on Senja the weather had not improved and we started our drive on the second of our official Tourist Routes, with views of the mountains much reduced. Even with this impediment we soon saw the attraction of the island. The first fjord we reached was, despite the lack of sunshine, a beautiful turquoise hue, just as we had seen on one other fjord on the mainland. It turned out that all of the fjords we have seen today on Senja have this same magnificent colouring, reminiscent of the Mediterranean. We have to admit we don’t know why. Is it something to do with the constitution of the fjord’s bottom or is there something different about the water? Probably the former, but it certainly makes for a lovely spectacle, even more so when the sun is shining.

Our first stop was the small fishing village of Husoy. It is a cluster of colourful wooden houses set on an island in Oyfjorden. Like other villages we have seen, it is picturesque, but still a proper working fishing port. Fish processing facilities sit next to pretty houses. In good weather, the whole scene would have been amazing, but even in low cloud it was still very attractive. We had a quick wander around the village, but with nothing much to detain us we moved on.

Husoy

It was on the climb over the mountains to the next valley that the sun began to break through and then everything began to change from pretty to gorgeous. The mountains revealed themselves to be serrated craggy pinnacles which then plunge down into a series of narrow fjords. Each a perfect u-shape carved out by glaciers 10,000 years ago. As I have mentioned, the colour of each of these fjords is the same lovely turquoise, which with the sun becomes almost fluorescent.

Mefjorden

We drove slowly along the shorelines and then either over or through the mountains to the next fjord. It is extraordinary how much money the Norwegians have paid to link these tiny communities together. There are only 7,000 residents on the whole of Senja and we have only driven on about a quarter of the island’s roads today, but already we have been through four or five tunnels, one over 2km in length.

The tunnels are not for those suffering from claustrophobia. Presumable to keep the cost down, they are very narrow, dark and have the unnerving habit of having several bends within the tunnel, so you cannot see where exactly you’re heading. On passing other vehicles I am always uncomfortably aware of Basil’s roof on the slender arching tunnel ceiling.

Mefjorden

We stopped at a couple of viewpoints and had lunch at one. I found on one of my databases an overnight stopping place on a beach and so after lunch we headed for this. Senja has many lovely beaches and as we passed two of them we found they were packed (in the Norwegian sense of the word) with both cars and motorhomes and we had little hope of our beach being undiscovered. How wrong we were. As we approached Steinfjord, the location of our proposed overnight stop, we saw the beach was almost empty as was the adjacent parking area. We pulled in gratefully, but wondered why nobody else was here. We decided the reason was that the high sides of the fjord had meant the beach had been in shadow until recently and so people had ignored it. Fortunate for us.

Our overnight spot – Steinfjord

The chairs have been out and we have soaked up some northern sun. It is not going to be enough to top up our tans. I am quickly returning to my normal pallid colouring.

We are both hoping for this lovely weather to continue for our second day on Senja tomorrow.