Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Norway - A road trip - Part II

I just decided to post the second part of the post even if it is not finished yet as it is already end of August and if I do not publish it now maybe I do not do it ever.
I will try to update this second part with the rest of the information as soon as I have the time to do so.

Campings

We were having the intention to alternate resting at a camping place and on our own. It turned out that the possibility for the second was not so obvious without a more deep knowledge of the area than the one we were in possession of, basically a detailed map of the Lofoten Islands. We managed, however, to find a nice spot in one or two occasions.
The camping places we visited were in general terms good to very good, with, of course, the usual small thing here and there. All of them were able to provide fresh water, electricity, cooking, shower and toilet facilities, however not all of them accepted cards as payment method, or were prepared for the deposition of waste water (both, the "grey" water and/or the septic tank) or had internet access.

  • Lofoten Hammerstad Sjøhuscamping, located a few kilometres north of Svolvær, this camping was our first point of contact with Norwegian hospitality. The owner, a very nice guy called Kjell, was happy to help you with anything, from advise about fishing up to withdrawing cash from your credit card for you. The camping place is not so big, it is located down hill looking to a small and rocky beach, has a pier and it is very close to a bridge over the fjord waters were you can try your luck fishing (on the way back, with proper fishing rods, we got a nice codfish here). The entry to the camping area is well indicated but easy to pass by if you are driving to fast. We stayed here two different night, one on the way to Å i Lofoten, the other on the way back from there. The shower runs with 5 NOK coins, the only camping place we were which used this coin, the other were using 10 NOK, for 3 minutes. There two shower rooms and four toilet spaces on an annex to the cabin number 3, which is hill up from the place were the campers are parked. That is also the place to empty the septic water, so if your septic tank does not have wheels, you will need to heavy it up to there. To empty the grey water you will need to manoeuvre a bit with the camper, but is easy done. We did not use the washing machine but according to Mr. Kjell it was possible, we just need to go to him with the stuff and his wife will help us. Internet was available all over the place. A very nice place to stay on a trip to the Lofoten, we liked it, specially the cover kitchen with barbecue inside :) The price was 185 NOK per night with electricity, 145 NOK without electricity, plus an extra per person.
  • Lyngær Lofoten Bobilcamping, easily the biggest camping place we stayed. According to the brochure we got it has space for around 200 campers. The people at the reception were very friendly, and able to communicate in German and English. As around 70% of their customers are from Germany, their German was obviously better than their English. Of course, this applies only to the Norwegian stuff, as a guy from Pakistan or India was also working there as well as a Spanish girl. The place overlooks the fjord, has a pier and owns a rowing boat which one it is possible to go fishing (we got nothing here, however). There are a lot of facilities here, empty of the grey water and septic tank is easily done at one service building, together with the refilling of fresh water. Another service building houses the washing and drying machines. Both service buildings have a kitchen, toilets and showers (10 NOK for I think 3 or 4 minutes). I can not remember for sure if the place was having internet available, but I think so.