Our journey back home to England began at 7am with the ferry from Moskenes to Bodø, and we saw for the first time a sunrise in Lofoten as we left Moskenes. It was beautiful!
The ferry took around 3 hours 15 mins, but our flight did not leave until 3:30pm so we had nearly 5 hours to spend in Bodø. We brought lunch from the local Rimi (the prices were cheaper than those on Lofoten), and looked around the shopping district, which is large with plenty of high street shops. There was also a European market, consisting of lots of cheese and cake stalls! With some NOK to spare, we treated ourselves to a second lunch!
Equipment
I felt I should write a section about the equipment we used - as this can be crucial to your trip. As I have just graduated, and Mike still a student, we were working on a very low budget, something which can be done when visiting Lofoten!
Most of our equipment was purchased at Sports Direct, a discount sports store which also has a huge range of walking equipment, ranging from clothing to tents! The majority of our items are karrimor, which are especially low in price but of excellent quality. Items include: bag cover (essential), first aid kit and windshield (for cooking).
Our tent is a Mountain Life 2 person tent, from Mountain Warehouse. I've had this tent for a few years, and although the tent poles bent and snapped, it was easily fixed. The tent is extremely roomy, with a large porch. In future I will take a different tent, as this one did not fare well against the vicious winds at Munkebu Hut.
Our most valuable piece of kit which we brought especially for the trip were the sleeping bags. We invested £35 (should have been £70, and our most expensive purchase) in a Snugpak Travelpak 2 mummy sleeping bag - it weighs just 1kg, is extremely warm and comfortable, and due to the compression pack, it compresses to a very small size! This allowed much more space in our bags. The sleeping bags were undoubtedly the best piece of kit we owned, and made walking so much easier! I would urge anyone on a budget to buy this sleeping bag.
Our bags are 60L rucksacks from Mountain Warehouse, of which we have owned for a few years and have been excellent bags on all of our trips! Very roomy, lots of pockets and the support around the waist and on the shoulders is superb. They cost approx. £30.
The rest of the equipment you take is down to personal preference and needs, for us weight was a major concern and keeping it to a minimum was essential. By buying lightweight clothing, and the sleeping bag, our bags were not overly heavy for the trip, despite carrying what we needed to survive for 8 days! Our most valuable pieces of equipment were the sleeping bags and bag covers.
I hope you enjoyed this blog and if you are considering visiting the Lofoten Islands, I have been some help!
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