Safe Return Doubtful

Since he was three months old, Rua has humped his bed, the deep red blanket under the table beneath my bookcase. It’s normal puppy behaviour I believe. It’s a sign to me that he needs some exercise, so after I’ve finished what I’m doing I usually take him out. This happened at the campsite at Tosbotn a couple of days ago. Now that he is so much bigger though, the van rocks around when he is doing it. This caused some consternation to the occupants of the other two vans parked nearby, who just saw me emerging from a van that had been rocking about.. 

From Steinvikholm Castle I continued up the E6 for four hours or so to the small village of Tosbotn at the northern end of Tosen Fjord. I took a reasonably priced campsite as the alternatives were unglamorous. My initial plan was to stay two days, but the camping area was by a slow moving river which attracted lots of black flies and a few mosquitoes. Saturday was the last round of the World Nations Rugby, though the games I was keen to watch were the early one, from New Zealand, and then later in the afternoon. After the All Blacks match we continued north, for two hours to Levang, where we took the ferry across to Nesna; then a wait of another hour or so, and the ferry from the same place to the island of Tomma. 

Tomma is the first of the islands that I had researched that looked quiet and yet spectacular, specifically the beaches of its west coast. There has been a northerly wind in these parts this week, bringing the temperature right down. When I arrived on the island it was pleasantly sunny, but 8C, exactly a quarter of the temperature it was when we drove through Oslo a few days ago, quite a difference. The wind changed direction during the afternoon though, to a more regular westerly, and the afternoon warmed up a bit.

This weather has kept many weekend visitors away. There was only one other van on the three miles or so of beach. It’s possible to park away from the road, which finishes here anyway, and just a few metres from the sea. It’s a tremendous place, with the jagged peaks of Helgeland behind on the island itself, and on other rocky outcrops of islands in the distance. 

Helgeland is the most southerly district of northern Norway, the part of Nordland county just south of the Arctic Circle. It is famous for its rugged coastline, and that it has more than 14,000 islands. Two years ago I visited several, most notably Træna, with its magnificent jagged cliffs, three hours by ferry from nearby Stokkvågen. This time, I will just visit Tomma, then move on, into the Arctic. 

We arrived just after 3 pm on Saturday afternoon, and had a couple of hours walking on the beach before watching some rugby. For Rua, this is his first time on a beach, and he exhausted himself, throwing seaweed around and chasing waves. 

The other van is a converted truck, owned by a Swiss couple, who also live in their van, and spend a lot of time in Norway. They work online from the truck, and are probably even more knowledgeable about the Arctic Islands of Norway than I am. 

We also met a local guy when out walking. His family house at the end of the beach is now their holiday home. Around 1900 his great great grandfather emigrated to Canada and did well, made some money, then moved back and built the house. In those times, Tomma had a population of around 250. Twenty years ago that had dropped to just 77 permanent residents, though since then that has almost doubled, indeed the school has reopened. The reason is quarrying, the type of gabbro stone here is highly valued for its use in road construction. 

We will stay a few days here. There’s a storm forecast to come through on Tuesday, so that seems a good day to continue the journey northwards.