It's a long stretch to call any fast food store "inspirational" let alone a fish and chip shop, but I remember walking into one years back and being transixed by a stunning photo landscape decorating the wall cooking fat splattered wall !The vibrancy of the colours of the buildings against a stunning Mtn backdrop rising from the sea made such an impression on me that i spent a day or two trying to work out where in hell this travel Nirvana was !
Over a decade later I was standing with Monika in a car park flanked by the Reinebringen, a massive soaring oiece of granite overlooking that same stunning photo backdrop. It was surreal to say the least with the view up there with the best eitger of us have seen anywhere in the world !
With the mornings weather forecast indicating a possibility of some sun after periods of heavy snowfall we decided to take a chance on heading south to Reine in time hopefully for some spectacular night time photography with Reine widely acknowledged as an incredibly picturesque setting.
Taking a circuitous route southwards we drove the underated but spectacular FV 815, a coastal road largely untravelled that worked its way through beautiful vistas (in between snow showers) of iced up lakes, snow covered moutains and small fishing villages to Stamsund. In the occassional periods of sunlight you could easily see what a travel magnet this road would be for motorcycles and bicycles in the summer months.
Having returned to the main road on the E 10 we passed along numerous mini fjords reliving in part the night time terror of our first drive on Lofoten.
Emmerging from a tunnel finally caught our first fabulous views of Hamnoy and its glamorous nearby neighbour Reine We navigated the final few kms along narrowing roads to park under the shadow of the Reinebingen while taking in the stunning if slightly clouded view of Reine and its surrounds.
After taking seemingly hundreds of "classic" Photos we walked into town in search of a cafe ! Unluckily for a car full of tourists heading from the direction of the towns centre we stated when asked, that the only eateries we'd seen en route were at petrol stations out of town - bugger me when we walked around the corner we walked straight into a cafe that the car load had missed !
Walking back after our hot drinks we watched from the car park (sensibly behind closed doors) numerous persons pull out their drones and take fabulous footage of the surrounding s - call me old fashioned but I didnt think it was right to pull mine out and add to the noise pollution while so many people were trying to take in this once in a lifetime view !
After heading back into town for dinner, if you can call a $12 sausage on a roll dinner, night time finally started to roll in as all the waiting photographers (self included) reached for their trippods. With Monika coaxed back out of the car it was great delight to be able to share this memorable moment while at the same time trying to wade off deadly frostbite in the plummetting temperatures !
After such an awesome time we drove back on the now traffic free roads taking just 90 minutes to make the 80kms back to our house (if you knew the roads of Lofoten you would recognise the achievement !) where we both needed no encouragement to crash into bed !
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