Day 137. Bugoynes to Ekkeroy
Posted by: James on May 17, 2009Distance 24km | Time 5.5hrs | Ascent 0m | Descent 0m
I did not get to sleep until 0100 last night due to writing. It was difficult to keep track of time as it was light all night. So this morning I did not get up until 0830. It was an absolutely stunning morning with a reasonably calm sea lapping at the golden sands below, blue skies and a warm bright sun. It is east to see how this place can attract tourists in the summer.
There were a few things I had to attend to on the kayak. The seat needed moved and I had to borrow an Allen key. I had to grease the zip on my dry suit and cut the neck seal back by at least 2 cm, and I had to find a replacement footrest as the polystyrene was from a fragile fish box and was falling to pieces. In the end I went back to my foam paddle float and a foam mattress until I spot something more substantial on a beach. All this took a few hours. It was difficult to hurry in the fantastic weather and setting.
It was also 17th of May which is Norway’s National Day. Norwegians are very patriotic. Not in a sinister or aggressive way but in a very comfortable way. They have a strong sense of belonging to the country and are justifiably proud of it and their place in it.
A lot of preparation goes into the 17th of May but one thing above all is a spring clean. Winter has gone and the gravel on the pavements, the litter uncovered by melting snow, even leaves and twigs in the garden has to be tidied up. The whole country gets a polish in the weeks before, with gangs of school children helping to collect litter and the fire departments hosing down the streets.
Once the country is clean then the flags come out, the Bunad, or national dress, gets unpacked and the country is ready to celebrate liberation from Sweden in 1905 after centuries of Danish and Swedish domination. Brass bands march, there are various parades, everybody is in a good mood and a fair amount of alcohol is drunk. This year the flag waving will be extra vigorous because Norway just won the Eurovision Song Contest the night before and it is a competition which Norway still takes seriously.
Our 17th of May was going to be on the water. I was going to paddle with Jon today across the fjord and up the coast towards Vardo. We were ready to go at 1130. I was horrified at how much stuff Jon had. There was way too much to go in the boat so he had 3 bags on the deck. It was not possible to paddle the approaching Osthavet, Nordishavet and Lopphavet coasts with such baggage. The wind and waves would blow one off course and rip it off. Today though there was no such problem and it was peaceful, quiet and sunny day.
There were a few eider ducks when we came through the small collection of islands and started across the Varangerfjord. The town of Vadso on the other side looked much closer than the 13 km it was. It also looked a large town, like Kirkenes. We headed to the east of it and the village of Kiby. The view ahead was of the flat snow covered Varanger peninsula and was quite tame compared to the view to the south. Here I could look down the dark rugged coast broken by deep fjords. It looked like a postcard and a lot more impressive than when I paddled it on my first day.
After some two and a half hours we finally beached on the sandy but small beach at Kiby for lunch. A guy from Vadso came and chatted with us when he saw the kayaks as he did a bit himself. Foolishly I forgot to ask him on a recommendation to camp in some 20 km. We set off again around three with the skies darkening and the forecast north west breeze beginning to blow.
Despite the wind directly against us which must have been a good force 3 we made good time. The tide was still going out and it made up for the headwind so we still kept a speed of around 5 km. My kayak sliced through the water cleanly and I was pleased not to get facefulls of spray. Jon, with his decks piled high struggled a bit and I pulled away.
I passed numerous small coastal hamlets, all had brightly coloured wooden houses and were surrounded by bleached sheds and small racks for drying fish. Most had a small beach or bay but no real jetty so launching days would have been limited for fishermen here. As I paddle close to the coast I saw a large flock of Purple Sandpipers (I think) and various groups of smaller waders which I assume were Stints. Otherwise birdlife was quite poor.
As I approached the island of Ekkeroy, which is connected to the mainland by a narrow spit of land with a fantastic beach on it, I thought it best to wait as the wind was up to a force 4 now. I pulled into the harbour at the village on the island. It had a huge wharf built on logs and sticking out into the bay. It looked old and traditional. Jon was only some 10 minutes behind and it was nearly 1800. We decided to stay rather than continue for another 2 hours to Krampenes.
We pulled the boats up, and unpacked them onto the wharf. It seemed the buildings were hibernating waiting for the tourist season to begin in mid June. Then they would open again as a café, restaurant, museum and what looked like a bunkhouse. Nothing was open. There were a few cabins in the village and we knocked on a door. Yes he had a cabin we could have cheaply. It was a perfect alternative to a tent on this cold windy evening.
I got myself sorted out and started on the writing straight away at 1900 to get it out of the way. I was finished by 2100 and could then enjoy the evening.
It had been a good day. The 24 km was not that impressive at all however and with the weather set to deteriorate in a couple of days I felt I had squandered a few hours. Still I had had a nice morning in the charming Bugoynes and a nice paddle. Ekkeroy was a nice place to stop.