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Lofoten Islands Expedition 2019 Day 03 “The Famous Five and the mystery of the large boulder”

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Lofoten Islands Expedition 2019
The Famous Five visit Lofoten” by Enid Blyton

Day 03 – Krakoya Island to Island at North end of Raftsundet (11th August) by Dick “The Famous Five and the mystery of the large boulder”

After a gruelling day 2 on the water the famous five enjoyed a leisurely morning catching up on sleep and cups of tea, Julian fancied something stronger, but Dick said it was a little too early for ginger beer! Anne had promised the gang a day off, however the forecast dictated otherwise, and a decision was made to press on continuing along the north coast of the island. Dick complained about his sore shoulders having not paddled for some time and being hungry, though the latter was not unusual!

Leaving the pretty little island of Krakoya the gang set off heading east along the rather relatively flattish coastline, first to Fiskebøl fergekai where they had to negotiate the ferry crossing, Timmy insisted the gang maintain current speed and heading stating that “the ferry will jolly well have go around us!”

It was a grey day but that didn’t dampen the mood of the gang as they paddled along, Dick periodically needing to stop to bail his cockpit out, at times it seemed like he was paddling a bathtub! As they paddled along, they spotted an unusual object on the small island of Myrlandsoya, it was rather large man-made looking cuboid with what appeared to be a patch of red on the top of it. The five speculated about what it could be, with suggestions of boat shed, sheep shelter or secret military aircraft hangar. Imaginations were running wild. Dick was just hoping it was a KFC.

The five decided to take a late lunch, or 3s’s on the island and investigate further. Dick looked on enviously at the sumptuous lunches the others were enjoying while trying to make his cheese slice and corn wrap look bigger and more appealing than they actually were. Oh, and the unusual object turned out to be nothing more than a just a large boulder! “It’s an erratic” stated Anne in a matter of fact manner.

Back on the water Timmy blazed a trail through the shallow reef before coming to a grinding halt, “fiddle sticks!” he exclaimed. Much to the amusement of the others. He was forced to climb out and pull his boat in to deeper water. Anne was quick to point out that this was technically a portage, but Timmy insisted he only got out to assist the others, who quite sensibly went around the other way, and so the teasing continued late into the afternoon!

Further along the coastline toward the channel between Brottøya and the mainland, the landscape changed to high rocky slopes that fell down into the sea. It was here that the sound of rushing water was heard and so they took the opportunity to re-fill their water bottles. To Dick, this was a new experience and despite his reservations of drinking diesel esters from the road run off he was pleasantly surprised at the refreshing taste from the babbling stream.

By late afternoon the gang rounded the North Eastern tip of Austvagoy Island. Tired and hungry they searched for the secret beach Anne had stayed on before. Eventually the island of Gunnarskjaenit was found and camp made for the night. Timmy decided it was time for a bath and took a swim in the cold waters of the channel, the others were secretly relieved since the aroma from his boat was becoming a little whiffy, but no-one had the heart to tell him.

The five settled down for the night and once again Julian asked the question. “Yes, now it’s time for ginger beer!” came the reply.

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