Naustholmen, Norway
Next to our island there is another one. There are islands all around actually as Manshausen is in the middle of a small cluster of islands. Some occupied by humans, others by moose and sea eagles.
Funnily, the island next door is also owned by an explorer, Randi Skaug, a bad ass woman who spent three consecutive summers kayaking the Northern coast of Norway all the way to Russia, a great reminder that Norway and Russia do indeed share a border. She also was the first Norwegian woman to summit Mt.Everest in 2004, and she has climbed the Seven Summits (the highest peak on every continent). My new hero.
Read more about Randi and her Island here.
On an incredibly clear day, I asked my friend Toby to drop me off on her island for a little hike around. Randi spends winter down south in Oslo so the island was empty.
I had heard that from the highest point on Naustholmen you could see all of Lofoten, and I was eager to see the entire archipelago. After four days on the island I was just as eager for a change of scenery: cabin fever.
First, I poked around the unoccupied houses on the island and fell in love with these two charming red cabins topped with dreamy, whispy grass. Next I found a lovely little beach and walked along it for some time, hunting for interesting shells and admiring various ice sculptures. It was a clear and very cold day.
With the discovery of a little trail, I began to look for a way to the top of a little hill. From there I would be able to see Lofoten in all its glory.
There she blows! Lofoten: an archipelago of mountainous islands stretching out into the Norwegian Sea for 300km. Perhaps one of the most coveted destinations in Norway offering mountains for climbing and waves for surfing.
Since arriving on the island, there had been whispers among the volunteers of spending a week there. Our lovely managers, Astrid and Jasper, were heading off on a holiday and we were invited to do the same. Finally seeing the epic snow white mountains rising quite dramatically out of the sea, I was very down to visit.
and then I came across The most beautiful hammock
I had twenty minutes left before Toby was due to pick me up. I continued to wander around until my aimlessness was interrupted by the most epic hammock. Hung between to birch trees, this hammock offer the perfect place to enjoy the sun with an uninterrupted view of the distant mountains. Feet up, eyes closed, swing back and forth, I had myself a little cat nap.
