501 Places

If I ever go missing, here’s how you’ll most likely find me.

Fly up to Tromso in northern Norway, several hundred miles above the Arctic Circle. Hire a car from the airport, and take a drive west for around 50km to the shores of Kattfjord. You’ll know you are somewhere special as you pass along the deserted road, with only the jaw-dropping scenery for company.

Once you reach Kattfjord, you will find the archetypal pine log cabins on the shore. They have simple but spacious decking on the shore side, where you can watch the gentle lapping water in the fjord. I might be there..

Or climb the hill behind the cabins – a steep scramble and very soon you will be high above the cabins and looking out across the water and the mountains on the other side. The breeze on the hill is gentle but pleasant, and the only sounds are the wind and the birds passing overhead.

If the car is not outside, I might have taken a drive to the other side of the fjord. We discovered a wonderful cafe (and cake shop) in the small village of Sommaroy at the end of the peninsula. After driving for around an hour without seeing a soul, we were pleasantly surprised to find a bustling, lively cafe where the cakes were exceptional.

If you arrive at night, I will be by the window with the lights down low… looking out for signs of the aurora borealis – we saw it on both of our first two nights there! No light pollution at all, and no sound to detract from the mystical spell cast by the swirling lights.

It sounds too good to be true, and I hope the idyllic experience we enjoyed there will be repeated if we return. But for now, it will remain that special spot where I keep in my head as a true getaway place.

www.lauklines.no

(Sept 2002)

Tags: blogsherpa, Europe, norway

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