Toby came back soaked but bearing great baked prizes - enormous ham and cheese poppy-seeded bagel-esque things and a cinnamon/custard swirl thing. Both were huge. Toby polished both of his off and Lou saved her roll for later.
Energy levels were up and spirits were high as the rain eventually cleared and we headed out in search of our car hire place. On our quest, we bumped into an Italian couple who had been on the Hurtigruten with us the night before. They were also hiring a car to get about, but their hire place was shut and no-one was answering. We wished them luck and Toby's map reading skills were put to the test in a particularly non-descript part of town. After a quick march through the centre of Svolvær, we found our hire place and, like the Italians, were on our own there. We waited a bit, had a shout around, even phoned the UK hotline (my poor phone bill!) and just as we were describing where Svolvær was to the call centre person, our rep turned up.
We were handed a diesel Astra estate and promptly named it "The Yeti". Toby was the driver and we headed back to change shoes - walking boots aren't the best! After a quick change, we were off down the coast to make the most out of the very few daylight hours we had left. We decided to head south along the islands and see where the road took us.
We were surrounded by beautiful scenery and stopped a few times to take some snaps. Dashing off the main road, we first went down to a place called Kalle and to a beach. Lou was happy digging through the flotsam and jetsam for 'treasure', whilst Toby played with his camera ending up with some excellent pictures.
Hopping back into the Yeti and fighting Toby's ideas of hiking up Glomtinden, we zoomed towards Henningsvær. The scenery was even more dramatic as it faced out onto the ocean and the wind whipped the waves into a frothy frenzy! (nice alliteration - ed.)
The daylight was starting to fade quickly by now and we whisked ourselves back to Svolvær to go to the supermarket and get in supplies.
After a lovely dinner of Lofoten fish and a bit of a sleep, we went down to see the Magic Ice exhibition. On the way, the clouds cleared and we were able to see a wonderfully clear night and a starry sky - one of the main things we came up here for!
Magic Ice was dead and we were the only ones in there, which meant we were able to enjoy the sculptures and our Arctic Fire drinks in solitude. It was minus 6 inside - positively tropical! The lights, sculptures and music made for quite an eerie atmosphere, but we had fun!
As we left, another Hurtigruten ship arrived; it spoilt one of Toby's pictures of some herring drying racks. We had timed our visit to the Magic Ice perfectly as hoards of ferry passengers clamoured to get in!
The temperature is dropping and there might be snow on the way! We'll see...
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