Tour of Lofoten, Norway 7/7

 

Drive down to the tip of Lofoten group of islands to join Holmen Lofoten hotel Kitchen on the edge 4 nights package. The hotel with scattered lodgings are converted old fishing huts where the owner lived with her parents in the earlier years, when cod fishing and drying was a serious business. We saw full moon on mid Autumn day and a faint Northern light. 

There are 5 of such full board packages each year, including daily activities, with meals prepared by an invited guest chef and the local team.

Emphasis is on the dinners, starting with cocktails and snacks in the evening, followed by multi- courses meal with every dish paired with wines or drinks.

Daily activities included short hike, long hike, Rib boating to remote island, cooking demonstration, foraging, botanical display and making a wooden spoon.

The most memorable is the woodwork part, led by a very experienced artist who had a book about the process. There are a lot of skills to learn to make a ‘humble’ wooden spoon, something we use everyday. A lot of guests found the shaving and shaping of the spoon very relaxing.

2026年9月22日 Lofoten 邊緣活動

-Botanical Art
來到Lofoten 區最南端，參加旅館辦的Kitchen on the edge五日四夜全包節目，享用當地時令食物、飲品，和不同工作坊。

不少酒店推廣的是食物和spa的組合，不是我的心水，見到這個有手工藝、野外覓食、行山、出海的活動組合，才感興趣。

 

 

第一天，吃喝滿意，工作坊叫 botanical art ，先到野外收集喜歡的材料，然後組合成裝飾品。收集花草落葉果子青苔是容易的工作，放滿一枱面的東西，腦袋空白，不知如何入手。一向習慣是仔細想好設計，然後安排物料，完成作品，不是如此的倒轉行事。

坐下，靜心想想，慢慢一件擺設出現眼前，好欣賞能如此，從亂七八糟中，整理出頭緒的經驗。

-野餐與大餐
昨天乘快艇到一個沒有道路到達的海灣，是旅館主人祖父母居住的地方，若果行山路，要穿過山峰行十八小時才到旅館，而旅館，是自小和父母居住的漁屋。

安排到來行山，野餐，觀鳥，一路上見到前人留下的矮石牆，以前房屋地基或圈養生畜的遺跡。

晚上的大餐，由小點、主菜到甜點，和數個雞尾酒，都碟碟、杯杯精彩，是三晚以來，最印象深刻的一餐。

 -木工匙羹 
幾個活中，botanical art、快艇荒島野餐，廚藝示範、覓野食和做木匙羹，以後者最得人心。

日日用的匙羹，做起來，原來這麼多工夫，得用斧頭斬出粗略外型，再用鋒利小刀細心削出線條，最難是用彎刀刨出匙羮凹位。

除了菜刀以外，對於要用種種利器做的工作，從來不感興趣，現在有機會動手做一隻匙羹，雖然沒有回家再做的念頭，但好享受學習的機會。

Tour of Lofoten, Norway 6/7 - Ryten n Kvalvika hike, Ramberg, Reine, A

 

Try another up hill hike, Ryten & Kvalvika, must be famous as there are quite a lot of hikers.

3 hours return, up to 300m hill top, path not slippery but a lot of rocks and steep bits. All should be fine if it is a dry calm day, instead wind is very strong and started drizzling. Making the hiking harder, even though the view of the bay below, the upland lake and range of mountains is impressive.

Driving south along the main road E10, all the way to the end of Lofoten, at A.

Indeed the further south, there are more mountains and more dramatic landscapes. The few towns, Ramberg, Reine and A, all have views worth a detour.