We sailed, nice winds, to Vega yesterday. Vega is a rather large island in the west. It has a couple of peaks, the highest reaching 799 meters above the sea. Part of the island and its archipelago is a World Heritage Site. Hakan had told Eva that this is a flat island suitable for cycling. She was sceptical when we saw the island from a distance.

The harbour book describes a marina by the ferry port to the very east of the island (actually separate island, Ingeroe). We found another one closer to where we wanted to be. Gardsoya (Gardsøya) gjestehavn is by the World Heritage information centre.

Gardsoya has a fast ferry to the mainland and the fairway there is well marked.

The marina is under development and had electricity but no facilities when we were there (except when we could sneak in to the lobby of the info centre).

We took our bikes for a ride on the island today. And, the northern part is flat. Not Denmark flat but by Norwegian standard very flat.

We went west towards Sundsvoll. The Vega stairs (Vegatrappa) starting point is about 1 km beyond the “base camp”, some 11 km from the harbour. This is a beautifully crafted wooden stairway up the mountain, now cut short by a landslide last year.

One can walk about 75 m up before it is cordoned off. This is enough to give you a nice spot for a break with breathtaking view.

Cycling back, we were on a mission to find Eva’s relatives. Her father’s sister and two cousins live on the island that she has not seen for 50 years. We had the address to one of the cousins but had not been able to get in touch. We cycled there but no one was home.

Eva went to the neighbours to enquire, and they turned out to be her aunt and uncle. The rest of the day and evening was spent with the families and a visit to Eva’s grandmother’s grave. The marina was ablolutly calm at sunset,.