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LIVING ON THE EDGE
NORWAY
The northerly isle of Senja offers a distillation of Norway’s charms: cinematic coastal islets, ancient
Viking history, challenging hikes, and passionate local adventurers and artists. It’s less well known to
travellers than the Lofoten Islands but equally as spectacular to explore. Words: Sarah MarshallClouds wobble and mountain peaks quiver as I glide
silently along the ord, my paddle slicing through their
reflections with butter-soft ease. With every stroke I slip
further into a sleepy rhythm, conscious I’m the only
moving part in a scene that’s remarkably still.
Daily paddles are a form of meditation for kayak
instructor Hege Dekkerhus, who escaped to the island of
Senja several years ago, leaving a stressful life in the city
behind. In an environment dominated by steep mountains
and deep ords, navigating the overpowering topography
leaves no option but to slow down.
Weaving through islets strewn with polished boulders
and strands of glossy seaweed, we explore the cinematic
landscape once occupied by Viking communities. On the
small, satellite isle of Tranoya, evidence of an ancient
boathouse can be found beneath grassy mounds, along
with bones, silver buttons and arrowheads frequently dug
up by sheep — the only permanent residents who remain.
Despite being Norway’s second largest island, a three-
hour drive and ferry ride from the northern city of Tromsø,
Senja barely registers on most traveller’s radars. Too often
it’s overlooked and overshadowed by the neighbouring
Lofoten Islands, although its peaks soar just as high.
“I fell in love with this place when I came here,” says
Hege, who operates kayak trips through her company
Norwegian Wild, alongside managing Camp Tranøybotn,
a converted 1970 s caravan park. Set on the edge of
Anderdalen National Park in the south of the island, the
site has been gently transformed with clapperboard cabins,
igloo domes and a lighthouse with 3 60-degree views. At
dusk, sandpipers pick along the shoreline and seals duck
and dive in the watery shadows.
It’s my base to explore Norway in miniature: Senja is a
place where cliffs hug the coastline and colourful fishing
villages tuck into the clefts of valleys, condensing some of
the Scandinavian country’s greatest physical and cultural
attributes into 612 square miles of space.I start with a 56 -mile stretch between Grylleord and
Botnhamn; listed as one of Norway’s 18 designated scenic
driving routes, it offers some of the island’s best views.
Tunnels bore into dark and seemingly impenetrable
mountains, cutting through rocks jutting out to sea. At
times, narrow stretches are pinched between plunging cliffs
and roaring waves, showering me in a mist of ocean spray.
At Tungeneset, a wooden walkway leads to the water
and a viewing platform, a popular spot for photographing
geological wonder, the Devil’s Teeth. Ahead of me, a ridge
of sawtooth rocks bites into the horizon, gobbling up the
midnight sun only to spit it out again as I drive on.
During the midsummer months, there are never any real
hours of darkness, giving days an irresistible elasticity and
allowing activities to stretch until dawn.
One of the most popular hikes is Segla mountain. From
the village of Fjordgard, I begin a four-hour trek to Senja’s
equivalent of Pulpit Rock (an iconic precipice in Norway’s
southwest), following a steep trail to a peak 2 ,096ft above
the ords, where I sit like a queen on a granite throne.
Senja’s landscape lends itself to legends and folklore,
even entering the Guinness Book of World Records for
creating the world’s largest troll. Weaned on fishermen’s
tales told by candlelight, local man Leif Rubach was
inspired to build Senjatrollet in Finnsæter, where he’d
dress up and take visitors on a tour of his sculptures and
tableaus inspired by local folklore. A devastating fire in
2019 forced him to hang up his hairy-toed slippers for good,
however, and now only his memories and stories remain.
“Trolls are everywhere,” he insists. “You’ll find them
in mountains, forest and sea.” Anywhere else, the claims
would be ridiculous. But in magical Senja, even the most
outlandish fantasies seem to make sense.
How to do it: Where The Wild Is offers the four-night Life
With A Local: Senja tour from £1,885 per person, including
hiking, kayaking and road outings but excluding flights.
wherethewildis.co.uk norwegianwild.no visitnorway.comClockwise from top:
Camping under the
midnight sun, below
mountain peak of
Hesten; the imposing
precipice of Segla
mountain; guide Hege
Dekkerhus kayaks under
the midnight sun at the
outskirts of Bergsfjorden