Haukland Beach from Mannen

Another perfect summer’s day with a refreshing breeze coming off the sea. After an hour or so on the bus travelling through landscapes of jagged mountains and alongside a coastline of clear green water we reached Haukland Beach which is considered to be Norway’s most beautiful beach.

A bit of a climb up Mannen hill behind the beach and an interesting short stretch involving some nifty footwork and scrambling, and then onto a welcome track down to the isolated hamlet of Utakaleiv. From Utakaleiv we took the well established coastal route around the headland back to Haukland where we lounged in the dunes, watched a pair of sea eagles above us, and paddled until the harder route walkers joined us. A surfer reckoned the water was 14 degrees, pretty warm for 100 miles north of the arctic circle.