Vaare was a lovely surprise. The wind had dropped right away as we rounded Lindesnes, so much so that we were able to celebrate this event with smoked salmon canapes and aquavit in our best shot glasses! "Wouldn't it be nice", suggested Trevor, "to pop into that village by the cliffs and pause for a moment"
Well, that was pretty much impossible, but the next best thing was to look on the chart for a secret anchorage where we could hole up for an hour or two.... and that was Vaare. Feeling our way in around the shallow rocks in the entrance, we had just enough room to drop our anchor on a short chain and not risk hitting anything if we swung around. Next job was to get the dinghy out of the bag, inflated and in the water, so the next twenty minutes were spent cajoling bottom boards into their appointed positions, breaking thumbnails on recalcitrant aluminium stiffeners and generally cussing the designer of our lovely Hermione. Eventually she became fully inflated on the foredeck (showing a bubble or two from some minor leaks) and was quickly cast into the oggin and prepared for a spot of rowin'.
Trevor and JK were the first to go ashore - the girls claiming exhaustion from the dinghy building. Leading from the small circle of boathouses and cottages around the harbour was a track wide enough for a horse and cart which went up a lovely avenue of trees to a saddle between the rocks. There we found half a dozen really nice summer houses, all unoccupied, but all looking like the owner might just be out for a stroll. The wild flowers were beautiful amongst the saplings and an unusual yellow tulippa was in full flower. We took a gravelled path down to a new landing place that someone has been creating, and then set about reaching the summit of the rocks, high above both Voltair's masthead and all the rest of the island. What a panorama we had when we got there! See for yourselves.
Scrambling back down again, knees and thigh-joints aching (Trevor's physicians please note, this "flying" business definitely doesn't help the joints), we regained the harbour and rowed back to the boat so the other three could go ashore. They made even more discoveries - a secret harbour to the south and a nice sandy beach, but we didn't hear any reports of anyone going swimming.
If you want to see the pictures at higher definition, click the pictures. Close the window to return
Close the window to return to the main postcard.