People of the North

-Funding for this series has been provided in part by the following... -The Stavanger region -- adventurous shores, deep fjords, lively towns, and the iconic Preikestolen.

-Norwegian Alpinco -- connecting mountain spots, steep slopes, alpine villages and outdoor activities all year round.

-In Sigdal, Norway, where mountains rise and forests whisper, Anne Line and Courtney create Norwegian gifts so you can bring a piece of Norway with you.

Nordic Box -- memories from Norway.

- Take me home, take me home where I belong -VGAN Chocolate -- Norwegian flavor.

[ Jet engine roaring ] -Welcome to Helgeland.

We are going out at sea.

And what do you expect to find here?

-Well, obviously there's going to be seafood, but I hope they have some local specialties.

-And, Stig, what are you looking for?

-I expect an amazing scenery in probably Norway's most beautiful archipelago.

-Welcome to "People of the North."

Let's board.

Join me on a journey where we will meet people who live, work and enjoy life right here in the far north.

I'm taking you to meet the fantastic people of the North.

Where Norway is at its thinnest and longest, we have a magnificent archipelago -- Helgeland.

Truly a paradise with islands and little coastal towns, but most of all pristine and breathtaking nature.

And of course, overwhelmingly welcoming people.

The best way to see Helgeland is by going southward on Havila Coastal Voyages.

Then the whole journey will be in the daytime, and if you go for some on and off hopping, there is so much to explore.

The nice thing about the coastal voyage is that it goes up and down the coast all the time.

It means that we can jump off, do a detour and jump back on again.

We have a plan to go and see the islands far out in the archipelago of Helgeland.

-Let's go sailing.

-Let's go sailing.

We are greeted by Marte and her Alaskan husband, Eric, tough, young entrepreneurs who have gone all in and started their sail-yacht business.

They quickly put us to work raising the sails.

The big sail is up.

Tourists can charter the yacht and explore the beautiful Helgeland archipelago while traveling on board this boat year round.

Eric, you have to tell us, what kind of boat is this?

It's obviously very comfortable and large and beautiful, but what kind?

-So this is a Lagoon 51 is what it's called.

It's about a year old now and we absolutely love it.

-And it's a catamaran.

And what kind of advantage does that give?

-So there are two halls with a big salon in the middle, and that gives us a couple of advantages.

One is all the interior space, lots of room for them to get out of the weather.

And it's also stable.

We don't heel over like a regular sailboat does, so we can have the flower vases or the wine glasses on the table all the time.

[ Laughter ] -So if we get a little bit more wind than what we are experiencing right now, how fast can it go?

-We often see speeds of around 10 knots, sometimes more.

The most we've ever seen is almost 23, which was faster than we wanted it to be going.

-Wow.

And inside this little bay, that's where you live.

-This is where we live.

-Just right over there.

-Right in this bay.

Right over here is where our small farm is and where we start a lot of our trips.

-Marte and Eric moved from the city to take over Marte's family farm and are now making a life for themselves in these idyllic surroundings.

And your great grandmother was the last person who actually lived in and worked on this farm.

-Yes.

After that, it has been a cabin.

But then in 2020, it became ours.

And then we wanted to create something here, to take back the land and to do something with it and to live off the land around it.

-And your husband, Eric, from Alaska.

How on earth did you end up here?

-In 2008, I came to Norway as a cross-country skier and went to a school for cross-country skiing.

Before I started my university studies here, I met Marte and ended up being in Norway it seems like pretty permanently now.

-But you're also here because you have started the charter.

-Yeah.

-...with a wonderful sailing yacht.

And what can people experience when you take them out in the archipelago here at Helgeland?

-We take our guests on week-long sailing trips throughout all these islands in this area in Helgeland, and we serve them wonderful local food, either from our farm or from other farms, and take them free diving, fishing, wonderful hikes.

Check out the midnight sun in the summer, the northern lights in the winter.

Do skiing from the boat in the spring.

I mean, there's just so much to experience.

Every trip is different, but we always love it.

-The nature of Helgeland brings endless opportunities for activities.

Today Sigrid and Stig are joining Eric to see if there can be some delicacies under the surface.

The sea simmers in mesmerizing shades of green, teeming with vibrant marine life, from swaying kelp forests to darting fish and other curious creatures.

The expedition today is free diving after scallops and other treasures from the cold, clear waters of Helgeland.

-This is our truffle seaweed.

-For more inspiration, visit our website... -Hey.

-Look at these guys.

-Oh.

Great catch!

-As the sun sets, we lower the anchor and are treated to the most spectacular light show that Helgeland can offer.

We have anchored in our own private bay in this wonderful archipelago.

-And now we're going to go in and make some beautiful food.

-Yeah.

So what's on the menu today?

-It's seafood and it's some very freshly caught scallops.

You can look forward.

Wow.

Marte, look at this.

-Yeah.

-It's still alive.

Huh?

-Absolutely.

-Now we're gonna open them up, rinse them and have them as a starter today.

-That's the plan.

-Do you want to show me first?

-Sure.

Cut the muscle.

Get as close to the shell as possible.

Then you open it, and then I usually use a spoon.

Go all the way under to loosen it.

-It looks wonderful.

-Wow.

Look at this.

They're big here at Helgeland.

Perfect, Eric.

On the outside, they are perfectly fried.

Inside, soft and tender.

-Wonderful.

-For main course -- halibut.

Fresh from the sea, of course.

-Wow.

Look at this.

-It's a local halibut with mussel sauce.

So mussel broth that we boil for hours and hours with some white wine.

And then serve it to you guys on board.

-I can't wait.

-Lovely mussel sauce.

Perfectly cooked halibut.

Skol.

-Skol.

-Skol.

-What a place for waking up to a homemade breakfast with proper coffee and local produce.

This wonderful breakfast is the start of an adventurous day at Helgeland, and I think Marte and Eric, they have some plans for us, and I think there are some interesting places to stop along our route.

It's beautiful waters here, Eric.

-It's an amazing archipelago.

It's a beautiful place to sail.

-And just in this municipality, how many islands and islets?

-If you count the reefs as well, it's 12,000.

-Wow.

-It's just wildly complex navigation and keeps it fun.

-The sailing in these waters, what's so special about it?

-I just think the combination of the mountains, the fjords, the beautiful islands, lots of white sandy beaches.

And one of the things we love here is that the weather and the lighting is so dynamic throughout the whole year.

The colors are always changing.

There's just different experiences to be had around every corner.

It's just so beautiful.

-We are off for a Helgeland beach lunch.

As beautiful as anything on the southern hemisphere.

Sigrid is going to prepare something special from the scallops they picked.

So you're actually going to bake a kind of like a roll?

-Yeah.

Inside the shell.

Okay.

Good butter.

And then I've stolen a piece of good sourdough bread from Marte.

-Oh.

-We found these scallops, but we also found some nice seaweed.

This is the truffle seaweed.

-Yes.

-And I chopped it up and mixed it with butter, some salt and my own honey.

And I'm gonna put that on top.

-And if you are interested in knowing how to find truffle seaweed, you can watch one of the episodes in our season one, where we're actually out there harvesting it in Lofoten.

-Arne, Stig.

-Nice crunch.

Salt, sweet, perfect.

Good way of spending a day at the beach.

-Lovely taste of the ocean.

And the ocean is now crawling up my behind.

So this lunch is over.

-And now we are reaching our first stop on our journey.

-Yeah.

-It is a chocolate factory on that dock.

-Mmm!

-And it is a local farm that we're going to visit that we get a lot of our produce from.

-I think I should go to the chocolate factory, and I think you should take Sigrid and Stig to visit the farm.

-Sounds good.

-Good plan?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

This little chocolate factory on the island of Donna is called the Sjokoladebrygga, or the Chocolate Pier in English.

Definitely small scale.

-I call it the world's smallest chocolate factory.

-[ Laughs ] -Here out in the sea, Heidi makes artisan chocolate with some very interesting flavor combinations.

Can I taste?

-Yes, you can taste.

We take this one.

I call this chocolate Nordic Explorer.

It's with chili and raspberry and, uh... -Licorice.

-Yeah, licorice.

It's my favorite.

-And this is healthy.

There's no sugar... -No sugar, no gluten, no lactose.

-Wow.

-It's a raw food.

-Mmm.

A little bit spicy, a little bit sweet, a little bit of everything in life.

And then I see you have something not quite so healthy there, a bottle.

-Every lady must have this.

-Our own liquor.

So how do you make this?

-With nibs and cacao beans and some cacao mass.

-So it's leftovers from the chocolate production.

-Yeah.

-Whoa!

Let's try.

Cheers, Heidi.

-Cheers.

-I'm so glad we stopped here.

Mmm.

-Do you like it?

-Yeah.

And you can feel -- You can feel the chocolate.

-And it's strong.

-And it's strong.

It's strong.

I'm so glad I volunteered to visit Heidi.

-And you get so happy.

-Chocolate and liquor always makes me happy.

Yeah.

While I'm enjoying perhaps too many of Heidi's chocolates, Stig and Sigrid are on their way to Stavseng Farm, where Marte and Eric get much of their local food.

Stig finds some inspiration for his dry martini.

-This is -- It's gooseberry jelly.

-What do you think?

Is this good in a martini?

-Mmm.

I think so.

-I think so.

It's gonna be fruity one this time.

And this one?

-Yes.

It's made from the flower.

The rose.

-This is also interesting in a martini, because the floral notes is always great, together with some fruitiness.

I think this will be a very, very romantic martini.

-Ooh.

Mm.

Don't look at me.

-So many exciting things are happening on these islands in Helgeland.

And I heard there's something going on over there.

-Was that the couple who have bought this old school and renewed it?

-Yes.

-Yeah.

-Why don't you go and check it out?

-I will.

-The old school on the island Seloy had been empty for many years when Ingrid and Remi took it over and made it into a cozy hotel and cafe and a cultural meeting place for the local islanders.

Remi and Ingrid and their kids had been living in the city for many years when they decided to change their lives at Seloy.

-So how come you decided to move to this island far out in the ocean up north?

-Yeah, that's a good question.

Well, my ancestors are from this island, and my father grew up here actually attending this school.

And there's something, you know, drawing you.

Some has to do with the nature, some has to do with a more simple life, more closeness to both people and nature.

And another thing is probably roots.

-But it's a great decision to take -- You had young kids at that time going up here, hadn't you?

-Two young girls.

And they also come to love this place.

But, of course, moving from the urban settings and up to this small island is a big shift.

But all in all, I think our family is -- is in a much better place being a part of this local community here for these years that we've been living here now.

-So what is your business and what is this place?

-Well, this is an old school, and we remodeled it and repurposed it as a community house.

So we fill it with a lot of different activities, from food events to concerts to art exhibitions to yoga weekends or diving weekends or a lot of things.

So, um, this is a place where we want people to come together and have a good experience and good conversations and... -And does it work?

Do people come?

-Yeah, that's the cool thing.

So people really show up.

And in the summer seasons there, we have thousands of visitors.

Many locals also are very good visitors of us.

-Then you've done something right.

-I think so.

Because they're coming back again and again and again.

[ Laughs ] -We set sails again and head for our next destination.

Being on a proper cruise, it's very appropriate to serve an afternoon drink.

This time, Stig is using local produce from Stavseng Farm and the truffle seaweed they picked from the shore.

And we have plenty of scallops to accompany the coastal martini with.

Mmm.

This will probably be the new signature drink for the ship and all its coming passengers.

-Definitely.

-Cheers.

-Skol.

-Skol.

-Skol.

Take us to Lovund, Marte.

-Please.

-Lovund is a paradise and a prosperous society built on salmon farming.

Hence the surprising luxury hotel.

Sivert, who runs it, is an old friend.

It's a thriving society and you have a wonderful hotel here.

The location and everything.

How do you take care of people who come all the way out to Lovund?

-We offer people a bed and a good, nice room to stay in, and we do all of the rest as well.

So we have a nice restaurant where people can eat, and I tell them what to do when they are here.

So I show them the island.

I showed them the routes to walk.

-The nature is, of course, amazing.

And you have a food philosophy that's really based on the traditions here.

-From the beginning, it's been based on keeping -- keeping the traditions and the tradition for us is fish, of course.

And then we are influenced by the world.

We are influenced by the people that moves to the island, and we try to provide food that is interesting.

-For the first main course is Nova Sea salmon with caramelized cauliflower puree, fried cabbage, tapioca chips on the top, and soy mushroom broth.

-Wow.

Thank you!

For more inspiration, visit our website... After a lovely night at Lovund Hotel, we are heading towards our return with Havila.

But this time we leave Marte and Eric at Lovund and jump on the Coastal Express.

So after our detour, a little bit of sailing and island hopping on the Helgeland coast, we're going back on board our coastal voyage and continuing southward bound towards Trondheim.

Stig, we are waiting for the coastal voyage to come and pick us up here at Nesna.

And we still have two hours to kill here.

What -- What can we do while we're waiting?

-All the shops are closed.

-Yeah.

-Oh.

-Oh!

It's a brewery.

-Look.

Yes.

-Right on the dock is Raus, which means generous in Norwegian.

Tell us, Kristian, about your brewery.

-We're just five years old.

We're here in old shoe factory in beautiful Nesna.

We make beer with the local Norwegian ingredients.

So would you like to taste one?

-Absolutely.

-Of course.

-The first beer you're going to taste is Oyvaering, which means islander.

It's our homage to the islander, who is really, really resourceful.

-It's very aromatic.

-Very fresh.

-Mmm.

Great on the palate as well.

I will say light.

-Yeah.

And what's the other one you have lined up for us?

-This is a double dry-hopped IPA.

It's called Skog, which in Norwegian means forest.

It has a hop that gives a piney taste.

-Oh, yeah, I'm out in the forest now.

Mmm.

-This is my kind of beer.

-And in a little while, the boat comes and picks us up.

One hour and 20 minutes.

-Shouldn't be a tough one.

-I think we can have another.

-Yeah.

-Cheers.

-Cheers.

Skol.

-The ever-reliable Havila Coastal Voyage picks us up and off we go down this amazing coast.

It's a great and relaxing way to enjoy the scenery as we float along.

Sigrid makes friends with people from faraway places.

-All the way from.

-Australia.

-Australia?

-Yeah.

-And how has it been so far?

-Fabulous.

So beautiful.

And it's just everything you see in books and postcards.

It's here.

You know, it's just everything we imagined.

It's just -- I'll always remember it.

It's one of my world's highlights.

We've been to a lot of places.

I think -- "You've got to go to Norway," I'm gonna say to my friends.

"You've got to go."

I said to my husband last night, you know, "If there's such a thing as reincarnation, I think I'd like to come back as a Norwegian."

[ Laughter ] "I think I'd try that next time."

-The coastal voyage calls on all these charming ports every day.

We arrive at Bronnoysund, where there is a magic mountain.

Sigrid is the one among us who has been on the most mountains.

She is always ready to explore.

For more inspiration, visit our website... -What do you think?

It's a -- It's a hole in the mountain.

-It's gorgeous.

I mean, but not surprising.

Everywhere I've been in Norway is just stunning.

It's almost like a painted landscape.

It's surreal.

It doesn't look real.

-So what do you think of visiting Norway, like, in general?

-It's amazing.

You know, I've been to over 100 countries.

-Oh, wow.

-And it's the first time I've been in Norway, and it certainly didn't disappoint.

I love the food.

Love the people.

Um, there's a reason, you know, all the Nordics are the happiest countries in the world.

You know, you feel it.

You feel the energy.

You feel the life.

Um, so warm, so welcoming.

Um, I'll be back.

-I'm so glad to hear that.

-While Sigrid's in the hole, Stig and I find a farmer's market in town and a familiar face.

Fancy meeting Heidi from the chocolate factory far out in the ocean.

And now you're here.

Remember this?

Mmm.

And it's strong.

Yeah.

But there is more to Bronnoysund than the hard chocolate liquor.

A well-known chef Maciej has moved there from Oslo and opened a really high-end restaurant, Svang.

-This restaurant was highly recommended of some people we met on this trip, and I promised Arne to bring him to a place where he could get good food and some wine.

Tell me a little bit about this restaurant.

-We start on this building, which is totally new.

It was already two years ago.

All the main ingredients is from the local producers around us here.

We have a lot of mushrooms around here and we have all local fishermen.

It's actually shrimp boat straight out of the door so we can get fresh shrimps and fish every day all the time.

My wife, she's from here, from the small island named Torghatten.

So we -- we have the farm there.

We have pigs, chickens and a lot of different veggies.

-And you serve -- You serve that here?

-Yeah.

Mostly is going here.

And we try to produce more and more what we can have here in the restaurant.

-Amazing.

But I have to keep my promise to Arne and make sure he gets some good food and a little bit of wine.

-Yeah.

-Not much.

-Wow.

We are leaving Bronnoysund.

And maybe we shouldn't have dived so deep into Maciej's lovely food, because tonight we are going fine dining on board.

The food here is as amazing as the view.

There are so many options.

-I just been there walking through the hole.

-And what are we going to have, Sigrid?

-First I will start with a tartare of Norwegian beef tenderloin, then cod from Lofoten, Norwegian farm duck, reindeer from Finnmark, chocolate terrine and end up with dark chocolate candy.

-Lovely.

I think it's quite suitable to be enjoying this wonderful food, delicious wines and looking at Norway at its finest.

-Cheers!

Skol.

-This archipelago is really on the top of our must-sees in Norway.

Going southward will give you all of this in a very long day.

And if you do like us, a little on and off hopping, you're in for a treat.

-For more inspiration, visit our website... -Funding for this series has been provided in part by the following... -The Stavanger region -- adventurous shores, deep fjords, lively towns, and the iconic Preikestolen.

-Norwegian Alpinco -- connecting mountain spots, steep slopes, alpine villages and outdoor activities all year round.

-In Sigdal, Norway, where mountains rise and forests whisper, Anne Line and Courtney create Norwegian gifts so you can bring a piece of Norway with you.

Nordic Box -- memories from Norway.

- Take me home, take me home where I belong -VGAN Chocolate -- Norwegian flavor.

[ Jet engine roaring ]