Winter in Norway’s Arctic – The Arctic Hideaway

In Winter 2020 there were eight people living among the 383 scattered islands of Fleinvær Archipelago. I was one of them. Here’s the story of living and working as a Caretaker at The Arctic Hideaway, which was advertised as ‘probably the best job in the world’.

Life on Fleinvær!

Fleinvær feels like a raft that’s drifting out to sea from the Norwegian Coast. Most of the islands are bare lumps of rock a few metres above sea level. Some disappear altogether at high tide. But a few have ramshackle fishing huts and colourful cabins that cling to a thin topsoil.

I lived on Sørvær (South Island) which, at 1.2 kilometres-long and with a lofty 42-metre hill, is one of the biggest islands. A ferry tethered me to the mainland, but it only came if I emailed requesting it, and winter storms often made the narrow channels impassable. There are no roads, cars or shops on Fleinvær, so this boat also delivered my food once a fortnight.

When I arrived in January, the sun poked above the horizon at 10am, skated across the distant mountain peaks, and had disappeared by 2pm. Those four hours of daylight were majestic with sunrises and sunsets that never seemed to end, shadows that stretched to infinity and rays of sunlight that gilded whatever they touched.

Darkness swallowed the Arctic for the remaining 20 hours of night, but the spectacle continued with starry skies that appeared like a flurry of snow, and occasional Northern Lights displays. I’ll admit, they were underwhelming at first, a far cry from photos I had seen. Then, one night, I watched two fat, green snakes wriggle across the sky. One quickened in pursuit of the other, it launched a frenzied attack, and both writhed in pain together. Within minutes, both snakes died before my eyes, the lights faded, and the sky became black and featureless. I stared at the heavens in disbelief; it was easy to believe I had hallucinated the whole thing.

What is The Arctic Hideaway?

The Arctic Hideaway is a cluster of striking wooden cabins. Lonely Planet put it on the front cover of their ‘100 best places to wake up’ magazine.

But it’s much more than just a hotel.

To understand The Arctic Hideaway, you must first understand Håvard, the visionary behind it. Håvard is a renowned jazz musician with a childlike idealism that doesn’t see limitations. When the water pipes froze and we had no water, his solution was to just drink beer. ‘If the sauna burnt down, it would just give me new opportunities,’ he reflected. He’s an intriguing character with a contagious passion - maybe you have to be to dream up something like this.

For him, the Hideaway is an experiment in alternative living. It is a retreat for artists and writers and musicians, but everyone is welcome to escape daily life and discover themselves in this isolation. He emphasises this is place to come and BE. ‘We’ve had weddings and babies and divorces because of this place,’ he smiled, as if that was a measure of success, as more people realise who they are.

Being a Caretaker is unpaid, but food is included and the Hideaway is yours to use freely. Work duties averaged around three hours per day, and varied from the basics of running a hotel (cleaning and making beds), but extended to the challenges of island life, such as lighting the sauna, ordering food, chartering boats, brushing snow and making saltwater drinkable.

Over three months, I loved welcoming pop stars, actors, travel writers, and TV crews to the island, and also squeezed in kayaking adventures, walking every inch of the island (always discovering something new), saunas and Arctic swims, visiting neighbours, running, reading, and even writing a book about cycling around the world.

If you’re interested in staying at The Arctic Hideaway, becoming a Caretaker, or just visiting Fleinvær, visit their website here, or send me a message!