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Europe » Norway » Northern Norway » Lofoten Islands February 4th 2017

Indflyvningen til Lofoten afsluttede den lange rejse på spektakulær vis. Det var utroligt smuk at flyve ind mellem de høje øer med sne på toppen. Solen skinnede fra en skyfri himmel. Der skulle derfor ikke gå lang tid før end vi var ude af døren med vores kameraer. Hans valgte et strand og stenstykke hvor solen var gået ned bag bjergtoppene ude i horisonten. Solen farvede himmelen rød i meget lang tid og gjorde seneriet utroligt smukt. Der blev fotograferet på livet løs. Lofoten er fantastisk smukt især når man får lov til at nye det i Solskin.... read more
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Europe » Norway » Northern Norway October 20th 2016

The next four days gave a succession of stunning landscapes and small-town walks, punctuated by several excursions in larger towns, occasional on-board diversions, and two sightings of the northern lights on our first and second nights. Unfortunately they turned up when clouds and a full moon were around, so not the stunning display of the tourism docos, but fascinating all the same. The boat has an announcement regime that ensures you don’t miss them. Apart from those, the highlights really are the beauty of the land, water and sky, which can be seen in the photos (of which there were plenty, much reduced here) and require no further description. The boat accommodates 350 – we reckon no more than about 250 on this trip. Just one other Australian couple that we met – most people were ... read more
Coast I
Aurora + full moon
Midnight, Arctic Cathedral, Tromso

Europe » Norway » Northern Norway » Kirkenes October 16th 2016

The transport system served us well again the following morning when we were able to leave Maya’s apartment at 7.00am for a 7.14am train that took less than thirty minutes to take us 60 km to the airport with a stop along the way. The plane journey to Kirkenes was one of keen anticipation, as our destination was remote and cold way beyond Peter Dutton, our first time inside the Arctic Circle, by several degrees of latitude. Also, not unexpectedly, several degrees colder than we had been used to. The downy jackets from Iceland were starting to work for their keep. A not-so-new shuttle bus took us to one of the two hotels in a small port/industrial town with tourist overlays, just 10 km from the Russian border. There is a kind of passport-free zone for ... read more
First glimpse of Kirkenes
Husky centre
Puppy I

Europe » Norway » Northern Norway September 16th 2016

While waiting at Bodo docks for the ferry to take our entourage to the Lofoten Islands, I glanced at the North Atlantic Ocean and observed a smooth and still slate grey expanse – not a wave to be seen. I turned to impart this good news to Wendy the Navigator only to find her ensconced in life belts and guzzling sea sickness tablets. This calm sea was just a front and soon we would be getting batted between huge waves to our watery doom. Three hours later, after a perfectly tranquil crossing, we arrived at the Islands. A lot has been written about The Lofotens in books, online, in blogs etc… with countless photographs shown and dear readers, they are all true. This small area of the world is special, awe inspiring, magical and more…. Leaving ... read more
a pier in A
famed dried fish
stinks like hell

Europe » Norway » Northern Norway » Bodø September 11th 2016

During our high speed police/Interpol chase through the forests of Sweden to Norway, I found myself thinking “what would Jude the Obscure do in moments like these?” Anyway, we shook them off and arrived in a town called Moss. In the curse of this blog, your correspondent will probably use every superlative in the dictionary and many that he just makes up, because that is what Norway does to you. Sadly, no superlatives need be applied to Moss, so let us proceed. Our plan was to aim north – quite easy as we were in the south – to the Lofoten Islands with many stops in between, so with that in mind we headed off and within minutes we were experiencing one of Norway’s treats to drivers. Tunnels!!! Yes dear reader, I think there is a ... read more
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heading up
have to get down there

Europe » Norway » Northern Norway » Lofoten Islands July 16th 2016

Arrived by ferry at the port of Moskenes, at thoe western end of the chain of connected islands that make up Lofoten. The villages that the area is known for looked beautiful in the warm evening sun, with the steep cliffs rising behind as the backdrop. The campsite we'd planned to use was full so instead of a 200m drive we had a drive of about 40mins to a beach front site. The wonderful weather had changed abruptly on turning a corner, it was freezing, damp and foggy where we ended up! Knowing the Norwegian weather we just pitched the tent then drove all the way back towards the ferry, this time stopping frequently to take photos. Finally started cooking dinner at our freezing campground around 10pm. The next morning we hoped to drive back into ... read more
Reine
Oyster catcher
Unstad

Europe » Norway » Northern Norway » Lofoten Islands July 12th 2016

11th July, Lofoten Islands. The focus of the last 3 days has been traveling. Two day ago the highlight of the day's drive was the Atlantic Road. This is a dramatic piece of engineering that links a series of small islands via steep humpback bridges and causeways. The scenery is quite wild, although for once it was a clear day for us. We made use of the many lay-bys to stretch our legs and take photos.Yesterday the highlight was Trondheim, one time capital city. Massive medieval cathedral with a front lined with statues. Bishop's Palace adjacent to it. From there it's a short stroll through a park along the river to the old waterfront wooden warehouses and an ancient bridge. This area was attractive with a few cobblestone streets around with cafes and boutiques.Today the aim ... read more
Trondheim
Ferry journey to the Lofoten Islands

Europe » Norway » Northern Norway June 13th 2016

Honningsvag Bundled up this morning for our tour to Nordkapp. Technically not the most northern spot in Europe but the little peninsula that sticks out a few metres more does not have the advantage of being up on the windswept plateau. We did pass herds of reindeer on the way and stopped at a Sami village for the souvenir bit and photo op of a really gorgeous guy working there. I think it's on my camera and not the tablet so you may not get to see him. Very cold and looking out to sea I know I would never have been a groupie with any of those polar explorers. The very thought of heading into ice water on a ship to wherever sends chills down my spine. Listening to the guides tell what life is ... read more
looking down from the plateau
a little barren
snow still around

Europe » Norway » Northern Norway » Narvik May 30th 2016

Ma dernière destination : Narvik. J'ai voulu essayer de monter tout en haut pour voir. Et qu'est-ce que j'y ai trouvé ? Du beau temps... Un soleil splendide qui amène la température ambiante à 24 °C... Pas vraiment ce à quoi je m'attendais. Mais sans me laisser abattre, j'ai attaqué l’ascension à pied de la montagne voisine et après 3h30 de marche (oui, c'est long), je n'avais plus de jambes. Par contre, j'étais assez fier de moi pour le coup. J'ai quand même réussi à monter à pied jusqu'à la station de ski de la montagne. Malheureusement, il est trop tard pour voir les aurores boréales. C'est donc une expérience à retenter en hiver si j'en ai l'occasion. Sinon, la ville en elle-même ne présente que peu d'attraits. Il y a bien deux, trois musées, mais ... read more
Sur le trajet (2)
Narvik
Narvik (2)

Europe » Norway » Northern Norway » Narvik May 30th 2016

My last destination : Narvik. I wanted to try to go to the furthest city in the North with the train, that's why I chose Narvik. I expected some snowy landscapes, but reality never matches the expectations. Here, there's a sunny weather and the temparture is 24°C (75 F). I was a bit disappointed, the human can change failures into success, so without losing motivation, I decided to climb a mountain. After 3 hours and a half of efforts, I finally reached the ski station. Now that I think of it, it is really a good achievement. Unluckly, it was already too late to see auroras borealis, so it is an experience to try again in winter. There is not much to say about the city itself. There are two or three museums, but you don't ... read more
On the way in train (2)
Narvik
Narvik (2)




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