Keiservarden - Wanna walk with me?

It is Saturday morning and my only plan early this day is to walk to Keiservarden, a mountain near where I live. Keiservarden means 'the Emperor's Cairn' if you translate it literally. It was named so because a German Emperor back in the day enjoyed coming to Bodø with his ship, dock it in the harbour and walk up to the cairn that marked one of the highest tops here. It's not that tall, just 366 metres a.s.l., but it's a nice walk. In fact, there are many ways of getting there. I took the more scenic one today, as you can see below.

Keiservarden is the point where the white mast in the background is located. You walk across rocks and through mountain birch forest paths to get there, and most likely there's quite a few other people out and about too. It's one of the most popular walks from a starting point in my neighbourhood, but I don't mind. There's plenty of space and it's not hard to get out of everone's way if one wants to. And it's easy to be motivated to walk on all the time, because the view changes and expands, and on the top it's just fab.

These people had probably gotten out of bed earlier than I this Saturday; they were on their way back down when I was still walking up. People of all ages walk here; today I ran into a man in his 80s who walked with sticks, and a child of three who walked all the way on her own, together with the rest of her family. And dogs. Lots and lots of dogs, of all shapes and sizes.

This rounded plaque is located on top of the Keiservarden mountain. It indicates numerous mountain tops that are visible from this spot, and they're all marked with a line, its name and the distance. Local municipalities and some islands are also indicated on this plaque. The island in the background is Landegode, which in literal translation means 'the Good Land'. That's probably so because the fisherman of the old, old days were very relieved when they arrived here after crossing the very dangerous West Fjord - a stretch of open sea between here and the Lofoten Islands, which are famous for their good fisheries. You can barely see them in the background.

An old and faithful friend who's love and willingness to serve has been repeatedly tried and tested - and found excellent :) It is hand-made by an old man in my home town, out of wood he's found on the island I come from. Yay for local products!

View towards south-west. Sandhornøya island and some other islands in the background, on the southern side of the Salten Fjord. The two men are just random passers-by, but they fit quite nicely into my picture! This is also on top of the Keiservarden plateau.

My new city as seen from Keiservarden. This photo is made in the direction of the path I took to get here - and back. It's an excellent walk, with a few lakes and a great view while underway. It's not really far to walk either, from my house to this place, so if you ever wanna come visit and walk with me, just let me know. I'll be happy to take you here, regardless of what the weather is like on that day :-D

Take me to the sea

Okay, I admit it: You don't have to take me to the sea. I know how to get there myself. In fact, earlier this week my work took me to the seaside along with a small group of people. The weather was excellent if only a bit cold, and we had a great time there before returning to the city. The picture above shows the view towards east, and a bit south. You can see the Sulis mountains - behind those mountains lies the border with Sweden, and three of the most fabulous national parks in Sweden. If you're good you also spot a glacier in the mountains to the left. That's the Blåmannsisen glacier, Norway's 3rd larges glacier. The water is the Salten Fjord, which is a fjord that cuts into the coastline by Bodø in an east-west direction.

This is the Børvasstindan mountain range, just south of Bodø. Many of the peaks here reach more than 1,000 metres a.s.l. The mountains are on the mainland, but the dark flat piece of land you see in front of them is an island, Straumøya island. I hiked these mountains a few years back and plan to do so next summer, but I will not go there - skiing or otherwise - between now and then. It's too slippery and parts of the passage will be too wet and dangerous. I'll just enjoy the sight for a few more months!

View towards the west. Small holes have been eroded into the rocks on the shore, and when the tide falls or when it has rained these holes are filled with water. All the land you see on the left is various islands, and just outside the right-hand edge of this picture (and a bit in the distance) lies Bodø airport. From this spot you'll frequently see and hear various kinds of planes and helicopters come by. The city has an F16 base, so there's a lot of military air traffic as well.

I don't know who created this random pice of natural art on the beach, but I nevertheless enjoyed seeing it. It had lasted a day or two when we arrived (I'd seen it there the day before too), but I'm not sure it will last for long. This is a place where the storms hit hard when the wind comes from a western direction, and seaweed will probably soon cover it. But it looks great while it lasts. I think.

Traditional small boat house from this district. I asked the couple on the bench for their permission to take this photograph and include them in it, and during our conversation I learned that it was in fact a relative of the man here who back in the day sold this boat house (and other houses nearby) to the outdoor museum that it belongs to. This boat house was built during the 1930s and was one of the very, very few buildings in this city that survived German bombardment during WWII. The whole city was destroyed then.

The area we went to, Bodøsjøen, has been mildly modified to suit a large number of visitors. You'll find a few tables and benches, as well as a few grills constructed in stone, that serve guests year round. A few bridge -like constructions make access to the waterfront an easier and drier experience, and there's even a little wall one place to shield people from the wind if/when they want to sit down there. To the right of this picture lies a beach, where the circular stone art thing lies. For now.

One of my most faithful friends through many years ;-) I don't drink coffee, so normally I'll bring hot water in my thermos and then make use of chocolate powder to make a drink. Other people can get water from me and use instant coffee. Very flexible. Very warming too, on a cold day. If you come here and walk with me somewhere I'll make sure I bring enough for you too. Promise.

Everyday afternoon life

Last Wednesday I left work around 4.30pm. It had been a day of grey weather, but I happened to see that there was a clear spot below the clouds to the west. I realised that there might be a lovely sunset coming up, so I decided to wait it out. I headed down to the seafront in the city centre with my camera, found a seat and just waited.

While waiting for the sun to come far enough down and below the clouds I looked to the south. And there I could enjoy the view of this; the Børvasstindan mountain range. I walked these mountains the summer of 2002 and will do so again next summer - this year I arrived here too late, and the snow came way too early for that. The peaks reach more than 1,000 m.a.s.l. There is a marked trail in the valley between the two ranges, and there are beautiful little lakes, and rare herbs growing too.

Looking back at the sea, and facing west, I notice a traditional fishing boat coming in from the field. This one was not followed by a flock of seagulls, which means that either they did not have fish on board or they had prepared and put away it all before getting this far. To the right of the fishing boat you can also see the sail of a sailing boat that left the harbour around the time when I arrived. I can understand why someone would want to set sail towards the sunset in weather like this...

The local marina and some of the buildings in the city centre. The sun painted everything golden, and it was just like someone had turned on an orange light underneath a cover of grey and filled the entire space between the clouds and the earth with golden air. I wish I could show you how it really was.

The sun has set below the horizon and light reflects upwards and colours the clouds and the sky alike. The islets you can spot on the horizon line are a group of islands called Bliksvær, and people live there year round. They used to be popular landing spots for fishing boats coming in from the fish-rich fields out at sea, and I think some fishermen still live there. However, there is little industry.

The sun has set, the darkness is conquering more space and soon I left my spot by the sea and walked home. A beautiful end to a day that was less ordinary than expected!

Weekend - with a boy ;-)

I spent the weekend babysitting one of my friends' children, Luckas (i.e. 'Luke' in Norwegian). My friends Annette and Tommy have three children aged 1.5, 3 and 4.5. This weekend A+T were going to Oslo to visit her twin sister and celebrate their birthday, and I sort of volunteered to babysit their youngest child. (The older two were with other family members.)

It was a great weekend, lasting from Friday morning to Sunday night, and Luke & I had a great time together. He's a very easy-going and peaceful little boy with a cheeky smile, and I don't think I've raised my voice to him once. Today we went for a city walk in the afternoon and ended up walking at the marina too. He loved it and was excited about boats, planes, eagles and seagulls, ferries - and all the people and animals we met :-) He greeted them all and called them by name, precious one.


In the coming week I will be working quite a lot, I think, but I'll try and see if I find time to post a little bit more about Bodo as well, one of the days. Also, I helped my brother get a dog this weekend; he's now the very proud owner of a 7 year old male alaska husky dog from Sweden; Tamok. Perhaps I should show you some of that too? Stay tuned. If you want to.

Welcome to my (new) world!

When I lived in England I kept this blog so that 'my people' back home would know what was going on and what I was up to. Now I've moved, and I realise that there are friends and people I love who would like to know what life is like now, and to see some of the beauty my country has to offer. Well, I give you: the blog, in English this time… I will not update too frequently, but if you pop by every once in a while you'll see some of what goes on in my life. And if the pictures tempt you to come here and see for yourself: You're welcome, be my guest :-)

I'm back in Norway. In the north, in a town called Bodø. It has about 50,000 inhabitants and lies a bit north of the Arctic Circle. This is not where I come from, but my home town lies on an island in the sea just 30 minutes' flying time from here. The university here is where I got my undergraduate degree. Bodø is beautifully situated; it has the Atlantic Ocean to one side and an abundance of mountains on the other. There are a lot of islands and islets around here, and the area is excellent for absolutely all kinds of winter sports – and quite a few summery ones too. The local football team is in the Norwegian equivalent of Premier League – at least for now :-)

This is Bodø as seen from a very nearby mountain just about two weeks ago. I live in one of the block of flats near the front of the photo. The city centre is in the background and a bit to the right, and if you think you can see a straight line of asphalt to the left you are perfectly right – that's the airport. It takes me about 30-40 minutes to walk down to the city centre, but just a few minutes if you drive. The city centre is also where my two jobs are located.

Bodø city centre as seen from west towards east. There is a beautiful marina here with lots of sailing boats, traditional fishing boats and other boats. At the far end of this seaside promenade is a place where boats dock when they sell fresh fish or fresh shrimps during summer. I love the atmosphere down here and regardless of what the weather is like you'll always find people out for a stroll here. People simply enjoy the outdoors a lot, even in rough weather, and just dress appropriately whatever the conditions are. I love that about them.

I took this photo from one of the nearby mountains on the last Sunday in September, when I went for a long cross-mountain walk together with a group of five other people. In six hours of walking we had hail storm, winds so strong they blew us off the path, rain that soaked us in 7 seconds – and beautiful warm sunshine as we were having lunch in the open… Quite amazing, but not a rare experience here in autumn. If you look closely you can see parts of the city in the background. There are also tall, beautiful mountains hiding behind the clouds – I'll show them later. My 'real' camera is in need of some repair, so this photo was made with my mobile camera. You can still see traces of the beautiful autumn colours in the nature though…

Some people from my group, and some random wanderers. Here we are on top of the Løpsfjellet mountain, about 90 minutes walk from where I live. The wind blew so strong that it was impossible to stay on track – once you lifted a foot you were blown away, whether you were a petite size 8 woman or a muscular 6ft-something man. But we had fun, and fortunately we were nowhere near any edge so we could run off course without fear or danger. We crossed this mountain and returned a different way.

One of the first weekends after I got back I spent by the sea, together with a group from the local hiking association. The boat house you see here has a room in the back that has been converted into a two-bed accommodation space, with a kitchen and a fireplace. There is no electricity or water; candles are used for light and water is fetched from a hose near another house on the estate, a little higher up. But this is my new favourite place – you literally hear the waves crash onto the shore without even opening the windows. I'll post more pictures from here later.

This beach is more or less next to the cabin from the previous photo; just behind the building. It is beautiful in summer and both kids and adults can swim comfortably here, or play on the shore or grass field nearby. It's also possible to arrive here by boat, obviously, and as a member of the hiking association I can even borrow boats from the (above) boat house for free. The view here is towards south-west. The wind blew strong and I loved it; my face tasted of salt when I got back in. Definitely a place to return to.

Sunset across the Atlantic Ocean, as seen from Bodø harbour. The mountains you can see to the left in the picture are both islands. These days the sun sets at about 18:15/6.15pm.

And with that I wish you goodbye for now. Will update again before too long!