Update soon - From weekend winter wonderland

Saturday's fireplace...

I spent the weekend in the middle of the mountains in a log cabin, together with a young, blonde guy. We went on hikes while it was still bright and saw glimpses of the sun, though soon we'll not see it for a couple of weeks. We also had an outdoor bonfire, crossed a nearly frozen river on a wooden hanging bridge, spent an evening hour sitting on an outdoor staircase watching the snow covered landscape in the moonlight around us, had to get water from another frozen river (crack a hole in the ice to get through to running water) and ... oh yes, our train back home was delayed because there were so many reindeer on the tracks.

My camera (apparently a new and neverending story!) wasn't too friendly, but my buddy had an iPhone and I used my mobile camera, so I'll be able to show you some of this shortly. It's just that since our train got back to town (1hr 20mins late!) I've been to a concert and then headed for work - I'm now working a night shift. Will update more properly and with piccies as soon as I get some sleep and my pics are available on the laptop at home!

Oh, and did I mention it? When I came back the city was white - snow has arrived again! Yay!

In my neighbourhood: Straumøya

Last weekend my dad was down here visiting, as he was going to his brother to collect some moose meat from this year's hunt. I joined him on a little road trip, and perhaps the side tracks were as interesting as the main purpose of the trip in the end?

Here we are about to cross the Saltstraumen strait, which is where the world's strongest tidal current runs through four times a day. My dad grew up here and even learned swimming in the sea, obviously under what was then considered relatively safe conditions. Today people hardly believe it if I tell them, though it's true. The wind was pretty strong, but not enough to have the bridge closed. Good for us!

This house lies on an island called Straumøya, which lies on one side of the current just mentioned. My grandparents lived in this house in the period 1948-51 or so, while they were waiting for their own house to be built and finished. Back then the island was a quite remote place as there were no bridges; people depended on a local boat route when they wanted to go anywhere. And the boat had to adjust its sailing schedule to the times of the tides. If the currents were too strong you simply had to wait it out. I remember the boat rides from my childhood too; only in 1979 or 1980 were the two bridges replacing the old triangular boat route finished. Anyway, this house was very old and when I saw it a few years back it looked as if it were about to fall down. Lately, however, a guy has started refurbishing it and in return he gets to use it as a weekend home for as long as he wants to. I am very glad they're keeping it, though it's strange to be unable to recognise what was once there.

There is a long and beautiful beach on the northern shores of Straumøya island. The mountains you see and the land on the opposite side are all on the mainland. This beach has an excellent location for lazy summer days, however, since the water here is in a fjord where heaps of water wash in and out every day I suspect the water may be a bit cold even in summer. The distance from the vast [Atlantic] ocean to this sport is unfortunately too short for temperatures to build up. I'll go back in the summer to check, just to be sure :) And as you can see; fishermen regularly use this as a point of departure when heading out to catch some fish.

I found this claw lying in the sand on the beach. I thought perhaps it comes from a king crab (Kamchatcka crab, Russian origin), but my dad disagreed and meant that it comes from a regular crab that was just very large... I also wondered if perhaps it may come from a lobster, though lobsters don't really come this far north. I am not sure, but it was massive! And detatched from whichever body it has belonged to, sadly. Though to be fair; if it had still been 'alive' I would not have dared touch it! :-D

The Børvasstindan mountain range lies on the mainland but is very visible from the Straumøya island too. Many of the peaks here reach more than 1,000 metres a.s.l. There are trails leading to the top of several of them, as well as hiking trails in the vally between them and in the areas leading up to them. I have hiked a trail that comes from the south and ends up on 'this' side of the range after passing through the valley between the two rows of peaks, and it was Absolutely Awesome. Next summer I will do it again, this year I arrived too late for it to be a safe activity.

You'll just have to wait and see - I'll share the piccies one day :)

The last thing it saw - before today

This is the last thing my camera saw before it nearly died. In September, while still in the UK, I managed to damage my newly bought camera. In fact it was so damaged that when I took it back to the shop where I bought it (here in Norway), the guys said it might be beyond salvation and I might be better off buying a new one. However, God is good and seems to like visuals, so He made sure my camera could be fixed - and not only that, it happened at a lower rate than the estimate and while I waited the photo shop lend me a replacement camera for the duration of the reparation! Cost free, I might add.

All the photos you've seen here since mid-September have been taken with the replacement camera, which was an excellent Nikon of some sort. Today, however, I picked up my own camera again (Canon EOS450D). And I was then able to transfer to the computer all the pictures that I thought I'd lost when it died (apparently, that is). My favourite was the last one recorded; the above shot of my niece Thea at a playground in Hyde Park late a September afternoon... She's 6 and started school this year; all very exciting.

So; now I have my own camera, and this weekend my dad is coming down. He and I are going on a little bit of a road trip, just the two of us. Expect more blog updates some time next week, if all goes well :-D

The view from my window

I realise it can be a bit boring with lots of sunset images. But this is what it looks like just outside my window right now, one view towards the harbour and the other one above the block below mine. Not photoshopped or anything. Boy, I love autumn!


I promise I will not start blogging every beautiful sunset I see. It was just this one, right now, I thought I'd show you. I work a lot of nights this week so I don't see to many sunrises, but fortunately I'm up a long time before the sun sets. (I swap between two jobs at the moment and they keep me well busy, which is good, as I'm planning a visit to the UK in January or so.)

Regular Afternoon - Extraordinary Light

3:30pm/15.30 - It has been a day with no rain, but clouds have covered the sky and as a result it appears to be darker than it really has to be. Around the time of sunset, however, I can notice a bright stripe or two on the western sky. There's a crack in the clouds, and in between the dark clouds there's a hint of light. And I wonder what's next.

I'm typing on my computer and doing various work while the light slowly changes outside. Nearly an hour later I look out again. The crack between the clouds has changed place, the sun has set and the colours have turned more intense. The pink reflects light from a sun that is already below the horizon, and it's gloriously beautiful. Clouds get a pink-golden lining and it is as if a visual silence creeps up on my city, a benign presence of coloured light before the day is over.

This picture, as the other two above, was taken from my veranda. I have a veranda on the side of my flat that faces west, so I get to see sunsets nearly every time there is one. There isn't always - at the end of this month the sun will not rise above the horizon and we will subsequently not see it until the early days of January. Anyway. The picture above shows the rooftop of the block of flats that lies next to/below mine, and one of the clouds that was coloured by the setting sun. It was amazing; even the seagulls went quiet during this beautiful transition.

I'm so glad I'm living here.