Tag Archives: Norway

We’re now at our northernmost point in this excursion from Honningsvåg. We’ve reached the Nordkapphallen, otherwise known as the North Cape Vistors Center. We reached Nordkapphallen on 25 June 2022. So, just how north are we? The Arctic Circle is denoted on maps at 66º 34′ North, and Nordkapp reaches almost 5º beyond that — at 71º 10′ 21″ North. Since the summer solstice for 2022 began just the day before, we’re up here at a time during which the sun will not set again for another forty days, or on August 1. Our first view of Nordkapp was at a nearby outcropping upon which is a marker denoting the visit in 1873 of Swedish and Norwegian King Oscar II. This was at a time during which the Swedish and Norwegian monarchies were united (for more information see: Dissolution of the union between Sweden and Norway)

From this point look northeast for your first view of the North Cape Globe, which supposedly marks the northernmost point of Europe. In actuality, a rocky outcropping some 2.5 miles/4.2km to the west northwest is the true northernmost point.

Before we head over to the Nordkapp Visitor Center, let’s take in the views here at the Oscar II monument:

In the distance you can even see the true northernmost point:

But everyone loves cliffs and cervices, right?

Time to set out on foot for a closer look at the Northkapp Globe. The following photo was taken with a telephoto from the Oscar II memorial site:

Trekking over, you’ll come across this scene, which I also posted at the top of this article:

On Wednesday I’ll take you up close to the globe, inside the visitor center, and show you other sights here.

Слава Україні! (Slava Ukraini!)

Back when I was in the United States Air Force, I had a control tower chief who would routinely admonish us controllers that, “You can’t make chicken salad out of chicken guano.” Okay. I cleaned that up just a wee bit. He didn’t really use the word salad. (Got ya!) At any rate, as I mentioned in Monday’s article, red king crab is an invasive species in Norway that has the potential to devastate the fishing industry here. But at least some locals are trying to make Crab Louie Salad out of the situation, if you catch my drift.

We spent about fifteen minutes here observing red king crab. Here’s a she-crab up close:

And here’s what make this invasive species so prolific (note the sheer number of eggs she contained):

Red king crab is far from the only source of income here, however. Cod and other fish are also coveted. We are, after all, in the northernmost fishing village on the planet.

I’ll end today’s tour of Skarsvåg with a few more photos of the village:

Слава Україні! (Slava Ukraini!)

We got back on the tour bus and left Kamøyvær for another small village farther north, Skarsvåg. But before we would arrive there we would pass through a magical place called Tufjordhøyda. In English this is known as the Aurora Lights View Parking area, and the surrounding countryside makes this a worthy stop even in broad daylight with zero chance of seeing the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights). I posted the picture below at higher-than-normal resolution so that you can read the legend:

And if you want to know where we were, here’s a repeat of last Monday’s map. The location is marked as “Aurora Lights Viewing Area.”

And the views here are impressive:

The elevation also grants the visitor a magnificent view of the inlet to the northwest:

Back on the bus and a mere twelve minutes later we were in Skarsvåg. Skarsvåg’s claim to fame is that it is the northmost fishing village on the entire planet! Now far north? How about 71° 6′ 47″ North Latitude. As reference, that’s barely over 5º north of the Arctic Circle, which is at 66° 34″ North Latitude.

Here, in Skarsvåg, red king crab is an invasive species first discovered in this region in 1977. According to the locals, it was brought in the Murmansk Fjord in the late 1960s by Russians, who were looking to expand into the king crab industry. The resulting blight of king crabs has spread throughout the region, devastating fish stocks. So, apparently Ukraine isn’t the only invasion for which the Russians are responsible. At any rate, we visited a king crab operation right here in Skarsvåg:

I’ll show you more on how Skarsvåg is trying to capitalize on what is otherwise an ecological disaster on Wednesday’s article.

Слава Україні! (Slava Ukraini!)