Tag Archives: Tufjordhøyda

Today we explore the Northkapphallen (North Cape Vistors Center), starting with the photographic star of the show, the North Cape Globe. You’ll have to get close and wait for a break between selfies to get a shot of this sculpture without people in it. And even then, expect to get heads bobbing along the bottom of the photo:

Nearby is the visitors center, (Nordkapphallen) which includes a wonderful gift shop with reasonable pricing as well as a museum of sorts that extends far underground. At the gift shop do yourself a favor and pick up a hat, jacket, or other article of clothing with the 71º 10′ 21″ N logo on it. You’ll kick yourself later if you skip the chance.

Back outside we started slowly trekking back to the bus. Some people get here by other methods of transportation, including bicycles and cars. But a select few really know how to travel in style, such as whoever arrived in this Airbus (formerly Eurocopter) AS350. The registration prefix is LN (Norway), followed by the letters O (helicopter) and GZ (the unique part of the registration)

A short distance to the southeast of the visitors center is a monument to Children of the World: (another view of this in this week’s upcoming Fun Photo Friday):

For detailed information on this destination, options to get there, lodging and dining alternatives, and things to do here, let me suggest you visit: Nordkapp (North Cape): The Ultimate Travel Guide 2023.

Слава Україні! (Slava Ukraini!)

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!)