winifredcreamer

Community in Kjerstad

Tjeldoya Island looks deceptively empty. On the day we drove to Lodingen we were on the opposite side of the fjord and Amanda pointed out that there are many houses on the shore of Tjeldoya that you don’t see from the narrow road where one driver often has to pull over when two vehicles meet.Continue reading “Community in Kjerstad”

Prehistory on Tjeldøya

Walking along the furrows of a plowed field after a rain is the best way to find artifacts, and there have been archaeological finds from Neolithic (Stone Age) farmers along the north side of Tjeldoya. There are photos of stone axes and spear points in the “Tjeldsund” booklet I mentioned in the last post. AContinue reading “Prehistory on Tjeldøya”

Walking through History on Hovsveien

Using the magic of the internet I found, “Tjelsundet: A Channel Through the Ages,” a guide to Hovsveien, an ancient road along the north side of Tjeldoya Island. This 2 km section is open for walking, set up with trail markers and some informational signs. You can see the roadbed pressed into the landscape. AlongContinue reading “Walking through History on Hovsveien”

The High-Noon Birding Society

Jonathan and I like to watch birds. We do not like to get up before dawn, as I believe diehard birders do. We therefore watch birds when we are out, often in the middle of the day. Our High-Noon Birding Society has had darn good luck, and I recommend others to start their own branch.Continue reading “The High-Noon Birding Society”

A Whirl Through Scandinavia: 3 countries in one day

Paula said, “Have you thought about going to Finland? It’s not that far.” (Ha Ha Ha) “Why not?” we replied. We decided to go to Finland on Tuesday as long as Jonathan didn’t stay up all night looking at the summer solstice on Monday. He did take photos at 2 am and 6 am, butContinue reading “A Whirl Through Scandinavia: 3 countries in one day”

The North Norway Music Festival

June 18-25 is the annual music festival in Harstad, held during the week of Midsummer Eve (June 21). We went to Harstad for the opening ceremony, which made a rainy day a lot of fun. We heard from Norway’s Minister of Culture, Linda Cathrine Hofstad Helleland, then the crowd was conducted to a nearby plazaContinue reading “The North Norway Music Festival”

Iron and War

How much we learned in school! How little that was! Like most Americans, I know nothing of the history of Norway other than a general sense of it being politically neutral in general (probably confusing it with Sweden). We’ve discovered that our area was central to the German invasion and occupation of Norway, 1940-1944. ThisContinue reading “Iron and War”

Recycling is a mystery

Norway has a system for recycling food waste, paper, glass, metal, plastic packaging, other plastic and everything else (“residual waste”). Sounds great, doesn’t it? The resulting system is so complex that: a) after two weeks, I still don’t know what goes in the green-topped bin vs. the blue-topped bin, and b) it appears that mostContinue reading “Recycling is a mystery”

History, arts and culture–if this is the result of high taxes, give me some.

At the end of the road on Tjeldoya Island (and that is saying something) we parked, got out to fish and amid the ruined bunkers of the WWII Fort Tjeldodden we found Georg’s Plass, a picnic spot complete with tables, benches, fire pit, tripod and cooking vessel, dishes, cups and other supplies in a settingContinue reading “History, arts and culture–if this is the result of high taxes, give me some.”

Fishing

A great day of fishing, everyone caught fish and had to toss them back. We kept enough fish for two meals, one of pollock. My big moment was catching a cod, the first fish other than a pollock (seithe) that we’ve gotten. The wind had come up a bitContinue reading “Fishing”