Honningsvag and Nordkapp, Norway

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• published: 05 Oct 2015
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Drying racks abound for stock fish (cod) which dry all winter - the vast majority is exported, seems that the dry fish heads are exported to Nigeria for fish head soup (this year at least otherwise ground into meal). North Cape (NordKapp 71 degrees 10' 21") - the northern most point on mainland Europe. A small town of 3,000+ people which has seven months of winter and five months for the other three seasons. So far this year it has not been above sixty degrees, today (late July) it is about forty degrees with rain and a gusting wind of about 30MPH. There is one snow blower truck for each ten miles of road since the quantity of snow is immense and will last until the beginning of May; as of the end of July remnants still remain all over the landscape. This section of Norway outlawed whaling in 1895, regardless of the policy of the country itself. All building materials have to be imported since there are no trees and in fact basically there is little surface soil, the growing season is only about three months. The only trees that exist are the ones that people plant in their yards but the care is extreme since in the winter they must be heavily wrapped in burlap to protect against the cold and wind and in the summer wrapped in barbed wire otherwise the reindeer that roam all over including the local towns, would eat them. Norway has about 180K reindeer, more than can be supported so they are slowing decreasing the herds to about 100K here on this island the population itself is about 5K. On this island they are transported via barge (yes, most are owned and have tags on them) in the springtime- the young ones can't make the several mile trip swimming from the mainland but in the fall all are bigger and they all swim back for winter on the mainland. We stop off at a local Sami farm and see a reindeer up and close along with one of the Sami elders. Reindeer are not hunted so they have no fear of man although they generally will run if approached closer than fifty feet. Housing has been unearthed from 7,000 years ago, a time before the pyramids were built. Nothing like living in a place where 160 days a year it is slightly below freezing and 200 days a year when it averages just 15 degrees above freezing. This is the only place we have been except for Iceland where mosquitos do not exist. Snow fences also abound to disrupt the blowing of snow as the winds are extremely fierce during the winter. This part of Norway also has abundant bird life in the spring and summer due to the abundance of food and the location along the gulf steam current. The first road from Honningsvag to the North Cape was built in 1956; before that it was only accessible by boat or hiking trail (by car or bus it is a 45 minute ride). This road is like many others we have been on the width of two cars, so watch out as a truck or bus is coming the other way - find a pull off or backup as both cannot fit. Arriving at North Cape the wind has really cranked itself up as we scramble to get some photos in since at least there is not yet any fog. We are told by our guide that this is a typical day, most summer days are also foggy and of course after we get inside the exhibition building the fog comes in off of the mountains. Interesting exhibition and short movie about the area (lots of photos with the sun in them; a rare event in this area). Interesting tidbit that in this section of Norway, the mountains are all sandstone rock so thousands of years ago they reached height of 8,000 feet or so but since they are sandstone, during the winters, the moisture gets into the surface rock, freezes, avalanches happen and today the largest of the mountains is now only about 1,000 feet. Crime is almost non-existent; apparently the last known major crime was in 2005 when a stolen car was reported - afterwards it was discovered that a neighbor had just borrowed it for a few hours; No one locks their doors, keys are left in ignitions as everybody knows everybody... Fishing is the main industry here having recovered nicely from 1975 when the Bering Sea had effectively been completely emptied by the large European trawlers, it took almost 20 years to completely recover and now abundant supplies of all species thrive since the industry is highly regulated. Regardless of the day though, in the schools, all children must be outside for an hour a day, during the fall - spring, any glimpse of the sun will immediately rearrange the school calendar as everyone rushes out to bask in even the tiniest rays of the sun. Funny story is that during the polar nights, one can be disoriented especially during the holidays when the schools are out and many people are off work. Our guide told us that one year he took a nap, saw it was 5 o'clock on his watch and went to his neighbor’s house and started banging on his door when the doorbell was not answered. When his neighbor came to the door and started yelling, only then did he realize that his nap had lasted a b