Shots from the vault: Back in 2009, I had just completed my cycle ride from London to Nordkapp in Norway, some 2.5k miles away. Following completion of this journey, I took a ferry from Honningsvåg to Hammerfest, where I spent these evening before heading on to Tromsø the following morning. I was treated to a spectacular light show that evening as the sun bounced along the horizon. Being north of the Arctic Circle and mid-summer, the sun never dropped below this level.
A sky full of clouds.
After crossing Europe on my bicycle in 2009, I took the Hurtigruten ferry from Honningsvåg (and the North Cape) to Tromsø. I was only on the ferry for a day but the landscape in mid summer was stunning. As we were north of the Arctic Circle, we did not lose the light. The shot above was take somewhere in the archipelago around 10pm.
I aim to return in the winter, when the landscape is covered in snow and under the Aurora Borealis.
Today, I was extremely fortunate to speak with some of the extremely lovely people at Innovation Norway. A friend and former colleague of mine from Head London, John Parnell, put me in touch with Heidi and Christine at Innovation Norway, who are part of the team responsible for amongst other things, the excellent Norwegian tourism website, www.visitnorway.com and also a WordPress blog for Visit Norway.
After discussing my trip, Christine placed me in touch with Knut, who runs the Tourism office in Tromso. Together, they have been able to shed more light and help me more in one day than a week of internet trawling and book reading. Christine has been sending me lots of useful advice about where to go and what to see. I hope to visit Sámi Adventures, which is hope to spend some time with some indigenous Sámi people and envelop myself in the Sámi culture. Christine also recommended that I stop in Kautokeino and visit Juhls’ Silver Gallery.
My aim is to meet as many locals as possible and gather a better understanding of the Norwegian and Sámi culture. I only hope my photographs due justice to them.
The icing on the cake was Christine’s very kind offer on behalf on Innovation Norway, to help me on the return leg of my charity cycle ride, by sponsoring my flight home. So, here’s to you all at the Innovation Norway, thank you so much for all your help and generosity.
Here are some useful Norwegian websites for the northern region of the country:
www.visitnorway.com/uk – Innovation Norway’s comprehensive website
www.visitnorthcape.com –Finnmark Tourist Information website
www.visittromso.no – Visit Tromsø’s website
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kautokeino – Wikipedia information
All Terrain Photography 