Norway 2015
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We had wanted to do this trip for some years. Also we had at last come to the end of all major works on the house (after 15 years!) apart from re-plastering the walls and ceiling of the stairs. This was going to be very messy as the plaster and plaster-and-lathe walls were falling off and needed to be replaced. Richard, who had done some painting for us, said he could do it in November of 2015. We did not want to be at home during the process, as if we were it would mean a major clean up for Richard at the end of every day and dust would be every where; so we booked a holiday and gave Richard a key. Needless to say it took longer than expected and he had only just finished the plaster work when we returned; but I digress. We booked a package through Hurtigruten flying from Manchester to Bergen and then had 12 days on board the MS Richard With. We missed storm Desmond but made up for it on the voyage with several storms on our 12 days on-board and experienced hurricane force winds. We both felt very smug as neither of us suffered from sea-sickness, without the help of medication. We saw the northern lights although they were not as spectacular as when we saw them in the previous months from South Low. Some of the scenery however was stunning and it was nice to see some real snow in the period up to Christmas. We returned to a still-flooded Lyth Valley after storm Desmond; the A5074 was like a causeway to the house. But the house was dry apart from some minor ingress into the conservatory. Here are some holiday snaps and click HERE for a slide show. | ||||
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The Richard With |
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Trondheim |
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Trondheim |
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Trondheim |
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Trondheim |
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Trondheim |
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Torvik |
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en route |
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Fishing boat |
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Raising the Flag! |
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VLF station Novik |
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Eider |
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Finnsnes |
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Kirkenes |
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Kirkenes |
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Hammerfest |
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Hammerfest |
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Hammerfest |
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Jean at North Cape |
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Jean at North Cape |
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North Cape |
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Northern Lights
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The Novik VLF transmitterIt is not easy to find out much about the Novik VLF (very low frequency) transmitter facility, which is not surprising. It is a NATO facility to communicate with submerged submarines. It was (and perhaps still is) the largest/longest antenna in the world stretched between two mountains over a Fjord and is 2.37 km long. You can just see the (actually huge!) insulators in the inset photo. |
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