Kirkehamn, Norway
Our first day in Norway was spent in a small and picturesque town in Kirkehamn, close to Flekkefjord. As the name tells (church harbor), one of the main buildings in the town is the 150-year-old church. This church can be seen from far out at sea, and has been a landmark for sailors for hundreds of years. Today’s church replaced the old one built in 1619, but there has been a church in this place since 1348. Money for restoring the church was given by a Norwegian-American some years ago, so today it is in exceptionally good shape. The village is surrounded by beautiful hills with grazing sheep. Up on the hills there were remnants of a cannon-battery from WWII, with a great view of the village and the surroundings. We also went to the local icehouse where they pack fish caught by local fishermen. The old icehouse, circa 1800, was turned in to a coffee shop, and what an amazing sight! You could really feel the history of the place the moment you entered through the door, and it had a great exhibit of old fisherman’s equipment. Back on the Endeavour we decided to take Zodiacs through a nice channel-passage while the mother ship went around to the other side of the island. On this trip we were suddenly surprised by two Vikings, that were armed with cacao and whiskey. To avoid plunder and worse, we each had to finish our cup of cacao, which was actually quite good, as there was a little bit rain. At the end of the day we had a small kayak trip, so that people would have training for the next time when we are really going for a kayak-expedition. For nature-life, we had the best day so far. We have seen, in total, over 50 species of birds, and we also saw a mink. The mink is actually a mammal imported from the North America for fur production, but have escaped and have become wild in Norway.
Our first day in Norway was spent in a small and picturesque town in Kirkehamn, close to Flekkefjord. As the name tells (church harbor), one of the main buildings in the town is the 150-year-old church. This church can be seen from far out at sea, and has been a landmark for sailors for hundreds of years. Today’s church replaced the old one built in 1619, but there has been a church in this place since 1348. Money for restoring the church was given by a Norwegian-American some years ago, so today it is in exceptionally good shape. The village is surrounded by beautiful hills with grazing sheep. Up on the hills there were remnants of a cannon-battery from WWII, with a great view of the village and the surroundings. We also went to the local icehouse where they pack fish caught by local fishermen. The old icehouse, circa 1800, was turned in to a coffee shop, and what an amazing sight! You could really feel the history of the place the moment you entered through the door, and it had a great exhibit of old fisherman’s equipment. Back on the Endeavour we decided to take Zodiacs through a nice channel-passage while the mother ship went around to the other side of the island. On this trip we were suddenly surprised by two Vikings, that were armed with cacao and whiskey. To avoid plunder and worse, we each had to finish our cup of cacao, which was actually quite good, as there was a little bit rain. At the end of the day we had a small kayak trip, so that people would have training for the next time when we are really going for a kayak-expedition. For nature-life, we had the best day so far. We have seen, in total, over 50 species of birds, and we also saw a mink. The mink is actually a mammal imported from the North America for fur production, but have escaped and have become wild in Norway.
