Starting our expedition up to Svalbard, Norway, spending the morning in transit sailing north across the Skagerrak, a strait running between the southeast coast of Norway and Sweden, famous for its mackerel and herring fishing. Mid-day the waves and breeze kick up, as we enjoy the open ocean scenery, spotting fulmars and gannets flying just above the cresting waves. We also spot the ferry boats carrying passengers back and forth from Norway and Denmark. Along the way our natural history staff is introduced and right after lunch we host our first photo talk with break-out sessions, a great way to help our guests prepare their cameras for the upcoming expedition.
We continue heading towards our afternoon landing spot, the small southern Norwegian fishing village on Hidra, called Kirkehamn, on the largest island in the county of Vest-Agder. Once we are cleared to land, we take the Zodiacs in and make our first landing into this quaint and sleepy fishing village. The overcast skies break and allow warm sunshine to illuminate our landscape compositions. Along the shore we see the old and modern fishing receiving stations sitting idle on this Sunday afternoon, where fishing boats still come in and drop off their catch.
The village is an old Norwegian fishing and farming community, with a couple hundred inhabitants. The village is surrounded by tall slopes of oak trees, heather, and flowering yellow primrose. We are in the northernmost region of the Europe’s rich vegetation Nemoral zone, comprised of oak and maple trees, lacking the well-known boreal species such as Norwegian spruce and gray alder trees. During our early summer walking tour, we see flowers everywhere in bloom; tulips, lilacs, and azaleas.
The Flekkefjord landscape is protected by the Norwegian government, since it represents a successful recovery program bringing back the old heathland heather, accomplished during the last ten years by diligent and persistent burning and sheep grazing land management techniques started in 2005.
In the center of the village, we visit Kirkehamn, “Church Harbor,” a small quaint Lutheran church. Today, many of the small wooden houses painted white are owned by city people who have made their money in the successful Norwegian oil industry, commuting over the mountains from Stavanger, Norway’s oil capital city.
Our landing has been a great way to stretch our legs, and enjoy this special Nordic way of life. It’s quiet, tranquil, and enjoyed by all. Just before returning to National Geographic Explorer, our Norwegian hosts at the landing site have prepared hot coffee and rich vanilla cakes.
This landing is a contrast, green and lush, to what we will encounter in Svalbard, ice and snow.
