Time keeps slipping trough our fingers, as Abba sings. From everlasting darkness to eternal daylight, from fresh snowflakes to rays of sunshine, from silver mountains to deep green rocks, 6 months is nothing for the clock yet everything for the planet. Winter, spring, and summer, all circled in these months whilst I spent my time in one of the most unique places in the world, Skarsvag village. It is a strange thing that most people do not know about the existence of this picture perfect place, yet everyone knows its neighbour, the one and only North Cape. It is understandable that people want to visit the almost northernmost point of Europe, just a cliff away from the real northernmost neighbour; Knivskjellodden. But this trip cannot be completed without a visit to the noerthernmost village in Norway, hiding at the end of Norway with its 50 residents; Skarsvag. The end of Norway and the beginning of your adventure, that is how we like to describe our tourism center where I worked, from where we organized all kinds of adventurous for any kind of life-enjoyer.
Besides being Norways northernmost village, it is also the village closest to the North Cape and, my personal favourite; the northernmost fishing village in the world. This is a title we could claim as we are the northernmost fishing village that distributes their fish and is reachable by main road. So, long story short, this small village is a very interesting little corner of the island, and so it was the location of my adventurous job. Every day looked a little different if not totally, as we fulfill several dreams for our visitors. From spotting majestic whales to giving people the opportunity to finally photograph a puffin, to see the famous north cape from the ocean, to hike up the north cape over the old trail the kings and queens hiked upon, or private fishing trips so one could try to catch their dream-monsters in the magnificent fjord or open ocean. From holding a living king crab to trying this fancy delicacy amongst more fresh seafood, from organized walks trough this unique village to hear all its stories, or VIP trips over the island that promise you to see the best and the best only of Mageroya island.
One of my most memorable memories I, lucky as I was, got to share with my parents who happened to be visiting me that day. It was one of these very rare, gorgeous blue-sky days with a very decently heated up sun and zero clouds hanging around. The water was a peaceful flat, crystal clear surface showing us emerald green colors and tons of fishy life beneath it. As we sailed by the foot of the majestic fjords that make you feel extremely humble, the mushy tops of these rocks presented one of their greatest treasures to us; the white tailed eagle. This poor big bastard however, cannot live in peace even in this remote arctic corner of the world. This so called king of the mountains has a one sided battle with the one and only bird that will easily live in any kind of environment; the seagull. The slight problem with seagulls is how intolerant they are towards anything else that has a heartbeat. Especially in the breeding seasons, which in their opinion is the whole year around. They do not like the powerful eagle hanging around “their” mountain, so the second this beautiful bird spreads its massive wings and lets its feathers catch the ocean breeze to quietly float off; trouble begins. The seagulls start coming out of every possible corner, screaming to their teammates to gather the gang and stalk the eagle, to chase him off until he finds a place to sit still which is tolerable for the seagulls. So much for being the king of the ocean.
Maybe the next wildlife we would spot would be the actual kings, but first some more insane natural beauty that only the wild arctic could shape. Rocks shaped like sharpened knives by winds that easily reach up to a 100 kilometers per hour, salty waves with a temperature of 3 degrees and a length of upto 5 meters, sunshine that hardly shows for 8 months yet then shines upon them for 4 months straight. It seems that the more extreme nature behaves, the more spectacular artworks it creates. As we were leaving the fjords, off to the open ocean, our rib boat started to show off its speed, which is proper. Proper enough to tear up your eyes and throw back your hair to whomever sits behind yours face, and proper enough to feel the butterflies in your belly as the boat skips a beat sometimes and flies in the air rather than on the water.
Before entering the wild open ocean we had to stop at the most beautiful highlight on the way; Hornvika. Hornvika is a rock that, again, is shaped like a knife, only this time its massive enough and strange enough to serve as what the sailors hoped was China. It wasn’t, they were quite far off, but it did help them discover the North cape many many centuries back in time. As it feels as if the rock is about to make a perfect drop onto your head, it is actually the secret gateaay into Hornvikas fjord. A beautiful fjord, so quiet and still, even the waves cant reach into it. Therefore the water is all the more straight and clear here, like a pure emerald. The green mountain behind it (white for a proper 9 months per year) shows the centuries old pathway zigzagging its way up to the north cape. At its feet however, the true pearls of whats already a pearly pearl, the old office building. It has been there for centuries, and used to be the start of the hike upon the cape, which was only for extreme adventurers who couldn’t resist the urge to make a rather dangerous sailing trip, or it was for the royalties, whom obviously did not walk up there, but were carried up “on a silver platter”.
Leaving behind this also surprisingly unknown landmark, we go on the exciting search party for the king crab nets, pointed out by orange floating flags who look a little bit sad and lost in the big open ocean. This is where our so called pots are dropped in the ocean, with stinky fish as delicious baith and fishermen visiting it every few days. Cause that is what king crab fishing is, patience and hard work, yet not a fulltime boat journey as you have to be patient and wait for the crabs to use their superman smell and find the pots. When pulling up these nets, which for us are small hobby nets but for the fishermen are heavy bastards that require cranes to pull them up, it is and always will be exciting to see whether or not one of these gigantic monsters is in there. a good catch can mean thousands of euros, but a bad day means a few days of zero income. exciting, and yes, dangerous as well when you have to master meters of waves and terrible winds in the darkness of, well, most of the year in the arctic. So it was now time to move on to the search for our beautiful, worshipped families of humpback whales that made the north cape area home, so home that you could even spot their sprays standing on top of the 330 meter high cliff. But today was no search at all. We could hear it all around, the power of the pressure as the water was pushed out of water and their massive shiny backs glid back into the ocean like a snake.
The second this happens, the whole world just stops. People stop speaking, the boat engine goes off, and its only the sound of the elsewhere quiet waters being pushed aside with force, leaving a beautiful circle behind, as their backs appear slowly yet disappear too quickly. These gorgeous animals are between 20 and 25 meters tall and don’t even ask me how many tons they weigh. All I can tell you is that the feeling of witnessing animals whose existence is so hard to believe even when you are faced with them, is beautiful. Its pure gratitude for being on this beautiful planets with all its mysterious wonders and it most definitely makes you want to live life better. It did not just stick with shiny black backs, it was an entire festival of massive tails sliding back into the water slowly as the whales played around, frightened the fish and hypnotized an entire boat, floating alone on the big ocean. These are the moments where I realize how grateful I am that Norway is such a big part of my life, having a career that allows you to enjoy nature like this and make unforgettable memories for people, creating experiences one of a kind, that is why I love my new job.
- Its an amazing life
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