Snowing in Hagan

Much later than expected the snow eventually has started falling in Harstad... and it doesn't seem to want to stop now!
We went for a lovely walk in Folk Park near Harstad centre today which looks very Christmassy with all the snow and hidden Christmas trees too!
Snow in Papay when it rarely falls disappears almost as quickly as it arrives with temperatures mostly above freezing so we aren't used to thick coverings of it and as a result we turn in to big kids! Unlike kids though we do get cold, it does hurt to fall over and we appreciate the snow most from the warmth inside the boat!
Here is a few photo's and videos from our wanderings today!

Snow falling in Hagan marina

Over night the whole area is covered in a blanket of snow, pavements and roads merge in to one

Snow replaces leaves, creating Christmas card like scenes

One of the many Christmas decorations around Harstad, this particular one is a metal tree covered in lights (Good idea for Papay!)

Walrus feeling at home in the snow

Think he has seen us!!

Amazing military vessels in the town centre 

Top speed of around 60knots, catch most things on the water! 

 Town centre berths are rather exposed in a north wind, glad we are in Hagan!

Main town Christmas tree

Skiing, BBQ spots and great walks: Folk Park

Little Christmas tree in Folk Park

Not many people around today, we did bump in to this pair though! 

Frozen Lake in the fading light around 1pm

 Early evening blizzard, filmed from inside... We don't plan to venture out in to this one!!

Shopping, Brodders and smelly fish

We can't quite believe we have been back for almost a week, it is funny how quickly the... how can I put it... "quirks" of living aboard become normality again, like the lack of decent bed, digging in lockers for clothes and just about everything other, donning jackets and hats for the walk across the icy car park to the clubhouse for an early morning shower. I'm painting them in a much worse light than need be, we honestly don't think twice about it after being back aboard for more than a few hours. 

Northern Lights in Bjarkoy

We were both really pleased to have got in a little excursion to nearby island Bjarkoy and spend a few nights there, we had never thought we would have the weather to get out and around at this time of year, being the only leisure boat around too makes it all the more special. We took note on our journey back of a few possible fishing grounds and hope to exploit that as much as possible too over the coming weeks, its cod season in Northern Norway and free food is always good! The disadvantage of fishing is the cooking, cooking fish in such a small area as the boat as we have learnt very well from previous experience gives the boat an interesting odour, I've never noticed "Febreeze: Fish Room Spray" before, but hey I might be on to a winner, don't pinch my idea Febreeze!! Nonetheless the smell really hangs about, so we in general try to bbq fish which might be more tricky at this time of year... We have been kindly allowed use of the clubroom for cooking, but don't plan to subject them to that either! 

If only you could see us now, we are sprightly skipping through the icy paths with all the agility of a nimble mountain goat! Well, not quiet, but we have managed to half our time on the "commute" to Harstad now we have Brodders (spikes on the bottom of our shoes), we are a little concerned on there durability but while they last they certainly are helping! 

Watching from the warmth of the wheelhouse today we saw some of the boat club guys set up some Christmas lights, looks great! Christmas has certainly reached the shops too with Christmas decorations on sale in ever window, something we have never seen before is Christmas lights designed to be hung from flagpoles... It would be fair to say that almost ever house and many businesses have a flagpole outside and proudly fly the Norwegian flag so its no wonder that these lights are popular, I doubt you could sell more than a handful in the UK though! 

Christmas decorations at sea, a coloured water spray

Shops here are preparing for Black Friday sales, I doubt we will be seeing the insane crowd sizes like in America though, presuming that to be the case we will likely make our way in to town tomorrow. I'm afraid we aren't really chasing any bargains; no room for a 65 inch tv but just buying a few cans of chopped tomatoes and a packet of chips for the weekend! 

Christmas lights at the Marina

A few hours well spent in Harstad Library

Shopping in Norway is quite different to what we are used with in the UK, and for this comparison sake I'm going to use the mainland UK (Papay Co-op is too special to compare!). The main supermarkets like Rema 1000, Coop, Kiwi etc which I guess are the equivalent of a Tesco, Coop or Asda don't sell the same kinds of things. Supermarkets here are grocery stores, there will be maybe one or two (literally) electronic items which tends to be maybe a food processor and a vaccum, if you want the kind of electronics you would usually buy in a British supermarket you have to go to an electronic store. They really are about groceries here, with the exception of lightbulbs and wool... I'm not sure why but they all seem to stock an amazingly large selection of wool. Plastic bags like in Scotland are bought for the equivalent of 10p and are actually very thick and last a lot of shops. Alcohol over 5% as mentioned before are only sold in the state run liquor stores, so last minute bottles of wine etc are out of the question. Shops are generally closed on Sundays with the exception of some of the much smaller grocery stores. Everything we have bought here has been very tasty, own brand produce is great quality and most things seem to avoid the high numbers of added E numbers etc you find in a lot of the food in the UK. Having been here now for so many months we have got used to these changes in shopping habits and actually found it strange being back in the UK shops.
Beyond shopping though we still have a lot to learn and appreciate, bring it on! ☺

Winter Jaunt to Gammelhamn

We hadn't actually moved the boat in almost 7 weeks, funny how quickly the boat can begin to feel like a static home only reminded we are on the water by the very occasional wake or wave. The berth we are in in Harstad is so well sheltered, squeezed between two larger boats; our berth is protected from one side by land and the other by the 4 other pontoons of boats so we are spared the worst of the waves and wash, forgetting you are on a boat is easy.
With another calm morning we chose to take our little home out to sea, get back in to the swing of it! One of the highlights in Harstad as a winter berth for us is that it is surrounded by several of the lovely spots we investigated throughout summer, so as and when weather allows we might be able to revisit some of these again. 

With that in mind we got the boat ready, converting the lounge to wheelhouse again we started the engines in -1C, poor things ☃! Amazingly they started without too much trouble and soon warmed up to their usual temperatures, a quick walk to Rema 1000 for a few bites for the barbecue and we were ready to go. 

We had looked at the forecast and getting to Gammelhamn looked very possible without much uncomfortable seas, the area where the marina is in near Harstad is very sheltered from most directions of wind so can give a false sense of comfort. As we headed north of the point at Trondenes we were hit with a side sea which followed us the entire stretch to Gammelhamn, despite early in the journey there being no real wind we guess that getting calm seas at this time of year won't be as easy as we found in summer! 

Either way it was lovely to be back on the boat moving around, besides one or two working boats we were certainly the only pleasure boat around. The route to Gammelhamn from Harstad we have done a few times now, the causeway/bridge set up we had seen weeks ago when we last past has moved on a long way since then and looks not far from complete. The marina at Gammlehamn is very quiet only a few local boats remains most having been taken up for the winter, the shower/toilet block which is shared with the campsite is now left entirely to us too, can't say we blame people for not camping at this time of year! 

It still comes as a shock each day just how short the daylight hours are, the sun now only rising around 10.10am and setting around 1.10pm, makes moving in daylight hours more tricky, there is a reasonable amount of twilight though. As I write this its 2.15pm and there is still enough light to see by, I wouldn't fancy attempting to read a paper outside for many more minutes though, mind you at below zero I can't say I fancy reading a paper outside at all!!
We got to Gammelhamn in the last of the light and after tying up we threw a few extra layers on and headed off with bright torches to the BBQ hut in the hills, unfortunately despite being frequent visitors we don't seem to have mastered the art of actually finding the hut, in black dark that is not any easier! So after getting lost in the forest having taken a wrong turn off the path (we guess it wasn't a short cut after all!!) we could see with our torches the high point on the hill and using it as a marker along with a GPS coordinate on the phone we managed to find the hut! 

Disappearing in to the forest with a saw we found some already dead trees and hauled them back to cut up for burning, shortly after we were warming up enjoying a burger around the fire, excellent! 

Several hours and calories later it was time to get back to the boat. We seemed to find an easier route down the hill only stopping a few times to look at the merry dancers making it back to the boat around 10pm, well worth the jaunt out from Harstad. 
Today we are still in gammelhamn, we found another nice walk out of the village taking us to a little hut at a small lake, the lake frozen solid reflecting the last glimers of sunlight. We will probably head back to Harstad tomorrow during light hours if the weather allows. Our main agenda when we get back to Harstad is to hunt the various sporting shops for "Brodder" ie spikes for the bottom of our shoes... We have read that mostly younger people think they are for older people, but its easier on the boat look uncool than to try getting in to the bed with crutches...So Brodder here we come (albeit at a slow, slippery, unsteady rate!) 

It has been another beautiful day here today, we had been expecting some wind which with the already low temperatures can be pretty bracing, thankfully we managed a walk before the breeze arrived. 

Lovely sky colours at this time of year

Following the pathways, great area for walking

Something we had overlooked a little was that throughout the winter as soon as we get off the boat (or indeed on the boat..) we will be fighting with ice, after having both taken a wee trip already we are on the lookout to buy some spikes for the bottom of our shoes. walking like a penguin to the shower might soon be a thing of the past! Hopefully it will make exploring easier anyway, we have found the well walked forest and hill tracks to be lethal, spending more time holding on to trees or sliding on our bums, tourists eh!? 

After effects of studded tyres... icy car park

Despite the slippy ground we had a lovely walk today, we were earlier this year pointed in the direction of the Trondenes kirk but had ran out of time for going to it, so we made our way over the hill towards it. 

Trondenes kirk

Impressive old building

The Trondenes kirk is the most northernmost medieval kirk in Europe, completed around 1435 it's an impressive building, the church from what we read on the information boards has some extraordinary features due to the church having vast funds at the time. There are three German triptychs and an incredible pulpit, this kirk stands tall noticeable from the surrounding area. The area of Trondenes was of great religious importance between 1030-1500s. 

Religious history is just part of this areas past, within a stones through of the church there are remains from WW2, where a nazi prisoner of war camp stood between 1942-1945. The prisoners were from the Red army, Russian Soviet army. Captured during the summer of 1942 in Russia, the German army moved the POW to Norway to exploit as slave labour. The poor treatment of the POW saw many die during the winter months of 42-43, several young men died on a daily basis as a result of low food rations and ill treatment.

1200 POW at a time were held at the camp, living in basic plywood huts, surrounded by armed guards on watch towers and double layers or barbed wire fences. Through the war around 14000 of the 100000 soviet prisoners of war died, there was graves of some 403 of these at the kirk, but when the Cold War broke out the Norwegian authorities decided to move all soviet POW graves to one place and so there are only photographs as evidence.