The Far North of Norway
Thought for the day…”Freedom means the opportunity to be what we never thought we would be.”
“We all have ability. The difference is how we use it.”
Two more photos from the far north of Norway (70 degrees north). At this time of year, there is 24 hours of daylight, as the sun never goes below the horizon. Whilst the Norwegians may get excited about having 24 hours of daylight, it is not in fact very useful, because you still have to sleep. And the other side of the coin is that in winter it has 24 hours of darkness (the so-called ‘eternal night’) so it must be extremely depressing then. Seen here in the photo is one of the many cruise ships which visit at this time of year, this one the ‘Mein Schiff’ from TUI Cruises. Built in Finland at a cost of some 360 million euros, it carries around 2500 passengers, so is much smaller than the 6000+ passenger ships that cruise the Caribbean. Seen here in Honningsvag, Finnmark, Norway.
and another photo….Mehamn in the far north of Norway
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KFC goes into space
Thought for the day…” Do not watch the clock, do what it does…keep going”
“You can’t expect to hit the jackpot if you don’t put a few nickels in the machine.”
Saw an interesting story in the news recently about KFC, who are going to send one of their ‘Zinger Burger’ chicken sandwiches into space, through a company called World View. The project is partly being finance by KFC. So it will be interesting to see the effects of zero gravity and no oxygen on the burger. Of course, KFC will be posting the details on their webpages live. Not that KFC are first with their idea, previously a pie company has sent one of its meat pies into space to space to study the effects of space on it. Interesting, that ‘launch’ took place from outside a pub in northern England !!
Today’s photo comes from 70 degrees north, in Finnmark province at the top of Norway. The reindeer are easy to spot at this time of year, especially as they come near the towns lower down to feed on spring grass. The photo was taken hand-held using the Fuji X-T20 and Fuji 100-400mm lens.
and another photo….a cross country train starts it trip from Penzance, Cornwall, England
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Money well spent, or not ???
Thought for the day…” Hope but never expect, Look forward but never wait”
“Obstacles are those frightful things that you see when you take your mind off your goal” (Henry Ford)
The waterfront of the Norwegian capital, Oslo is changing fast. Currently it is a mass of cranes and building sites. A photo from yesterday taken in perfect weather and warm temperatures, showing just how much building is going on. The white building on the right is the Opera House, which was completed in 2007, supposedly based on an iceberg shape. The exterior is covered with Italian marble, Carrara marble. This is an odd choice to use, as the architects had perhaps not read about the problems that this same type of marble had when it was used for the Finlandia concert hall in Helsinki. Whilst Italian marble may be very suitable for use in the Mediterranean, it does not handle the extreme cold temperatures of Scandinavia well. Much of the marble used in Helsinki on the Finlandia Hall had to be replaced, so it is interesting to see it used in Oslo, which has a similar climate. Time will tell ! The cost of the Opera House in Oslo was over 4 BILLION Norwegian kronor, or over USD 700 million. Would this money have been better spent on a new medical centre??
and another photo showing the whole building….
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Norway duo – the Fuji X-T10 camera at work
Thought for the day….”If we were meant to stay in one place then we would have roots instead of feet’
“Holding on to anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die’ (Buddha)
The photo today comes from Svolvaer, the ‘capital’ of the Lofoten Islands in Norway. About 4500 people live in this town which was built on cod fishing. Nowadays, summer tourism is very important with about 200 000 tourists visiting each year. It is served by ferries from Bodo on the mainland and also by a regional airport. Day trips operate from here to the nearby Trollfjord and also Rafsundet. Being Norway, everything is VERY VERY expensive, making a holiday here a costly trip. When a Norwegian is asked to name something that is cheap in Norway, they usually struggle to think of ANYTHING that is cheap. The words ‘cheap’ and ‘Norway’ do not go together.
and another photo…..the very small village of Urke in the Norwegian fjords. Both of the photos today were taken as jpegs using the Fuji X-T10 camera.
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Two from the opposite ends of Norway
Thought for the day…..”If you cannot do great things then do small things in a great way”
“Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations”.
So the crazy ‘security’ people in the good old USA have now decided that the humble Kindle e-book reader cannot be taken onboard flights from certain countries, nor a laptop, digital camera or tablet. Yet people flying from some other countries CAN take the exact same items. Just another sign of how stupid the USA has become. And I am even more surprised that the travelling public in the USA is putting up with more and more of this nonsense. Nothing to do with security, just a way for the Department of Homeland ‘Security’ to exercise even more control over people, without making flying any safer. Even Australia is now making the use of the naked body scanners compulsory, with no opt-out option, yet another intrusion into personal privacy and personal rights. Based on these stupid, groundless ‘security’ procedures ( security scam would be another way to describe it) then I will continue to avoid the USA, UK and Australia. Airport procedures now are beyond reasonable.
A photo of the west Norwegian city of Bergen, taken from Mt. Floyen in perfect light. Again great colours from the Fuji camera, taken as a jpeg.
and another photo….the fishing town of Vardo, Norway. This is the easternmost town in Norway, and actually lies further East then Istanbul or Kiev !! One of the town’s slogans is ‘Eternal light, Eternal Night’, which is a reference to the 24 hours of constant daylight during summer, and the 24 hours of constant darkness during Winter. The Russian border is only a few km away across the bay.
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Buying local – the advantages
Thought for the day….”It’s better to be a lion for a day than a sheep all your life.”
“A certain amount of opposition is a great help to a man. Kites rise against, not with, the wind.”
There was a time in my younger days when I would spend hours looking for the cheapest price. Getting something for the cheapest price was the target, and an important one. But gradually I have come around to looking at VALUE, rather than price. I have just had delivery of my new camera. I know that I could have ordered it online cheaper, but because my local photo shop (Photo & Video International, Christchurch, New Zealand) has given me such great service, then it was an automatic and easy decision to order from them. True, I may have paid more for the camera, but when I need help or advice, the dealer will be there, and will be only too happy to help, even if there is no direct profit in it for him. Not only that, but it makes trading much more friendly. And it is good to know that when I need some extra bits, that he will supply them, even if there is little or no profit in it for the shop. Previously I would have gone for the cheapest, but the value of personal customer service from a shop cannot be measured in money terms. The best part is that at the end of the transaction, that both the buyer and the seller come away feeling satisfied and happy. Too many negative experiences with online ‘shops’ located in far off places, who once they have sold you something, do not want to hear from you again. Long live the friendly local shop !!!
And a couple more photos from the old camera…….
and another photo from the archives….the Finnish capital of Helsinki
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Overcrowded and full, New Zealand
Thought for the day..”There are many ways of going forward, but only one way of standing still.”
“Some people are so afraid to die that they never begin to live.”
New Zealand continues to be overrun with tourists. Whilst the tourist board seems to think that ever increasing numbers of tourists are a wonderful thing, those people who are in New Zealand are now seeing the effects over too many tourists. Accommodation is full in many places, cafes are packed out, roads are busier than they have ever been (=more accidents) and the national parks and nature are suffering (and suffering is the word) from the onslaught. And there is no end in sight. Airlines are putting on more and more flights (particularly from China) and are upping frequencies. Trying to get reservations for accommodation at the moment is a nightmare and the once quiet country is now far from quiet and unspoilt.
The number of tourists has now passed 3.42 million a year, (population of NZ is about 4.7 million), and is growing by over 10%. So the overcrowding at the popular tourists sights is becoming serious. This also means that the nature and wildlife is suffering too. Imagine driving into Milford Sound (which is in a national park) and arriving before 0900 only to find that ALL parking was already full and that officials were telling arriving motorists to turn around and drive out again.
And the worst part…..there is no end in sight. Quiet, peaceful and quaint it might once have been. Not now.
Today’s photo comes from the Old Town in Bergen, Norway. It started out as a quick snapshot in colour, and was converted to B&W. Just lucky that there was somebody in the sunlight in the ideal position. Another reason why it is good to always have the camera ready.
and another photo from the archives…..sunset over Norway from an aircraft window…..
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What is on his mind ? Thoughts and expressions…
Thought for the day….” When ‘I’ is replaced with ‘We’ then even illness becomes wellness”.
“Nobody can do everything, but everyone can do something”.
People photos are always interesting, and here is another from the collection. Despite being well known for fantastic colours, the Fuji X series of cameras also produces great Black & White pictures too. BW really suits this portrait well, and the neutral expression on the man’s face was perfect. A series of photos was taken to get one where he looked at the camera at the right moment. The focus point was set on his eyes. We can only speculate what was on his mind when the photo was taken……
and a photo from 2015, Alesund in Norway.
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Overloaded, inconsiderate airline passengers.
Thought for the day….”Without dreams there is nothing to love. And without love, there is nothing worth dreaming about.”
Just had a domestic flight in Norway (on Norwegian airline) and once again, there was absolutely NO control over the number of carry-on bags that people were taking onboard, nor was there any control over the size of these bags. It seems to be the rule now that if you can drag them (plural, as many people seem to be taking more than one bag now) then that is ok. And even if the bags are too heavy for the people to lift then they are expecting the cabin crews to lift these overweight bags for them. Not only that, but again today, inconsiderate people were trying to ram my bag with the force equivalent to a garbage compactor until their oversized bags would fit. Why are airlines not enforcing the carry-on rules like they used to?? And with the new, higher density aircraft now (more seats squeezed in, but the same amount of lockers for baggage) then this problem will only get worse. Airlines that charge for check-in (hold) luggage are also making the problem worse, as now more people will try and drag 2 or 3 pieces of luggage onboard. But the word is consideration, something that was missing with a lot of the Norwegian passengers onboard DY761 today, and respect for other people’s property.
Some New Zealand humour….a sign outside a pub in Picton, New Zealand.
and another photo from the archives…..the national airline of Portugal arriving in Funchal, Madeira.
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Thought for the day….”Learn to appreciate everything that you HAVE, before time makes you appreciate what you HAD”
“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently” (Henry Ford).
What a wonderful story in the news in the last few days….in Wigan, England before the annual ‘World Pie Eating championships’, a meat pie was launched into space to see if the effects of space would make it easier to eat. The pie was attached to a weather balloon, and reached almost 100 000 feet. What is nice is that the launch site was outside a local pub in Wigan. The makers of the pie were happy to see their pies tested in space, and the ‘experiment’ was monitored using a camera attached to the balloon. During the World Pie Eating championships in 2007, the competition was almost ruined when a dog belonging to one of the competitors ate 20 pies and damaged another 10 pies before the competition started, thus leaving the competion short of pies.
The view from Floyen in Bergen, Norway for the photo today…
and another photo….again from Norway but this time Hjorundfjord.
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