It was pouring down when we woke again this morning so it was late start again today. It was also Joyce birthday so it was coffee in bed for the birthday girl. We made the most of the excellent facilities at the Toft marina got the van ready, by 10:30 the rain had pretty much gone off and we decided to check out the Salmon farm we were parked right next to. They are scattered all the way up the coast and this particular company Norsk Havbrukssenter has a visitor centre and guided tours available of the farm and research station. At 11am Kanut the owners son met us and walked and talked us around the farm. Theres lots of conflicting reports about the safety of farmed salmon consumption due to toxins and also antibiotics used to keep the fish in a "good" state of health. Also there are plenty of issues around salmon farms due to the detritus found below and around the farms. The industry is heavily regulated to try and prevent damage to the wider seas around these farms and also to regulate the amount and type of antibiotics used. Kanuts first question to us when we met him was "did you see the Panorama programme in the UK about Salmon farming"....we haven't but Scottish salmon is under the spot light just now due to problems in the industry, and his father was interviewed for the programme to see how Norway is (allegedly) doing it differently and why they don't have the same issues here. One of the main reasons is that Norwegian farming companies need to do case studies and prove that the environment around the farms won't be damaged before permission is granted, the waters around Norway are much much deeper so detritus build up does not happen (in the local area) as the stronger currents mean its dispersed and spread over a wider area-its arguable I suppose if this is better or worse but I can see the logic. It's a seriously controversial subject and many are against it at home and over here also. The tour was good however, we saw the fish, and the technology used to feed the fish, monitor their health, and the process involved in their slaughter. They are also researching cod farming as the bottom fell out this farming market in the the last 20 years, due to over investment, too many companies set up, the price of farmed cod fell to a level where it cost more to produce and farm than the sale price, many many companies went bankrupt. Personally I like salmon, we all need to eat and I hope that enough is being done to protect the environment and keep the fish healthy, and also ensure that "we" the consumer are healthy after eating the product. Only time will tell. After the fish farm we had a wander around the interactive centre explaining all about the industry. It was good and well presented.
After this we headed to the end of the road to visit Torghatten, it a curious little granite mountain that is a relic of times gone by when the sea level was a hundred or so meters higher, around10,000 years ago. Legend however has it that there was troll king (from Lofoten). He had 8 daughters who he was very proud and protective of, they were never allowed out as if they were out in daylight they would turn to stone. But the daughters plead with their father and he relented. The girls just wanted to dance in the moonlight and whilst doing so an evil troll saw and fell in love with the youngest of the sisters, they ran away from him until the eldest sister tired and stopped for a rest with all the sisters except the youngest called Leka who kept running, the evil troll continued to pursue Leka, and decided if he couldnt have her, then no one could, he fired an arrow at Leka. The arrow was intercepted by a hat thrown into the air by the King...the hat was pierced by the arrow and this is how the hole through the little mountain came to be......or something like that. Its quite a short walk up to its famous feature, there is a huge hole right through the middle of the hill. It was actually formed by ice and waves eroding away softer sediments and rock from both sides forming a natural arch, but its now left high and dry and was a worthwhile visit while in the area. We grabbed a quick lunch when we were here also and then got on the road. We weren't getting as far today as planned.
We headed on up to Horn to catch the ferry over to Anndalsvag on the Vevelstad peninsula, however unlike the ferries up till now which have been regular this only runs about every hour and a half so we had to wait about an hour for our crossing, this ruled out getting much further today. Not too much of a problem, the sun was out it was time for ice cream and we relaxed. Sadly while we were there the water ambulance came into the harbour very fast and eventually met up with a land ambulance. We suspect it was a deceased person that came off the boat was they were totally covered and there seemed no rush. It was just odd to see a boat with ambulance written on it, but when there are so many islands and remote areas its obvious that its the most cost efficient and relatively quick method of getting people in or out if a helicopter is either not available or not required. Finally the ferry arrived and we made the short crossing to Anndalsvag, we drove the short distance to the end of this wee bit road, me looking for the start point to climb a superb looking hill and Joyce looking for a parking spot. We are in a Bobil parking area which has a stunning location, but sadly its not close enough to the mountain for me to climb it. We visited another site of ancient stone engravings, these ones are 5000 years old and easier to make out on the rock, we also enquired about the ferry time off this bit land but it wasn't until 7:15pm so that was too late, we will be on an early one tomorrow and now realise that the ferry's up here are less frequent and we need to watch that to make good progress.
Tea was some of the salmon Rune had given us a couple of nights ago, 2 big huge fillets, they will do us 2 nights, they were delicious washed down with some white wine from the Vinmonopoly which we will need to revisit soon. We will make some better miles tomorrow, the next bit of coastline looks superb from a distance, hopefully the weather stays nice for us so we can appreciate it. The boys had a good old play on the shore throwing stones. We are waiting on the sun going down, it will set here tonight but only for 1 hour............so yesterdays title was not quite correct.
It was pouring down when we woke again this morning so it was late start again today. It was also Joyce birthday so it was coffee in bed for the birthday girl. We made the most of the excellent facilities at the Toft marina got the van ready, by 10:30 the rain had pretty much gone off and we decided to check out the Salmon farm we were parked right next to. They are scattered all the way up the coast and this particular company Norsk Havbrukssenter has a visitor centre and guided tours available of the farm and research station. At 11am Kanut the owners son met us and walked and talked us around the farm. Theres lots of conflicting reports about the safety of farmed salmon consumption due to toxins and also antibiotics used to keep the fish in a "good" state of health. Also there are plenty of issues around salmon farms due to the detritus found below and around the farms. The industry is heavily regulated to try and prevent damage to the wider seas around these farms and also to regulate the amount and type of antibiotics used. Kanuts first question to us when we met him was "did you see the Panorama programme in the UK about Salmon farming"....we haven't but Scottish salmon is under the spot light just now due to problems in the industry, and his father was interviewed for the programme to see how Norway is (allegedly) doing it differently and why they don't have the same issues here. One of the main reasons is that Norwegian farming companies need to do case studies and prove that the environment around the farms won't be damaged before permission is granted, the waters around Norway are much much deeper so detritus build up does not happen (in the local area) as the stronger currents mean its dispersed and spread over a wider area-its arguable I suppose if this is better or worse but I can see the logic. It's a seriously controversial subject and many are against it at home and over here also. The tour was good however, we saw the fish, and the technology used to feed the fish, monitor their health, and the process involved in their slaughter. They are also researching cod farming as the bottom fell out this farming market in the the last 20 years, due to over investment, too many companies set up, the price of farmed cod fell to a level where it cost more to produce and farm than the sale price, many many companies went bankrupt. Personally I like salmon, we all need to eat and I hope that enough is being done to protect the environment and keep the fish healthy, and also ensure that "we" the consumer are healthy after eating the product. Only time will tell. After the fish farm we had a wander around the interactive centre explaining all about the industry. It was good and well presented.
After this we headed to the end of the road to visit Torghatten, it a curious little granite mountain that is a relic of times gone by when the sea level was a hundred or so meters higher, around10,000 years ago. Legend however has it that there was troll king (from Lofoten). He had 8 daughters who he was very proud and protective of, they were never allowed out as if they were out in daylight they would turn to stone. But the daughters plead with their father and he relented. The girls just wanted to dance in the moonlight and whilst doing so an evil troll saw and fell in love with the youngest of the sisters, they ran away from him until the eldest sister tired and stopped for a rest with all the sisters except the youngest called Leka who kept running, the evil troll continued to pursue Leka, and decided if he couldnt have her, then no one could, he fired an arrow at Leka. The arrow was intercepted by a hat thrown into the air by the King...the hat was pierced by the arrow and this is how the hole through the little mountain came to be......or something like that. Its quite a short walk up to its famous feature, there is a huge hole right through the middle of the hill. It was actually formed by ice and waves eroding away softer sediments and rock from both sides forming a natural arch, but its now left high and dry and was a worthwhile visit while in the area. We grabbed a quick lunch when we were here also and then got on the road. We weren't getting as far today as planned.
We headed on up to Horn to catch the ferry over to Anndalsvag on the Vevelstad peninsula, however unlike the ferries up till now which have been regular this only runs about every hour and a half so we had to wait about an hour for our crossing, this ruled out getting much further today. Not too much of a problem, the sun was out it was time for ice cream and we relaxed. Sadly while we were there the water ambulance came into the harbour very fast and eventually met up with a land ambulance. We suspect it was a deceased person that came off the boat was they were totally covered and there seemed no rush. It was just odd to see a boat with ambulance written on it, but when there are so many islands and remote areas its obvious that its the most cost efficient and relatively quick method of getting people in or out if a helicopter is either not available or not required. Finally the ferry arrived and we made the short crossing to Anndalsvag, we drove the short distance to the end of this wee bit road, me looking for the start point to climb a superb looking hill and Joyce looking for a parking spot. We are in a Bobil parking area which has a stunning location, but sadly its not close enough to the mountain for me to climb it. We visited another site of ancient stone engravings, these ones are 5000 years old and easier to make out on the rock, we also enquired about the ferry time off this bit land but it wasn't until 7:15pm so that was too late, we will be on an early one tomorrow and now realise that the ferry's up here are less frequent and we need to watch that to make good progress.
Tea was some of the salmon Rune had given us a couple of nights ago, 2 big huge fillets, they will do us 2 nights, they were delicious washed down with some white wine from the Vinmonopoly which we will need to revisit soon. We will make some better miles tomorrow, the next bit of coastline looks superb from a distance, hopefully the weather stays nice for us so we can appreciate it. The boys had a good old play on the shore throwing stones. We are waiting on the sun going down, it will set here tonight but only for 1 hour............so yesterdays title was not quite correct.
it would take a big long day walking and talking in the hills together buddy for us to thrash out the fish industry debate! rich landowners have ruined our scottish landscape and its once rich biodiversity, now the rich fisheries are wanting to do the same to our scottish seas, I find it hard to pass the plastic wrapped salmon at super low price in the local shop but i know the true cost is not my pocket if its cheap somebody or the planet is paying, the norwegians hopefully have a sustainable system for the planets sake their workers will be well looked after anyway as their employment laws are way ahead of ours, reads like another excellent day though cheers for sharing
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