Erosion – a country is moving Westerly
The northern part of Jutland is at the mercy of the eroding forces from both wind and seas. The lanscape has changed radically the pas few hundred years – and continues to do so, as these pictures will show you. There isn’t much resistance in compacted sand…
A piece of driftwood worn and torn by the relentless tumbling of the North Sea and the sand - HDR-photo
Eroding sandbanks by the sea
A piece of ancient peat (rich in carbon) revealed as the sand around it erodes
Frontside and backside of erosion - grass klinging on to the moving sand
Not much resistance in these sand barrs against the wrath of the Northern Sea
Snowy Silence by The Fjord
Snow is the most silent thing in the world. Today was calm, and snowy and really silent. Just the occasional bird and snow plow broke the silence.
Downtown Narvik with the harbor in front
Breakwater at the Ankenes Marina with the runway light beacon for the minicipal airport
A bit of Plane Spotting
I had 15 minutes at my disposal today. Enough to do a little bit of Plane Spotting. This is a Dash 8 belonging to Widerøe (Wideroe) an airline company under the SAS group. This specific plane has the call-sign LN-WIF and is named after the county Nord-Trøndelag.
But passenger traffic is not the only function of the airport. An ambulance plane arrives almost every day to evacuate patients from the local hospital to the university hospital in Tromsø (Tromsoe) Northern-Norway. A vital service that cannot be replaced any other way, neither by ambulance nor helicopter due to the extreme weather. But a new bridge project and the immensely huge ego of a handful politicians is now threatening to close the airport…
De Havilland Canada DHC-8-103 Dash 8 thundering down the Runway 19 - Narvik Airport - with a cloud of snow whirled up by the two powerful engines of 1,800 shp each
Take off from Narvik - in the background an iron ore carrier waiting to get to port
LN-WIF taking off from Narvik Airport (NVK / ENNK)
Wheels up and turning up against the wind bound for Bodø airport
And soon the Dash is just a dash on the evening sky
A shower of snow makes for a great contrast
A shower of snow moving through the Ofoten Fjord
The House being eaten by The Sea
On the North-West coast of Skagen I happen to stumble on this lonely house. It’s windows boarded up and with a futile attempt to stop the raging North Sea by dumping boulders around it. All the land around this house had already been reclaimed by the sea. My guess is, that it will no longer be there after a few storms. People in this area has never been able to secure long-term loans from banks if they wished to build a house in this area! It is simply to much of a risk.
On it's way into the frothing sea
Another Raabjerg Mile (Råbjerg Mile) Impression
Frozen Lake in Raabjerg Mile
Poul and Anders
My good friend Poul – who made this trip possible! It has been a fantastic and absolutely delightful week on the top of Denmark. A long with my friend Anders – the three of us has enjoyed a Gentlemen’s Vacation with Lavish Cuisines, Brilliant Wines, Beers, Whiskey and Port Wines, Grand Nature and Breathtaking Cultural Experiences. I am a really lucky man to be in such good company!
Poul in Raabjerg Mile
It’s like the Gobi Dessert – only a bit smaller
In the otherwise green northern parts of Denmark, sand is moving right across the country in the general direction of the wind from West to East. This flying sand is moving like a dessert, although the sand is quite moist. The moving sand has throughout history buried houses, farms, roads and churches and only after many years when the sand has passed the area, these abandoned farming community appears on the back side of this moving dessert. However, the sand erodes the fertile top soil and carries it away with the wind leaving barron marshes in it’s wake.
I shot this photo in a particular area called Raabjerg Mile (Råbjerg Mile).
Raabjerg Mile - Tuesday February 7. The lake in front is frosen.
The lighthouses of Skagen
On the very Northern tip of Denmark there are three distinct lighthouses – Grå Fyr (The Grey Lighthouse, still active) – Hvide Fyr (The White Lighthouse) and Vippefyr (The Tilt Beacon) which all signals the importance and necessity throughout history to guide ships safely around this northern point of Jutland.
Grå Fyr
Hvide Fyr
Vippefyr
Vippefyr (The tilt beacon) seen from the base to the tip. It tilts around the central axis which makes it possible to hoist the basked with the burning logs after it's been been lit.
“The Branch” – “The North Cape” of Denmark
I shot a thsi photos on Grenen (translated from Danish: “The Branch”), the very top of Denmark, where the North Sea meets Skagerag. It was bitterly cold with -7 degrees Celsius, moist air and wind so my wool underwear and sweaters was highly apreciated! The coastline is constantly moving and the seas and winds meets – often times – violently. This has been one of the most dangerous places on The Seven Seas, having lead in earlier times to numerous shipwrecks.
The tip of Denmark covered by ice - Next stop Norway
The New Record and The Waiting Game
Today my blog has reached a new time high! My last entry about with the Northern Lights photos has shot through the roof! Right now we are experiencing the biggest Sun Storm since 2005. This is really bad news for communication and navigation satelites. It is not very healthy being an airline passenger or crew neither. But for watching spectacular lights in the night sky, it is great. Right now there’s a lull in the activity, but as the Earth rotates a little bit more, we in Northern-Norway will be right on the backstream of the charched particles from the Sun.
I have already shot a few photos tonight and are waiting for more. Unfortunately there is a lot of clouds right now. And since it’s rather cold, people are throwing birch into the fireplaces – like ther was no tomorrow – which produces a lot of smoke particles which scatter the light even more.
I hope you enjoy these preliminary shots of tonights show!
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