Norway: Family and roots
Visiting my family in Norway on both sides. Exploring some places on the west coast where my father’s family came from.
Finland & Norway #7 – Ivalo
Goodbye Norway, hello Finland again Day 14 (1 June): We drove back to Ivalo, having another good look at the snowy mountains before heading for the Tana River and crossing the border back into Finland. There, of course, we made the obligatory stop at the Grosbeak cafe. After dinner, we had a last walk to the viewing platform from where we watched a couple of moose in the distance. Day 15 (2 June): I had a last walk around the…
Finland & Norway #6 – Båtsfjord
Day 12 (30 May): We drove to Båtsfjord with stops for birding on the way. The road took us along Tana river and we stopped at Tanamunningen before driving over the mountains to Båtsfjord. Just before we started the descent, Ruth spotted a Snowy Owl, a first for her and for most of the rest of us too. Day 13 (31 May): We drove over the mountains again hoping for another glimpse of the Snowy Owl. We did eventually find…
Finland & Norway #5 – Vadsø
We had been told that there may be some Doterel up the mountain just past Utsjoki so we decided to go and see before crossing the border into Norway. We were lucky and saw four of them in a little group. Lunch was at a big supermarket and I tried some liquorice ice cream. It’s surprisingly nice. It was time to cross the border: for me, home at last. We stopped at Varangerfjorden near Nessby and had a walk before…
Finland & Norway #1 – Messilä
Day 1 (19th May): Paul, Shirley and I arrived at Helsinki airport and met rest of group and our local guide, Tuomas Seimola. We drove to Lahti area where we spent two nights at the Manor Hotel in Messilä and on the first evening we had a lovely meal opposite the old Hollolan church followed by a walk to the edge a lake. Day 2 (20 May): Birding around the Hauho-Lahti area started with a Wryneck in the garden of…