A day at the edge of the North Sea
Trip Start
Jun 13, 2007
1
15
22
Trip End
Sep 23, 2007
Espevær,
Norway
Sunday, July 20, 2008
This morning, my brother Erling; Trine, my sister-in-law, and I set out for Espevær - a group of island right out in the North Sea on the west coast of Norway.
We drove to Eidesvik and then took the passenger ferry to Espevær. We had to park the car at Eidesvik, because cars are still banned from the islands and people either use their legs, bikes or boats for
transport.
My grandmother's family comes from Espevær and I spent a couple of very memorable summers here. I remember as a child spending all day swimming, fishing and rowing everywhere and when lying in bed at night, still feeling the gentle rocking of the boat.
My parents and I came here for a holiday when I was nine and I made firm friends with one of my distant cousins, who became a 'pen pal'.
After 12 months writing to each other, she got her mother to invite me spend the following summer at Espevær and here I learned to fish, including killing and gutting the fish immediately after it was caught - something I still do whenever I go fishing.
Erling keeps asking me if I remember where I lived. But that is difficult, all the houses look more or less the same - two-storey white-painted timber dwellings with picket fences and weatherbeaten shrubs in the garden.
This is a community exposed to the harsh elements of the North Sea which today look benight with hardly a ripple.
Espevær continues to be a thriving fishing village with a rich in history. In the mid-1800's the islands were a thriving community housing more than 20,000 people during the herring shoals.
By comparison Bergen, Norway's biggest city at the time, had a population of 26,000. But today, Espevær has only 170 residents but receive many times more visitors during the summer who come for the fishing, diviing or its rich and varied flora. There are 365 small islands nearby, most of which are uninhabited.
Attractions on Espevær include the 'Baadehuset', which has been converted into a museum with a big selection of historical photographs and many exhibits of old fishing tackle.
Hummerparken, a lobster 'park', which is under cover, was used from 1887 till 1957 for keeping the lobster live and fed until they were collected or exported mostly to the UK.
Since my memorable summers there, the island is said to have a UFO visit. In 1975 an UFO ring was discovered in the northern part of the island after strange lights in the sky had been reported for a while in the year.
After we alight from the ferry, we start on a walking tour of the island and about an hour later come upon the UFO ring, said to be one of the biggest in the world, in a small depression between the rocks, just up from a small bay which looks very much like a bathing spot where we used to go.
The story goes, the Norwegian Airforce came with a helicopter to examine the UFO ring, but had no explanation for it. While the marks from the helicopter is long gone, the UFO ring is still there.
Scientists from Bergen University who also came to examine the ring said something had been heavy enough to drive stones 7cm deep into the soil in a ring formation on the spot.
We continue on our walk and just as we finish - we come upon a lively BBQ where the whole population seems to be gathered.
Volunteers collecting moneys to save the Lobsterfarm are barbequeing salmon and selling it with salad and potatoes for Kr5 each.
It's a happy gathering and soon
The island has its own cable ferry, made locally, and it is automatically coin operated for the 45 metre crossing of one of Espevær`s straits. Nearby is Hespriholmen, an island where greenstone, som e 8,000 years old, was mined.
In 1990 Espevær was judged to be one of the most beautiful places in Norway. A warm welcome awaits you. Come to Espevær and experience our idyllic lifestyle!
