Træna Kinda Day:
We had a great dinner and conversation with new friends. Most enjoyable.
During dinner there was an announcement we would be making an unscheduled stop. As we left dinner, we docked at Kulturebyen where an ambulance was waiting. There were no lights and sirens used as they departed so hopefully this was not an emergent event. Later we learned that a crew mmember had broken her foot.
Kulturebyen looked to be a industrial fishing port. Yet it maintained a quaint Norwegian feel from what I observed from Deck 9 (our top deck).
There is a contest for guests to guess or Arctic Circle crossing time. I made a crazy wild guess as to when we might cross the arctic circle this evening.
We are calling in at day and I will see you all at early morning coffee.
COFFEE TIME: 0500 is a rather quiet time on the ship. Lynn sleeps, not for long as I forgot my room key :).
Træna’s ancient past as one of Norway’s oldest fishing villages lives on as a small tight-knit community framed by unique mountains.
Lying just over 30 nautical miles from Norway’s Helgeland coast, north of Lovund and south of Myken, Træna Municipality is made up of around 500 islets, skerries, and islands. The Arctic Circle traces a line through them, but it can look like the tropics when you sail here in summer.
This is a place of white sandy beaches and peaks that rise from clear seas. There’s even a beach that the locals refer to as ‘Waikiki’ and a signpost that points in the direction of Hawaii.
A short history of Traena
Home to one of Norway’s oldest fishing villages, Træna’s year-round resident population has barely changed since the Stone Age, growing from around 250 people to almost 500 today. These permanent residents live on the four main islands – Husøya, where the majority of people live, Selvær, Sanna, and Sandøy.
The deep, cold waters that surround the archipelago are rich with different species of fish throughout the year. It’s long been known that Træna’s rocky islands, with their sheltered inlets, are the ideal base for fishing boats.
Stroll around Husøya:
The most populated of the archipelago's island communities, Husøya is easily explored on foot. Take a walk along the waterfront to the ‘City Beach’ next to the ferry dock and to maybe go have a sauna in Træna’s oldest boathouse.
A kilometer across the island from the port is the beautiful, modern Petter Dass Chapel. It’s a fitting memorial to northern Norway’s beloved 17th-century poet-priest, as well as to all those who have lost their lives at sea.
In Husøya you will find the Aloha Cafe, which would seem to be a strange name for a cafe in Norway at such a remote location.
There was a family where an older male sibling left Norway and settled in Hawaii. A sister was born who he never saw. They corresponded with letters over the years and he sent his sister a camera to record her life in Husøya. We are told these images can be found in the local museum. Hence the connection to Hawaii, ALOHA!.
At 0900ish Torghatten was our point of interest. This is the mountain with a hole. The legend of Torghatten mountain is deeply embedded in Norwegian mythology. At the centre of the distinctive, 258-metre-tall mountain is a hole that’s 160 metres long, 35 metres high, and 15 to 20 metres wide.
The general consensus among scientists and geologists is that Torghatten's hole was formed thousands of years ago during the Scandinavian Ice Age. After a period sitting at a lower level, the mountain was pushed upwards, during which time the sea gradually eroded a hole through its layers of rock.
But the Torghatten legend is a much more exciting tale, one of frustrated desire, an arrow, and a hat. This being Norway, it is also a tale of giant trolls. Trolls are by far the most talked about mythical creatures here, and us Norwegians spend much of our childhood hearing stories about these giants.
Before we begin, you need to know that trolls turn to stone the moment they’re touched by sunlight. It’s the reason we have so many strangely shaped mountains and rocks here in Norway!
How Torghatten really got its hole:
Suliskongen, the Troll King of Sulis, had seven troll daughters. These seven sisters irritated him so much that, one day, he couldn’t stand it any longer; he employed the beautiful maid Lekamøya to look after them.
Lekamøya and the seven sisters were bathing in the sea when the troll Hestmannen, the only son of Suliskongen’s enemy, spotted them and became consumed with desire for Lekamøya. Being a youth at the mercy of his passions, he mounted his horse and charged across the sea towards them.
Lekamøya saw him coming and commanded the seven sisters to run. The group took off, charging along Norway’s coast. It didn’t take long for Suliskongen’s daughters to notice that Hestmannen was an attractive troll prince, and the only son of a troll king. In quick succession, one after the other they stopped to let him catch them. But Hestmannen galloped past them all; his heart was set on Lekamøya.
As the sun started to rise, Hestmannen realised his chase was futile. He was not going to catch Lekamøya before the sun’s rays hit the ground. Instead, he fired his arrow at her in rage.
Fortunately for Lekamøya, the sight of seven sisters, a beautiful maid, and a giant horseman stampeding along the coast had attracted some attention. Among the onlookers was the Troll King of Sømna, who threw his hat in the way of the arrow to shield Lekamøya. The arrow pierced the hat, puncturing a hole straight through it.
At that moment, the sun rose, turning the seven sisters, Lekamøya, Hestmannen, and his hat to stone. As they fell, they formed the striking array of rocks and mountains in the region. The Sømna king's hat became Torghatten with the hole through the centre pierced by Hestmannen’s arrow.
Next we passed the The Seven Sisters at about 1130.
The Legend of The Seven Sisters:
The most prominent "Seven Sisters" legends in Norway concern either a range of mountains or a group of waterfalls, both located along the Helgeland Coast. In the mountain legend, seven troll sisters were turned to stone when the sun rose, while they were fleeing a pursuing Horseman. In the waterfall legend, seven sisters are portrayed as a series of waterfalls in the Geirangerfjord, with a lone waterfall across the fjord called "The Suitor" trying unsuccessfully to court them.
We arrived at Træna at about 1500. We started our hike to the Petter Dass Chapel.
The Chapel is located on Husøya, the administrative centre of Træna municipality, in Nordland county, Norway. The chapel was opened on 28th June 1997 as a memorial of Petter Dass and all who struggled and were lost at sea. Petter Dass (c. 1647 – 17 August 1707) was a Lutheran priest and the foremost Norwegian poet of his generation, writing both baroque hymns and topographical poetry.
The paintings inside the chapel are the work of Karl Erick Harr.
Along the way, we passed the Singing Statue, which sings as the wind blows.
Then past the outdoor fish farms before we arrived at the Chapel.
Hiking back into Træna we made a stop at the Aloha Cafe and had drinks and lefse filled brown cheese, homemade from a local recipe. It was really good.
Then we walked passed the church on to the Museum. The museum is in an old house where many of the photos from the brother and sister are displayed. The rooms depict a typical residence on Træna.
Back to our ship and dinner. Later tonight is the Arctic Circle Crossing. We will see if we stay awake, don’t bet on it. 17062 Step count and we get up early :).
