Lofoten Archipelago
It was a day of amazing scenery as we explored the Lofoten Archipelago. The towering mountains and cliff faces are certainly dramatic, but few would suspect that these are in fact the oldest known exposed rocks in the world…they have been dated to approximately 3.5 billion years old. This is all the more amazing when one considers that scientists claim they were formed at a time when the only life on Earth was bacteria! We started our day quite early with a cruise into Trollfjord, on the island of Austvågøy. This fjord is fairly small by Norwegian standards, being only two kilometers in length, but makes up for it with spectacularly steep, glacially-carved cliffs rising straight up from the sea, and a very narrow entry. As the M.S. Endeavour headed for the mouth of the fjord, some of us worried she wouldn’t fit. Once inside, however, we cruised right up to the rock wall and nearly touched it with our bow…close enough that our chief officer reached out and picked a branch from a rowan tree.
Our next stop was the small town of Å (pronounced Oh), a quaint, picturesque fishing village located on the island of Moskenesøya. Here, we visited not one, but two small museums dedicated to the long-standing cod fishing industry. We learned the millennia-old tradition of drying the fish carcasses on wooden racks, producing the world famous ‘stockfish’. This dried fish product could be stored for years and was the mainstay of the Vikings during their long voyages. In recent centuries, it was a staple in much of Europe, but today most of it is sold to Italy, Spain, and Portugal. Unfortunately, modern foreign fishing fleets have greatly reduced the local cod populations and the local industry is dying out. Many of us went for a hike behind the town and were rewarded with a truly Åwesome view (see photo). We made one more stop late this afternoon, when we anchored near the community of Reine and explored the picturesque harbor town both on foot and by Zodiac.
It was a day of amazing scenery as we explored the Lofoten Archipelago. The towering mountains and cliff faces are certainly dramatic, but few would suspect that these are in fact the oldest known exposed rocks in the world…they have been dated to approximately 3.5 billion years old. This is all the more amazing when one considers that scientists claim they were formed at a time when the only life on Earth was bacteria! We started our day quite early with a cruise into Trollfjord, on the island of Austvågøy. This fjord is fairly small by Norwegian standards, being only two kilometers in length, but makes up for it with spectacularly steep, glacially-carved cliffs rising straight up from the sea, and a very narrow entry. As the M.S. Endeavour headed for the mouth of the fjord, some of us worried she wouldn’t fit. Once inside, however, we cruised right up to the rock wall and nearly touched it with our bow…close enough that our chief officer reached out and picked a branch from a rowan tree.
Our next stop was the small town of Å (pronounced Oh), a quaint, picturesque fishing village located on the island of Moskenesøya. Here, we visited not one, but two small museums dedicated to the long-standing cod fishing industry. We learned the millennia-old tradition of drying the fish carcasses on wooden racks, producing the world famous ‘stockfish’. This dried fish product could be stored for years and was the mainstay of the Vikings during their long voyages. In recent centuries, it was a staple in much of Europe, but today most of it is sold to Italy, Spain, and Portugal. Unfortunately, modern foreign fishing fleets have greatly reduced the local cod populations and the local industry is dying out. Many of us went for a hike behind the town and were rewarded with a truly Åwesome view (see photo). We made one more stop late this afternoon, when we anchored near the community of Reine and explored the picturesque harbor town both on foot and by Zodiac.
